If I ask you right now, what is a wedding? I’m guessing the occasion that springs to mind will be at least a little formal, decorative, perhaps with someone in a white dress or a gold or red lehenga, guests in sparkly or flowery summer attire and plenty of suits and ties. These are the things we can’t help ourselves expecting, based on everything the media and tradition tells us a wedding ‘should’ be.
I’d like to challenge that expectation today, and suggest that perhaps, a wedding is simply a celebration of love between two people, where absolutely anything goes. It can be quiet, carefully planned and elegantly styled, or like Emily and Jimmy’s day, it can be joyful, raucous and 100% YOU. As a wedding blogger, these unique celebrations are the weddings I adore most of all.
All images in this amazing blog are by documentary wedding photographers York Place Studios
So Emily and Jimmy’s day, shared with us by award-winning photographers York Place Studios, has traditional elements as you’ve never seen them before. Emily wears a gorgeous dress, Jimmy a fabulous suit… but these two wear their personalities with absolute confidence and pride, and the style of the wedding is uniquely them, in the most brilliant way. There’s a chuppah, and a smashing the glass ceremony honouring Jewish wedding traditions… but the couple are otherwise barefoot and Jimmy walks back down the aisle with one shoe on.
Before I leave you to soak in the atmosphere of this amazingly personal wedding, I wanted to highlight a couple of things we often think are non negotiable at weddings… but which Emily and Jimmy did completely differently!
1. What the couple should wear: often a classic dress or suit for the daytime, something more relaxed for dancing in the evening. See Jimmy’s gorgeous floral print and Emily’s epic tassels at the end of this post!
2. How to seat your guests for the ceremony: chairs or at least haybales in rows, for every guest? Or vintage rugs so everyone can huddle and relax with their favourites!
3. What should the person waiting at the end of the aisle do? Look? Don’t turn around until the last minute? This can be a tricky moment, especially if you’re both nervous and forget to discuss it first! Do as Jimmy did: he turned to watch Emily approach, flung his arms wide as soon as he saw her, and swept a classic, Shakespearian bow to his lady as she reached him! Most enthusiastic welcome I’ve ever seen… and a moment the couple will remember forever!
4. Shoes? Entirely up to you. (But definitely required for any smashing of glass – don’t try it barefoot!)
5. What should wedding guests wear? Anything that sparks joy… and the sparks in this wedding are a blaze of fun and colour!
Captured by the inimitable and adored York Place Studios, masters of documentary wedding photography across the UK and overseas. Discover everything you need to know about documentary wedding photography here, and (for photographers) explore their groundbreaking book Is This Something – which offers a perspective on wedding photography which might just change the way you see everything.
I can quite happily say that country house weddings aren’t for everyone. I’m one of those people: a fancy pants English stately home with landscaped gardens just wouldn’t suit me – and it wasn’t for Hannah & Laith either. This gorgeous, music-loving pair chose iconic Manchester venue Band on the Wall for their wedding party. The vibe is beyond amazing, the ceremony styled with vibrant sunflowers, and I’ve fallen head over heels for their epic modern wedding day! Images are by lovely Priti Shikotra Photography, who’s based in Manchester and gets a fabulous review from the happy couple!
Wedding photographer’s website
Priti Shikotra https://www.pritishikotraweddings.com
Wedding photographer review
Priti was just brilliant! She was organised, reassuring, lovely to chat to, and of course, the pictures were perfect. Priti met with us a few months prior at the venue to pick out some good picture shots for on the day, which was such a good idea because we could go straight to each planned shot on the day and get the formal photos out of the way nice a quickly! We got a selection of photos just a few days after the wedding, then the full lot just a few weeks later. Honestly, she was worth every (extremely competitively priced) penny!
Your best wedding moment or memory
Oh it’s so hard to pick! I did love walking down the aisle, and meeting Laith at the front. The room looked so beautiful, all our friends and family had dressed so colourfully and looked amazing, the sun was shining and the room was full of light… it was perfect! I also loved the cake cutting, it was a lot of fun, we just laughed a lot and made lots of jokes. I’m also in a community choir called SHE choir, and they did a surprise performance just before the evening party started!
