£5k - £10k
Short Wedding Dress For Chelsea Town Hall COVID Wedding
Inspiration
Homemade Wedding Bouquet & Dress
Photography by
Francesca Hill Photography
Photography by
Francesca Hill Photography
When a traditional white wedding dress and light airy colours aren't on your wedding dream list, what do you do? You get your Mum to make you a homemade wedding bouquet and dress. (Unless your Mum is my Mum.) Luckily for Beth, her Mum is a genius when it comes to using a needle and thread. Beth's brief was for her homemade dress to be haunting, ethereal and dramatic and her Mum nailed it. Beth and Alex had a civil ceremony for 15 pepole at Lyde Court.
A wedding for 15 people and with a homemade wedding bouquet & wedding dress.
It was the wettest day on record! It was also a pandemic and we weren't going to let the rain dampen our spirits or stop us from getting married. We planned our wedding in 5 months. It was originally for 80 guests but we agreed from the start that whatever COVID would throw at us, we would still get married that day, even if it was just the two of us.
Everything was DIY, from the handprinted invitations to the homemade wedding bouquet and dress. I sourced the flowers locally and designed the bouquet.
Homemade wedding bouquet & dress - the details.
The traditional white dress wasn’t for me and I knew I would struggle to find my dream dress from a typical boutique so my Mum basically made my dress from scratch. It was a collaborative design process that meant I could wear the couture dress of my dreams. Mum understood my vision and made it a reality and I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else with the job - it made the day even more special than I could’ve imagined.
A virtual wedding, covid style. With 15 guests.
Our favourite moment was being able to share our micro wedding with our family and friends from all over the world! The venue set up CCTV cameras and a zoom call for the ceremony, so all of our guests could tune in live from wherever they were! It made it so special. It really felt like everyone was there celebrating with us. We were flooded with photos of friends and family in their wedding attire and a drink in hand which bought us so much joy despite missing them all so much.
Moody colours of deep purple and green
Our priority was to stay calm and enjoy the experience and to plan a day that was authentic with no fuss. The perfect big white wedding just wasn’t for us. We are both too unorganised with very little patience! We wanted a fun and relaxed atmosphere in a dramatic, medieval setting. The colour palette was filled with moody colours of deep purples and greens with lots of texture for the flowers and the groom and bridesmaids outfit. I had three inspiration words for the dress; haunting, ethereal and dramatic.
We knew from the start we wanted the process to happen as organically as possible.
Don't get hung up on traditions or the finer details - you won't care about them on the day. We knew from the start that we wanted the process to happen as organically as possible, if it felt right, we were going to go with it and not let the pointless details cause unnecessary stress.
After a virtual tour at Lyde Court, we booked a last-minute date. Not only was it the perfect venue for us, but the staff were wonderful and accommodating throughout the whole process. When it came to photography, Francesca’s relaxed, contemporary style was what helped us decide she was the photographer for us! We were nervous about being photographed with both of us being awkward in front of the camera. Fran made us feel completely at ease despite the pouring rain and captured the complete happiness of the day!
Obviously COVID caused some issues. Having to change numbers multiple times was taking its toll on the excitement leading up to the day but we couldn’t imagine it any other way. It just highlighted what was important to us; both of us, happily married.
It's those smiles at the ceremony that do it for me. That hunching of the shoulders in excitement and can you even get over the homemade wedding bouquet and dress? That cape? All of that embellishment? Wowzer. They complimented each other so perfectly. If Beth's moody ethereal style is up your street, you will love Bethan and Scott's Engagement shoot. Or for more homemade bouquet inspiration don't miss Aby and Joe's wedding.
Written by Becky Sappor
Photography:
Francesca Hill Photography | ASOS:
Bridesmaids dresses | Grooms Suit:
Moss Bros | Brides Shoes:
Kurt Geiger | Venue:
Lyde Court
