Hansley Beard

The Garden Wedding of       Alyx and Jonny Part 3

As night fell we switched on all the outdoor fairy lights in the trees and the battery lights in the white paper lanterns, and lit all the candles and tealights









The wedding guests moved down to the River Tent, ready for the First Dance and a night of dancing to Ceilidh band The Fiddler’s Wreck



After a feast of chip butties and an evening of fun, Alyx and Jonny went down the lighted slipway to get on their charted narrowboat, which had been arranged to take them down river to York

Before saying their goodbyes, they lit two sky lanterns and released them into the night sky

A few final comments from Alyx and Jonny:
“Because we’d chosen to have the reception at home rather than at a hired venue, we needed someone to manage the day for us, from the reception onwards, which was a huge undertaking. Hansley Beard took on the challenge brilliantly, which included managing suppliers, prompting our toastmaster, coordinating lighting, cueing the caterers, and many, many more things! Initially we were worried that we were asking too much – but their positive and constructive approach rid us of those fears straight away. And that’s a great example of why we’re so grateful to have found Hansley Beard – at every single step along the way, they really went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we’d dreamed of, and without once making us feel like we were asking too much. The reception went more perfectly than we’d ever hoped it could, and we loved every minute of it – and so much of that is thanks to Hansley Beard!”

We wish Alyx and Jonny a very happy life together and thanks for letting us be part of your special day!

All black-framed photographs used by kind permission of the fabulous Damian James Bramley, DJB Photography, York
All other images by Jennie Beard and Alan Aldridge.

Posted Sun, 12 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Catering, Entertainment, Event Theming, Summer Wedding, Venue Decor, Wedding Day Management

The Garden Wedding of       Alyx and Jonny Part 2

The Garden Reception:
Alyx and Jonny said “It was really important to us to have a relaxed, informal atmosphere for our guests once they reached the reception, and the décor played a huge role in achieving that. Our blue and white theme was present (especially in the dinner tent), but we also wanted to add in some other colours to make the garden as summery and colourful as possible. Using ethically sourced materials was also important to us, but that of course adds an extra dimension to the search. Hansley Beard was fantastic at finding all sorts of options for us to choose from, and excellent at turning our vague ideas into gorgeous reality!”

Here’s what Hansley Beard did to achieve this look:

We decorated the garden trees with white and coloured paper Chinese lanterns

Using shepherd hooks and wooden and metal lanterns from Hansley Beard’s Hire collection, we created decorative walkways, walls and flowerbeds



Guests arrived for the drinks reception and an ice cream from Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream whilst being entertained by a Jazz Quartet



Time for cutting the wonderful hedgehog themed cake, made by one of Alyx and Jonny’s talented guests


Time for the Wedding Breakfast. Table Plan designed by Jessica Harvey at JK Harvey Design., on one of our easels

Working with Sesame Catering from Sheffield, we decorated the reception tables with colbalt blue wine glasses, tealight holders and ribbon around the napkins. For the favours Alyx had been busy shopping in Singapore and brought back colourful fans for the ladies whilst the gentleman each received a lottery ticket in a Chinese envelope

Flowers were by Celia from Flowers by Design in Easingwold. The marquee was decorated with blue and white bunting and the tables were named after key places in Alyx and Jonny’s life

After dinner, the bridal party went for a stroll down the garden

Alongside the second marquee, which was allocated for the later dancing and entertainment, we set up a chill area with deck chairs and bunting, for guests to relax on the riverbank

Alyx and Jonny go down to the riverside to catch the evening light…

We’ll bring you more of the evening photos tomorrow….

All black-framed photographs used by kind permission of the fabulous Damian James Bramley, DJB Photography, York
All other images by Jennie Beard.

Posted Sun, 12 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Catering, Entertainment, Ice Cream, Summer Wedding, Venue Decor, Wedding Day Management

The Garden Wedding of       Alyx and Jonny

As a wedding planner I like to be very hands-on and I often get asked by brides and grooms not only to help develop their ideas for their wedding decor but also to do the actual practical setting up for the wedding. Initially Alyx and Jonny got in touch with us to see if we could work alongside their wedding caterers from Sesame to help to decorate the reception tables. Alyx and Jonny were about to go to work in Singapore for 6 months and needed help to get things sorted whilst they were away (with frequent email contact!). In the end, Hansley Beard also sourced and prepared many of the decor products relating to their ideas for the entire outdoor site and sourced and set up the outdoor lighting, setting up the day before and on the morning of the wedding and going back the day after to pack it all away again. However this was no ordinary wedding as Alyx had arranged to have their outdoor wedding reception in her parents’ beautiful three-tiered garden in the idyllic village of Newton-on-Ouse in York, going down to the River Ouse. 

