A short intro from me today because in the case of Juliane & Luke’s wedding, the images say everything. This is a gorgeous day with a stunning bride and handsome groom, surrounded by art and all the people who love them. The venue is Turner Contemporary. The photographers are London wedding photographers York Place Studios. And unusually perhaps, we’re not sharing photos of flowers and place settings, wedding decor and dreamy styling touches. We’re sharing the realness of a wedding day.
Take time to scroll through these images and you’ll see the connections between people, the moments where uncles and aunties and grandparents are being their natural selves. The children at Luke & Juliane’s day who are full of character and fascination at the excitement of a wedding day. The beauty of those little moments which you might miss as your wedding rushes by in a blur.
“Incredible photographers! Thank you so much for being part of our wedding day, and capturing the moments big and small. We and our guests love the pictures so much, we’ve gotten so many compliments on them. One couple even said they want to get married again (to each other – phew) just so they could hire you! We’ll forever cherish those memories you managed to capture so well.” ~ Juliane & Luke
A little reminder, through the exceptional lenses of leading documentary wedding photographers York Place Studios, that weddings are bursting with life and love, and that the moments you’ll love seeing in your wedding album in years to come are of the tiny moments which capture the people you love so you can see exactly what you love them for.
The group photo I used as the header image for today’s blog is the best one I’ve ever seen. This is what every group photo should be: a collection of everyone in happy chaos, doing their thing, being themselves, surrounding the happy couple. And it’s something you’ll only get in the hands of award winning wedding photographers like York Place Studios.
York Place Studios and York Place Films are members of English Wedding
Web: www.yorkplacestudios.co.uk
I’ll put this right out there: we don’t get sent nearly enough weddings which are inclusive, diverse, or include the rainbow of wonderful humanity we love to see. Please – if you’re a couple or a wedding photographer, perhaps a celebrant or a planner – get in touch and send in your submission!
India & Conor’s day is beautiful because it has the BEST people. It’s a rainbow of joy and celebration, literally when it comes to the bridal party! The happy couple are adorable, and their little girl is super cute.
At English Wedding we believe with all our hearts that your wedding – if you choose to have one – should reflect you as a couple, and other than that – a wedding can be ANYTHING you’d like it to be. Conor & India prove that with this beauty of an alternative wedding, and we ADORE them for it.
Images are by lovely Dorset wedding photographer Nathan at Libra Photographic, who gets a fantastic recommendation from the happy couple!
Wedding photographer’s website
Nathan Eames – Libra Photographic (covers weddings in Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, and more!) https://libraphotographic.co.uk/
Wedding photographer review
Very friendly and approachable, put everyone at ease and took many fantastic photos. Managed to get a smile in every picture from our overwhelmed 2 year-old. You wouldn’t know she spent half the time in tears. Can’t recommend him enough.
Your best moment or memory
Our 3 year old nephew’s impromptu moment singing his very own “we’re best friends” song into the microphone for everyone
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We did a handfasting ceremony, where each of our parents tied the rope around our hands once and said a few words. It was a great way to involve those close to us and make it special.
Videographer name + review
Josh Jackson https://brightsky.film/ Friendly and flexible around our day, created multiple excellent videos of different parts of the day (ceremony, speeches, and short clip)
Venue name + review
Ashley Wood Farm Stunning scenery and a large space with great indoor and outdoor areas set in the beautiful Cranborne Chase. Friendly owners and had few restrictions to allow us the freedom to tailor the setting to our own vision.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
India wore a fishtail dress with a cape and butterfly brooches. Conor wore a navy suit and ivory waist jacket.
Dress or suit shop name + review
CG Boutique in Amesbury Very friendly girls who helped India to try on lots of different styles to find the perfect dress. Recommended a good seamstress for adjustments.
Florist name + review
Coombe Bissett Blooms
Has a ‘pick your own flowers’ option so India picked out a range of flowers for the bouquets, button holes, and table displays. Family helped out putting it all together beforehand.
Cake maker name + review
India made her own cake. Highly recommended.
