A Co Down couple have shared a look into their wedding day which was "a dream come true".
Caroline, 27, and 28-year-old Jake Lendrum, from the Ards Peninsula, had their big day on December 10, 2022, at Hillmount House in Larne, Co Antrim.
In our weekly feature Inside My Wedding, couples are delving into their big day to give bride and grooms-to-be some top tips.
Read more: Inside My Wedding: Couple's special day at Orange Tree House
The pair got engaged on March 28, 2021.
Caroline has told all on their special day!
Tell us all about your wedding day!
Simply a dream come true!
How did you begin planning your wedding?
The starting point was the venue and date. We always knew a winter wedding was our vibe, and a Saturday. Luckily Hillmount House had Saturday 10th December available, which also happened to be my Nanny’s 80th birthday – it was lovely to be able to celebrate with her on our special day and surrounded by our nearest and dearest!
I then started looking for a wedding dress and booked my seamstress as I was told they book up very quickly, which was 100% correct! Luckily, La Boda Bridal, where I bought my dress, recommended a good list of seamstresses.
How did you decide on your venue?
I have a degree and years of experience as an events manager and have been lucky enough to work in some of the most beautiful venues across Northern Ireland. I always knew when I got married, I wanted somewhere different, a venue I had never worked at before and somewhere a little quirky.
After endless research, I came across Hillmount House on social media one day, and knew straight away that’s where I wanted to get married. We always knew that we wanted somewhere intimate, exclusive, and not a hotel. After booking a viewing, Jake and I headed off and met with Andrew and Simon, the owners of Hillmount, and we were sold on the venue straight away.
Hillmount House is a privately owned Georgian House, with a renovated barn, open courtyard, a newly built contemporary style barn (newly built in 2022), and the most beautiful grounds. You can also exclusively hire the country house for the weekend which offers accommodation for up to 10 guests, which was a massive bonus for us. We loved the idea of everything being in one location, and there were numerous accommodation options for our guests within a five minute drive of the venue.
Tell us all about your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses and suits!
After four different bridal shops, I booked an appointment with La Boda Bridal in Banbridge. The service was exceptional, one I had never experienced before. They welcomed my mum, nanny, bridesmaid Jessica and I with open arms, provided champagne and chocolates and then I got trying on the dresses.
Before my initial appointment at La Boda Bridal in Banbridge, I had tried four other wedding dress shops where I had tried on numerous dresses, but I was still very unsure of what style I wanted and was having no luck whatsoever.
My mum and nanny had picked one dress out which they both loved, and I had chosen another couple along with Jessica. I tried on the one my mum and nanny had picked out first, and when I put it on, I just had the most amazing feeling come over me and knew it was the one.
Emma (one of the lovely consultants at La Boda) drew back the curtain and mum, nanny and Jessica sat in tears! I tried on a few of the others, but nothing compared. It made me feel like a princess! Designer: Pronovias.
We bought the bridesmaid and flower girl dresses from Seraphim Bridal in Greyabbey. Catherine was excellent and very accommodating. I had a maid of honour (Jazz), three bridesmaids (Jessica, Eve and Holly) and a flower girl (Farrah), who all varied in age. I wanted the dresses to suit their ages, so I knew I needed different designs.
Seraphim Bridal has a wide range of dresses to suit all ages and had exactly what we wanted. With us having a December wedding, I wanted something slightly different and not the usual burgundy, navy, golds. Seraphim had such a huge range to choose from. I had known for a while that I wanted a deep purple and ended up going with a mix of velvet and embellishment dresses, which were absolutely stunning on each of the girls.
We opted for hiring the men’s suits and after trying out a few different shops, Focus in Bangor had exactly what Jake wanted. A simple, tweed navy suit. The service was great, from the initial trying suits on, to measuring up, to collecting the suits which were all packed and ready for the big day!
What was the best part in the build up to your day?
As mentioned previously, I have a degree and years of experience in the events industry, so I had everything organised and planned well in advance. I knew exactly the vibe and style I wanted from I was a teenager! I would 100% say my favourite memory from the planning stage will forever be the moment I found my dream dress at La Boda Bridal, the reaction from my mum, nanny and bridesmaid Jessica I will forever cherish.
Jake said: "I didn’t have much to do other than try on suits, get my hair cut and show up on the day. Caroline knew exactly what her dream wedding looked like, and the hard work and 18 months of planning paid off."
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
Gosh how could I ever choose one favourite? There are so many for me personally, but my top two would be walking down the stairs at Hillmount House to see my daddy, a moment I will forever cherish. And of course, obviously seeing Jake at the end of the aisle – he might have even shed a little tear!
