Our last wedding blog of the year is a beauty; two days filled with so much celebration and an atmosphere you can almost taste from the photographs. I would love to feature more Sikh weddings on the blog; they’re amazing, so full of absolute joy balanced with calm and tranquil moments. It’s wonderful to see that Harpreet and Simarnam chose to have their day captured in a documentary wedding photography style – and by some of the very, very best photographers not just in the UK, but worldwide.
York Place Studios are documentary wedding photographers based in London, working across the whole of the UK. They have the most incredible talent for capturing the story of weddings, with authenticity, and artfully, and with love. This couldn’t be more perfect for a Sikh wedding, where tradition and symbolism are so important, and where human connection and family love means the world.
I’m going to begin today’s blog post with some of my favourite images of the happy couple, and their outfits and the floral decoration and sparkle which grabs my attention. But what I adore most is the scroll, and slowing down to enjoy the detail in every image. The tiny moments of humour, of love, of pure happiness – these are the images which are utterly timeless.
There is also the magic of the everyday: the careful observations of people among people, where conversation and body language tell a story of their own, and where it’s super clear that a wedding is the first day of the rest of a life spent together, as equals, on a wonderful journey that will last forever.
I have an apology to make: today’s blog post is late in the day! That’s because every time I blog a York Place Studios wedding I’m drawn into their world and captivated by the way Dom and Liam approach wedding photography. So if you’re a wedding photographer reading this blog: I recommend you subscribe to York Place Studios’ newsletter for exclusive inspiration, insights and tips. The newsletter includes Inside the Wedding, where Dom and Liam go behind the scenes of their latest blog post and zoom in on a particular part of the day – which is utterly fascinating.
Doesn’t it feel like we’re halfway into summer already? The sunshine always makes me happy, and having Holly and Thomas’s wedding on my screen today is taking summer vibes and my smile to a whole other level! This gorgeous pair married in August and chose lovely Isle of Wight wedding photographer SJ Jones Photography to capture their day at East Afton Farmhouse. They’ve written some fabulous reviews for their favourite suppliers so keep reading, and as always, more of my favourite photos on instagram @englishweddingblog – look out for the table plan, it’s amazing!
Wedding photographer’s website
Steve Jones Photography https://www.sjjonesphotography.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
We are so happy we picked Steve to do our wedding photography – as two people that are a little camera shy, he did such a great job of blending into the background whilst snapping the perfect candids! We are so happy with our experience with Steve.
Your best wedding moment or memory
The groomsmen running people to and from different barns with picnic table parasols to shelter everyone from the rain!
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
Rented potted plants centrepieces! We tried to consider sustainability at every opportunity, and every vendor was great in helping us try to achieve this. (All of the cut flowers were preserved)
Videographer name + review
Grace – captured videography.
Grace had such a similar style to Steve, they worked so well together whilst making sure we were comfortable the whole day. We are so happy with everything we received from Grace, particularly the highlights video – she captured our day perfectly.
Venue name + review
East Afton Farmhouse.
Through the support we received from the first day we booked, to the wedding coordinator on the day, East Afton was the perfect choice for us. Set in the beautiful countryside of the Isle of Wight, it was full of such lovely photo opportunities, and a bonus that we had the venue for the whole weekend! Meant we could spend longer with our guests.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Holly: White wedding dress, strapless with lace
Thomas: 3 piece pink suit
Dress or suit shop name + review
The dress and accessories were from Gems, a bridal shop on the Isle of Wight.
They were so lovely, and with an in house alterations service they made the whole process seamless – the dress was a Maggie Sottero
The suit was from Moss, who provided a really quick turn around with the made to order suits, and a lot of flexibility for the rentals (dads and groomsmen!)
Bridesmaids dresses
La Closet de Chanel
They were made to measure at a really reasonable price, and were multiway which meant the bridesmaids could all pick a style they were comfortable in, whilst not having to shop around to find matching colours!
