Healey Barn - Rosie and Anthony

School teachers, Rosie and Anthony were married at St Robert's R.C Church, heading over to Healey barn for their wedding reception.  I asked them to tell us more about their school themed wedding day, their favourite moments and any advice that they could offer to couples getting married.

How did you meet? How did he propose? What is your story?: "Both of us are teachers and Anthony and I met as we were both teaching at the same school. Three years later, Anthony proposed when we were on a trip to Edinburgh, a couple of days before my birthday. I had no idea what he had planned and was so surprised when he got down on one knee in front of Edinburgh castle. It was very romantic!"

What was the inspiration behind your wedding?: "We wanted quite a relaxed and rustic theme to our wedding day. We visited a wide range of venues looking for the perfect place and as soon as we visited Healey Barn (even though it was still being built!) we fell in love with it straight away. As we are both teachers and that is how we met, our wedding had a school theme to it. The table names were the names of different subjects written on chalk boards and our favours were school-themed cookies! Our master of ceremony (my brother, Chris) used a traditional school bell throughout the day before making his announcements."

What was the most memorable or your favorite part of your wedding day?: :"I think our favourite thing was having all of the people that we love all together in one place and being able to celebrate with them. We both smiled from start to finish! We also made sure we snatched a few moments together throughout the day. The car journey from the church to the Reception was really nice as we had some time just the two of us to take it all in and enjoy it."

Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography?: "Choosing the photographers is such an important part of planning your wedding as the memories are so lovely to look back on. It's vital to have a good rapport with your photographers so that you all feel at ease on the day. As soon as we met Nigel and Chrissie and saw examples of their work, we knew they would be perfect for our wedding. We cannot praise them highly enough and all of our family and friends were so impressed with their professional and friendly approach on the day. The group shots were planned in advance and there was no waiting around on the day.  Nigel and Chrissie got so many fantastic pictures without us even noticing they were there! We could not be happier with the wedding photos we have received, the difficult thing was narrowing them down for the album!"

Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process?: "Just enjoy it! We had a two year engagement and planned the wedding very gradually. Everyone says that wedding planning it such a stressful time but it honestly doesn't have to be, we really enjoyed planning ideas around our theme and just had fun. Remember that it's your day and go for whatever will make you happy. Do look around at a range of venues, photographers, florists etc so you can choose your favourites rather than just going for the first ones you see. Try not to stress too much over who to invite or sorting the table plans, do what you feel comfortable with, it will all come together on the day and it will be the best day of your life!"

What is your favorite part of being married now?: "It's just nice to know that we are finally Mr and Mrs and can look forward to lots of exciting times ahead. It's been funny for the children at school to get used to calling me by a new name, so I just respond to both names now!"

Here is their day...

Venue: Healey Barn

The wedding dress: I Do

The men's suits: Slaters

Wedding cake: Vanilla Teas

Flowers: Flowers Unlimited

Hair and Make up: Hair- Lisa Cameron Make up- Sarah Stonehouse

Entertainment: Aaron Bayley Band

Healey Barn - Lizzie and Alessio

This is Lizzie and Alessio's wonderful wedding at St Peter's Church in Low Fell, and Healey Barn in Northumberland, the perfect venue for this stylish and relaxed couple.

As a recommended supplier at Healey Barn, we are in the very fortunate position of being a regular visitor to this great venue.  It's rustic styling, woodlands and rolling coutryside views never fail to impress us.  It was a joy to return for Lizzie and Alessio's big day last May.

"We both worked at Costa Coffee whilst I was at school and college. After I finished university Aless and I worked in the same store when he asked me to go out to a drink and we’ve been together since. Aless booked a trip to Copenhagen where he took me to Tivoli Gardens, where we sat and had a drink then he popped the question."

"We both loved every second of our day, but our first dance was very special. We will never listen to the proclaimers (500 miles) in the same way."

"We chose 2tone because their work was exactly the style we were looking for. They were also extremely thorough throughout the whole planning and extremely professional. We are over the moon with our photographs and wedding album, they couldn’t have captured the day any better."

