The Ceremony
The ceremony was actually my favourite part of the day, well one particular moment. I have never seen Mike cry but the moment he saw me at the top of the aisle was as close as he has come, the giveaway smile and the glint in his eye and slight shake of his head was so perfect and I will remember it for the rest of my life. One of my best friends did a reading in the church which she wrote herself and it was so personalised and special that it brought a lot of us to tears. It was so good that people had assumed that she had lifted it from a book (until they realised that every line was tailored to us).
The Entertainment
We had Yazzy (half lioness, half songbird) sing in the church and at the reception. I knew I wanted a female acoustic singer and after hearing her sing for the first time, I enquired about her availability immediately. She was incredible and again people were asking where I had found her and how well she had done. Andre Saxman Brown is a legend. We first contacted him on a recommendation from a friend who had used him for her wedding. He is a unique performer in that he plays his saxophone over chart tracks and dances with his audience as he performs. We had never wanted a traditional band on a stage thing and this felt interactive and in keeping with the rest of the wedding. People loved him and he made the dancing part of the evening go by in a heart beat, I wish it could have gone on for 3 more hours! He played alongside Bespoke Disco who are a really professional and modern DJ company. They met with us a couple of months before to make sure they understood what type of music we liked and they had bought in chocolate brownie as a treat whilst we chatted.
The Food
We used Anran’s preferred caterer,
Cru Events. As soon as we met Hayley, who runs the company, we knew she understood what we wanted to achieve for the wedding breakfast. They put on a range of our favourite food in canapé form for the champagne reception. For the meal itself we wanted everything to be shared. Starter was a large antipasti board, followed by beef brisket with delicious salads and the second best roast potatoes in the world (Mike’s Grandma does the very best). Desserts were miniature favourites of ours and cake...oh the cake!
Our wedding cake was designed by Emily at
Queen Bee Cakes. We first tried Emily’s cakes when we visited for a pre-booking consultation. She made a lemon cake for the trial and it was incredible. We immediately made our booking and agreed on 3 layers. Victoria Sponge, Lemon and finally Raspberry and White Chocolate. The evening was finished up with a cheese cake and potato wedges with aioli and baconaise, just what the doctor ordered after a few drinks...
The Photography
I don’t know where to start when it comes to our photographer.
Paige was everything we had hoped we would find in a photographer, someone we could laugh with and be ourselves around who we wanted to share those special moments with and ultimately whose style of photos matched the feel of our wedding. She is young, modest and has a heart made of gold. Over the following months we met up with Paige several times (and it feels like we texted most weeks). The engagement shoot was so much fun and Paige just laughed at how silly we were. On the day Paige delivered over and over again, she continued to surprise us following the wedding when she sent the sweetest thank you card with all of the amazing photos and presentation box. Paige is not only my favourite photographer ever but is also one of my favourite people..forever our family photographer...isn’t that right Paige?
Katy was great second shooter on the day. Always there with a reassuring smile and caught some amazing photos of the groom, ushers and those side moments we didn’t get to see. We would definitely recommend katy!
The Video
We had
The Wild Bride video our wedding. Once again we found a supplier who became life long friends (we are actually going to stay with them in October). We came across them online and again they asked to meet up in person over a cocktail in London to get to know each other ahead of booking. This was perfect for Mike and I who were a little nervous about the filming aspect of the day and how staged it would feel.. which, for the record, is not at all!
Special Homemade Touches
There were 2 things that our families built for us which are so special to us and we hope to keep forever (although we need to move to a bigger house). Infinite Flower Arch - my father in law built (and mother in law decorated) a flower arch in a continuous loop, to which we attached chicken wire so we could weave in a huge amount of foliage. The guests loved getting their wedding shots in front of it during the ceremony - a real Instagram favourite! We had leftover wood from it which we used to make signs to direct people to the venue. Hand Painted Door Triptych - my mum spent many an evening painting some old doors from our house in Devon. She recreated a bride and groom on a starry night which we was a concept from our wedding invites which we had designed with Hummingbird Cards. It was so special to have something so personal and handmade in a central point at the reception.
{Watch The Film}