This meant bringing in everything from scratch to create a wonderful reception party for their 80 guests. Alyx and Jonny booked 2 Capri Marquees from Perfect Day Marquee Hire and we set about working out the spacing and logistics for catering, power, lighting and PA, visiting the garden and liaising with Alyx’s parents. We liaised with all the relevant suppliers before the wedding and then managed everything on the day (and night!) to ensure it all worked together smoothly in the right place at the right time! After months of measurements, KVAs and T-connectors, everything came together for what turned out to be a perfect sunny day with blue sky and fluffy white clouds. A big thank you especially to Paul from CVC Hire who came and set up the PA for both tents and hooked up all the electrics to the generator. Also to the members of our set-up team on the day, Emma Willis from The Wedding Daze and Rosa Shutt.

For now here are a few taster images from the wedding ceremony stage of the wedding day:

Alyx and Jonny were married at All Saints’ Church, 5 minutes walk from Alyx’s parents’ garden, arriving in an amazingly quirky pedicab from the Durham Pedicab company and the guests arriving in an old vintage bus from the Yorkshire Heritage Bus Company.

Alyx and Jonny said, “Even though we did a lot of planning and preparation before moving out to Singapore for six months, we found that decisions about décor and other details couldn’t be made any earlier than the months just before the wedding. Because of this we desperately needed help back in the UK to coordinate it all – and that’s where Hansley Beard was such an enormous help. They really eased the burden by doing all the researching and sourcing of décor details, which we simply couldn’t have done from Asia! Their previous experience and knowledge of where to source things was also a huge benefit – on our own we would never have found half the things we’d wanted when we first imagined the wedding.”

Tomorrow we’ll be showcasing the decor and the wonderful garden reception party so see you back here soon!

All black-framed photographs used by kind permission of the fabulous Damian James Bramley, DJB Photography, York

Posted Sun, 12 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Catering, Entertainment, Ice Cream, Summer Wedding, Venue Decor, Wedding Day Management, Weddings

Vintage Bridal Soiree, Sheffield ~ Get your tickets!

Tickets are now on sale for our Vintage Bridal Soiree to be held on 30th September 2010 6-10pm at the fabulous Chimney House, Kelham Island, Sheffield. We have been working hard on the event along with Laura from Little White Book, Blanche from Coco Catering and Anna from Swallows and Damsons.

The evening will showcase the current vintage trends including vintage style wedding cakes, a selection of vintage attire, vintage crockery, a candy buffet, local wedding planners, bridal flowers, fairground food and mouth watering cocktails. There will also be a medley of entertainment including local Jazz singer Emily West, City Magicians, and live caricatures by Richard Smith.

Tickets are on sale at £5.00 each with all proceeds going to Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

For further information and tickets please contact Laura Green at Little White Book on 07515697130 or email thelittlewhitebook@me.com

Poster designed by Rich Smith Illustration

Don’t delay! Get your tickets today!

Posted Thu, 09 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Vintage Accessories, Vintage Crockery Hire, Vintage Styling, Vintage Weddings

Happy Vintage brides?

People often point out to me, as an avid collector of old wedding photographs, that the older photos from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, show what look like unhappy and slightly dour brides. Here are a couple of examples (though the grooms on these do seem to be managing a bit of a smile!):


But, we know that this was to do with the photographic techniques of the times because the newly married couple had been told to stand completely still without moving throughout the long exposure time, so holding a smile wouldn’t have been easy!

I recently went to the launch of the Yorkshire Film Archive’s new online website yfaonline, where they have uploaded lots of amazing old film footage from all over Yorkshire. It was whilst browsing on the site one day that I came across a film from the 1920s entitled ‘Popular Wedding at Roundhay’.

What I love about this film is that it shows us a 1920s wedding where, as far as I can tell, everyone including the bride is smilling and laughing, which of course would have been the case on such a joyous day and something that was maybe harder to capture with still photography.

The film, made by Debenham & Co. York, shows the wedding of Fred Groves and Alice Rothwell on the 20th October 1920. The Bride, Alice, who was 32 at the time, was given away by her father, John Rothwell Esq., a furniture dealer. The groom, Fred Groves, who was 33 at the time, was a civil servant, and his father, Hebdon Groves, was a farmer.  The minister was the Revd Sutcliffe Thomas and the witnesses were Norman Groves and Olive Gott.

To watch the film, which lasts about five and a half minutes, go to the yfaonline website, select ‘1920s’ in the ‘browse by decade’ box and then when the search results come up, scroll down to ‘Popular Wedding at Roundhay’.

Thanks to the Yorkshire Film Archive for providing me with the stills from the film for this blog.

Posted Sun, 05 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Vintage Wedding Films, Vintage Weddings