“Obviously we’re biased and think our wedding day was magical but we’re also so pleased with how personal and true to ourselves the whole day felt. We want to sip champagne and dance to all our favourite songs with all our favourite people over and over again!” ~ April & Zoe

Wedding photographer’s website

Sam Chipman https://www.samchipmanphotography.com/

Wedding photographer review

Sam was really chilled and specialises in candid photographs which is exactly the vibe we wanted for our wedding. He put us totally at ease with his no fuss approach and really went with the flow.

Your best moment or memory

Walking back up the aisle as newlyweds with all our family and friends around us is a feeling I don’t think we’ll ever top.

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

We decided very early on that we both wanted to walk down the aisle seeing as we’re both brides. We also opted for a pastel rainbow cake as our way of incorporating a little bit of pride into our day!

Venue name + review

Chilli Barn
Leah and all the staff at Chilli Barn couldn’t have been more helpful and nothing was too trouble. The barn is an intimate venue with stunning countryside views and everyone commented on how beautiful it was.

Tell us a little about your outfits

April – My dress was very me! A boho/fairy vibe with a lace top and tulle skirt. I felt that it really suited the venue and I felt ethereal the whole day.
Zoe – I opted for a suit, I’m not really the dress type. Like April I kept it very me so casual and comfy but in pink! Trousers and a waistcoat and custom embroidered converse.

Dress or suit shop name + review

April’s dress is handmade from a lovely shop on Etsy – Lady Versus.

Florist name + review

We went DIY with our flowers and handpicked all the flowers for our bouquets, aisle arch and tables from an artificial flower wholesalers. It really allowed us to put our own stamp on the little touches.

Cake maker name + review

Little Dumplings Cakes. We’re vegan so finding a vegan wedding cake maker narrows the search considerably! Little Dumplings makes the nicest vegan and allergy friendly cakes in the world. We opted for a pastel rainbow rather than traditional white and it went down a treat with all the guests.

Stationery maker’s name + review

We used various small businesses from Etsy to make up all of our wedding stationery. We love supporting small local people.

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

Chilli Barn is an amazing venue where they let you decorate as you wish so we really let loose our inner crafters. We picked classic books for our table names and built our centrepieces around each book with natural log slices and candles and delicate wildflowers. We stained some used wooden crates to make our table seating chart as well as using a heart-shaped stamp to cut paper hearts out of books to sprinkle around the tables.

Wedding readings?

We had 2 readings, both done by family, from the bible – Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 139:14 We are a part of a church so this was really meaningful for us.

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

Not traditional at all but we chose Y’all Means All by Miranda Lambert as featured on season 6 of queer eye. The thought of slow dancing filled us with dread so we went for the complete opposite. Playlist recommendations – our playlist was filled with all things 00’s and pop punk – think Busted to All Time Low with a healthy mix of Lucy Spraggan and country thrown in.

Hair + makeup name + review

April really enjoys doing makeup and wanted to do her own (and by extension that meant Zoe too).

The post April & Zoe’s creative, DIY Chilli Barn wedding, with Sam Chipman Photography appeared first on English Wedding.

Wedding photographer’s website

https://jossdenham.co.uk

Wedding photographer review

We felt very relaxed with having Joss part of our day and felt very comfortable with him taking our photos. We are absolutely in love with the images and feel that Joss has captured the day so well.

We would highly recommend Joss, he was just amazing from our first meeting we had with him. He genuinely felt like a friend and it was great having him at our wedding. Joss was so organised from when we first booked with him and throughout. He has given us the most amazing photos to treasure for years to come.

Venue name + review

The Venue Bowers Mill

We got married at the Venue – Bowers Mill. This was the only venue we looked round, we walked in and instantly fell in love with it. The venue was so different with its industrial feel and very relaxed vibe and we just knew straight away it was the right place for us to get married. We would definitely recommend this venue, everything was perfect and the staff were amazing. We had eaten here on a few occassions before our wedding day and we knew the food was going to be fantastic which it was.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

I visited Off The Peg Bridal a couple of times, the first time I didn’t quite find the right one but on the second visit I found my dress. All I can say about that is that I tried it on and just instantly knew that I loved it and still felt like me.

Florist name + review

The Flower Box Meltham

I walk regularly past our local florist and so one day just popped in and spoke to the florist about our wedding. I explained what I like/don’t like but then said that I would leave it up to her to put together what she thinks (as she’s the expert, not us). Our florist was amazing and I couldn’t have been happier with the flowers. They felt elegant and looked beautiful and got lots of complements.

Cake maker name + review

Well Vicky and her family have an obsession with M&S Colin the Caterpillar cakes (who wouldn’t), James has also got on board with the love of them. So we just thought, why not.. a giant Colin and Connie beat a fruit cake anyday. We had loads of complements on the cake and we’re so pleased we went for them, it was another talking point.

