As the title suggests Andy and Clare’s Big Day was about celebrating all things British, choosing to hold their reception at Key West on the end of Bournemouth pier.
And as much as we love a country garden, a rustic barn or a sophisticated marquee wedding I don’t think we have featured anything that waves the flag quite as much for good ol’ Blighty as this particular affair.
Oh how we do like to be beside the seaside 
A Splash Of Blue
Flowers were from Sam and her team at Daisy Chain Flowers in Moordown, Bournemouth. I’m not going to lie, neither Andy or I are particularly green fingered so we did need some assistance with picking flowers from Andy’s Mum Maggie. We opted for white Gerberas for button holes and for the bulk of the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets, they then had a splash of blue added.
For each table at the reception we bought vases from Habitat which were handmade glass with a blue band across the top. The vases were based on the same theme as the bouquets along with foliage, shingle and shells were added to the bottom of the vases to fit in with our seaside theme. As we had bought the vases (we found there wasn’t much price difference between buying the vases which were in the sale and with that of hiring) it meant that we could give some away as gifts to our wedding party.
The Big Picture
We had a couple of meetings with other photographers but we knew the minute that we met Emma and Ian at Big Bouquet and saw their work that we had to have them photograph our wedding.
Their photographs are stunning and I have become addicted to their website in the run up to the wedding! From our first meeting with them they understood the feel of our wedding and understood that we wanted to have some fun without pictures and use some of the seaside props we had to hand. We also wanted to make sure that we were able to capture both the bridal preps but also the boys getting ready.
The Glorious British Seaside
The theme for the wedding the was The Glorious British Seaside.
Our guests have commented on how unique the venue was – being on the pier and being able to look back at the views of the beach was amazing. The wedding had a really relaxed setting and guests commented that they felt like they were on holiday!
My dad surprised us with a fly over with a banner attached to the aeroplane – that was amazing and such a surprise, it totally fitted the venue!
Highlight of the day was definitely seeing our family and friends, some of who had travelled from overseas having such a good time and of course the weather holding up (what with the pier being such a weather dependant venue!) and getting the first dance done without too many mistakes!!! The whole day was perfect but as we had heard from friends who had got married – it is scary how quick the day goes so enjoy every songle moment of it!
We then held a beach picnic the following day which was a great opportunity for us to say goodbye to our guests properly and everyone got a chance to get some sea air and dip their toes in the sea.
Seaside Inspired Decor
We got chair covers with a royal blue organza sash from 1st Class Events. Andy’s mum found some beach hut tea light holders on Beach Hut World, these were used on some of the tables outside and two were put on the top table.
The area of the pier that the reception was held, doesn’t usually have deckchairs but we made an arrangement with the seafront office at Bournemouth Beach to have 20 deckchairs placed outside for our guests.
Each guest got a pebble with their name painted on it instead of name cards on tables – Andy spent hours painting these but they looked fantastic.
We bought a peep through board from the internet which had a bride and groom on it, Andy then personalised it by painting a wooden bar at the bottom with our names and date of the wedding. I can’t remember where the peep through board was from now – sorry.
Instead of a traditional guests book we opted to have our guests send us a postcard from Bournemouth. Andy’s Dad Bill made us a beach but post box which the postcards could be posted into.
We bought some pairs of flip-flops and placed them in a bag next to the dance floor and offered guests the opportunity to put on a pair of dancing shoes should they need them.
Sweet Soul Music
We hired a band called Life and Soul Music – they played Motown and Soul – they had everyone dancing all night!
We both love Motown music so it was an obvious choice for the reception. They were great as they took requests and got guests up singing and playing various instruments with them.
For the first dance we wanted to do a bit more than literally shuffling around so we had one dance lesson with Nikki from Aviv Dance Studio in Watford. We didn’t wanted to do a full on dance routine in the style of dance evolution that you see on YouTube but wanted to have something up our sleeves. We had one lesson with Nikki and put a few moves together to My Girl’ by the Temptations.
Pearls Of Wisdom
Don’t underestimate how long it will take to get everyone ready in the morning – make a schedule and try to stick to it.
Find a photographer who you feel understands the feel of your wedding and not one who has a standard way of photographing a wedding and will not adjust it to the style of your day – we struck gold with Emma and Ian!
When doing seating plan – mix up bride and groom guests on tables, we found this worked brilliantly and made the wedding have a real social feel
Have a guest book of some sort as it is so lovely to read through it when you return from honeymoon
Smile and hold your head up high when you walk down the aisle (I tried but silly me opted for an aisle that had steps!!!)
How to make your grey November day full of sunshine – come on over to Rock My Wedding and fill it with a 100% British loveliness .
With thanks to Emma and Ian from Big Bouquet and Andy and Clare for making our winter that little bit warmer.
Big Glorious Love
Charlotte xxx
I want deckchairs at my country house Georgian wedding!!!
And a carousel.
Gorge!!