Venue: Healey Barn

The wedding dress: Mia Sposa

The men's suits: Moss Bros

Wedding cake: Family and friends

Flowers: Wildflower

Hair and Make up:  F.A.C.E - Sarah Stonehouse

Entertainment: The Ultimate Wedding DJ

Durham Castle - Laura and James

Durham Castle is a dream to photograph, wonderfully atmospheric, grand and full of history.  It also held some very special memories for Laura and James and so it could not have been more perfect for their wedding. 

I asked Laura to tell us about their wedding herself, so here goes!...

"We met at Durham University in 2006. We shared a few mutual friends, but it was playing college basketball that meant we started spending more time together. The most memorable turning point in our 'friendship' was when we spend a couple of hours together on a first aid course.... practising CPR (!) and then the long walk back home where we chatted for ages.  James proposed after 7 years together, on a slightly random Monday evening after I'd been at work for the entire day. He called me whilst I was driving home and asked me to give him a call 5 mins from home so he could start cooking the chicken fajitas. Little did I know it was actually so he could leave our flat - he left an envelope on the doormat which was the start of a treasure hunt... the end of which was a proposal :) Unfortunately the chicken fajitas didn't exist (!), but we went out for dinner before going on a mini break to Vienna 2 days later."

"We had a facetime chat with Chrissie and Nigel and loved how relaxed they were! I could instantly imagine them sharing in our wedding day."

For Laura and James, Durham Castle was always the one.  

"We were both students at Castle College in Durham, which is very lucky to have Durham Castle as the halls of residence! I lived in the castle during my final year, top floor of the keep - 127 steps up.  James used to refer to it as his 'city centre pent house! For us, there was only one place we could get married if we were ever to 'tie the knot!"

Laura chose vintage inspired accessories along with her stunning shoes - the Ivory 'Paris' stone embellished heeled sandals by No. 1 Jenny Packham.

Laura's stunningly beautiful wedding dress was the Jean gown by Badgley Mischka

"My wedding dress was the first thing I bought for the wedding - I loved the slightly vintage element of it and tried to carry this across the wedding (ie nothing too pristine and perfect - I didn't want 'matchy matchy'!)"

They were married in Durham Castle's medieval private chapel, the Tunstall chapel, constructed by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1540. 

"When I'm a guest at weddings I never look at the bride first when she walks down the aisle - I always look at the groom to see his reaction! I really wanted two photographers so that both moments could be captured"

"One of my favourite moments was walking back down the aisle after the service and seeing all our friends and family."

Laura and James were so much fun to work with, relaxed and clearly in love.  They made it too easy for us to capture some beautiful images of them alone together

"We loved the confetti gauntlet despite it almost choking James, the photo of him after getting confetti in his face is one of my favourites - even though it really shouldn't be!"

I asked Laura for a little advice for other couples getting married...

"Plan the day you want and that will make you happy. There can be so many differing opinions when planning a wedding. Just do what makes you happy -it's your day."

"As we were getting married in spring, I wanted to incorporate spring colours (light pink and purple). As it was Easter weekend we also wanted to give a little nod to this with the personalised easter egg favors."

Laura and James' beautiful wedding cake was carefully handcrafted by Laura's talented mother

"We looked over some photos that Nigel and Chrissie had taken at a wedding at Durham Castle and fell in love with them. Once I'd seen this there was no debate!"

"Make sure you find even just 5 mins to yourselves at the wedding.  We used the time when we went off to do some photos with Chrissie and Nigel after the dinner."

A favourite moment was our SECOND dance with our amazing band, Detroit Soul, 'This Old Heat of Mine'. We actually wanted this to be our first song, but didn't think the lyrics were appropriate!

Congratulations to you Laura and James once again.  Thank you for your words of wisdom, kindness and warmth - and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for inviting us to share with you, your wonderful wedding day at Durham Castle.

Laura and James carefully selected some fantastic suppliers for their wedding day:

Venue: Durham Castle

Venue styling: Pumpkin Events (friends business)

The wedding dress: Badgley Mischka: Jean

The men's suits: Moss

Wedding cake: Mother of the Bride!

Flowers: Style and Seated (friend)

Hair and Make up: Church Hairdressing (Tynemouth), F.A.C.E Makeup (Sarah Stonehouse)

Entertainment: Detroit Soul