Love is sweet….Everything Bling!” - Part 1 - The Wedding of Julie and Pharic

In June this year I was thrilled to be involved in the Wedding of Julie Le Blanc and Pharic Smith.

I had met Julie at the tail end of last year through her amazing Business, Julies Candy Cart.

Julie's Candy Cart is a gorgeous colour coordinated Edwardian style cart, and an innovative twist on the Candy Buffet. Its an incredible, and eye catching centre piece for weddings or any special occasion/celebration.

Today I am really excited to share the story of how Julie and her husband met, their Wedding Planning journey and recollections of their lovely day with some beautiful images.

When and how did you get engaged?

"Pharic proposed to me as the bells rang in the New year 2008. This was down in Formby where I used to live while having a party at my house with close friends."

Tell me about your Planning journey

"We planned to marry in a hotel in the Lake District originally (a half way mark for my family being in Merseyside and his being in Glasgow) but after a fantastic engagement party at our house in Strathaven, with a hog roast and a live band, we re-thought our plans and decided on a re-run and to plan a DIY wedding at home."

"We looked into actually getting married in the garden but when we researched the civil ceremony licencing rules and regulations we decided it was a risk to apply.
We didn’t want to risk paying out the money for the application, then only to be turned down. It was a lot of money to loose when working to a budget."

"On one of our trips down to my mum’s in Merseyside, we stopped at Gretna Green.
We had a look around and realised that it was actually so easy to marry at Gretna.
All we had to do was pay the fee and it was all arranged for us.
We didn’t even have to arrange the registrar, they did that for us, and we were guaranteed one for the day and time that we wanted to marry."

"We didn’t like the feel of the blacksmith’s shop as we felt it was over commercialised and a little bit small, so we looked into different ceremony only venues.
That’s when we came across Anvil Hall. It was originally a Catholic church, very beautiful and grand. No longer a church, it is now used as a wedding venue and you can have a religious or a civil ceremony there. You get married by candle light over the anvil.
The civil celebrant even strikes the anvil at the end of the ceremony to seal the marriage."

So the date was set for the 4th of June 2011, a temperate day weather wise but boyed by the sunshine of the smiles that were abundant.

Julie started the day with some pampering and some mummy / daughter time.

Her daughter Ella was flower girl.

Just before leaving for Gretna Julie had the chance to take a breath and share the moment with her mum, and her son David who gave her away.

I had arrived at this time to continue the set up that Julie had started, and co-ordinate the suppliers that were arriving in her absence.

Julie continues her recollections from when her Vintage Car reached Gretna

"For one and a half hours the Anvil hall would be ours. We were able to add anything to the ceremony that we wanted. Pharic’s sister read a poem for us at the beginning of the ceremony and we read a poem to each other at the end."

"Our guests from down South and from Glasgow met us at Anvil hall for the wedding which was about a 2 hour journey for them."

Pharic, with his Best Man John.

Julie, the beautiful Bride with her Maid of Honour, Janette.

Pretty as a little Princess.

Julie, just before she was walked down the aisle by son, David.

Some gorgeous images taken in Gretna Hall Gardens.

And so two became one.

We continue this love story in Part 2, where Julie shares her inspiration for the Wedding Theme and we see the continued Celebration.

Photography: Colin Carpenter and Paul Atherton.