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

We bought charity badges for Dementia UK for all our guests in lieu of favours. This felt a special touch to both of us due to personal circumstances. We used place names for our tables that were special places to us, we put a photo of us at the place on the table and either a funny story or why that place was special to us.

Wedding entertainment

We felt that our venue cried out for a band due to the size of the space there. We had ‘Southwest Band‘ who were amazing! Again, like we’d said to other suppliers we left it in their very capable hands of what to decide to play as they’re the experts after all. They were absolutely incredible and the dancefloor was full all night.

The post James and Vicky’s rustic, romantic Yorkshire wedding, with Joss Denham Photography appeared first on English Wedding.

More gorgeous pics from this outdoor wedding on our Instagram – @englishweddingblog

Wedding photographer’s website

John Mottershaw https://www.johnmottershaw.com

Wedding photographer review

My husband and I were so happy with John as our wedding photographer. He was so professional and easy to work with, and he made us feel really comfortable in front of the camera. We loved that he took a lot of candid pictures, so we were able to capture the real emotions of the day. The end results were absolutely stunning, and we will cherish these photos forever.

Your best moment or memory

The outdoor ceremony was truly special, and the bridesmaids’ and best men’s speeches made it all the more emotional. It was a joy to celebrate with everyone on this special day.

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

We had our official wedding ceremony at the town hall on Thursday, so it didn’t make sense to exchange rings again on Saturday. Instead, we incorporated a knot tying ceremony into our celebration. Also because the wedding was part French part English we changed few things to fit both.

Venue name + review

Dunscar Farm

Our Peak District wedding venue was a field with a breathtaking view. Rachel, was ever so helpful and cheerful, serving as our wedding planner on the day. We are so grateful for her and her father’s kindness and hospitality. It was a pleasure to stay at their bed and breakfast.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

Tom: light grey suit

Mailys: A boho wedding dress with a twist

Dress or suit shop name + review

Wed2b dress bought on stillwhite

Florist name + review

I picked flowers from my garden and was happy to have something I grew

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

There was a fair bit of DIY. I made the table decorations with painted tree branches and flowers. Every guest had a hand made reusable glass with their names on it.

Wedding readings?

We had our vows for each other and then the bridesmaids’ and best men’s speeches. We wanted to have all the speeches early so people could relax and enjoy the rest of the wedding.

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

A waltz from Howl’s moving castle

The post Maïlys & Tom’s lovely outdoor summer wedding, with John Mottershaw Photography appeared first on English Wedding.

The main advice we got on the run up to the day which we would like to share was that the day goes by so fast and to make time to spend alone together. We are so glad we did this, we have some gorgeous memories of sneaking off together for a drink and to admire the sea view.

Wedding photographer’s website

Alexa Poppe: https://www.alexapoppeweddingphotography.com/

Wedding photographer review

Alexa is wonderful- she understood the relaxed vibe we wanted for the day and made the most of all the amazing scenery around us. She is great fun to be around and made us feel really at ease. We have memories to treasure forever that she captured wonderfully.

Your best moment or memory

We have so many wonderful memories of the day but the one we both share as a favourite moment is the first time we saw each other. There are so many nerves and so much excitement on the day building up to that moment that it can feel a little overwhelming but as soon as we saw one another everything and every one else just melted away. It was so special to make eye contact and just see the relief and feel the happiness and emotion in us both and we knew in that moment that the whole day would just be perfect and it was! The whole ceremony was something we had felt nervous about and it ended up feeling so special and personalised to us.

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

We kept our wedding really small and intimate which we are so pleased about. We got to spend so much more time with the people closest to us. This meant we chose no bridesmaids or a best man because everyone there was really special. We also chose to write our own vows which felt so emotional and personal. So many of our guests commented on how special it was to hear personal vows. We took our whole wedding party to a really amazing beach, called Broadsands. The only way to get there is through some woodland and down 200 steps which the venue was initially surprised we wanted to do. We know our guests and we knew everyone would be up for it. This made our wedding unique and memorable for us all and created such variation for our photos. It is a truly magical place that we associate now with our day and will continue to visit for many years to come.

Venue name + review

Sandy Cove Hotel, Berrynarbor

The venue on the day was brilliant, everything ran smoothly and the setting is second to none. It was exactly as we wanted it to be. However, we didn’t have the best experience on the run up to the wedding as we were passed between so many members of staff which resulted in multiple repeat conversations. We also had several challenges about being vegetarian and were made to feel a burden to the staff.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

Bride- I adored my dress! I wanted something that still felt bridal but that wasn’t too OTT as we wanted a fairly casual and relaxed day. It had a big split which allowed me to run into the sea and take on all those steps and it had layers of different lace on top of silk. I dreamt of eyelash and chantilly lace and I found it in one dress. I also wore an oversized denim jacket personalised with ‘Mrs Ashton’ and pearls to match the pearls on my dress. My veil was the monet veil by grace loves lace. The Groom- the suit matched the day wonderfully. It was a sandy coloured suit with a waistcoat and trousers that rolled up easily for paddling. We had a really warm day in September and we both felt comfortable and special in our outfits. Guilty pleasure- we both rocked crocs on the day!