Stationery maker’s name + review
We made our own invites.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
We had the homemade cake, as well as a dessert buffet. Flower arrangements were all homemade. We decorated the venue ourselves. We also made a red post-box for collecting small gifts, cards, etc.
Wedding readings?
We had our respective parents say a few personal words during the handfasting ceremony but no specific readings.
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
Halestorm – Here’s To Us
Food & drink
The food at our wedding was excellent, supplied by Game and Flames, including wild pigeon, venison, and boar, with flame-cooked butternut squash, and roasted vegetables. The wine was all delicious Scottish fruit wines supplied by Cairn O’Mohr Fruit Wines, and we also had some local Lyme Bay Banquet mead as well as Lindisfarne dark mead.
Weddings can be hilarious, they can be beautiful, they can be a rollercoaster of emotion. They’re always out-of-this-world incredible!
Chris and Paula’s day is bursting with every emotion you can imagine: the love and joy in this alternative Yorkshire wedding is off the scale.
As ever with our faves York Place Studios, this wedding is all about people, connections, emotions and keeping it real. The happy couple are brilliant: bride Paula rocks two amazing outfits and owns the phrase ‘best day ever’ – this is crazy, amazing and epic. Loads more on our instagram! Enjoy!
From London wedding photographers York Place Studios.
“Paula and Chris had a truly rock n’ roll outdoor wedding that fitted our mantra and approach perfectly. You never knew what was going to happen next in a day character-filled, energetic, wonderfully chaotic, funny and truly heartfelt. Bubble gun fights, cornfield antics, pink feather duster limbo dancing to a cardboard cut out of Noel Gallagher … there was always plenty to shoot with people just being people with an abundance of personality; just the way we like it.” ~ York Place Studios
An authentic, emotional and alternative wedding in Yorkshire, with York Place Studios
An authentic, emotional and alternative wedding in Yorkshire, with York Place Studios
London documentary wedding photographers York Place Studios and York Place Films are members of English Wedding
Wedding photography: www.yorkplacestudios.co.uk
Studio photography: https://kaleid.me/
Some weddings are beautiful, some weddings are playful, some are sophisticated and sexy as hell… and Ben and Becky’s ticks ALL of those boxes! We have Marilyn vibes and then some; TWO dresses to die for; lush locations and super stylish personal touches. Step into the weekend with us, as we bring you this AMAZING London wedding, captured by Andy & Szerdi Photography (whose About page, by the way, is epic!)
Wedding photographer’s website
Wedding photographer review
I truly believe Szerdi is the best photographer ever. ABSOLUTE STAR! From start to finish our expectations were exceeded in all ways! Szerdi is so lovely, she made us feel comfortable and we had so much fun with her too! She went above and beyond in capturing the special moments of our day and “got us” from the moment we met. She also made us look like movie stars! She captured the vibe, energy and love we felt on the day and we never felt like we were awkward posing and enjoyed every minute! All our friends and family commented on how great she was on the day and were so impressed with the pictures!
Your best moment or memory
Getting married and celebrating with our loved ones in Hackney where we have both grown up and live together! Proper east end knees up!
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
Pit stop for a cheeky pint in pub on the park, one of our local haunts, after getting wed at hackney town hall! We were driven there in our mate’s black cab and were served by our favourite barman Luca! We got to celebrate and absorb that we had just got married with our closest family before heading to the reception lunch at Martello Hall. Szerdi captured some amazing wedding shots over London Fields, our local green space! Everythwere we went on our wedding day had meaning to us both and we now have all the memories in pictures forever!
Venue name + review
Hackney Town Hall – amazing, classic, art deco vibes. Perfect from a small registry office reception with our nearest and dearest.
Pub on the Park– our local pub, wholesome and fun!
