Emma & Tom’s lovely Isle of Wight wedding, with SJ Jones Photography – and just 25 guests!

Published by Claire Gould on June 30, 2025June 30, 2025

It’s been a lovely morning for me reading all about Emma and Tom’s wedding, which was a real family affair. From mum Joanne’s exquisite cake and flower skills, helped by Emma and family friend Sue, to Emma’s “something borrowed” diamond necklace and rings from uncle David and auntie Angela who own Spencer the Jeweller, family played a huge part in the day. Emma owns a candle business and guests were given beautifully scented soy candles as favours, and the same candles were lit around the venue, giving off a beautiful scent of lavender and bergamot.

Going all the way back to 2022, this was a wedding postponed by the pandemic, reduced in size to just 25 guests… and as Emma puts it, it felt the perfect size for this lovely couple. Their timeless images are by lovely Isle of Wight wedding photographer SJ Jones Photography, who gets a glowing recommendation (keep scrolling!) from the happy couple!

Wedding photographer’s website

SJ Jones Photography https://www.sjjonesphotography.co.uk

Wedding photographer review

Steve was absolutely wonderful from start to finish. I knew when he arrived at my parents home to meet us to showcase his portfolio when we were looking for photographer, he was the one we wanted immediately. So calming on the day which really helped when you’re nervous!

Your best wedding moment or memory

Our initial wedding booking was a victim of Covid 19 so the grand plans we had of a large wedding of nearly 100 guests was cut down to just 25 guests and although we were disheartened in the beginning, on the day it felt the perfect size. We were able to chat and chat and really spend quality time with each of our guests on the biggest day of our lives!

My husband arrived at the venue in my dad’s AC Cobra, a special moment for sure!

We had saxophonist Dave Plummer perform while I walked down the aisle and we had sleight of hand magician Aaron Isted arrive for the evening who performed close up magic at each table, the guests loved him.

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

Sam, father of the groom, was able to make a speech as well as Warren, father of the bride, which was a lovely touch. The guests loved hearing from both sides of the family.

Videographer name + review

We bought a go pro and set this up to film the ceremony, and my sister Hannah, maid of honour, filmed the speeches at the dinner.

Venue name + review

The Royal Hotel, Isle of Wight, absolutely beautiful historic venue, my family have been visiting for years, it is next to the village where I grew up, (bride) and felt like the most perfect choice for our intimate weddings

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

My wedding dress was from Gems Bridal Isle of Wight, altered by Karen Dornellie Unique Bridalwear. Karen added a diamond and pearl belt, and delicate shoulder straps as well as altering the dress to fit seamlessly. For my “something old” my mother let me borrow her veil which she had handmade and wore to her wedding 35 years ago, with hand stitched pearls all the way around. I had a swan down bolero for the evening to keep me warm by the pool.

I borrowed my auntie Angela’s diamonds for the big day, as my uncle David owns Spencer the Jewellers in Eccleshall and her diamonds are spectacular, this was my something borrowed.

My shoes were from Dune bridal collection which have a blue crystal crafted into the base as my something blue, and I had a six pence in my shoe from my late Popsie’s coin collection to keep the tradition.

My husband Tom wore a tailored performance fit navy suit from Moss Bros and shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt. A fantastic fit for being 6’9 tall.

Shoes: Gianni Feraud lace up brogue in black.
A pearl tie pin from Spencer the Jewellers in Eccleshall who also handmade our platinum wedding rings.

The wedding flowers

My mum Joanne loves to create beautiful floral arrangements as a hobby so we immediately took her up on her offer to complete our wedding flowers. Creating absolutely stunning displays for all around the room, the table centrepieces, bride and bridesmaids bouquets and button holes or corsages for the entire wedding party.

With the help from dear friend Sue who is a retired commercial florist, I thoroughly enjoyed styling the flowers with my mum, choosing all my favourites plus sentimental touches including all the eucalyptus and olive tree foliage from my parents garden and Queen Victorias myrtle.

The day before the wedding being surrounded by the most stunning white flowers in my parents kitchen creating the bouquets together is one of my favourite memories, thank you mummy!

Cake maker name + review

My mum Joanne was in charge of the wedding cake and she did an outstanding job, three tiers of fruit cake with royal icing and beautiful lace icing for decoration.

This is a tradition in my family as my grandma had made my mums cake when she got married too! We saved the top tier for when our son was born!

Stationery maker’s name + review

We used Zazzle they have a very large choice of stationery.

Any extra special styling touches?

My Spencer cousins had a pendant made for the bouquet with photographs of our late grandparents in (from both sides of the family which was a lovely touch to have them with us on the day).

As the owner of SHED Soy Candles, I made all my wedding guests an eco friendly soy candle with lavender and bergamot essential oils as their wedding favour, we also had these candles lit all around the venue so it smelt amazing!