I love the bright colours and the sunflowers in today’s wedding – it’s the perfect little blast of sunshine to brighten up our screens and our smiles when the weather outside is… oh let’s just not look!!! Join me in gazing happily at the gorgeous pics from gorgeous Hannah and Nathanael’s pretty sunflower wedding – it’s glorious!

All the images are by lovely Coventry wedding photographer Hannah K. Photography. Aren’t they fabulous?

 

Our experience was that weddings are as expensive as you make them to be. We were keen to save money and so got loads of our friends and family involved with everything! Our maid of honour’s mum made our wedding cake, Hannah rented her wedding dress, our friends designed all the stationery and so much more! It was a great way not only to save money, but also to involve people in our process and to make them feel a part of it.

We’re definitely glad we spent more of our budget on our photography and our function band! Hannah K was worth every penny and our amazing function band (Function Fever) were incredible.

Our wedding flowers were arranged by the lovely Nadine at Statham Flowers, Coventry. We had sunflowers, gypsophila and salal leaves. They were gorgeous! She made all of our flower crowns and the groomsmens buttonholes as well.

At the church we hung up all of these fairy lights, and we wrapped fake ivy around the pillars. There’s a verse in the Bible about “our sons being like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace” which we both love. It speaks about growing into a position of strength and unity with each other and we wanted to reflect that in our decorations. At Nexus we had an AMAZING team of friends who decorated the whole room with ivy, fairy lights and bunting and made it look stunning.

We didn’t have too many crafty things that were homemade, but so much of our wedding was contributed to by other people which made it all the more special. Our friends and family made cupcakes and treats for everyone after the ceremony. The directors of our university at Nexus catered for us and made all of this incredible smoked meat. We had some close friends who run a social enterprise making ethical, fair-trade ice cream and employ survivors of human trafficking (Just Ice) come in and serve ice cream for dessert. Homemade is the way!

Your (first) names

Nathanael & Hannah

Wedding photographer’s website:

https://hannahkphotography.co.uk

How did you choose your photographer?

Hannah K was our first and only choice! She had an incredible reputation from photographing a few of our friends weddings and the quality of her photos speak for themself.

Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!

Yes absolutely. The time, commitment and effort that Hannah K continually puts in for every wedding she photographs is amazing. She works incredibly hard to capture every natural moment of your wedding day and is just an all round BABE!

Tell us about the moment you saw your wedding photos for the first time?

We were simply blown away! It was amazing to see how the day had been recorded so beautifully and so naturally. We both loved that she captured so many special moments with our friends and family in particular. Also Nat was surprised by how photogenic he looked haha!

Wedding venue:

St Marks Coventry for the ceremony and Nexus Institute of Creative Arts for the reception.

Wedding month:

July

Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?

An incredible celebration of joy and God’s faithfulness!

Your wedding style or theme:

We didn’t really have a specific theme! We just picked stuff that we liked.

Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)

Mainly through recommendations from friends as it’s always good to know they’ve done a good job for a friend’s event.

Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?

A labour of love for sure haha! We’re blessed to know loads of really creative people and so one of our close friends hand painted all of these watercolour flower wreaths and wrote out our names in calligraphy. Once we decided on one particular design, we scanned that in and then used Canva (Photoshop for dummies) to add all the text. We had quite a few long DIY evenings where we had loads of fun with watercolour paint and lettering.

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

Yes! But it was a very short lived romance as I had to return it a few days later haha.

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

Phoenix Gowns. The Bridal Gallery, Warwickshire.

Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!

I had a beautiful flower crown made out of mini sunflowers and gypsophila which I LOVED. My shoes were white ballet flats with embroidered flowers and sequins, and I got them off eBay!

And what did the groom wear?

A navy blue suit from Next, tan brogues from M&S and a yellow tie.

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

These pale yellow flowy chiffon dresses that we found on eBay! They were mega flattering and super cheap as well.

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

A close friend of ours does a lot of hair, make-up & nails for other people’s weddings so we hired her!

The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?

Our maid of honour’s mum made our wedding cake which was sooo good. We had two tiers of chocolate madeira and two tiers of vanilla with salted caramel buttercream all over it. It. Was. A. Dream. She also made it all ombre yellow and created little Nat & Hannah figurines at the top! We loved it!

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

We had the amazing Function Fever as our wedding band who are made up of insanely talented musicians and also happen to be past and present lecturers at our university, Nexus ICA. We had a massive dance off between guys and girls which was hilarious and the bridal party also got up and played a song since we’re all musicians. The dance floor was packed the entire night!

Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:

Remember that you’re a team. In life, when one of you wins, you both win. When one of you loses, you both lose. Cheer each other on! Empower your husband/wife to step into everything they’re called to do. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

What’s the best thing about being married?

So many things! We’ve discovered quite quickly that marriage isn’t without it’s trials and complications, but man is it worth it. You get to live the rest of your life with your best friend who chooses to love you every single day. To flourish and grow as people inside this relationship of commitment. As Christians, we believe that marriage reflects the love that God has for us. This love that never fails, it’s patient and kind, it’s not selfish, and regardless of who we are and what we’ve done, it does not give up on us. Being married has given us a greater understanding of how much the Lord loves us. And that by far has been the best thing.

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

https://www.just-ice.org : Just Ice (Amazing ethical ice cream)
http://www.functionfever.co.uk : Function Fever
https://nexus-ica.co.uk : Nexus ICA (Our reception venue)
http://bridalgallerycoventry.co.uk : Bridal boutique
https://www.stathamflowers.com : Florist