Katie & Matt, steelasophical
When the duo behind Jolly Awesome get married, you just know it’s going to be a day of pure fun. Matt and Katie clearly have creativity running through their veins and I’ve loved pouring over the details of their big day. Think palm prints, neon signs and bright pink peonies. With some extra special treats for people – if only every wedding guest in the world could receive one of Matt’s illustrations as a favour, there would be grins all round!
Images come from the wonderful Amy B, whose natural and joyful style is perfect for this fabulous wedding day and I can 100% vouch for Amy’s talents as she shot my cousins wedding day too 
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The Bride
Katie the Bride: I knew from the outset that I didn’t want a traditional wedding dress and would rather something more fashion-led. I visited a lot of boutiques in London, and looking back I probably did it the wrong way round, as I spent a lot of time researching designers and visiting their individual boutiques with my maid of honour, when initially I think it would have been more helpful to visit some shops with a variety of designers and styles to help decide what I was really looking for. I found a few beautiful contenders in Mews Bridal in Notting Hill, Lovers Bridal in Soho and Poppy Dover’s studio in Chelsea, but none quite felt right. I was actually starting to get a little panicked about it.
I then came across on Instagram, Frock and Soul – a new boutique that just opened. But realised the shop just happened to be in the village where I’m originally from in Saddleworth! I arranged an appointment and from the beginning the owner Bekka was brilliant, she was lovely and made the whole experience really personal. The Theia two-piece had caught my eye and was the first I tried on, straight away I felt so comfortable and like myself in it. I loved that it was different, the all sequin top and the silk of the skirt felt beautiful, it was unlike anything else I’d tried, I also hadn’t really considered a two piece previously but knew that I wanted sleeves and some embellishment with a flowing skirt, so it did fit the bill perfectly but in a different way to what I had imagined.
When my Nanna came to see it she said it was perfect and she couldn’t imagine me in anything else – so I knew it was the one! I chose a simple veil from Bekka’s shop to go with it that matched the length of the skirt. I wanted to invest in a pair of shoes that I loved and would want to wear again and had always liked Sophia Webster’s fun designs. I fell in love with the Lilico mid sandals in rose gold, they were a bit difficult to track down but I managed to find a pair in my size on Net-A-Porter. Accessories wise I decided to keep it simple, and just wore some vintage emerald cut aquamarine studs that I managed to find in an antique jewellery shop in Hatton Garden. They perfectly matched my engagement ring that Matt had designed for me that features emerald cut aqua stones. They were also my something old and blue.
The Groom
Matt has always really been into fashion and knew that he wanted to wear something a bit different. My mum had mentioned the idea of tails, which we had originally thought to be a little too formal and traditional. But Matt decided he liked the idea as he could put his own contemporary take on it. He had tailored black trousers made at Moss Bros and hired from them a black tails jacket, an ivory double breasted waistcoat with ivory tie and pocket square. He wore shoes from Dune and cufflinks from Alexander McQueen. The look was beautifully simple and elegant which perfectly matches his style.
The Venue
Ever since I was little my dad had always mentioned the idea to me of having my wedding at home where I grew up in Saddleworth. They live on a farm with quite a bit of land and beautiful views overlooking a valley. Although Matt and I live in London, we didn’t look at other venues, as we knew from the outset that my parents home would be the perfect place to have the personal wedding reception that we wanted. We had initially looked at teepees but decided to go with a sperry tent from Papakata, as we liked that it was a bright white space that we could do what we wanted with. Papakata were brilliant and very professional, they made the whole process very easy. My parents house has difficult access but they got around this and had no problems setting up.
The Details
We decided to have a co-ordinator for on the day to ensure all the timings and everything went smoothly. We got in touch with Ellie from Soft Touch Events and her colleague Flick did a great job of looking after these details. Having it at home did add a bit of extra stress at times, but it was worth it as it made the day extra special. My dad worked especially hard to get everything ready, which we will always be so grateful for. He transformed inside their garage which was our wet weather contingency plan for the drinks reception and we did end up using as a bit of rain meant we couldn’t have it outside as originally planned.
We didn’t necessarily want a specific colour scheme but knew we wanted a fun tropical influence with bright colours. Matt is an illustrator and together we own publishing business Jolly Awesome, publishing his designs on greetings cards and stationery. So of course he was going to be designing our wedding stationery! I’ve always loved the iconic banana leaf wallpaper design from the Beverly Hills Hotel and this influenced the pink and green tropical designs that then ran through the day. A lot of Matt’s illustrations feature funny animals and we have a little French bulldog Raffy who inspires a lot of his work, so we dressed him in a bow tie and used an picture of him for our save the date!
It was really important that the day reflected us as a couple and the fun outlook we have both in our day-to-day and working life. We basically wanted to throw a big party for all our family and friends to enjoy! Some of the fun elements we added to the decor included using Jolly Awesome designs for each table with postcards for name places, which also had the menus on the back. We had to have our most iconic design – Sidekick for Life for our table! We had cardboard cut outs made of both us and Raffy for our photo booth which people had a laugh with. There were large balloons for each table, a balloon garland for behind the dance floor and we also got hold of some old industrial letters that Matt spray painted to decorate the bar. We have collaborated with Bee’s Bakery previously and had her awesome biscuits as favours featuring our wedding logo. But perhaps our favourite decoration was the pink neon sign, we’ve had neon signs made previously for our business and knew early on we wanted to invest in having a sign made that we could later have up at home. Matt hand wrote the text ‘This is the best part’ – something that Matt always used to say to me when he would meet after work on a Friday!