Another huge bonus to both Jake and I, was the fact there was the option to exclusively hire the beautiful Georgian country house for the weekend, which we did. The house offers five double bedrooms, which meant me, my parents and the bridal party headed up on the Friday afternoon and enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea and a relaxed evening before the big day on the Saturday.
Wakening up on the wedding day [and] knowing I didn’t have to travel anywhere created a calm and relaxed environment and the whole bridal party could sit back and relax whilst getting glammed up! On the Sunday, we invited our guests back up to Hillmount for an intimate post-wedding celebration. It was lovely for the two of us to have the chance to thank our guests for celebrating our wedding day with us and share a few stories from the night before!
Jake said: "100% seeing Caroline walk down the aisle!"
What would you tell other bride and grooms to plan first and what are your top tips?
Ask around and research different suppliers before jumping in and booking just anyone. You really do want to have a team of amazing suppliers join you on your wedding day! Go and visit different venues, get to know their preferred suppliers, go to the wedding fayres - you can sometimes pick up a great deal! We found lots of our suppliers through ‘preferred supplier’ lists, or wedding fayres and I can honestly say we had a dream team that made everything so smooth and relaxed for us on the run up and on the day itself.
Enjoy every moment! Continue to make time for each other and have date nights on the run up to the wedding because sometimes the planning can take over.
On the wedding day, relax, have fun, take it all in and enjoy every single moment because it is over in a flash! But I can’t recommend enough to take five minutes out of the day for just the two of you.
What were the hardest parts to plan? Did you come across any difficulties?
There was surprisingly not a huge amount of stress at all within the planning stages. The table plan can be a little tricky as you want to make sure everyone will be happy, but ours worked out well as we had long tables. The week running up to the wedding, unfortunately grandparents fell ill, along with family members, so the upset [of] knowing they couldn’t make it to our special day was hard, but regardless it was the most magical day we could have ever dreamt of!
Did you have a theme?
With it being at Christmas time, I wanted a wintery wedding vibe, but not an overkill of Christmas. I always knew I wanted deep but bright colours incorporated into our wedding. I wanted it to feel and look rich, but also keep within the wintry December vibes. We had deep purple and pink colours throughout the wedding, and a few Christmassy elements such as fairy lights, Christmas trees, and we had folded the guests dinner napkins into Christmas trees. The wedding breakfast was a traditional Christmas turkey and ham dinner (which went down a treat).
Our main vibe was to create a fun, entertaining day for our guests. We had music throughout our drinks reception, then after [the] main meal, we surprised our guests with a performance by Fiddler Adam who appeared out of nowhere with his fiddle ready to take action... I always think after a long day and a heavy meal, you can start to feel a bit tired and full, but Fiddler Adam got everyone on their feet, singing dancing, and doing the Conga line around the room!
Then to finish the evening off, we had the Manouche Boys who got everyone on the dance floor from start to finish, followed by DJ Paul Ritchie who played the best songs into the early hours, with some of our guests finishing the night stealing the microphone and singing Oasis and Sweet Caroline!
Would you do anything different or wish there was anything you didn't worry about?
Make the day slow down and last longer… The day goes in a flash!
During the planning stage everyone told me to stop sweating the small things, but truthfully, I love the ‘little things’ - the handmade signs, the personal touches, the favours, the way the napkins are folded, but that’s just me. I have always loved being creative and adding my own personal touch and I know some guests really picked up on it, which is all that matters!
Suppliers:
- Ceremony and reception location: Hillmount House, Larne
- Caterers: Caulfield & Dorrity Catering
- Wedding dress: La Boda Bridal, Banbridge
- Bridesmaids dresses: Seraphim Bridal, Greyabbey
- Groomswear: Focus NI, Bangor
- Makeup: Holly McNaghten
- Hair: Kim Annesley, NI Wedding and Bridal Hair Stylist
- Flowers: Victoriana Floral, Larne
- Room décor: Caroline created their own favours, napkins, table plan, wedding signage for guests
- Rings: Lunns
- Cake: Yums the Word, Cloughey
- Stationery: Two Little Words, Comber
- Transport: None required as stayed at the venue for the whole weekend
- Photography: Jordan Hayes, To The Moon And Back NI
- Videography: Minford Media, Carrickfergus
Entertainment: Erin McBride (ceremony and drinks reception), Fiddler Adam (after dinner entertainment), Manouche Boys (evening band) and DJ Paul Ritchie (DJ)
- Celebrant/Humanist: Claire Shearer
- Wedding day dress service: Donna from Sew Handy
All images by To The Moon And Back NI, @tothemoonandback.ni, www.tothemoonandbackni.com.
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Do you want to tell us all about your wedding day? Email be@belfastlive.co.uk for your chance to be featured.