LOVE IT ALL
Navy and white stripe
being by the sea side
the deck chair picture
the old fashion postcard table plan
the seaside inspired decorations
the funny face cut out picture
and the best of
all the last picture of them on the carousel amazing
Beautiful all of it I so love the sea side and really want this wedding now lol just as it is
Congratulations
xxxx
Wow, I LOVE this. So much fun, everyone looks like they’re having a blast, and a brilliant example of how a theme can tie everything together without being cheesy. And what amazing photos! Totally unique – congrats! xx
I absolutely adore this! What a hot couple too!
I knew we would be spoilt with part two, but seriously… I’ve had to look over it twice just to let it all sink in! It works soo well. That is the kind of wedding that I wish I was at.
Xo
Ahhh I love it! I’m still gutted I didn’t have enough time to go as far down as the pier on our wedding to have my pics on the carousel
Gorgeous wedding and shows off our lovely Bournemouth so well!
Beau-ti-ful!! The feel and emotion really comes through in the photography. Fun, yet relaxed, loving and thoughtful. Thoroughly enjoyed this post and I am now wanting seaside treats at 8.45am, mmmm candy floss : )
Brilliant photos – looks like so much fun! And so very cool to have a reception on a pier.
Having met my then boyfriend, now husband at Bournemouth University, this wedding is a favourite of mine. Absolutely love all the detail, especially the table plan. Such a fun, colourful wedding.
I love this wedding – it looks like such incredible fun. The table plan is genius – I love vintage British tourism graphic design, and this works SO well. Loving the groom’s white tie and shirt combo too. And all of it really, including the great captures of so many happy moments. Lovely stuff.
well, I was feeeling particularly grey and miserable this morning – its cold, its wintry etc
but this wedding (and the up of tea someone brought me) have cheered my right up!
Hurrah for weddings!
r.now x x x
A wedding oozing with creativity and it’s great to see so concerted a team effort from both bride and groom. Clearly a fantastic day resulted from all the care, thought and effort. Fantastic photos to match!
How cool are the deckchairs!
I LOVE this. Similar in style to my own with the old school british sea-sideness.
This oozes fun…and the couple look SO happy. I have very much enjoyed this post!! Congratulations
And now I sooo want a congratulating plane in the sky x
I am always attracted to those “insert your face” photo boards!
Loving it all – makes me want fish and chips for tea.
Julia x
p.s. when is your meet up?
Love the carousel shots!
Great venue!!
Rachie xo
I almost splatted the screen with my coffee when I saw the bride and groom cut out! That. Is. Genius.
Oh! this wedding is gorgeous, I want to run off and find some candyfloss, my husband, and a pair of deckchairs and sit out on the pier even if it is cold and rainy x
I wish I had been a guest at this wedding!! Really looks like a wonderful day!!! Congratulations!!! xx
Lordy! Too amazing for words. Absoluetly full to the brim with personality and oomph.
Hearty heart heart heart!
Hols
x
Awwww I want a seaside wedding now!!
Love the photography, the bride’s dress, the groom’s suit, the deckchairs, the flowers and the bridesmaids dresses.
But I adore the carousel!!
It looks like they had such a fun day! What a fab couple.
Ps if I don’t get a fly past I’ll be very upset! lol
xxxxx
Gotta love a B&G who bring their own lolly props & deckchairs for photos. It was amazing to work on this wedding – especially tackling the crazy fast carousel with an audience consisting of police officers and drunken Hens. Thank you for helping us to share this with everyone, Charlotte & Rebecca x
I love this wedding – so happy and all the details! Brilliant! I think my favourite part is the fly over banner – what a fab dad! Well done Ian and Emma – amazing photos as always x
I LOVE this! Any chance you could tell me where you got the cool retro seaside postcards from?
one word, WOW!!!!!!
How utterly cute, pretty and oh so beautiful!
Love the table plan using the old postcards, so cute xxx
What a gorgeous British wedding
I loved all the attention to details, the pebbles, the cut out board, deckchairs etc. and the photos are gorgeous, the carousel one is AMAZING, love it love it!! Congratulations to you both x
Brilliant!! Originally we planned a very similar wedding to yours but it all got changed when I saw “the dress” and realised my dream dress needed a different wedding so I have loved seeing this wedding in all it’s Bournemouth glory!! Beautifully put together, I love all the little details and the photographty is just gorgeous!! Congratulations to you both
Great images. Really fresh and original.
Love it all! So relaxed and utterly gorgeous!!!
Hi All – really, really glad that you all like the pictures and the look of our wedding. I know i’m biased but it really was the most fantastic day ever!
Anna – the old fashioned postcards are actually from a website called http://www.memoryprints.co.uk. Lots and lots of retro stuff on there! We actually have two of them (of Bournemouth) blown up on big canvases and they look great.
Once again – glad everyone seems to love the pics!
Stunning wedding dress! love the corded halter strap!
Hi, You wedding looks fab! I love your table plan, we have named our tables after beaches and it is exactly what I am looking for. Where did you get it?!
I’m torn . . . .Seaside theme (does that ‘go’ in the countryside setting? – think prob. not!) Unless . . .we go to Scarborough.
A fabulous, creative wedding.
BTW . . . love, love the Vintage Seaside Postcards & idea of using them to mark your table settings. Not seen that before!