Florist name + review
Sarah Matthews florist
The team at the florist were so lovely, and helped us to achieve our vision. We were so happy with the bouquets, and they nailed the brief!
Cake maker name + review
Ems bakes cakes @_emsbakescakes
Emily is our best friend, and she did SUCH a good job baking our cake. It tasted beautiful, looked gorgeous, and helped us through design choices. (We are biased, but have a look at her instagram – it tastes even better than it looks too!)
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
We designed and printed our own stationery.
All of our tables were named after our family pets!! A lovely lady we found online is very crafty, and she did a perfect little painting of each pet on a wood slice for each table for us. @storminateacupgifts
Wedding readings?
Grooms mum and one of our best friends did a lovely poem each!
Wedding planner name + review
All done in house by East Afton – another bonus of booking with them! They crushed it.
Hair + makeup name + review
Lyndsey-Marie MUA.
Lyndsey and her team were such a nice group to start off our day with! We are so happy with the hair and makeup results which lasted all day.
I’ve been singing ‘Bring me Sunshine’ as I write today’s blog because beautiful bride Laura walked in to her Grandad’s favourite song (and it’s totally stuck in my head now!) This is a gorgeous day with lovely personal touches, full of love and stunning florals. I adore the cat cake topper, and the images are absolutely stunning. They’re by Cambridgeshire wedding photographers Sky Photography.
Wedding photographer’s website
https://www.skyphotography.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
Karla and Simon were amazing! They listened to us and they worked their magic. The photos were one of our top priorities as we had read everywhere that the photos will be around for years filled with memories. The night of our wedding at 1am, I saw a notification pop up on my phone, and they’d sent us a snap shot of our wedding photos – we couldn’t believe it! They’d captured the day beautifully!
Your best wedding moment or memory
Laura walked down the aisle to a special song – ‘Bring me Sunshine’ – it was her grandad’s favourite song. As she walked down the aisle in the Gold room, the sun flooded in through the windows.
We also enjoyed having a surprise singing waiter – Laura booked it and kept it a secret! When the waiter fell over, the whole room was shocked, but soon everyone was up dancing and the atmosphere was lifted even more. The band arrived as we were doing the conga around the venue – they said they didn’t know whether to join in or not!
The absolute best thing about the whole day was having every person that we love all together in one room – it was so special. My Dad’s speech was so good – he is a joker and brought a bag of prompts. We were all laughing at his punch lines.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
Our place settings were Polaroid pictures of us with that person – for example my Grandad had a picture of me when I was younger sitting on his lap. I then paper clipped it to an envelope with a heart paper clip and inside I had written a quote or a message to each guest as I wanted them to feel special. I also gave the children a book and inside wrote ‘love Mr and Mrs Read’.
Dom’s Dad handmade our postbox which is really special and we have kept it as a memory box. I made room labels and gift bags for the people who were staying at the venue over night – inside the bags were sweets, water and things for the next day like an eye mask.
Our cats were our cake toppers – a family friend made them! I bought photos that you can iron onto ties – so I made one for my dad, my grandad, Dom’s dad and Dom and it just added something a bit special.
We had an amazing singer called Cara Beard who sang as we walked down the aisle and sang as we had our drinks reception. She learnt new songs like ‘being me sunshine’ foe as we walked down the aisle and ‘big news’ from the film summer holiday with Cliff Richard.
The whole day was filled with personal touches and I thought through every part of it really carefully. I had 8 bridesmaids because they are all my closest friends and we wanted them to be part of our special day. We also had our close friends be our witnesses.
Videographer name + review
Twisty Focus Videography – He was great! He’d travelled about 5 hours to arrive for our wedding. He did a great job and we love our video as it shows all of the candid moments in the day.
Venue name + review
Holmewood Hall near Peterborough. Our wedding coordinator was called Lee Digger and he went over and above. He helped set up the venue.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
My dress was from Lily Francis Bridal. It was altered by the Bridal Pixie. Originally I thought I wanted a really different dress, but when I tried on my dress, I knew it was instantly the one for me. I wore my veil longer than I had planned to and had glittery shoes.