Martello Hall– lunch meal with family and friends and then evening party! Perfect venue for us, stripped back and vintage style, quirky and cool, urban vibes and fabulous staff.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
My dress was made fabulous by Teresa at Polka Bridal
I had 2 dresses as I decided to get a white one last minute! I wore this in the day and it was a classic 1950’s inspired, off the shoulder dress and birdcage veil. I also rocked a leopard print fur outside Hackney Town Hall, I am obsessed with the print. In the evening I wore a beaded flapper style dress and dances the night away on it!
I bought my white dress in a generic wedding shop David’s Bridal, but was actually disappointed with the service and alteration advice. I took it to Teresa at Polka.Bridal and she transformed the dress (and me)! I would not recommend David’s Bridal at all.
Dress 2 – Karen Millen. Fantastic quality and perfect fit.
Ben wore a blue three-piece suit with a vintage feel with a gold tie pin. He hired his suit from Moss Bros and felt like an absolute boss. He looked very dapper.
Florist name + review
My friend Lyndsay used a local florist called Just Beautiful Flowers arranged all the flowers in the home made vases on the day! My bouquet was beautiful! https://instagram.com/justbeautifulflowers
Cake maker name + review
My amazing friends Lyndsay also sourced the cake from a local cake maker named Lisa who is a full time Nurse (like me) but bakes as a hobby.
Stationery maker’s name + review
Lyndsay Lewis, superstar friend
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
My maid of honour Lyndsay is so creative! She designed and printed table names and seating arrangement on vintage craft paper with a gold border. She helped with so much and knows me so well… she was a wedding star for sure, sourcing the cake and flowers and arranging the flowers which she then decorated and arranged with the help of my other great formed Nikki on the day! Let’s not forget the DIY dress up sun glasses for evening fun too! I also got transfer tattoos made to match our light of “til Death Do Us Party”
Wedding readings?
Father of the bride John – emosh. Sister of groom, Sarah – a cockney poem. Best man Terry – sentimental and funny. My cousins, Abi and Jess- sang a witty and funny song about me and Ben to the tune of Britney Spears, Hit Me Baby One More time. Went down a storm!
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
Motown and 80s playlist, no 1st dance. We danced in the rain outside for some Pics with Szerdi! Some of our favourite shots!
Wedding planner name + review
We planned our wedding ourselves in 3 months! Eeek! We focused on the essentials and everything else was a bonus! The most important thing was us getting married being together. Beauty of a London wedding and the venue Martello Hall had all we needed to throw a great celebration.
Hair + makeup name + review
Lipstick and Curls- Nicci was amazing, she understood the “Marilyn esc” look I was going for. I felt a million dollars!
We’re starting the week with a beautifully whimsical beach wedding. Gorgeous couple Sophie & Carl walked with their guests down 200 steps to a secret beach for the most amazing photos. Their wedding venue is styled with dried flowers – Sophie carries a stunning dried bouquet – and it’s all just too lovely for words! We adore Sophie’s Grace Loves Lace dress with a slit up the side – perfect for a walk to the beach and a cheeky dip in the sea! Incredible photos by Alexa Poppe Photography, who gets a brilliant review from our happy couple!
The main advice we got on the run up to the day which we would like to share was that the day goes by so fast and to make time to spend alone together. We are so glad we did this, we have some gorgeous memories of sneaking off together for a drink and to admire the sea view.
Wedding photographer’s website
Alexa Poppe: https://www.alexapoppeweddingphotography.com/
Wedding photographer review
Alexa is wonderful- she understood the relaxed vibe we wanted for the day and made the most of all the amazing scenery around us. She is great fun to be around and made us feel really at ease. We have memories to treasure forever that she captured wonderfully.
Your best moment or memory
We have so many wonderful memories of the day but the one we both share as a favourite moment is the first time we saw each other. There are so many nerves and so much excitement on the day building up to that moment that it can feel a little overwhelming but as soon as we saw one another everything and every one else just melted away. It was so special to make eye contact and just see the relief and feel the happiness and emotion in us both and we knew in that moment that the whole day would just be perfect and it was! The whole ceremony was something we had felt nervous about and it ended up feeling so special and personalised to us.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We kept our wedding really small and intimate which we are so pleased about. We got to spend so much more time with the people closest to us. This meant we chose no bridesmaids or a best man because everyone there was really special. We also chose to write our own vows which felt so emotional and personal. So many of our guests commented on how special it was to hear personal vows. We took our whole wedding party to a really amazing beach, called Broadsands. The only way to get there is through some woodland and down 200 steps which the venue was initially surprised we wanted to do. We know our guests and we knew everyone would be up for it. This made our wedding unique and memorable for us all and created such variation for our photos. It is a truly magical place that we associate now with our day and will continue to visit for many years to come.