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
I suppose we did things slightly differently from the beginning. For a start, Laith helped me pick my wedding dress and came with me when I tried it on and picked it up from the eBay seller! We booked venues that weren’t usually wedding venues, and we had a Jamaican buffet for our wedding breakfast and patties for the evening food! We had no first dance or videographer, we just weren’t that bothered about those things, and we had the frontman of Dutch Uncles DJ the evening do!
Venue name + review
The ceremony was held at the People’s History Museum and the drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening reception were held at Band On The Wall, both in centre of Manchester. Both of these venues are Manchester institutions with very unique buildings with lots of character. All the staff at both venues went above and beyond, and were instrumental in the day running as smoothly as it did. My biggest shoutout goes to Laura the Operations Manager at Band on the Wall, she was so helpful, reassuring and really was a delight to work with!
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
The dress was a gorgeous second hand Willowby by Watters white lace dress, bought off E-Bay. It was lovely and figure hugging, showed off my tattoos, and had a tiny train so was practical all evening!
I loved my veil! It was beautiful lace white chapel length with embroidered white dots all over it – it was so different and felt very ‘me’ and not at all stuffy and traditional. It was hired off By Rotation, and the brand was AM Faulkner Studio in London!
My heels were Irregular Choice (bought second hand off Depop), and I slipped into some white Jordan 1 Mids for the evening. My necklace and earrings were from a lovely indie jewellery maker called Ray Makes Things.
Laith’s suit was mostly from Moss, with a few bits from other small suit shops. He decided to go full black-tie, with a STUNNING plum/burgundy velvet blazer, tuxedo shirt and trousers, bow tie, the lot! (Except the cummerbund, I put my foot done on that one haha). We helped each other find and put together what we were wearing, and were both very proud of the results. We enjoy trying out different clothes a lot, so this was the fun part for us!
Florist name + review
The bride and bridesmaid bouquets were from the Dried Flower Shop in Bolton. She made me the most beautiful dried sunflower and autumn greens bouquets, they looked and smelled amazing, and best of all, I still have mine! My granny did all the fresh flowers for the ceremony, she did the flowers for her daughter’s wedding, and now mine, and they were just perfect. Finally, I did all the dried flower arrangements on the tables for the wedding breakfast myself! I bought bunches of autumnal dried flowers from a wholesaler and arranged them into about 24 vases. The hardest part was trawling charity shops and Vinted for months picking up vases – I was very picky!
Cake maker name + review
The Teatime Collective. They do the best vegan cakes – no one at my wedding could tell the cake was vegan! Catherine is incredible, get your cakes from her whether you’re vegan or not!
Stationery maker’s name + review
My little sister designed our invitations, she was a fine art student at the time, and has just graduated! She is absolutely looking to pick up more design work – @pinktillypaints on Instagram! All the other stationery, table labels and so on, I made myself from parcel labels, ink and stamps, and a nice pen!
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
Probably most of it! Our invitations were designed by my sister as greeting cards, and then I wrote them all myself, I made all the table labels myself, and found lots of pinecones to put on the tables too! I made dried flower arrangements for the tables, and the seating plan was made up of bookmarks that my sister made and my dad wrote everyone’s names and tables on in his best handwriting!
Wedding readings?
Invitation to Love by Paul Laurence Dunbar, read by my mum
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
No first dance! But we did have the choir I’m in do a surprise performance instead! They even sang a reworking of Robyn’s Dancing On My Own which went ‘I’m at the altar, saying my vows, ohhh…’, they had re-written it specially for me!
Wedding planner name + review
Haha, I’m an event manager by day, and I’ve run a fair few weddings in my time, so I planned the whole thing myself! If I were to review me I would say I did a pretty good job by and large but probably could have been a little less stressy towards the end! It turns out it’s quite different on the other side, even when you know how everything works, and I have a extra sympathy for all the brides I’ve worked with in the past!
Hair + makeup name + review
Hair and makeup: Jodie A. Smith – @jodiemakeupuk
Jodie was wonderful! She is the loveliest person, and my makeup and her were perfect on the day – I honestly couldn’t have asked for better! We also happened to have very similar music tastes and spent half our time sharing new artists with each other and talking about them. I highly highly recommend her!