Dom got his tweed suit for hire form Vow Bridal in Wansford. They provided everything – even shoes.
My jewellery was bought from vinted. My veil was from Lily Francis Bridal – I bought it separately to the dress as Lily Francis Bridal was having an accessories night.
Florist name + review
Feather and Ferns – When we were looking for a florist, we found it really hard to find someone who understand what we wanted. Our vision was to have the blues like you see in the ocean with the contrast of the bright pink flowers that you usually see at the coast. Becky understood our vision straight away! I was so excited to see the flowers when they arrived. I love flowers! We had so many! We reused the bridesmaid bouquets as table centre pieces which worked well. We also had two urns of flowers for the ceremony and they were moved to be near the cake for the reception. On my bouquet, I had two charms with my late grandad and late aunt’s handwriting on. I loved having this on my bouquet as when I walked down the aisle it meant they were with me.
Cake maker name + review
Baked Peterborough – The cake was very delicious. We had three tiers. We opting to take the top tier home and it is in the freezer – I read that it is good luck to have some on your wedding anniversary! The cake was decorated with cat figures made by a family friend and flowers from our florist.
Stationery maker’s name + review
Laura! – I made all of the stationery myself. I learnt how to make things on Canva and I got things printed on Vistaprint. I loved the process of designing everything and making it. I used the same font throughout for continuity and followed the same colour scheme.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
I made all of the signage and the stationery. Dom’s Dad made the post box. I made all of the place settings.
Wedding readings?
My best friend Mel read the opening monologue from Love Actually. My sister did a reading of lots of sayings like people say everyday that show love. My brother wrote his own personal reading and it was a poem. It was a fantastic personal touch. My best friend Galia then led a blessing once the registrars had left, this was really special as it added a faith element to our ceremony and allowed her and our family and friends to pray over us and bless our marriage.
Hair + makeup name + review
My make up was done my Luxe Beauty – I had 8 bridesmaids and they did all of their make up, plus my mum’s make up before we even lived across to the main house. They were so punctual and they did na amazing job. One of the make up artists even set up the bridesmaids dresses on the end of the four post bed for photos. They went above and beyond. The same can be said for Coral (bridal by Coral) as she did my hair, my mum’s and my sister’s hair.
This gorgeous pair won me over completely with their tractors and tattoos – hay bales on a wedding cake painted beautifully with trees and a bright red tractor has to be a first! Chloe and Jonathan broke tradition in what to me is the loveliest way of all: they woke up together on the morning of the ceremony, relaxed and ready to spend their entire day as a couple. I love that. Images from this adorable Cumbrian wedding are by Lake District wedding photographer Mark Battista. More, as ever, on instagram (tap) @englishweddingblog
Wedding photographer’s website
Mark Battista – https://www.markbattistaphotography.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
Mark photographed our wedding day and he was fantastic. I tend to be camera shy especially when it’s someone else taking the photos rather than a selfie but Mark put me at ease, I felt instantly comfortable as he was cracking jokes from the off. Mark gave clear prompts so that you didn’t feel silly posing. When doing the couple photos he made it into a sort of game and just made it more of a laugh rather than being super serious. We received our sneak peek and I was blown away, as I said I don’t like my photo taken but I absolutely loved the photos Mark took. Everyone commented on how Mark was always there at the right time to get the perfect shots and how by evening time he mixed in so well with everyone it was as if he was a guest. I’d 100% recommend Mark and I’m desperate for a reason to book him for photos again!! I’d also recommend considering his extended night coverage optional add on as we got some fantastic photos of guests dancing and some gorgeous photos outside the venue with fairy lights.
Your best wedding moment or memory
We were so thrilled to have our dog Diesel at our ceremony and for photos. He’s part of our family so the day wouldn’t have been perfect without him there. Emily from Tails & Trails Dog Walking Services (www.facebook.com/TailsandTrails.cumbria) was amazing, she was so good with Diesel and he absolutely loves spending time with her. Emily made sure we didn’t have to worry about a thing regarding Diesel and getting him in our photos.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We stayed together the night before the wedding and woke up together and had breakfast. It helped calm our nerves as it made the morning feel much more relaxed and normal!