The Flowers
I knew I wanted the flowers to play a big part in the day and decor for the sperry tent, especially to compliment the tropical theme. I spent some time looking for a florist that would really understand the brief and provide some amazing designs. I came across Leafy Couture and knew straight away from their previous weddings that they would be perfect! Sarah and her team were amazing and they really got it and embraced the concept. I knew I wanted peonies and tropical greenery to feature, but really wasn’t that knowledgeable so completely relied on their judgement. I was blown away with what they created. It was stunning from the large arrangement they did for the church, the table settings, which were a simple, but beautiful vase arrangement surrounded by small glass vases of succulents. They also did an amazing hoop that hung from the centre of the sperry tent, and frame around the neon sign. It was all even better than we could have imagined!
The Wedding Party
I had 3 of my close friends as bridesmaids and wanted to make them feel special. I’ve never quite understood why traditionally they all wear the same dress and wanted to be able to highlight each of their individuality. I came across Jarlo who do customised dresses, I chose a few different styles, which the girls tried and then decided which one they each liked best, and decided on a blush pink colour. They complimented each other perfectly and the girls looked stunning. I gave them each a gift of a necklace with 3 little stars on each engraved with their initial from Little Nell on Not On The High Street with some stud earrings from Oliver Bonas and sequinned tropical print evening bags from Accessorize.
For the groomsmen Matt hired suits from Moss Bros, he chose dove grey double-breasted waistcoats with grey and black striped trousers, black tails jackets with ivory ties and pocket squares. Again it was a contemporary take on a traditional tails outfit. He bought each of them a gift of individual cufflinks.
The Beauty
Sarra who did both the hair and makeup for the bridesmaids and I on the day was another Instagram find. I love makeup and wanted to find an MUA who would get that perfect balance of natural but something special, and what Sarra did was perfect. For my hair I knew I wanted gentle waves half up, half down and incorporating a plait. I also wanted to have some flowers in my hair, which was a lot to juggle but she did such a good job of making it all work.
The Ceremony
We decided to have the ceremony in the local church, St Chads where I had been christened and you can actually see across the valley from my parent’s house. My dad has always had a love of classic cars, which has passed on to my brother who regularly races them. It was always a given that some of his cars would play a part in the day. My brother drove the bridesmaids and my dad took me in 2 of his classic Jaguars. It was such a special moment; I will never forget when he drove me to the church. Matt then took over driving us back to the reception, which was a lot of pressure driving my dads car but he got us back in one piece! The ceremony was so special, we spent time picking the music and I walked down the aisle to the beautiful You and I (Forever) by Jessie Ware, I will never forget that first moment walking into the church seeing all our friends and family and then Matt waiting for me.
The service was lovely; we had 2 readings one from my Uncle who read Colossians, Chapter 3, verses 12-17. The other was read by my friend Kelly who I don’t get to see often as she lives in Sydney, she read ‘You’ve Got A Friend In Me’ the lyrics from the song in Toy Story. It seemed very appropriate as Matt proposed to me at Disneyland and the lyrics for the song were just perfect for our relationship. Entertainment Music is so important to Matt and I and was the first thing we started to think about when we got engaged. We knew that we wanted something special for the drinks reception to get everyone in the party spirit. We came across New York Brass Band and they were brilliant! They met guests as they arrived and got out of the minibuses and completely set the tone for the day. They also learnt a song for us and we did a grand entrance into the wedding breakfast to Macklemore Can’t hold Us, which was so much fun!
For our first dance we chose Diamonds as we love both the original Rihanna version and the Josef Salvat cover. A DJ friend of Matts mixed them together so we had our own slow dance but could get everyone on the dancefloor when the Rihanna version kicked in! We then had a DJ – Scott who did a great job, everyone was up on the dancefloor until the early hours.
The Food
We chose Saunts to cater for the food and serving drinks, as they were a recommended supplier from Papakata. Lesley and her team were fantastic, so professional and nothing was too much trouble. The food and service they gave was amazing, with the Lamb shank main being a particular highlight. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them for any events.
The Cake
Initially we weren’t sure exactly what we wanted with the cake, I came across Kate from Little Button Bakery’s website and saw she had done such a variety of designs previously. We met with her for a tasting, which was so good! We talked through some ideas and showed one of Matt’s designs for her to use for inspiration. What she created in the end was amazing! I’ve never seen a cake like it, plus it tasted divine especially the salted caramel bottom tier which went down so well with our guests.
The Photography
We love Amy! She was such an easy decision, as she had already been the photographer at one of my bridesmaid’s weddings so we had seen her in action. Her photographs are beautiful and she captured the day so well as well as coming up with some fun ideas for photos of Matt and I. She’s lovely and its like having a friend there with you – which is so important when you are going to spend the whole day with someone.
Matt found Jumping Spider online, Matt and Mark are such nice guys and did a brilliant job of capturing the day without even knowing they were really there. They had a drone to get some great shots of the scenery, and caught so many special moments.
Advice
We really enjoyed meeting and working with the suppliers we chose for our day, as fellow small business owners we know how stressful it can be at times. But they all did such a fantastic job and really understood what we wanted, it really is worth putting the work in to finding the right people who will help create your dream wedding.
I spent a lot of time worrying about little details – these always work themselves out on the day and won’t matter, try not to focus too much on these. The memories that you take away are from spending the day with all the people that you love and care about.
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