Today’s wedding is a beauty. I’ve been holding on to Naomi & Chris’s gorgeous autumn wedding with all those magical golden, rust and red colours. Today feels just a little crisp and autumnal – perfect to share their day with you! The personal touches go above and beyond, with tables named after special people and styling touches like little felted birds on branches. They’re adorable! Naomi’s Needle & Thread dress is beyond beautiful, as is she! There are so many creative ideas, all captured in amazing photos by Lake District wedding photographer Hannah Hall. Hannah gets a glowing review from Chris & Naomi, who have lots of supplier recommendations to share with you so do keep reading! As always, there’ll be more favourite pics on our instagram at @englishweddingblog later!
Wedding photographer’s website
Hannah Hall Photography (https://hannahhallphotography.co.uk/)
Wedding photographer review
If you hire Hannah, you’re not only hiring a brilliant photographer, but someone who will whole heartedly help you in anyway that she can. Whether that be an answer to a silly wedding question, helping you navigate the morning of, making friends with all of your guests to get the best shots possible or sending a funny video to make you laugh for the day.
We HUGELY recommend booking Hannah for your wedding if you want to look naturally beautiful in your photos and capture the personality and life of your friends and family on your big day. We weren’t big on the idea of having loads of posed photos and when we saw Hannah’s website we knew she was the one. We chose her because she is the best at capturing those small moments that you miss on the day (as well as just being a really lovely person), for the best examples of this just go to her website (https://hannahhallphotography.co.uk) and watch the pictures scroll through. That was pretty much all we needed to know she was perfect (the ladies in the pink hats are what sealed the deal for us).
Your best wedding moment or memory
Naomi – For me, it was seeing lots of different groups of people in our lives meetings and mingling. It was like The Avengers movies when hero’s from different movies finally meet. It makes you appreciate the people you’ve met that helped you get to that day.
Chris – There are so many best moments and memories that it’s difficult to choose but as well as what Naomi said about seeing all our friends and family mingling, it was probably the first moment we were together after the ceremony, where we could just spend some time together on our own and talk about how the day had gone for us so far (there was a mammoth mission at the hotel before to make sure we didn’t see each other).
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We had a nice mix between traditional and strayed away when it made sense to us.
Rather than finding a Maid of Honor, we stuck with Naomi’s best friend Ryan who became her “bridesman”.
We stuck to the tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony on the day.
We also didn’t do wedding favours as we didn’t want to buy a load of things that people wouldn’t really want and would leave them and they get thrown away.
It was important for us to somehow include family members we have lost over the years. Chris had a great idea to name our tables after those people and include a little bio about those people on each placemat.
Our main focus was to ensure that we had the wedding we wanted and didn’t feel bogged down by traditions or by going out of our way to buck all trends and traditions. We borrowed certain traditions (first dance, not seeing each other before the ceremony and speeches) and did our own thing as well (no bridesmaids, no groomsmen, no wedding favours)
The only thing we can add is to take the advice we were given which is simply to make the day the way YOU want. There may be some people who try to get involved and tell you what to do and whilst you should always listen to advice, don’t feel like you have to do what they want. At the end of the day, it’s your wedding day and your memories. You can always tell them you’ll do that thing they’re telling you to do but then just… don’t. They’ll only find out on the day and by then it’ll be too late!
Venue name + review
The Pumping House in Ollerton. We cannot recommend them enough. Not only is it a beautifully unique venue in a stunning forest location but the staff were exceptional (special shoutout to our wedding coordinator Megan).
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Naomi’s dress was Needle + Thread. She had wanted something very embellished that complimented her figure but, most importantly, something that was comfortable. This ticked every box and then some.
Naomi just wanted to shout out having a fitting in your own home with friends and family. We made a day out of it and everyone felt they could relax without feeling pressured from dress sales people.
Chris’ suit came from Cavani at Coney’s in Lincoln – I wanted a nice tweed suit and I wanted a slightly different colour, as opposed to beige or blue so I went shopping for suits with my parents. We went all over the place and I almost bought a different suit until my dad said he had seen a nice suit shop in Lincoln. So we hightailed it over there as it was almost the end of the day and found the perfect suit that was green, so matched the colours for the wedding perfectly.