Venue name + review
Greenhill Hotel Wigton We loved the scenery and the highland cows were a huge bonus!
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
My dress was a vintage style, I actually didn’t know until after purchasing that the style name was “Chloe” from a designer called Brighton Belle by True Bride! When I saw it on the receipt I knew it was meant to be! Jonathan’s suit was a lovely sage colour, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go sage or not but loved the suit as soon as he saw it.
Dress or suit shop name + review
My dress was from the Bridal Factory Outlet in Northallerton and Jonathan’s suit was from Skopes.
Florist name + review
To have & to hold handmade favours I got my bridal bouqet from here and also our buttonholes and corsages, I loved my flowers so much and they were artificial which means I get to keep them forever.
Cake maker name + review
Cakes by Alison Fawkes – www.cakesbyalison.co.uk
We loved our cake so much, it was a huge centrepiece and also a talking point of the day. We got so many compliments about how unique our cake was. I (chloe) have a photography hobby so the images on the cake were a mix up of photos I had taken around the farm.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
We made our own invites and seating plan using canva. We also DIY’d the top table decor including the long garland, the two planters on either end and the little sheep ornaments in the middle!
First dance
We had Never Gonna be Alone by Nickleback as it was personal to us, we had it chosen as our first dance song long before Jonathan had even proposed!
Hair + makeup name + review
My cousin did my hair as a wedding gift! My makeup was done by Kelly McCall MUA
I am full of festive spirit today! It’s our last blog before Christmas and we have an absolutely gorgeous, sparkly twinkly Christmassy wedding which I know you will LOVE!!! The newlyweds are Katy and Simon, married at Northamptonshire’s Fawsley Hall with images by Sky Photography. I’ve been so excited to share this wedding with you, and I’m thrilled that Katy’s written all about their stunning day including fabulous reviews for her favourite Northants wedding suppliers. As always, I’ll share favourite photos on instagram (@englishweddingblog) but for now, grab yourself a cosy cuppa and scroll slowly – this is one of the loveliest Christmas weddings I’ve ever seen!
Wedding photographer’s website
Northamptonshire wedding photographers Sky Photography (https://www.skyphotography.co.uk)
Wedding photographer review
It’s difficult to know where to begin but quite simply we were blown away with Sky Photography.
Simon was the only choice for our wedding. As soon as we saw his work we knew Sky Photography were the best people to capture our day. I knew that I didn’t want lots of posing pictures and I also wanted the wow pictures that Sky Photography specialise in.
Sky Photography were so knowledgeable and worked well with our videographer throughout the day. Simon and Carla are such lovely people putting us at ease through the day as I was worried about posing and what to do but they took all of that away. I’m still in awe at all of the pictures, I love them all.
Your best wedding moment or memory
Apart from saying our vows, the best moment was when it was just me and my husband in the horse and carriage taking everything in and having that special time together. Everything had been so busy that morning and then the rush of getting married it was nice to take each other in.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
I would say that we’re very traditional so I don’t feel like we did anything differently. I am such a romantic and loved watching all the wedding films growing up, that I always pictured the bride going in last down the aisle in the church. I wanted to see my sister (bridesmaid) and nephews walk down the aisle and then I come down last, I loved they had their own moment in the spotlight too. On the back of the Order of Service we had a page covering ‘Our Love Story’. We felt not everyone knew our story and when it all started, so wanted to share it with everyone as it is our favourite story to tell!
Videographer name + review
Ayelle were our first choice of videographer as out of all the videographers we had looked at, it was only Ayelle’s that made me cry. They capture the emotion of the day and their videos are truly beautiful, I must have watched ours over 100 times. Adam was amazing throughout the day and worked well with our photographer.
