Melanie and Andy were married in Lincoln, England in May 2009. Their fun, vibrant colour scheme and use of bold print is unlike any other wedding I’ve seen to-date. With lots of polka dots, stripes and damask, Melanie’s event design resulted in a hip, modern twist on the traditional.
Melanie is a very close friend of mine and I have always admired her chic, sassy style. I’m not doing the stationary justice here, but her invitations, Save the Date cards, and RSVP cards were cute and colourful, and they aptly set the tone for their unique bash. With their ceremony set in a rustic English castle and their reception offered at a new boutique hotel, Melanie and Andy’s wedding perfectly melded the traditional English countryside with a modern urban flair.
Melanie & Andy's Invitation (Front & Back)
Gorgeous Red Bouquet
Ceremony Venue
The Wedding Party
The Girls
The Beautiful Modern Bride
Down the Aisle
The Kiss
Married!
Love all of the red!
Cake Cutting
Cake!
The Happy Couple
Loving it!
Reception Centrepieces
Favours
Pimms & Lemonade
Homemade Seating Chart
Head Table
Cheers!
The Ladies
The Gents
Melanie’s thoughts on her big day:
Our photographer was Andrew Fletcher. His approach is to take photos when people are in the moment rather than doing a lot of staged photos, and the results were amazing, however, I do wish I had a few more posed portraits taken.
Our colour scheme was inspired by a trip to the Kate Spade store in Boston. We loved all of the heavily saturated hues and the sort of fun, tongue-in-cheek approach she takes to her designs. We carried the theme through in the save-the-date cards, invitations and RSVPs (all designed by my friend Lisa, who is a fantastic graphic designer), the flowers, and the decor at both Tattershall Castle and The Charlotte House Hotel.
For our attire, we both wanted to have a vintage feel. I went with a floor length gown from J. Crew. I loved all of the silk tulle layers – it made me feel kind of like a ballerina. To complement the dress, I went with long pearls, a beaded jacket and a fascinator which I partially got from Etsy (the small pearl and feather centre) but took to a milliner in Winchester to build it out a bit more with silk. Andy’s suit was very slim cut and I picked out the DAY Birger et Mikkelsen red and white striped tie. Andy wasn’t convinced by the tie at first, but looking through the photos it made our outfits, bringing out the colours in our flowers and tying (pardon the pun) everything together.
We wanted our wedding to feel special not only to us, but for our guests as well. The castle provided the perfect backdrop for the ceremony, as it was so old and a bit rustic. All of the rooms were predominantly stone which meant that there would be no clashing with our colour scheme. We served wedding cake and champagne immediately following the ceremony so that everyone could have a little celebration while the photos were taken.
We then whisked everyone off to the reception at The Charlotte House Hotel, a boutique hotel in the centre of Lincoln. It was really important to us that the reception have a dinner party feel to it. I wanted everyone to mingle and mix and the food had to be incredible. When the guests arrived, they were greeted with Pimms and lemonade before sitting down to dinner. My father-in-law created the quirky school chalk board with the seating arrangements, and Andy and I created the polka dot table runners and favour tags. Eating outside in the sunshine was my dream come true and everyone seemed to have are really fun time. Best day ever.
Photos by Andrew Fletcher
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