Katie and Ian were married back in the summer on Friday 27 ^th June 2014 beside the sea in Devon. The sun shone as they treated their guests to a boat trip and a visit to a special beach hut (be sure to read the full report below).

They wanted to create a really natural and simple day. They chose to have pretty florals including bunches of lavender for the bridesmaids who wore grey frocks; a total delight.

I adore this bride and groom's stylish attire and the fun beach themed cake. Amazing.

Thanks so very much to the fabulous Hayley Savage Photography for sharing her photographs this morning.

THE PROPOSAL | Ian proposed to me at Mudeford Beach (near Christchurch in Dorset), he knows it is my favourite place as my Grandma had lived nearby there while I was growing up and I have so many happy memories of the area. Ian booked a beach hut for the night (number 84) and proposed to me after a bbq with champagne while the sun went down over the harbour. It was the most romantic & perfect proposal (he did good!) We decided to take all of our friends over to Mudeford beach on our wedding day to show them our special place.

THE VISION | We wanted our wedding day to be very natural, I am not really into blingy things and I think that simple is sometimes far more beautiful. We wanted a day that everyone would remember that included all of our favourite places.

We were married in a church in New Milton and from there our guests were taken on a coach over to Mudeford Quay (10 minutes drive). To get across to Mudeford sandbank (the beach) we took our guests on a 2 minute ferry ride. At the beach we enjoyed celebratory drinks and a little snack for an hour (complimentary lunch bags provided by the bride and groom). From the beach we took our guests on a 20 minute boat ride over to Christchurch, where we saw swans and horses along the way, then we had a lovely river walk to get from the harbour to the hotel where our reception was being held. Cocktails and canapés were served on the lawn with the view of the beautiful castle ruins before being seated for a 3 course meal in The Kings Hotel.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We set the date for the wedding in Nov 2013 so I had 7 months to plan the day. It took a lot more time to do everything than I had first expected as I wanted to make a lot of things for the wedding myself (adding to the natural look). I really enjoyed the whole process - wish I could do it all over again!

BUDGET | Our budget was around the 12k mark. We only had what we could save in the time during the planning period as we didn't want to start married life with debt hanging over us and we had just bought our first home together (luckily had some help from the family too). We managed to do everything (apart from the honeymoon) within the budget. It just goes to show you can have an amazing day without spending 20k + which is what most people seem to be spending now.

THE VENUE | We had our wedding reception at The Kings Hotel in Christchurch. This is a beautiful hotel that overlooks a lovely green with old castle ruins, a gorgeous church and a pavilion (very picturesque). This is the place my grandma used to take me to feed the ducks when I was little so again it has a wonderful sentimental attachment for me. I feel emotional every time I visit the area as it is such a special place. How funny that when I was a little girl I had no idea I would be walking down the same river path as a bride one day!

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I fell in love with a slightly vintage style lace dress with a beautiful low back and a small train. I knew in my head that I didn't want a typical strapless, corset top, princess style dress. I wanted something with straps that was classy and elegant and would also fit with the style of the day. My dream dress was so comfortable and light - perfect for the beach and the boat trips!

FINDING THE DRESS | I hated every single part of dress shopping until I had found 'the dress'. I knew in my head what I wanted but I just couldn't find it anywhere! The first time I went dress shopping I left feeling so deflated and even went home with a migraine! I felt sure I was never going to find what I wanted. Most girls love this part of the wedding preparations but I was definite about what I didn't want that I had to search through quite a few shops before I found anything I liked ..... It is so so worth it when you find the right one though!

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Ian wanted to wear a blue suit for the wedding; he wanted something a little different from the usual navy, gray or black wedding suits you see. It was only fair that Ian should choose his own outfit (instead of the bride completely taking over). I was really pleased with what he chose and I thought he looked very handsome. The suits were from Next so they were really reasonably priced and now he can wear it again in the future whenever he has a fancy event to go to.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | As we had a catholic wedding we chose 2 readings from the bible which Ian's sister Nicola and his best man Steve (1 of 4 best men) read. We also asked my bridesmaids Nicki and our niece Alexa to read some bidding prayers for us - Alexa really did us proud and she was so brave to stand up in front of 75 people to read for us!

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | I asked my sister and my 3 best friends to be bridesmaids as well as my 3 nieces and our nephew as page boy. They all looked so beautiful on the day - I couldn't have got through the day without them all there to support me! The little bridesmaids looked especially gorgeous!

THE FLOWERS | We ordered our flowers from 'Beyond the Gate' florists in Christchurch. We wanted very natural country style flowers - nothing too fancy, I just wanted them to look as though they had been swept up out of a meadow and gathered together (nothing to staged or stiff looking). The bridesmaids had a simple bunch of lavender (my favourite) and it looked so lovely with their pastel grey dresses. Alwyn at the florists listened to exactly what I wanted and prepared the flowers beautifully for us.

THE CAKE | Ian's sister Nicola made our wedding cake for us (it was absolutely amazing). She themed it around the beach hut that Ian proposed in .... it couldn't have been more perfect and it tasted fabulous too!

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Our Photographer (Hayley Savage) was absolutely fantastic. Hayley worked so so hard to ensure that we had all of the shots we wanted on the day. I am so impressed with the pictures we have received, it leaves us with such wonderful memories of the day! Every time I look through the pictures I feel like I am reliving the whole day all over again. Hayley captured the atmosphere so well! We ran massively over schedule but Hayley didn't desert us, she stuck with it and stayed until she was sure she had all of the pictures we needed.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | The décor for the church was pretty simple , we had small bunches of flowers (hung in pots) and white wicker hearts hung on the end of the aisles. All the flowers we bought from a garden centre and arranged by my mum and the hearts were about £6 each so you don't need to spend a fortune to make your ceremony look beautiful. At the venue we had a beautiful bunch of flowers (prepared by the florist) on each table, handmade favours, bunting, a sweet table and a homemade photo booth for the guests to enjoy. I was really impressed with the way it all came together and the room looked so beautiful on the day!

THE HONEYMOON | We went to Santorini and Mykonos for our honeymoon and had the most amazing time. It was just as we planned, very relaxing, lots of greek food and a little bit of partying too (which resulted in Ian getting a drunken 'Katie' tattoo on his chest he he).

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | The most memorable moment for me was reaching the top of the aisle and seeing Ian's teary eyes. It overwhelmed me with emotion! I had told him before hand that if he didn't cry I would pinch him really hard but I didn't need to ... it turns out that seeing his bride was enough to set him off.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Don't let anyone pressurise you into planning a day that is not right for you, you should have the day of your dreams in a place that is special to you both. Keep things simple and don't blow your budget on unnecessary things. On the day all you actually care about is getting married to the person you love - all the other silly little bits and bobs that you think are important during the planning stage are so irrelevant when the day comes. Take a moment together whenever you can to step back and look at the day you have made, look at your guests enjoying themselves and soak it in. It goes so so fast you feel like you dreamt the whole thing!

Let your other half get involved if he/she wants to but if they are like my Ian then double check what they have done afterwards to avoid the risk of shock or heart failure at a later date.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Hayley Savage Photography

Flowers | Beyond the Gate

Venue | The Kings Hotel

Just perfect.

Thanks so very much to Katie and Ian for sharing their gorgeous wedding with us today XOXO Lou