Venue name + review
Fawsley Hall Hotel
We had a number of venues lined up to look at, one of the things I wanted was to get married in a church but I loved the convenience of a civil ceremony where everything is on the same site making it easier for guests. I wanted a church that was therefore either in the grounds of the venue or very close by. Fawsley was the first place we looked at, and as soon as we arrived me and Simon both looked at each other and instantly knew it was the venue for us.
The church is across a small field and the venue is incredible. Everywhere was breathtaking and The Great Hall where we had our reception drinks was certainly a talking point. Originally we were looking at an autumn wedding as that is my favourite time of year. However, when Olivia showed us pictures, we saw their Christmas tree and which must be about 30ft tall along with all of the beautiful decorations at Christmas we fell in love as we both love Christmas and changed the date to fit in with having the Christmas decorations there. It really did add to the day, making it so special, warm, romantic and timeless which is everything we wished for. I also loved that the wedding breakfast and entertainment was in a separate building but with the same aesthetics as the main hotel. This made it feel more exclusive for us. We had a horse drawn carriage that took us to the church and back and it really did fit in well with the venue and gave Bridgerton vibes.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Pronovias – Mingsha
I am the type of girl that has been dreaming of her wedding since I was a little girl. I loved looking at my Nanna and Grandad’s wedding photo whenever I was at their house, it was so beautiful, elegant and timeless and my Nanna’s dress would not look out of place today. That is exactly what I wanted from my dress, to look at it in 50 years time and for it to still be beautiful. The Pronovias gown is a classic lace gown with long semi-transparent sleeves (it was winter!) and a breathtaking skirt and train.
I chose a veil that was slightly longer than the train with lace edging to match the dress. To complete my classic look, I had a Ivory & Co tiara.
My shoes were the most beautiful shoes I had ever seen and really completed my look. The detail with all the beading was so beautiful and they were called ‘Cinderella’ which I thought was fitting. They were from Emmy and quite pricey but worth it to keep for years to come. I personalised the bottom of the shoes with coloured crystals. I chose my birth month to put in one shoe which was Aquamarine and as we were getting married in December I chose the December stone which was Tanzanite, I used this as my ‘something blue’.
My husband and Groom party all wore a three-piece suit from Nigel James Dresswear in Coventry. This was navy in colour with a slight check pattern through. My husband wore an ivory coloured tie and the rest of the party wore a dusky blue colour to match our colour theme. This was paired with brown brogues. My 3 nephews all wore the same suits too, however my youngest nephew was 18 months old at the time and we had to get one from Next, but it matched the others really well.
Dress or suit shop name + review
Lavelle Bridal Couture – Warwick
This was the first shop I went in and also the last. I had 2 appointments booked that day but after trying on the first dress which was ‘The One’ I cancelled my second appointment.
Becky was fantastic throughout and made me feel at ease as I was on the bigger end of bridal sizes. Becky had picked out some dresses based on my likes which I did try on but I knew it was the first one. I lived in Wales at the time and Becky was so accommodating with fitting me in for fittings. It was a lovely experience for both me and my mum and one that I will cherish forever.
Florist name + review
The Country Garden Florist
I have followed The Country Garden Florist for many years on Instagram and always knew I would have her do my wedding flowers. Her style is natural and organic that captures the flowers’ beauty in a timeless manor. We had a meeting with Donna to discuss what I wanted and apart from the colours and my bouquet I left it to her to create my vision.
I gave Donna a picture of my Nanna’s bouquet which she used to create mine as I loved the trailing greenery my Nanna had. The flowers really were incredible and she bought my vision to life in the church and the wedding breakfast room. We had an archway outside the church as well as flowers down the aisle and at the end. Donna then re used the arches to place behind the top table and the aisle flowers were stood in front of the top table. I wanted lots of candle light to create the romantic and cosy look, so Donna provided some hanging tea lights from the tall flower displays which were just beautiful.
Cake maker name + review
Cake Maker – Cakes Fabulous Cakes
I met Karen at a wedding fair and when we tasted the cakes, we both loved them and booked an appointment there and then to have a tasting session. We tried all of the flavours and couldn’t decide so had a flavour for each tier.