Venue name + review
Sandy Cove Hotel, Berrynarbor
The venue on the day was brilliant, everything ran smoothly and the setting is second to none. It was exactly as we wanted it to be. However, we didn’t have the best experience on the run up to the wedding as we were passed between so many members of staff which resulted in multiple repeat conversations. We also had several challenges about being vegetarian and were made to feel a burden to the staff.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Bride- I adored my dress! I wanted something that still felt bridal but that wasn’t too OTT as we wanted a fairly casual and relaxed day. It had a big split which allowed me to run into the sea and take on all those steps and it had layers of different lace on top of silk. I dreamt of eyelash and chantilly lace and I found it in one dress. I also wore an oversized denim jacket personalised with ‘Mrs Ashton’ and pearls to match the pearls on my dress. My veil was the monet veil by grace loves lace. The Groom- the suit matched the day wonderfully. It was a sandy coloured suit with a waistcoat and trousers that rolled up easily for paddling. We had a really warm day in September and we both felt comfortable and special in our outfits. Guilty pleasure- we both rocked crocs on the day!
Dress or suit shop name + review
Grace loves lace- song gown
Hugo Boss suit
Florist name + review
Pampas by post- dried flowers. Sammy was wonderful- we met her just once to discuss our ideas and for her to show us the variations of dried flowers. I sent her some Pinterest photos and she created everything perfectly based on those. The arch pieces were stunning and so easy to drive from Manchester to Devon and looked amazing! My bridal bouquet was stunning, I had a vision of a dried protea which not many people have and Sammy sourced the perfect one. We couldn’t have been happier and what makes dried flowers so wonderful is we’ve kept so many of them and gifted others to our families.
Cake maker name + review
Bibble Bakes – Gorgeous cakes both visually and to taste! We also had vegan cupcakes to go alongside our main cake and which also went down very well! Our orca cake toppers matched the beautiful shell decorations perfectly- it was so personal and reflected our favourite adventure together to Canada which everyone commented on.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
All of the place setting cards were designed by myself using an Etsy template, including the illustrations. I really wanted everything to be sea themed as it’s my favourite place to be. My mum made the place setting board to attach them to, as well as the welcome sign which was beautiful. She included shell paintings which made them even more bespoke and special and lots of people had a photo with the sign. For place settings we also decided to be a bit different and print our own in the style of Polaroid photos- we chose our favourite photo of us with that person to display for their seat. This also went down really well as everyone enjoyed looking at each others photos and they were a good conversation starter.
Wedding readings?
My best friend of honour read a vow by Wendy Cope
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
Paolo Nutini- loving you performed by Sam Dowden who is a brilliant local guitarist and singer in north Devon. We went from Paolo to wheatus- teenage dirtbag to Dr Dre! The great thing about a small guest list was we could choose music we knew all of our guests loved to make everyone feel comfortable and involved!
Hair + makeup name + review
Natalie Nichols for hair who was amazing! She gave me so much advice for extensions to have more volume and thickness in my braids. She also had suggestions for hair accessories which worked perfectly for what I wanted. She was a really calming influence on the day for everyone and my bridal party were also really pleased with their hair. Loved her company and couldn’t have been happier with the end result. Stacey Louise MUA – Stacey gave great advice as the whole wedding party weren’t overly confident on make up and she made everyone feel beautiful. Stacey also gave me advice on the run up the wedding on skin care to make sure my make up application was as perfect as possible. They both arrived on time and got us all ready with time to spare!