Chris – The staff at Cavani at Coney’s in Lincoln were absolutely brilliant. They couldn’t do enough to help me and gave honest advice and even stayed open a little past closing time to ensure I got the best suit. They also did a little bit of tailoring to the trousers and got them back to me within a couple of days. And the suits are all really reasonably priced.
Florist name + review
Our florist was the wonderful Danielle, owner of Peonies and Plumes.
As soon as we saw her work at The Pumping House open day we fell in love. She was a dream to work with and over delivered on our brief. We’re a big believer of letting experts do their thing so we briefed her with a few colours and explained the mood we were looking for: autumnal forest/berries/mosses/deep colours. And boy! We got more than we had hoped for.
Cake maker name + review
Our cake maker was Naomi’s Nan and Aunty, the Chief Cake Makers for every family occasion. Not only was the cake tasty (who can beat the baking of a grandma?) but it has extra meaning to us. And she does make one hell of a cake!!
Stationery maker’s name + review
Probably the subject that caused Chris the most stress. Naomi designed every piece of stationery in her free time. The invites, signs, menus and table names. Again, even though we ended up with tight turnarounds and took a long time to draw and design, we’re glad we did it to give our wedding more meaning (and probably saved a good amount of money doing so). We opted for a forest floral inspired design and peppered it with animals that mean something to us. In our signs we had a sleeping drawing of our cat.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
We’re big birdwatchers and knew we wanted to add that element into our day. We (but mainly Naomi!) made several felted birds and we worked with Peonies and Plume to incorporate them into each display. It helped to create a whimsical animal woodland feel and gave the kids something fun to go around and spot.
Wedding readings?
We didn’t want our ceremony is become too long, we opted for only 1 reading which was a selection of the best meaningful pieces of advice from the book The Human’s by Matt Haig: – Everything Matters.
Every ingredient inside a star is inside you – You shouldn’t have been born. Your existence is as close to impossible as can be. To dismiss the impossible is to dismiss yourself – Kindness is always courage and caring is what makes you human. Care more, become more human. – One day humans will live on Mars. But nothing there will be more exciting than a single overcast morning on Earth. – Don’t always try and be cool. The whole universe is cool. It’s the warm bits that matter. – There are a lot of idiots in your species. Lots and lots. You are not one of them. Hold your ground. – When you watch the news, and see members of your species in turmoil, do not think there is nothing you can do. But know, it is not done by watching the news. – Don’t aim for perfection. Evolution, and life, only happens through mistakes. – No-one is ever completely right about anything. Anywhere. – You don’t have to be an academic. You don’t have to be anything. Don’t force it. Feel your way, and don’t stop feeling your way until something fits. Maybe nothing will. Maybe you are a road, not a destination. That is fine. Be a road. But make sure it’s one with something to look at out of the window. – A quark is not the smallest thing. The smallest thing is the regret you will feel on your deathbed for not having worked more. – Even when the darkness is total, remember you are moving through the galaxy. Wait for the brightness of the stars. – It is not the length of life that matters. It’s the depth. But while burrowing, keep the sun above you. – If there is a sunset, stop and look at it. Knowledge is finite. Wonder is infinite. – Be alive. That is your supreme duty to the world. – At some point, bad things are going to happen. Have someone to hold onto. – Don’t ever be afraid of telling someone you love them. There are things wrong with your world, but an excess of love is not one. – You are lucky to be alive. Inhale and take in life’s wonders. Never take so much as a single petal of a single flower for granted.
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
Our first dance was actually a fun Eurovision song. Daði Freyr, 10 years. Again, the big focus for the day was to make sure everyone was having fun, as well as ourselves. We would have felt awfully awkward if we forced out a romantic song and slow dance. We love Daði Freyr and the fact that he wrote this song specifically for his wife felt so right. And, yes, we did a really cheesy disco dance along with it. Shout out to The Pointer Brothers for their inspiration and Hannah for believing in us to pull it off.
