This genius groom and bride had a beautiful wedding and made sure they set aside time just for them, to let it all sink in. Between their church ceremony and reception in Oxford, they took an idyllic boat ride down the river – and the photos are sublime! Gwen is stunning in a dress by Sincerity Bridal, and Alex’s custom made suit from Moss is elegant as can be. They’re an adorable pair, especially when you see the pics with their puppy, and we LOVE every moment of their wedding. All of the wonderful images are by London wedding photographer Hannah Larkin, who is the first of Gwen & Alex’s suppliers to get a glowing review and recommendation from the happy pair!

Wedding photographer’s website

Hannah Larkin https://hannahlarkinphotography.com/

Wedding photographer review

Hannah was the perfect choice for our wedding photographer. As well as being super talented, she gets to know you as individuals and is an all round wonderful human. She is kind, warm and funny but also a true professional. We appreciated the opportunity for her to get to know us in the engagement photos included in our package and found she made good suggestions to meet what we wanted in terms of formal and candid shots and how we might cater for our venue choices and different group/ family dynamics. We had great feedback about her from our guests and seemed to magically be everywhere at once, organised, approachable and assertive yet discreet. We absolutely love our photographs (even the kissing ones, we didn’t think we were those people!) and hope to use Hannah for family events in the future. She was adaptable on the day, noted and focused on key guests and captured everyone well including children and our puppy! As for our couple shots – we can’t recommend her enough. It is also worth noting she saved Gwen from a mishap including a taxi door and her veil, all with absolute calm! Thank you Hannah!

Your best wedding moment or memory

There are too many to mention as it really was the best day! One memorable moment was our bubble tunnel (instead of confetti) just after we came out of church – we’ve never seen so many bubbles. The guests (old as well as young!) loved the bubble guns and continued using them at the reception. This moment was extra magical as it rained hard all day but the sunshine came out just as we exited as newlyweds. Hannah also suggested we capture all our group shots while the sun was out, which was a great change of plan and we are really pleased we did this.

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

We took the option to take a boat to the venue, just as a couple with our photographer. As well as some lovely photos we also had a moment to just take a breath, soak it in and say “We did it, we got married!” before joining our guests for the reception party (we sent them by vintage bus).

Boat – Oxford River Cruises

Bus – Nostalgia Travel

We had lots of speeches! Father of Bride, Alex, Gwen, Maid of Honour (sister, with a bit from my nephew) and Best Man. They were all great and different and the timings worked well as we did them before a later wedding breakfast.

We had our puppy join us for a bit, with the brilliant Martin from @doggytopiauk as a “Dog Wedding Chaperone” (who knew such a thing existed?!) looking after him for the weekend but popping him in for photos and enthusiastic links, in his “Best Boy” bowtie.

Instead of a florist we used dried flower bouquets/button holes/hairpins from Hidden Botanics. As they are dried, they’ve made beautiful keepsakes. For the rest of the flowers we brought houseplants and a range of lovely pots matching our theme – we kept these and gave some as presents. They looked really good on the tables and we have been able to enjoy them since, not just for one day.

This might not be news to you but did you know you can get personalised Love hearts from Swizzels?! We had a tradition between us about giving each other love hearts so what a great find for favours.

Venue name + review

Wedding – Our Lady and St Edmund’s Church, Abingdon (a family church where Gwen was christened)

Reception – The Perch, Oxford.

Absolutely brilliant wedding venue. Particularly with Emily Clark as an event coordinator, who was amazing from start to finish. We had in person meetings, food and wine tastings and she was there on the big day too – she is one of the most organised people we’ve ever encountered and also friendly, unflappable and accommodating.

The Perch itself was already a favourite pub due to it’s great location by the riverside in Port Meadow, the consistently great service and the delicious food. For weddings they have a private marquee in the garden, which is already decorated well with beautiful fairy lights and quirky details. They let you make it your own – we had bunting and photos, a neon light, games including a football table and a sweet station. As well as decor, we were able to make choices about layout, timings and what to stock the bar with. The whole vibe was very relaxed but high standard and the wedding feast was a real highlight! We had many comments on the great food and drink. Service was really good and the whole set up felt slick. We weren’t even disappointed by the rain as it was a party in the marquee and everyone spilled out into the garden with umbrellas anyway. 5 stars for The Perch!

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

Alex – a custom made suit from Moss.

We loved the colour and having the lining embroidered with our names and wedding date. The Best Man and adult usher also had suits made and BM said he might wear it when he gets married as they all fit so well. Alex had a special kingfisher tie to match our theme. Younger ushers had suits in a matching colour from Next.

Gwen left it quite late to try on dresses not realising how early some brides look but then fell in love with the first dress she tried on at Proposals, Witney. It was gorgeous dress from Sincerity Bridal with sequins all over. Gwen also had a full length veil which was a favourite item on the day (a surprise after previously having no opinion on veils!). Gwen’s shoes were white vans embroidered with the date, flowers and “Mrs Mack”. Bridesmaid dresses (adult and child) were from In One Clothing, London and were multiway so they could style them differently but all in a beautiful teal colour. The fabric was great and Gwen got a “emergency spare ” which she can’t wait to wear! Younger bridesmaids and flower girl also rocked Vans – theirs were sparkly!

Dress or suit shop name + review

Moss, Oxford

Great service and really loved the suits. Good range of options and fitting service was good and flexible with appointments. The suits were made quickly and they communicated with the groom well.

Proposals, Witney.

Cannot recommend them enough. Warm, friendly, professional service who were great at listening and making recommendations but also giving space and time to find the perfect dress. They helped arrange alterations and presented the dress and veil beautifully for pickup the day before the wedding.

Florist name + review

Dried flowers, buttonholes and hair pins from Hidden Botanics.

These were a great choice. It was easy to choose online and they arrived in good condition, with the added bonus of being able to sort these well ahead of the day since they last. They are now lovely keepsakes.

Cake maker name + review

The Cake Shop, Oxford

It was a last minute decision to have a cake and we are so glad we did! Super service with the tasting and customisation and they directly communicated with the venue so it was seamless. Our cake topper was us in our wedding outfits sat on a bench with Pickles our puppy and Pippin our hamster. This was one of our favourite details!

Stationery maker’s name + review

Homemade – we included watercolour illustrations by Gwen. We did order some special stamps for invitations (birds) from The Royal Mail, which were were pleased with!

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

• Invitations, including a map
• Bunting
• Signage including the seating plan
• Photo strings
• We put together individual activity packs for each child guest

Wedding readings?

As well as traditional church readings we had an extract from The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

First dance song? Playlist recommendations?

Home by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Followed by a band The Junos https://thejunos.co.uk/ which were absolutely brilliant and gave us an eclectic mix including 90s dance hits to keep the dance floor jumping! We had lots of positive feedback from our guests about the band. Before the evening music we had instrumental versions of songs in the background.

Hair + makeup name + review

Rachel Walsmley @rachelwhairandmakeup

Rachel was wonderful! My make up and hair made me feel absolutely at my best and most beautiful on the day and look great in the photos. Rachel was warm, friendly, professional and catered for all the wishes of bride, mother of the bride and four bridesmaids. The timing and organisation was carefully considered and the bride’s trial was a great opportunity to get to know each other and try things out. Highly recommend.