Hey lovelies! Friday at last and I’m smiling for lots of reasons this morning! 1 – I get to see my gorgeous boyfriend in a few hours’ time yay! 2 – it’s going to be March tomorrow and that means spring! and 3 – I’ve got a beautiful sunny wedding to share with you all today, thanks to gorgeous bride and groom Amy and Matt, and to Dorset wedding photographer Howard Lucas.
I’ve never seen a wedding with a steam train before… but I’d love to see more! The bride and groom, and all of the wedding guests, travelled by train from the church to the reception. I love it – what a charming way to make your wedding one to remember! Oh but there’s also Amy’s divine wedding dress, the bright and charming bouquet, and the countryside charm of the village hall wedding venue with bright paper lanterns… you will LOVE this! Enjoy.
Amy and Matt: our sunny, quirky home made village hall wedding day
Our wedding report: Amy & Matt
Wedding photographer’s website:
Were you pleased with your wedding photographer?
Yes
Wedding venue:
Ceremony at Swanage Town Hall, then travel via steam train to the reception at Harmans Cross Village Hall (60 people at the ceremony, 100 at the reception)
Can you describe your wedding in a single sentence?
A sunny quirky home-made English wedding.
What was your reaction to seeing your wedding photos for the first time?
It was great to see the ceremony photos because to us it was all a blur and Howard caught all the moments beautifully.
Your wedding style and theme:
Bright splashes of colour with lots of food and booze.
Any happy tears on the day?
From the parents during the ceremony.
How did the two of you meet?
At a fancy dress party. He was dressed as Baccus (God of Wine), she was dressed as a Sailor. She likes wine a lot and wanted to find out why he was covered with bunches of grapes. He liked the fact she was interested in his grapes.
How long did you spend planning your wedding?
8 months
Best bit of budget advice?
Look at all the wedding traditions and decide what’s important to you. Everything is expensive when planning a wedding. Do you need that big wedding car?
Wedding invitations and on the day stationery:
Home made invitations based on Victorian paper theatre characters found in a Victorian Toy Shop in London. Seating plan based on our favourite fonts.
Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?
It was the only one that both the bride’s mum and bride loved.
Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:
50’s vintage lace yellow ball gown from Blackout II in Covent Garden (http://www.blackout2.com/ )
Glitz and sparkle: the bride’s accessories:
Pearl necklace with sapphire clasp inherited from a Great Great Aunt. Jewelled headpiece with veil made by my milliner sister-in-law Chloe (http://www.chloescrivener.co.uk/). Yellow sandals from an original 1940’s shoe design from Author Shoes in Camden (http://www.authorshoes.com/). Yellow converse for walking around, 2nd hand from eBay. Wedding and engagement rings from Ruberg in Angel (http://www.ruberg.co.uk/).
The groom wore:
Suit by Spencer Hart for Austin Reed (http://www.austinreed.co.uk/). Shoes by Loake.
Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?
Navy lace skater dresses from ASOS (http://www.asos.com/). Head pieces made individually by Chloe Scrivener.
Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?
DIY Bobbie Brown make up. Hair by my cousin Suz.
Wedding flowers:
Flowers were sourced by the Groom’s mum from local growers in Dorset and her own garden.
The ceremony:
Civil service for 60 close friends and family at Swanage Town Hall. Matt’s aunt and uncle and a friend played live French café music for the arriving guests on clarinet, accordion and drums.
Wedding readings?
A poem Us Two by A.A.Milne and a passage from The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
General styling – did your venue need much decoration?
We kept it all basic as it was a new municipal building. Tables and chairs belonged to the hall so we hired white table cloths and chair covers. There were lots of flowers in our own ceramic vases of different shapes and sizes. Colourful paper honeycomb balls were hung from the ceiling.
The wedding cake: traditional or quirky?
Traditional. A white chocolate-covered layer cake with alternative sponges in different layers (raspberry and white chocolate, and milk chocolate).
Entertainment:
The band “Dream Themes” played live high-energy cover versions of TV theme tunes http://dreamthemes.tv/ (Matt the groom works in TV drama). We accidently had our first dance to the Countdown Theme. The band were one of the highlights of the day and the audience were split between dancing madly and begging for more or watching in disbelief. The band DJ’d afterwards from a long list of indy/pop/folk songs we liked.
On the day tips and advice:
If you do a DIY wedding get all of the on-the-day jobs written down with timings so they can be given out. Our ushers had such a good time that we had to ush them to do their jobs!
What’s the best thing about being married?
It’s just magic to be married to your dearest friend.
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