MISS JO BLACK’S TATTOOED TALES – THE VENUE

So it’s been a while since we heard from Marry Me Ink’s blogging bride Jo.. She’s been uber busy at tattoo conventions (See her Instagram feed for it all!) and just general wedding planning. This edition is all about the venue!! (And oh my, it’s a good one!)

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It has been a while… For which I am sorry! Life kind of ran away with me and I struggled to find a moment to collect and organise my thoughts. Once I had organised my thoughts, my Macbook decided to spectacularly end it’s own life and I lost all of my (somewhat chaotic) ramblings for the second instalment of ‘Blogging Bride’.

However, I am here now. And I have some new stories to share with you.

Thinking back to when I wrote the first instalment and reading back over what I wrote, it seems aeons ago that I began this journey from single gal to bride to be.

I suppose it seems obvious to say that planning a wedding can seem an incredibly daunting task when absolutely nothing has been arranged yet. So I started with the most basic task of deciding where and when we would tie the knot. Knowing full well that neither of us worship the sun, in fact I am about as pale as they come, we decided that a winter wedding would not only provide the cosy warmth of a Christmas party in the country, but more importantly would almost halve the cost of our venue!

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We looked at Orchardleigh House near Frome, but to be honest it was a little grandiose for our needs and we wanted somewhere we could feel intimate with our guests.  A friend suggested that we visit Cleeve House, built in 1857 and just a stones throw from my parents home in Devizes, in the middle of beautiful countryside with rolling hills and gorgeous views it sounded perfect. 

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Leigh and myself drove over to meet my Mum at Cleeve House and instantly we fell in love with it. It was like looking at the fairytale castle of a gothic princess from the outside. Inside a fire roared in a gigantic fireplace in the ‘great hall’ and that cosy Christmas feeling was almost overwhelming. I think we took all of 3 seconds to decide and confirm.

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The Mermaid Bride

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Oh how I’ve been planning to share this shoot from Heline Bekker Photography with you for a while! The shoot features tattooed bride bombshell regular Gwenda Jeffs and she’s totally killing it at the coastal mermaid bride!

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We love to explore and visit locations with a different look and feel. We’d been planning a beach shoot for a while but typically, we had to wait for the weather to be kind! Our main goal was just to go and explore the location without any plan set in stone, to be free to shoot it how we wanted and just to have fun.

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For me it was a day I’ll never forget. I hadn’t visited Kingsgate Bay before, so when I saw it I freaked out a bit like a kid in a candy store! To me the place has a certain feel to it, a mystery – and I love that!

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TATTOO TUESDAY – 11th August 2015

Everyone knows how much I’m a sucker for Disney tattoos.. So when Laura Walsh (who is the creator of my tattoo sleeve) posted this last month, I just had to share it! It’s the stained glass rose from The Beauty & The Beast film (for those who are not familiar).

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Laura is currently inking at Voodoo Tattoo Studio in Warrington, Merseyside and you can see more of her work on her Instagram – be sure to go and follow @tcblaura.

An Outdoor Whispering Tree Ranch Wedding – Leah & James

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Tattooed bride Leah looked absolutely gorgeous in her lace dress and pearls when she married James at vintage wedding venue the Whispering Tree Ranch. Kylee Elyse Photography captured their day beautifully and it makes me wish I was there at their wedding to see all the wonder.

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James and my story didn’t really start the day we met. We met through mutual friends and shared a family experience that we both went through during different years. With how life works out, we went different ways for 3 years. Thanks to social media, I realized he was not with his last girlfriend and thought it would be okay to message him a cute heart to get his attention. I was living in my home state NJ at the time and was planning on moving back to AZ. I was attempting to build some relationships up prior to my move. I got his number because I thought he was cute and wanted to catch up once I got back into AZ. We spoke for a few months and once I got into AZ, I asked him to help me move. He showed up later that afternoon and we both knew, we were all we wanted.

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James made me forget I was a mom and an adult. He made me feel extremely nervous but in a good way and the butterflies in my stomach went wild. He picked me up with a hug, spun me around and we had our first kiss! The world just stopped. I remember him taking me in his Tundra down the 101 to In and Out with my daughter asleep and so exhausted from the move. In NJ we don’t have In and Out so it was a treat! I was very content. I thought to myself, “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” We have gone through a lot since that day. Ups and downs. Being together and separate, but now we share a step daughter, expecting another girl in August, and much more. We are married and very in love with who we are becoming. Marriage is not easy but I believe it is something we both are willing to put effort into and make work. Truly, he is my other half and I love him more than yesterday!

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