Hair + makeup name + review
As well as skilled artists, a calming and friendly environment for the morning was an essential part of finding Naomi’s hair and make-up so we asked Hannah (photographer) who she recommended. Naomi’s hair was styled by Hannah Blinko Hair who created a lovely Hollywood wave that lasted ALLLLLLL day. Hannah was great in every step along the way to the big day. Chatting over emails about styles, opening up her house for a trial run and being wonderfully funny on the day. Make-up was expertly applied by Ruby Jones who was able to make every brief come true. Ruby was great in guiding Naomi through the process and what was needed, even hoping on a call to chat things through. Again, Ruby opened up her home for the trail which was a calming and friendly environment. On the day Ruby was able to create different styles and looks for multiple women and remained calm and friendly all morning. A very welcome vibe to calm nerves.
I’m the happiest wedding blogger in the world today! It’s a joy to be sharing this beautiful Somerset wedding with the most amazing bespoke gold dress for stunning bride Rae. Jason’s suit is the loveliest purple shade, and the happy couple look fabulous in every single picture. They chose Dorset wedding photographers and videographers Smiling Tiger Studios to capture their day.
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Styling touches are simply lovely with fresh green taper candles and florals in green, purple and soft whites.
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Eucalyptus and sweet peas on table displays with eclectic glassware are full of character.
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
There’s the most incredible display of floral cupcakes in intricate detail – we’ve shared loads of photos of these because we can’t take our eyes off them!
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
“Rae and Jason’s wedding at the ever-beautiful North Cadbury Court was such a grand affair with a lot of laughter, magic tricks and beautiful relationships between the couple and their guests that were amazing to capture.
Such an amazing party and we look forward to photographing many weddings alike in the future.” ~ North Cadbury Court wedding photographers Smiling Tiger Studios
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Smiling Tiger Studios are wedding photographers and videographers in Dorset. They cover weddings in all the surrounding counties from Somerset to Hampshire – and throughout the UK and Europe.
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
North Cadbury Court is blissfully beautiful. There are lush gardens with wonderful trees and quiet spaces for wonderful wedding photography opportunities.
The house itself has a fabulous ballroom for larger weddings and welcoming North Hall for smaller celebrations. Both are licensed for wedding ceremonies, or for christian couples there’s a church next door. It’s wonderful to see images by Smiling Tiger Studios on North Cadbury Court’s wedding website!
Photographers: Smiling Tiger Studios
Venue: North Cadbury Court
Florals: The Wilde Bunch
Catering: Victoria Blashford-Snell
Cakes: Rachelle’s Beautiful Bespoke Cakes
DJ: Iggy wedding DJ
Magician: Matty Evans Magic
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Rae & Jason’s North Cadbury Court Wedding – July 2023
Tiny weddings, big personalities. When you look back on your wedding in years to come, it’s the characters that will shine through your images. The laughter and the love, the small, tender moments and the ones so overwhelming you remember them as if they were yesterday.
Lina & Rob’s wedding was on one of the hottest days of summer. They chose York Place – specialists in documentary wedding photography and film – to capture their wedding in the heart of Oxford.
Lina’s boho backless wedding dress is absolutely beautiful, and Rob’s suit’s lovely with a dash of sunny yellow for his tie. The couple are stunning; their wedding guests look the part in yellow shades (Grandad and the kids rocking the same, cool summer wedding look)!
This little quote from the team behind York Place Studios puts it perfectly: “Capturing this beautiful setting alongside the funny, heartwarming, sweet and tender moments between such a lovely group was a pure pleasure and it was fantastic to see the young and young-at-heart all celebrating together“.
Regular readers of the blog will know well that I’m a fan of documentary photography: wedding images as natural and authentic as it gets. York Place are masters of their craft, and explain perfectly how weddings of all sizes have one wonderful thing in common:
“No matter how big or small, formal or relaxed, weddings for us are always all about the people who attend them. The people themselves, their relationships and their personalities are always unique, always new and exciting to celebrate and capture but our approach and the way we see the world through a lens do not differ. Colours, expressions, life, humour and love still permeate through our images and the people in front of us, and we’re always seeking out the smallest whispers of moments and intimate of connections to reveal them.”
So this Voco Oxford wedding is as magical as any. The day rolls by in glorious sunshine with Lina and Rob surrounded by their closest family and friends. Boats sail down the Thames as the couple say their vows. There’s quite a moment with the cake. It’s all captured beautifully in a series of moments that connect through the people who shared their day, and in the inimitable style of top London photographers York Place Studios.
Confetti from Adamapple.co.uk
