Strap in for a super fun and full-of-joy day. Yes, that’s right, it’s time for Evie and Ross’ Headrow House wedding in Leeds.
Their day was casual and relaxed with a colourful sunset theme, DIY decor and gorgeous blooms. Evie and Ross looked utterly gorgeous in their stylish outfits, plus there was confetti, streamers and cute signs. All on a remarkable budget of £10,000 too. I also have to rave about their ingenious honeymoon idea… but you will have to read on to find out what it entailed.
Thanks ever so much to Louise Barry Photographer for sharing with us these beautiful images.
Headrow House Wedding
The Proposal
Ross organised a trip to Malaga for us, where he proposed on the walk up to the castle, overlooking some incredible views of the city. I grew up in Malaga and it was the first time Ross had been, so he said he proposed there because it is such a special place to me; now it’s special for us both!
The Vision
We wanted our wedding day to be a really fun, laid-back occasion. Keeping everything colourful (sunset themed) and playful really helped us to achieve that vision, along with hosting the reception in one of our favourite bars in Leeds City Centre.
We also agreed really early on that we didn’t want to break the bank.
The Ceremony & Music
Again, it was all about keeping things fun. We perfected a playlist that was played throughout the day, and had a DJ on through the evening. It was all about avoiding the classic corny wedding songs, but also getting in the big hits that get people dancing. Lots of ABBA, basically.
Our ceremony was at our local church, with 80 of our family and friends present.
The Budget
Our budget was ‘not to break the bank’. We didn’t quite know what that meant, but we made sure that every decision we made was centred around what we wanted but whilst also considering that it was only one day in our lives and we felt there was no point getting into any financial trouble to make that happen.
Overall we spent around 10 grand.
The Venue
We got married in our local church – we love a stained-glass window and we wanted to get married locally so that we had lots of nice memories set around our first home together.
Our reception was held at Headrow House in Leeds City Centre. It was the perfect venue – we had a cocktail reception in their rooftop bar, followed by our meal and evening do in their event space.
The Outfits
Bride
My wedding dress was from the Own Studio, Shoreditch. I found them on Instagram and loved them, so made the trip down with one of my bridesmaids. I knew I wanted something quite laid-back and basic so that I could dance without worrying about the logistics of a bigger dress.
I loved the entire process of ordering my dress through them – my initial appointment was great; most places I tried dresses on in didn’t like you taking any videos or photos, but the Own Studio encouraged you to take videos so that you could look back on how amazing their fabrics swished when you walked. They then make the dress tailor-made to your body.
They also had lots of advice on altering and dying your dress after your wedding day so that you can re-purpose it for the future.
My accessories were all sourced from the high street – my earrings were & Other Stories and my shoes Monsoon. I chose both because I knew I would wear them again. Finally, I had ‘something blue‘ – an ankle bracelet hidden beneath my dress that I bought on my hen do in Tenerife; and my bridesmaids all wore matching ones!
Groom
I went for a tuxedo because I’d never got the chance to wear one before and I thought I might feel a bit like George Clooney. I did have a slight change of heart last minute, and went for a ‘shawl collar’ – again, as per the theme – because it felt quite cool and casual!
‘Best Men’
Ross had 5 best men and they all wore tuxedos too, similar to Ross’s.
Bridesmaids
I had 4 bridesmaids, 3 girls and 1 guy. The girls were told to pick any dress for under £80 that was colourful and that they felt comfortable in. The guy wore a tuxedo matching the best men.
Your Photographer
Our photographer was Louise Barry. She was amazing from start to finish! Getting prepared for the big day was a breeze, we loved her style and she was incredibly helpful throughout the day. Great at capturing moments.
The Honeymoon
We did our honeymoon a bit differently… we wanted to get married abroad originally but didn’t fancy working out the logistics of it all. Instead, we invited 16 of our closest friends away to Mallorca with us for a week the day after the wedding.
We spent the first half with everyone in Alcudia, before heading over to Soller with a smaller group for the rest of the week. We would definitely recommend doing this – we still haven’t had a ‘wedding come down’ and there were no feelings of sadness because the wedding was over, as we were straight on a plane to continue the celebrations!
We are heading to Mexico next month for some ‘us’ time, and we can’t wait! That’s the official honeymoon.
The Styling & Decor
We didn’t bother styling the church or the cocktail bar at Headrow House – both were gorgeous enough and it saved us some money. We did however buy some £5 mirrors from IKEA and asked a close friend to make us some signs for the cocktail bar, drawing on the mirrors in chalk pens – they looked great!
For the event space at Headrow House, we had pink garlands and an array of hanging decorations that we had collected over the year in our theme colours. We had a disco ball hanging too.
On the tables, we had love heart confetti, some small vases and some gorgeous stems provided by our florist. Everything was sunset-themed (pinks, red, oranges, yellows, etc).
For our cakes, we bought 3 Patisserie Valerie cakes and my Nan made us 120 cupcakes in various flavours (they were a huge hit!). We also ordered in some Dough Boys pizzas from Belgrave for later on.. our guests were very well-fed!
The flowers were from Hyde Park Flower Club by Dotties, we’d asked for stems to go in the small vases on the tables to add an extra pop of colour. They looked great!
Ross and his best men were in charge of decorating and they did an amazing job!
Memorable Moments
Our first dance – we didn’t fancy a proper first dance because I was conscious I’d be too nervous and awkward, so instead we had a ‘last dance’. At the end of the evening after a few too many drinks we had our first dance to Aerosmith – don’t want to miss a thing. It was a great moment!
Ross had the incredible idea of having an alternative guest book. Instead of a normal guestbook where everyone writes you a nice message, we tasked our guests with also drawing us as animals. This provided loads of entertainment the morning after the wedding!
Walking out of the church hand in hand to all of our nearest and dearest beaming at us, throwing confetti – that was a moment to remember! That ‘wow, we’ve done it!’ feeling!
Advice For Other Couples
Think about what is important to you both and don’t compromise based on any old-school wedding traditions! Do your own thing.
Does it get any more gorgeous?!
Evie and Ross I can’t thank you enough for sharing your epic Headrow House wedding story with us.
Further Reading
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