Shanaine and Matthew

DIY Wedding at Pendrell Hall

First Date

On our first date, Matthew was actually a little unwell as he had an ear infection. He almost cancelled the date... which probably wouldn't have gone down well (I would have thought he was lying ha!). Due to the ear infection, he could only hear me from his right ear. I kept forgetting throughout the evening and thought he was just being rude and ignoring me LOL.

Matthew said he knew within the first three months that I was going to be his bride one day. A lot sooner than I did. Something just clicked from the beginning, we laughed (A LOT), had the same interests and enjoyed each other’s company.

The Dream Ring

We had always talked about marriage and knew it was something that would happen one day. During the beginning of summer 2020, we decided to go to Jewellery Quarter to browse engagement rings. It's still disputed until this day who's idea this was. I thought it was mine but Matthew reckons he planted the seed long before that lol.

I thought we would walk away with a ring that day after seeing the one my heart was set on. I didn't mind choosing my engagement ring ha! Unbeknown to me, Matthew had other plans. The ring I had chosen on the day, was the ring Matthew returned later that week to collect. He had made out that the price wasn't right at the time and we could get a better deal elsewhere.

Surprise Proposal

Little did I know he was planning the proposal with our families all along. He organised a surprise BBQ August 2020 for our family. During that small gap where we were allowed to have people in the garden. I thought we were just inviting his family round. As it would be the first time having them round in our home since buying it.

I was then surprised when my family members arrived (still didn't put the two together). I still thought we were just celebrating our new home. What I thought was going to be a joint speech between us thanking them for coming, turned into a proposal!

The Full Package

Pendrell was one of the first venues we visited. We visited 14 venues in total (even had a spreadsheet for them all haha!) From Manor Houses, to Barns, Hotels, the lot. It was the case that the others didn't quite tick all of the boxes that Pendrell did.

We loved that it was an exclusive venue and the location was great and not too far from the Church. The grounds were amazing and we just fell in love as soon as we arrived to view. One thing we did love is how well-kept the interior was. I notice all the details so this was a massive bonus.

DIY Wedding

I love pink. I've always been a pink lover and we both knew that the wedding theme would have pink in it. I love gold too, so as a compromise we went with pink, gold and blue.

I was a DIY Wedding Bride so I actually handcrafted all the centrepieces, flower ornaments, bottle vases, backdrop. Really gave it that personal touch.

Handcrafted Decor

I started crafting early 2020 and during the lockdowns, I found myself handcrafting more and more items for our home. This soon escalated to me starting my own small business (Tickled Rose) crafting ornaments. I decided that I was going to craft all our wedding decor/florals. I knew it was going to be a huge task. So I actually started doing it from 2020 onwards, bit by bit for our DIY Wedding in 2022.

There was a lot trial and error but we got there in the end. The hard work definitely paid off as I just loved how everything turned out. Even the mine and the bridesmaids’ bouquets were made by me! Now I do handcrafted ornaments for all occasions.

I knew I was going to have pink be the key colour so I used lots of pinks for my decorative pieces. This saved me a lot of money making these myself. I used artificial flowers so they would last - they looked just as good.

Dressed To Impress

I always wanted a sweetheart neckline dress. I was going to be traditional in the sense that it was a ball gown dress. I didn't mind if Matthew saw the dress before the big day. I wasn't really bothered by those sort of things (hence going to pick the engagement ring together). However, Matthew was adamant he didn't want to see the dress or my after dress or anything I would be wearing. He wanted it all to be a surprise. I think the thing I was excited to reveal the most was my hair. I had blonde hair for so long (years!). I didn't tell him that I was going to have dark hair for the wedding - he was so surprised!

For the groomsmen suits, this was going to be blue - slightly darker than royal blue but lighter than navy. I actually went suit shopping with Matthew and his Best Man. I thought they couldn't be trusted to get the right shade of colour. Like Pendrell, the first shop we visited ended up being the place we returned to a few months later.

Favourite Moments

One of my favourite moments was during our religious wedding ceremony at the church. There was a part of the ceremony where we were both knelt down to be prayed over and blessed. A ritual common for those getting married in our church. All the Bishops and Ministers (guests and family members) were invited to join our Pastor in praying for us. It was beautiful, we could really feel the love from those around us.

Matthew’s favourite part of the day was us entering the ballroom at Pendrell. We always knew we wanted our day to be fun and different. So we had pre-organised that the Bridal party and parents would dance whilst entering. We also asked the Bridal party to create a bridge for us to walk/dance under on entrance - such fun!

Evening Fun

We didn't decide on our first dance song until two months before the wedding. It took us so long (almost two years) to agree on a song we both liked. The penny dropped one day when we realised we both love Adele - Make You Feel my love. We then added a cultural twist to it by having the band do the reggae version. It was perfect! We were both surprisingly calm - not nervous at all. It was as if no one else was there, just the two of us.

We also hired Tru Groove Band. They are actually a band we had already seen a few times years ago at the Jam House in Birmingham. We had always said that if we ever get married, we would want them to perform at our wedding. They were great, they really tailored their songs/order to the guests.

A Fun-Filled Affair

We wanted our DIY Wedding to be fun, joyous and exciting. Also a little different to the weddings we had gone to previously. We wanted our religious ceremony to be fun and uplifting. So we organised that the church singers and the church band perform some songs for the guests arrival. Although they were religious songs, we added some zing to them. We had the band perform these with Caribbean & African beats - the guests loved it!

We had guests come up to us to say they really enjoyed it. Some of which wouldn't have set foot in a church before our wedding haha! One of our photographers also said that it was the most enjoyable church ceremony they have worked at. It was also an added bonus that our Pastor has a good sense of humour.

To keep with the theme, we had our bridal party and parents dance on entry to the wedding breakfast. Because... why not!? The Mr & Mrs game was a good laugh - which we knew it would be. I think our guests were surprised to learn that Matthew is more organised with his clothes than me!

We had smoke bombs for our photos which we was really fun to shoot. Fun in the sense that a couple didn't work first time round for some of the bridal party. Setting them off and trying to get the best shot without having a choking fit was hilarious. All a part of the fun!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Take some time for yourselves! I know you'll hear this a lot but the day will actually fly by. You will blink and it will be over. So in the midst of everything try and sneak away for a moment, so you can take it all in.

Don't get swayed by the opinions/drama of family and friends. It's likely they'll have something to say on everything or have a problem you'll have to deal with. Just focus on the two of you and stick to what you both want - forget the rest!