Dress or suit shop name + review

Grace loves lace- song gown
Hugo Boss suit

Florist name + review

Pampas by post- dried flowers. Sammy was wonderful- we met her just once to discuss our ideas and for her to show us the variations of dried flowers. I sent her some Pinterest photos and she created everything perfectly based on those. The arch pieces were stunning and so easy to drive from Manchester to Devon and looked amazing! My bridal bouquet was stunning, I had a vision of a dried protea which not many people have and Sammy sourced the perfect one. We couldn’t have been happier and what makes dried flowers so wonderful is we’ve kept so many of them and gifted others to our families.

Cake maker name + review

Bibble Bakes – Gorgeous cakes both visually and to taste! We also had vegan cupcakes to go alongside our main cake and which also went down very well! Our orca cake toppers matched the beautiful shell decorations perfectly- it was so personal and reflected our favourite adventure together to Canada which everyone commented on.

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

All of the place setting cards were designed by myself using an Etsy template, including the illustrations. I really wanted everything to be sea themed as it’s my favourite place to be. My mum made the place setting board to attach them to, as well as the welcome sign which was beautiful. She included shell paintings which made them even more bespoke and special and lots of people had a photo with the sign. For place settings we also decided to be a bit different and print our own in the style of Polaroid photos- we chose our favourite photo of us with that person to display for their seat. This also went down really well as everyone enjoyed looking at each others photos and they were a good conversation starter.

Wedding readings?

My best friend of honour read a vow by Wendy Cope

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

Paolo Nutini- loving you performed by Sam Dowden who is a brilliant local guitarist and singer in north Devon. We went from Paolo to wheatus- teenage dirtbag to Dr Dre! The great thing about a small guest list was we could choose music we knew all of our guests loved to make everyone feel comfortable and involved!

Hair + makeup name + review

Natalie Nichols for hair who was amazing! She gave me so much advice for extensions to have more volume and thickness in my braids. She also had suggestions for hair accessories which worked perfectly for what I wanted. She was a really calming influence on the day for everyone and my bridal party were also really pleased with their hair. Loved her company and couldn’t have been happier with the end result. Stacey Louise MUA – Stacey gave great advice as the whole wedding party weren’t overly confident on make up and she made everyone feel beautiful. Stacey also gave me advice on the run up the wedding on skin care to make sure my make up application was as perfect as possible. They both arrived on time and got us all ready with time to spare!

The post Sophie & Carl’s beautiful, alternative Berrynarbor wedding, with Alexa Poppe Photography appeared first on English Wedding.

Wedding photographer’s website

https://www.paylorphotography.co.uk

Wedding photographer review

We couldn’t recommend Paylor enough! Jake and I aren’t the most comfortable in front of the camera but Rebecca and Rob were so easy to work with, they made us feel at ease from the word go. They took photos of moments we didn’t even know they were there for, they work like magic.

Your best moment or memory

As much as people say, it really does go in a blur! But the little moment we reminisce about the most is the 5 minutes we had to ourselves after the ceremony, everyone else had gone for drinks and we sat away from the business of the day with a glass of bubbly and talked about how bizarre it all felt. To be finally husband and wife, signed, sealed – we sat smiling like idiots! I also remember how wide awake we were once everyone had gone to bed, the venue was empty but we didn’t want to end the day so we got changed out of our suits and dress and took Stan our dog out for a late night walk around the venue – the stars were so bright and it was so quiet, walking past the barn and fields on a little walk felt so normal after such a whirlwind day.

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

We didn’t have a lot of NEW traditions but we knew what what we didn’t want. A small but significant change was we didn’t do a bouquet toss – we kept all the bouquets in water after the ceremony and we took them home with us. I dried them out and have them as a dried floral arrangement for our kitchen counter. The roses are perfectly preserved and I smile everytime I walk past

Venue name + review

Doxford Barns – Honestly it was my husband that found our venue before we were even engaged (he loves to remind me!) we completely fell in love with it from our first viewing. Being able to have the full venue to ourselves for the full couple of days meant so much! The team at Doxford are just fantastic, nothing is too much and they were so accommodating to all our requests. I’ve never had a meal like that – most amazing options made to the highest standard.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

For me, I knew my dress as soon as I had it on I then had to wait patiently for almost 3 years to wear it! For Jake, I couldn’t fault his taste, he knew exactly what he was after form the word go and honestly the blue tweed worked so well and he looked so sharp!