Karen talked to us about our vision for the wedding and helped us to decide on the cake that fitted what we wanted. We decided on a 3 tier cake with a 10” base fondant ruffles in white, an 8” white smooth buttercream with mine and Simon’s initials in a gold monogram instead of a cake topper and a 6” top white smooth buttercream with pearls. We hired the cake stand from Karen which was a hoop surrounding the cake which could be decorated with flowers from our florist.
Simon is a lifelong Coventry FC fan and as a surprise I asked Karen to create a hidden reveal on the cake with the Coventry FC badge on the back. On the day when me and Simon went to look at the cake, I turned it around to show him, and he loved the surprise!
Stationery maker’s name + review
Stationery Maker – Inki Pinki Weddings
I found Inki Pinki on Etsy and their designs were beautiful and printed on lovely card. Jenni was very accommodating and fitted in everything we wanted for our stationery on the day.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
I did not make anything unusual but I wanted to be involved as much as I could to help with cost and to also appreciate our work on the day. I asked my Dad to make me a wooden sign to signpost people to our wedding who were driving and I made the labels for this, I really enjoyed spending time with my Dad doing this, a memory I will cherish forever.
I also made the lettering for a poem and placed this on a mirror I upcycled which was displayed in the entrance way to the wedding breakfast. It read ‘True love is when both people think they are the lucky one’ and I personalised it with our names and the date.
For the seating plan, I wanted something different for the table seating plan and as I was shopping I saw a corner shelving unit that was really pretty with intricate cut out pieces and had the idea of putting them back to back and displaying the tables on every other shelf and using the spare shelves for candles, flowers and gold accessories, it all came together and looked really pretty.
I also wanted to make sure special people we had lost were a part of the day and had photographs of them displayed. I wanted to put favours on the table and we decided to make our own using shortbread biscuits, ready made icing and I bought a stamp from Etsy with our initials and the date of the wedding on. I then popped these in a bag and placed a ribbon around it to match our colour theme, this helped bring a pop of colour to the tables.
Wedding readings?
As we got married in a church we had a biblical reading which we chose ‘Song of Solomon 2.10-13; 8:6-7’ which was read by our friend. My 7 year old Nephew beautifully read ‘My Advice by Anon, he did so well and read really confidently. My sister who was my Maid of Honour chose a poem for us which was a surprise for us on the day. She read Whitney Hanson’s ‘Wedding Poem’. It is simple in its words but just so wonderfully beautiful in its sentiment.
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
Everly Fair – Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now. One day I was scrolling through Instagram and heard this song that I immediately loved. We did not have a song as a couple and this was one thing we were really struggling on. We both loved this one and loved the original was from the era we were born and it was important the words meant something to us. We researched on Youtube simple wedding moves as I did not want the pressure of learning a performance but still wanted it to look good. We had a good start with some twists and dips throughout that kept the dance interesting. We did not manage to do it right once the whole time we were practicing, but on the day it was perfect!
I have always wanted to do a Father-Daughter dance and after our first dance I had a special dance with my Dad to My Girl by The Temptations
Hair + makeup name + review
Hair – The Hairbook Wedding Stylist – I met Natalie at a Wedding Fayre and loved how nice and calming she was. She spent time talking to me about what I liked and what she could do. From that day she was a dream to work with. I had one bridesmaid, my sister and we both had a trial 6 weeks before the wedding where I could bring my tiara and veil with me. My hair stayed in all day and felt comfortable as I was worried it would start to ache. Natalie went above and beyond on the day and captured some photographs in the room for me that I had the next day from her, she also helped with my dress and was just a lovely person to work with.
Makeup – Rebecca Frances Makeup – Rebecca was recommended to me by my wedding dress shop. Rebecca is very talented and fulfilled my vision perfectly. I wanted to look ‘flawless’ but still look like me as I do not wear a lot of make up in real life.
