Aspen Photographic have given us this wonderful opportunity to share Kirsty and Marks’ gorgeous real wedding. Their New York themed fuchsia wedding is stunning; the vibrant pink proves you don’t have to opt for a traditional pastel shade, a bolder tone can be just as elegant and memorable. Hope you enjoy this week’s real wedding just as much as we did!
Bride and Groom… Kirsty and Mark
Wedding date… Saturday 8th March 2014
We met… At a work event, where we were introduced through mutual friends. The nursery I work at was holding a summer BBQ and Mark came along to help with the food as he was friends with my manager and her husband.
The proposal… Mark proposed on Bow Bridge in Central Park on a holiday to New York. It was very romantic and I loved the fact it was a surprise, I had no idea what he was planning as we had only been together 16 months. I felt a bit guilty afterwards because he had to drag me to the bridge as I wanted to go to the Central Park zoo! I had no idea why he wanted to go to the bridge so badly!
I knew he was ‘the one’… Straight away! I know that sounds cheesy.
Length of engagement… 2 Years
How did Confetti.co.uk help in your big day? I loved looking at the real weddings page for inspiration.
My dress was… From Alta Costura Bride in Maidstone. I only went in to try on a few dresses to get an idea of what I liked and what suited me but I ended up finding my dream dress. The dress was strapless so the lovely seamstress Isabella worked with me to make some beautiful straps, making my dress a one of a kind!
My bridal accessories were… A diamanté tiara and veil from Alta Costura Bride. My necklace and earrings belonged to my nan who couldn’t make it to the wedding.
Bridal make up…. Was done my Gemma Pass the make up artist.
Our bridesmaids were… My best friends Vicky and Sarah. My sister Hannah was Maid of Honour. I knew I wanted the girls to wear the same dress and I have always liked long bridesmaid dresses. We chose the dress between the four of us, I wanted to make sure the girls all liked the dresses and were comfortable wearing it. 
Our best men were… Shane, Pete, Matt, Iain and Alex, they all shared the role and did a really funny best man speech together. Mark couldn’t make a decision on who was to be his best man so he chose 5!
Our wedding ceremony was… Held at Cooling Castle Barn. We had a simple ceremony with 80 guests and two readings; the first was the lyrics to the song Life’s a happy song from the Muppets movie and the second was a poem called ‘On Your Wedding Day.’ 
Our wedding photographer was… Kelly and Steve from Aspen Photographic and they were both fantastic! We had a couple of meetings with them before the wedding to discuss what we wanted from the photos and they really took our ideas on board. On the day Kelly put me at ease although it was very strange being in front of the camera at first. We are really pleased with the photos and would highly recommend them. 
Our wedding reception was held at… Cooling Castle Barn. It was the only venue we visited and we fell in love with it, for us there was no need to visit anywhere else. There is about a 3 year waiting list but we were lucky and managed to it book due to a cancellation. 
Our wedding theme were… Fuchsia pink and silver and our table plan and table names were New York themed as it was where we got engaged. 
Our wedding cake was… A simple 3 tier cake that was decorated to match our flowers and centrepieces.
Our favourite part of the wedding was… The evening. We managed to spend a few minutes in the gardens together just taking it all in and thinking that everyone who attended our big day were there for us! We would recommend to anybody getting married to try and find 5 minutes at some point to step back and take it all in because the day goes by so quick!
Our wedding was unique and special because… We had lots of little bits and bobs that made our wedding unique to us. I had my nan’s brooch worked into my flowers, we had a Mr and Mrs rubber duck by the cake and we had friends do a reading from the muppets during the ceremony, it probably sounded a bit random but to us the words were perfect. We also had a sweets table which was very popular with our guests.
Our first dance was… An acoustic version of Just the way you are by Bruno Mars. 
What is your advice for other brides? If you feel like there is too much to do, write it all down and then just pick one or two things to focus on each week. In the last couple of months before the wedding, each week we set out what we needed to do and divided the jobs between us.
Our honeymoon was… A two weeks trip to the Dominican Republic, it was amazing and we are hoping one day we will be able to go back!
Suppliers
Wedding Dress: Alta Costura Maidstone | Wedding Shoes: BHS | Wedding Suits: Moss Bros | Wedding Bridesmaid Dresses: Alta Costura | Wedding Flowers: Danny Watchorn | Wedding Photographer: Aspen photographic | Wedding Cake: Andrea Payne | Wedding Venue: Cooling Castle Barn | Sweet table: Sweets for my Sweet | Makeup: Gemma Pass