Dress or suit shop name + review

My dress was from Amore Brides in Sunderland and Jake’s suit was from Moss Bros. Amore Brides was great – she understood the vision I had and her expertise made the process so seamless! (Pun intended)

Florist name + review

Made Simply Perfect- Our day would have not been the same without their complete professionalism, expertise and attention to detail. They really understood our vision and brought it to life with style and vibrancy in the amazing bouquets and venue styling. To say the Threshing Hall was breathtaking is an understatement. They really brought everything together!

Cake maker name + review

The Cake Garden in Ellington – you just need to look at the cake, it looked as amazing as it tasted – it was delicious, simply elegant, everything we wanted. A particular thanks was given to the ladies at Ellington who stepped in last minute for our original cake designer was unable to make our deadline.

Stationery maker’s name + review

Made Simply Perfect

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

We printed our own confetti cones just for ease but in the process my Mum had spoken to us to make it a bit more personal. She asked us for a song each that reminded us of the other, she printed the lyrics onto the paper, a lovely touch that really made me smile. She even added on Toy Story’s ‘you’ve got a friend in me’ for our sausage dog Stanley

Top tips from the happy couple

If you can and you have the option – have an engagement/pre wedding shoot with your photographer. It’s so so worth it to put you all at ease and get to get the most amazing and natural photos on your big day! Plus you get another set of beautiful photos before your wedding. Highly recommend!
Cut up any leftover wedding cake then store it in the freezer for a tasty treat one day! It’s great.

Wedding readings?

Blessing of the hands by Rev. Daniel l. H – a simply beautiful reading, so well written. Always tear up when I read it! Secondly, we had ‘These I Can Promise’ by Mark Twain, a matter-of-fact, honest statement of love and affection, which really hits home in its simplicity and beauty.

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer

Wedding planner name + review

NA My mum (MOB) was our eyes, ears and PA from the word go – if she WAS a wedding planner, we couldn’t have afforded her skill!

Hair + makeup name + review

Hair – my own hairdresser, Lauren Charlton who works at Bootylicous Hair and Beauty Makeup – Josephine Birkett not only incredible at what she does but she is so lovely and down to earth, I wanted her to stay around all day. She made you feel so relaxed and at ease, something that doesn’t come naturally on a wedding morning!

The post Jess & Jake’s lovely Doxford Barns wedding, with Paylor Photography appeared first on English Wedding.

Wedding photographer’s website

Benjamin Toms – https://benjamintomsphotography.co.uk/

Wedding photographer review

We had the most perfect, fun-filled day and Ben’s photos captured the essence of the guests, venue, atmosphere and day so perfectly. We’ve had so many wonderful comments from our friends and family about how professional both Ben and James (his assistant) were on the day and how well they blended into the background (shown by some of the great action shots!). We’re absolutely chuffed with the finished photos and will cherish them forever. Cannot recommend Ben more (and James, his assistant). Both were so calm and relaxed on the day and fit right in with everyone else. The photos are BRILLIANT!

Your best moment or memory

We had so many special moments – it’s hard to choose one. The most recommended advice we had from everyone leading up to the wedding was make sure you have a sneaky 5-10 minutes to yourselves after the ceremony where you can just have a mini chat and take in the day together. We found we had some perfect moments to chat when we were doing our couples photos, but also managed to catch each other a few more times throughout the day. These little moments are what we’ll really cherish.

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

We were quite traditional with most aspects of the wedding day. We opted for a round top table rather than a straight one which we preferred as it felt like we were part of the party with the guests rather than everyone looking at us!
Our friend Pete played guitar leading up to the ceremony / during, and him and my sister sang the song Ben proposed to me with just before we signed the register which was wonderful!

Rather than a traditional guest book we purchased a blank jenga block and got guests to sign a block each, as we thought we could end up with lots of various books laying around after the wedding (photo albums, guest books, scrapbooks, etc.). We’ve now varnished this and have it to play on games nights with a few drinks.

Videographer name + review

We’re super lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderfully talented friends and family. As both of us studied Film at university, one of our good friends came along and filmed the day for us, and as Ben edits he put together a beautiful 10 minute video with all our favourite snippets from the day.

Venue name + review

Our venue was the wonderful Crown Lodge in Wye. Stephanie (the venue manager) and her team were absolutely fantastic. In the lead up to the wedding Stephanie was always on hand either via phone or email and answered every question (no matter how trivial it felt). We had a meeting in person 6 months before and another one a few weeks leading up the wedding to make sure we had everything in place. Stephanie also helped us get the ceremony sorted and organised through Kent weddings so the officiant could do our ceremony from the garden area of the venue. On the day the team were all super smiley and friendly, our guests all complimented how wonderful they were too. Cannot stress how much we loved this venue, it was absolutely perfect for us and the best views over Kent for some amazing photographs too.

