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.

alternative weddings

Naomi & Chris’s warm and creative autumn wedding, with Hannah Hall Photography

By Claire Gould, 1 year ago

A wonderfully chic wedding in Hampshire, with exquisite styling and a lovely bride and groom. Stunning florals and a fabulous colour palette “we chose burgundy as our main wedding colour based on how good Dan looked in a burgundy tie 🙂” – this relaxed wedding in a beautifully modern venue is everything. Huge thanks and congratulations to gorgeous couple Carly & Dan, and our heartfelt thanks to London wedding photographer Kristian Leven for sharing the images of their day.

Dan and Carly have two great pieces of advice for other couples:

1. Do make sure you manage to spend some time with your new husband / wife during the day. This was something people kept reminding us to do, and we’re glad they did!
2. Lots of things make weddings feel like performances – they’re not. A wedding is the start of your marriage, and then a celebration of that. Remembering this will make you less nervous.

Wedding photographer’s website

https://kristianlevenphotography.co.uk

How did you choose your photographer?

We spent a lot of time googling, spoke to people at wedding fairs and considered our venue’s preferred suppliers, and realised there are different styles of wedding photography. We wanted someone who could document our day, as it happened, without it feeling like a photoshoot, but still create some brilliant images that would transport us back to the day and all the emotions, and that would still be fun and interesting to look at years later.

Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!

Absolutely! Kristian was great on the day – very calm, very professional, lots of our guests said how friendly he was… but obviously it’s the final set of images that matter most. We got the full set about a month after the wedding, and were blown away. There are images of pre-wedding nerves, happiness, laughter, pride… And some very clever compositions. We can’t rate Kristian highly enough.

Videographer details if applicable – and any thoughts for other couples about having a wedding video?

We weren’t going to have a videographer, deciding that investing in a great photographer would be better than trying to use the same budget across both a videographer and photographer. However, my brother-in-law, Brad, is a videographer (just not for weddings), and offered to create a video for us. We didn’t want to put any expectations on him, and said his first priority should be to enjoy the day, but in the end he took it really seriously. When we watched what he’d created a couple of weeks after the wedding, we were amazed. It means so much to us that we now have a film of our wedding, and has also been great to show some of our elderly relatives who weren’t able to be there on the day.

Tell us about your venue – what made this place special for you?

Our venue was the Aviator hotel in Farnborough, Hampshire. We’d stayed there once and remembered being really impressed with it, so it was one of the venues we initially shortlisted. We visited 4-5 venues, some which were far more traditional, grand (and expensive), but we sometimes felt like just another couple. Hayley, the wedding co-ordinator at Aviator, was completely different – she listened carefully to what we wanted, took time to answer all of our questions, and ultimately we felt we could put our trust in her and the team. Throughout our planning and on the big day itself, the venue team were absolutely brilliant.
Aviator is a luxury hotel, but also very down-to-earth and relaxed. It is also only about 15 minutes from where we live, which wasn’t a big factor when we were choosing our venue, but actually having the venue (and therefore all our suppliers) so close to home was really handy when wedding planning.

Did you love wearing your outfits? How was the dress / suit shopping experience?

Dan hired his suit from Black Tie Menswear, Crowthorne. He wasn’t sure what he wanted at first, but the team there helped to quickly narrow it down and it was all quite straightforward. We also chose burgundy as our main wedding colour based on how good Dan looked in a burgundy tie 🙂
My main dress was Justin Alexander, bought from Tilly Mint, Fleet. I was quite indecisive and even after buying it I wondered if I’d made the right choice, but on the day it felt exactly right. I changed into a Needle & Thread dress for the evening party, which was much lighter and easier to dance in. It felt like a real party dress. Ben and Adrien at Nortier Shallow, Basingstoke, did all the alterations on both dresses – and my bridesmaids’ dresses – and were brilliant.

Did you hire a florist? Tell us about any floral amazingness

Yes – but actually changed florist just 3 weeks before the wedding. We weren’t sure what we wanted and didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with the original florist we booked. With only 3 weeks to go we made the decision to cancel, and re-book with Sarah at Olivia Brooke Floral Design. We felt terrible about cancelling, but it was the right decision. Sarah was fantastic and after just one face-to-face meeting it was all sorted. Her flowers are beautiful and we’d absolutely recommend her.

As cake lovers here at English Wedding we’d LOVE to know who made your cake, and how delicious it was?

My (Carly’s) cousin Sian made the cake. She is a food stylist and private chef, and came up with some great ideas. In the end we went for one tier of carrot cake, and one tier of coconut and passion fruit; both with buttercream icing, golf foil and flowers provided by our florist. The cake looks beautiful and was delicious!

Tell us about any special personal touches, or creative projects you made yourselves

We had a bit of a travel theme for our wedding breakfast. Our favours were little suitcases filled with Lindt chocolate, our table names were places in the world that meant something to us, and our table plan was also travel themed (and designed by my talented brother-in-law, Brad).

Something else we did that is a bit more unusual is hire a magician. We came across Danny (Red Hat Magic) at a wedding fair. He showed us a couple of tricks and we were sold. Our guests loved him – and so did we! It was a great way to keep people entertained during the quieter parts of the day.

Did you personalise your vows or have any wedding readings? What were they?

For our readings we had an Apache Blessing, and A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton. We wanted one that was thoughtful and more traditional, and one that was more playful, that would make people smile.

What was your first dance song? Why did you choose it?

The One by Kodaline – we listened to a lot of songs over a lot of evenings, and this one just felt right for us.

How did the pandemic affect your wedding plans? Do you have any advice to share with couples planning their weddings right now?

We got married a year later than planned due to Covid, but it was straightforward because our suppliers were all brilliant about it. Hopefully the days of postponed weddings are over but if they return, our advice is just to talk to your suppliers and go from there. We offered to stick to original payment dates to help suppliers with cash flow and know this was appreciated.