Russell and his team at Kitchen of Kent were brilliant – they worked so well with the Crown Lodge team for a seamless day and experience for us and our guests. The food was phenomenal – so many of the guests spoke to us about this on the day and after. We wanted to go for something a little different to the traditional three course meal – as Ben and I both cook paella for our friends this seemed like a no brainer (and the Kitchen of Kent ones are to die for!). We had a taster included in our package which we did together a year before the wedding – a lovely day out with so many yummy dishes to try and get us excited. We also had a selection of pizzas in the evening which Russell cooked on a trailer round the back of the venue which were delicious.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

Georgina got her bridal gown from an independent shop in Tenterden – Vicki’s Bridal Boutique. Sisters Hannah and Megan run the shop and are both super knowledgable and friendly, with a relaxed approach. The boutique is gorgeous and the dresses, veils and accessories are all beautiful. It was a wonderful experience and great to have the whole place to yourself and your guests. I went once for a browse and tried a couple on, and a second time where I found my dress!

Ben bought his suit (and the best man / ushers / FOB) from Moss Bros. Kevin and his team at the Ashford Outlet branch have helped Ben and his family out with suits for weddings in the past and are fantastic. They were gone for several hours and each were properly measured and taken care of. The suits were a gorgeous colour and the colours matched the bridesmaid dresses so well (a happy accident!).

Florist name + review

Our flowers have a wonderful story. Georgina’s Dad is an avid gardener and grew a massive selection of them for us, that we cut the day before the wedding and mixed in with a few of the ‘pick your own’ buckets from Blooming Green. Two days before the wedding we went with a few family friends and picked our own flowers, which was a nice day out with everyone in the lead up to the big day. The day before the wedding we had a trusty team of helpers, including the mother of the bride and her best friends to arrange the flowers. These then went into a variety of glass jars that we’d spent months leading up to the wedding decorating with hessian / lace material and dotted them all over the venue. Blooming Green put together the bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids using a selection of the flowers we’d picked the day before – they were gorgeous and smelled all minty and divine!

Cake maker name + review

Our cake was made by Ben’s talented sister, Hannah. It was a delicious lemon cake with lemon icing and decorated with citrus fruits. Safe to say, we froze a few portions to have once we were back from Italy, as well as taking some on our honeymoon!

Stationery maker’s name + review

We made all our stationery ourselves – Ben drew the pictures for our invitations, and table decorations using photographs of our wedding rings as the centre of each object. We both studied Film at university and now work in film, so wanted to incorporate this slightly into our wedding by choosing our favourite films as the table names. We also custom made little stamps to seal our invitations and thank you cards!

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

We’re super fortunate to be surrounded by many crafty people and enjoy craft projects ourselves. We made loads of different things for the wedding day, including a lifesize kerplunk and donut wall for the venue, all the wedding stationery, table decorations and little games quizzes – one of our favourites that’s done a few rounds post wedding is our ‘Guest Who’ which had a selection of the guests on. Ben’s Mum also hand painted a selection of pebbles for a few sets of a ‘Tic-Tac-Toe’ table game, we decorated over 100 jars for the flower decoration around the venue, made pallets to show the order of the day and display a selection of ‘family tree’ photos which included all of our family and extended family on their wedding days.

Wedding readings?

We had two wedding readings – one that we pulled together using loads of our favourite film quotes about love that Ben’s sister, Emily, read. Our second reading was written for us by our talented friends, Harry and Grace, and they read it out together – it was absolutely fantastic, and we loved how much this reflected our friendship with them both over the years.

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

Our first dance was ‘As Time Goes By’ from the film Casablanca. This was our first date together so the song from the film is very special to us.

Hair + makeup name + review

Georgina, the MOB and the bridesmaids all hair their hair and makeup done the morning of the wedding at the bride’s parents house. Makeup by Lydia Rae Makeup and hair by Jeanette Felstead. Georgina had trials with Lydia and Jeanette in the lead up to the wedding – I was after something natural for both my hair and makeup as i’m not someone that wears a lot of makeup. Lydia was super friendly and talked through each stage of the trial and products to help me with a natural style which I loved! Same for the hair – Jeanette tried two different styles in my trial as I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go hair up or down. I bought along a clip and a few other accessories I was playing with too so we could try multiple options. On the morning of the big day they were both super relaxed and blended right in with the morning!

The post Georgina & Ben’s amazing woodland wedding in Kent, with Benjamin Toms Photography appeared first on English Wedding.

Do scroll all the way through for the gorgeous photos and Kate’s lovely supplier reviews and tips, as well as all those brilliant ideas for a truly personal summer wedding. Kate and Steve – thank you so much, you’re the most amazing pair and we wish you many years of happiness together!

Wedding photographer’s website

https://www.johnmottershaw.com

Wedding photographer review

John was the perfect Losehill House wedding photographer – we couldn’t have asked for more. He was friendly, professional and unobtrusive – he listened to what we wanted and realised that we didn’t want to leave our guests for long periods to have any sort of contrived ‘photo shoot’ – we wanted as many spontaneous photos as possible and that’s exactly what we got. We were delighted! This is what we said to John when we saw them –

“We absolutely LOVE them! We’ve just looked through the lot and we’re so chuffed with how much of the day you’ve managed to capture i.e. everything! Thank you so much for taking such beautiful pictures of the venue (and all the various ‘activities’ going on) and all our guests… lots and lots of photos for us to treasure… Thanks once again for being such a kind and patient (and very talented!) photographer – so many of our guests commented on how brilliant you were! We’re absolutely delighted with the results.”

Your best moment or memory

The ceremony itself! Everything that came afterwards was simply a bonus. Our Humanist celebrant, Louise Luke, crafted the perfect ceremony for us, underneath the gazebo (decorated by my Mum!) in the beautiful grounds of Losehill House Hotel and Spa – it was just incredible.
The weather was amazing (probably too hot actually, but far better this than it tipping it down with rain) and so many of our guests already had a drink in their hands by the time I walked down the ‘aisle’ (path!) – it was really informal, which was lovely!

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

Where to start?! Lots of parts of the ceremony were a bit different…
I came down the aisle to ‘Hey Jude’ (we’re both from Liverpool!) performed by the Vitamin String Quartet.

Numerous readings – we had 6! – including an extract from Anne‘s House of Dreams read by my Dad (the Anne of Green Gables books were my favourites as a child)

The handing over of the family olives!!! This one was was certainly a bit different. A jar of Crosse and Blackwell olives (amongst other store cupboard items) had been given to my great-grandmother by her mother in 1913, while she was away on honeymoon (her mother had stocked up the cupboards while she was away). Unfortunately they just stayed there because she didn’t like olives, and so they were passed down to her daughter (my grandmother) and so on and so on – it became a bit of a tradition! The jar of olives (which celebrated their 100th birthday in 2013 – we held a party for them!) were passed to me on my wedding day, and that definitely formed quite a quirky part of the ceremony.

The football scarfs were Louise’s idea – she suggested introducing handfasting into the ceremony, and as we are Liverpool and Everton supporters, we thought this could be a good idea – our fathers brought up the scarfs!

We also formed a pop-up choir to sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – one of my best friends is Director of Music at Southwell Minster School, and she kindly agreed to sort the whole thing. We have several family members and close friends (including my Dad, Auntie and Uncle) who are very good singers, so she liaised with them and they had just one rehearsal, immediately before the wedding in the spa of the hotel! What they managed to do in a ridiculously short time was incredible! This took place while we signed the certificate.

Other things that were a bit different included:

• An ice-cream cart ready to dispense ice-creams as soon as the ceremony was over (a really good shout as it turned out given the temperature!)
• Surprise wedding singers who were undercover waiters until the big reveal after the Best Man’s speech. They did an amazing job, and the songs they performed were all hand-picked by us. They even sang part of ‘Islands in the Stream’ for Steve’s Mum, as she is a big Dolly Parton fan. There was lots of audience interaction, and we ended up doing a conga around the venue.
• A dress-up area of Edwardian/1920s clothes and accessories (this was the loose theme of the wedding) – as a History teacher I have collected a lot of this stuff over the years and, with some contributions from my Mum, I was able to put this together without paying for a photo booth or anything like that.
• A sweepstake organised by my niece for guessing how long the Best Man speech would go on (this was delivered via Zoom, as our Best Man was still in Jersey – his little girl had been born just days earlier)
• We asked people to bring a favourite recipe with them – whether one that had been handed down through their own family or just one that had become a family favourite) – we provided paper to write this down on when we issued invitations and then I bought a 1920s Mrs Beeton recipe book from eBay – I stuck envelopes with our guests’ names on in the book and then our guests added their recipes throughout the day.
• We also had a treasure hunt running throughout the day – there were tags with numbers on added all around the venue and people had to collect as many as possible. These then served as raffle tickets later. People had the opportunity to win fairly obscure and naff prizes that my Mum had prepared (she gets a lot of free gifts through her catalogues and they are always ridiculous – lots of light-up garden animals, that type of thing!!!).
• We also had the traditional sweet bar (though we went with entirely early 20th century sweets) but we had a dog and cat treat area too, in honour of our Fox Terrier (Branston) who couldn’t be at the wedding…or so we thought. The lady he was staying with actually arranged with my sister-in-law for him to make a guest appearance, wearing a very smart blue bow! This was also a highlight of the day! Branston appears in quite a few of the photos, which is lovely!
• Finally, we also had a broomstick to jump over for couples to make their wedding official in Wales! My Dad’s side of the family is Welsh so there were one or two Welsh connections too.
• Oh, and one last thing I’ve just remembered – on the morning of the wedding (while we were getting ready) we organised a cave tour for anyone who was interested of Treak Cliff Cavern, just down the road in Castleton. About 15 people took us up on the offer and enjoyed being underground for a few hours given the heat of the day!

Venue name + review

Losehill House Hotel and Spa.

We couldn’t have asked for a more friendly and accommodating venue. We’d had to postpone our wedding from February to July due to Covid, and the hotel took this all in their stride and only charged us/our guests the February rates that had been agreed, which was so kind. Jules (the wedding coordinator) and Paul (the manager) didn’t blink at any of our weird and wonderful ideas/requests – Paul was even there, sitting behind the gazebo, to sort the music during the ceremony. It felt like Losehill was our home for the day, and all our guests felt completely at ease there – we had the place (and the beautiful valley it sits in) completely to ourselves for the day. We couldn’t have asked for more.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

My dress was handmade for me by the wonderful Kate Beaumont, a designer based in Sheffield. She specialises in vintage-style dresses and is so incredibly talented. I settled on my dress the first time I visited, as it had the Edwardian feel (layers of lace) that I had in my mind but hadn’t seen anywhere else. She adapted her design to suit me (I wanted sleeves, for example) and the whole process from start to finish was wonderful – we spent more time chatting about politics and various things than actually talking about the dress. That just took care of itself. Kate was really aware that I had to do the dress stuff on my own due to Covid – I really missed being able to have friends and family there – but she made up for that by making me feel really special !

Steve went with a Paul Smith suit for his outfit – I think he enjoyed being made a fuss of too in the swanky Covent Garden shop. Apart from him coming back with a multicoloured tie the first time (which I told him would not go with the ‘look’ of the wedding – he wasn’t even aware that the colour scheme was a dusky green and pink!!!), it was a relatively painless experience for Steve and I loved the suit he chose – he looked very handsome!

Florist name + review

I was determined that I wanted wild flowers, or at least flowers native to the UK that hadn’t been grown in hothouses!

I found out about Hollow Meadows just outside Sheffield, run by the wonderful Rachel. We visited a few months before the wedding and saw the field the flowers were growing in…but at the time of visiting we couldn’t actually see anything because nothing had grown yet! So we put all our faith in Rachel, and I’m so glad we did.

I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the flowers – all seasonal, with pink being the dominant colour. Rachel prepared all the table flowers and bouquets, button holes etc. and also brought some flower buckets of assorted flowers that my Mum and Godmother used on the morning of the wedding to fill the glass bottles and jars that were hung at the end of each aisle. They looked stunning!

Cake maker name + review

We got lucky because the fabulous ladies at ‘Cake Corner’ in Bakewell, who don’t usually do wedding cakes (or didn’t at the time of our wedding – not sure now) agreed to make three huge Victoria sponges (Steve’s favourite!) with assorted filings that could be assembled as three tiers once at the venue. This was a really cost-effective way of doing a wedding cake – it cost a fraction of the price of wedding cakes we’d looked at – and with the frosted summer fruits on each tier (and the wedding rubber ducks we’d been given by a friend who couldn’t make the wedding) on top, it couldn’t have looked better. It tasted fantastic too! It ended up being cut earlier than expected as it was so, so hot that day, the hotel was worried that the cake was going to melt and collapse!

Stationery maker’s name + review

Papier – we ordered all our wedding stationery online from Papier (Noveau design – to fit in with our Edwardian/1920s theme) and we’re really glad we did – again, we didn’t want to spend too much on stationery when there were other things (including alcohol!) than we wanted to save money for!

Any other crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

We did gift bags for each person attending the wedding, showcasing the best of Peak District produce. These included:
1. Holdsworth chocolates (Bakewell)
2. Brock and Morten chilli flavoured oil (Ashford-in-the-Water)
3. Cheese from the Hartington Creamery
4. Beer from the Thornbridge brewery
5. Buxton water
6. Bakewell tarts (fresh that morning from the bakery!)
7. National Park pencil, rubber, magazine etc. from Bakewell Tourist Info

Wedding readings?

1. Extract from Anne’s House of Dreams by LM Montgomery
2. Guess how much I love you? By Sam McBratney
3. Extract from Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
4. Let me put it this way, poem by Simon Armitage
5. Extract from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
6. I’ll be your mirror, by Lou Reed

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

We had the ‘Power of Love’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood as our first dance. We actually gave people 3 clues about what our first dance would be in our invitation, and when they RSVP’d they were allowed to guess a song! Those who got it right got a prize (a couple of bottles of our local beer from Thornbridge Brewery) on the night!

Hair + makeup name + review

Got my own hairdresser (Claire McEvoy, now at Alta Hair Studio in Chapel-en-le-Frith) and Tansy (from beauty salon of the same name in Bakewell) to do all the hair and make-up on the morning of the wedding – they both came to the hotel. They were absolutely brilliant and put up with some very raucous behaviour on the part of me/my bridesmaids in the run-up to the wedding – we had a really fun morning and they made us all look and feel a million dollars!

The post Kate & Steve’s super creative and personal Peak District wedding, with John Mottershaw Photography appeared first on English Wedding.

We wanted the day to feel very personal so included lots of friends and family in the whole day. We had a family friend, Nigel, carry out the service at St Clement’s Church in Sandwich, which made it really special for us. The church itself was also significant to us as Iona’s parents also got married there and Iona was christened there.

Wedding photographer’s website

Benjamin Toms – https://benjamintomsphotography.co.uk

Wedding photographer review

Ben did an amazing job capturing not only the fun of the day but all the special moments too. Ben put us and our guests at ease and worked around us to the point we weren’t aware he was there half the time! The photos he sent over are beautiful and we couldn’t be happier with them.

Your best moment or memory

Iona – My favourite memory is singing to The Greatest Showman on my husband’s shoulders with absolutely everyone on the dance floor! It was such an amazing atmosphere. Oh, and also watching my husband climb up one of the poles of the marquee being assisted by the vicar of our service.

Ed – riding in with Iona on my Vespa, Giovanni. Our guests weren’t expecting it and it added another element of fun to the day whilst summing us up well.

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

We drove from the church to the reception in a 4×4 Jeep that needed a step ladder to get into! We definitely got some interesting looks driving down the country lanes. When introduced into the marquee by our MC, we rode in on Ed’s vespa. It went down very well! One of Iona’s best friends Tabitha sung a slow version of I’ll be there for you (Friends edition) during the signing of the names at the wedding service – there were many tears!

Venue name + review

The venue was a marquee in a farm belonging to a friend of Iona’s Dad. It had never been used as a venue before but it worked perfectly. It was a beautiful summer’s day and the views look over the countryside of East Kent and to the sea.

Our marquee was provided by Maypole Marquees. They were brilliant at answering all our questions in the lead up to the wedding. The marquee was set up a few days before the wedding so we had time to decorate it. It was a stunning marquee which was opened up down one side. It also came with a luxury toilet block, a vintage bar, tables and chairs, lighting and flooring! We would highly recommend them for big events.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

Iona – It was important to me that I either bought a second hand dress or a dress made from recycled materials. I ended up buying a three piece dress all made from recycled materials from Bridal Boutique of Jules in Deal, Kent. All three parts were Catherine Deane and I loved the modern style with a twist. The skirt was so soft and comfortable and I loved how it floated (although I forgot there would be so much straw on the farm so the end of the skirt definitely suffered a little!) The bandeau and lace top were perfect. I felt relaxed and comfortable yet also like a boho bride! Having an extra lace layer on top meant that I could take that off for the dancing later!

Ed – A navy three-piece Hugo Boss suit from Moss Bros. I’m not quirky enough to pull off anything out there and anything more formal wasn’t “us” (and plus, I can use it again!) They were really helpful with suggesting options for me to try on in my style. The whole process was incredible quick and easy!

Florist name + review

Jane’s Country Roses – We got our flowers from one of my best friend’s mum, Jane. I absolutely loved our flowers! We went for dried wild flowers which were pastel colours so complimented the bridesmaid dresses perfectly. Jane did an incredible job and creating such beautiful bouquets as well as button holes, centre pieces and hair clips! The most amazing part is that they last forever so we still have my bouquet and many of the centre pieces in our house (looking as incredible as they did on the day!)

Cake maker name + review

We went for a bit of an alternative option for this. Two of Iona’s closest friends (Izzy and Lauren) made a cake each for our wedding. We weren’t interested in having a big three tiered cake and actually, these went down a treat!

Our caterer was Tim Wilson, a friend of my Dad’s. The food was simple yet delicious and we made sure we had extra canapés as we know how much everyone loves them! We were very impressed with all the food and Tim and his team did such an excellent job.

Stationery maker’s name + review

Iona’s sister Kirsty made our wedding invites and we did the rest!

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

We created our own table names using photos of us from places we’ve visited together as well as our table plan and a palette with the order of the day!

Ed’s mum created our menus and Iona’s sister produced some lovely drinks menus for our vintage bar.

A close friend of Ed’s (who is a blackboard artist) made a Welcome to Iona and Ed’s wedding sign.

Wedding readings?

Corinthians 13 v 1-13 I’ll Be There For You – Louise Cuddon Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

The luckiest – Ben Folds

Wedding planner name + review

Iona – the bride! Highly recommend

Hair + makeup name + review

Natasha Quinton Bridal – http://www.natashaquinton.com/ Tasha is a good friend of Iona’s and is incredibly friendly and professional.

She did my hair and makeup and also styled all my bridesmaid’s and my mum’s hair. She was amazing at keeping everyone calm on the wedding morning and adapted when anyone wanted slight changes to their hair do’s.

I am someone who doesn’t feel comfortable wearing too much makeup and I was so pleased that Tasha made me feel natural (but better!) I loved my relaxed hair look which made me feel confident on the day.

The post Iona & Ed’s beautiful marquee wedding in Kent, with Benjamin Toms Photography appeared first on English Wedding.