Tag Archives: UK

Cute, Quirky & Colourful Backyard Wedding: Skip & Soya

in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Photos by

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Are you ready for some unapologetic girlishness mixed with cute button and origami details alongside a kick ass heavily tattooed couple, pink dreadlocks, animal onesies and an awesome backyard setting? Well then you my dear are in luck because that’s exactly what I have for you today!

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Soya and Skip met in a rock club in Lincoln and after just a year of dating she proposed on 29th February!  ”From the beginning we knew we didn’t want a traditional wedding”, the bride began. “They are lovely and all, but they can really lack personality. We used things that we love to decorate. My favourite part of the whole day was the ceremony. It was emotional but with lots of light-hearted laughs. Our readings and vows summed us both up perfectly. We even had mention of our ever growing number of pet rats, Batman and Robin and a zombie apocalypse in our vows which were followed by a hand fasting.”

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Music & London Themed DIY Wedding: Sharon & Huw

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Sharon and Huw didn’t really wanted to have a wedding theme but through just picking things they liked they ended up with a wedding that reflected their love of music and of London. “When we started to plan the wedding we were adamant that we were not going to have a theme but I think we ended up with a London one”, Sharon began. “It was so important to us to get married in the city that we live in and which we love and incorporating iconic features such as the routemaster bus and vintage taxi for transport just felt like the natural thing to do.”

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“After we got engaged Huw and I identified what was important to us and set out to incorporate these things into our plans. We kept it basic knowing that we wanted to get married in London, ensure our guests were well fed and watered and, of course, have awesome music for the ceremony and party. If things ever seemed to be getting too complicated or stressful we went back to these basic concepts to get back on track. We were conscious not to get caught up in details that were not important to us – we had no interest in chair covers!”

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Atmospheric Lake District Wedding: Helen & Andy

in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Photos by

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I was rather over-excited when I laid eyes on Helen and Andy’s Lake District wedding, shot by the amazing Neil Douglas Photography. I mean what could be more incredible than getting wedding day portraits like these in a setting like that!? Hats off to the photographer of course, but also to the awesome couple for not being afraid to potentially get a little wet or muddy. I’d love to see more brave couples like this please, who’s with me?

The wedding was held in Buttermere, with the ceremony in a local church and the reception in a tipi in Buttermere field. The couple didn’t have a huge budget and opted to DIY and thrift a lot. Helen wore a dress which she bought off eBay for £100 and customised with her grandmother’s vintage fur (a last minute edition due to the weather).

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“I am from from the Lake District and we love walking and being outside”, Helen began. “So we wanted to make our wedding a memorable long weekend for our guests. Most people arrived early Friday and stayed for the weekend, having Sunday afternoon tea and post-wedding cake at my parents’ house. We knew we wouldn’t be able to stick to a formal structure of the day once the drinks started flowing, so we squeezed the best man’s speech in on Friday night at the local pub.”

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Silly and Fun DIY Wedding: Chloe & Hamish

in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Photos by

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Chloe and Hamish were married in London in April. They wanted their wedding to be fun, silly and totally non-traditional. They were thrilled at how everything went down, starting with their ceremony at Hackney Town Hall. “Hamish is obviously not Hamish’s given name, and it hasn’t been legally changed”, began Chloe. “The registrar was happy to refer to her as Hamish throughout the ceremony, but had to use the given name once. I won’t say what it is, but it doesn’t suit her at all and it always makes me laugh. I thought I’d probably have to suppress a grin, but when the moment came I absolutely collapsed in fits of laughter and couldn’t compose myself, which set all the guests off too. I think that set the tone for the entire day!”

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“We wrote personal vows, which included me promising to shoot Hamish in the head in the event of a zombie apocalypse, and ended with us both vowing to ‘love, honour, and annoy’. We didn’t have best people or bridesmaids, but we had a flower boy and three friends who acted as sort-of bridesmaids and sort-of ushers, who sort-of colour co-ordinated with us in shades of pink and grey.”

The couple wanted a DIY and laid back wedding but they spent a lot to make sure Hamish looked good! “Hamish’s outfit cost 1/8th of the budget!” Chloe laughed. “It’s very difficult to find appropriate wedding attire for the butch woman or masculine-identified, female-bodied person, particularly if that person is not into traditional men’s suits. A kilt suit was perfect and having it bespoke meant we could get something that was exactly right. It was worth it for Hamish to feel as fantastic as I did, and as fantastic as anyone should hope to on their wedding day. However I got my All Saints dress on eBay for £180!”

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Retro B-Movie Wedding: Natalie & Paul

in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Photos by

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Natalie & Paul chose to marry on the same day as the groom’s parents. Having lost his mother a few years previous, having the wedding on such a significant date meant a lot to the family. Having this nod to their family was important to them both, as was putting their own stamp on their day. The wedding had a retro B-movie theme and they really had fun with it!

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“I decided from the beginning that I wanted to source as much of our wedding stuff from small businesses and crafts people”, Natalie began. “My short, 50s style polkadot wedding dress was made by one of my fabulous bridesmaids who is a skilled costumer and bespoke dressmaker. We had so much fun coming up with the design together and I knew that she would do me proud, I absolutely loved it! Our wedding rings were made by Rockcakes, a wonderfully quirky jewellery company based in Brighton. Again, we came up with the design together by emailing ideas back and forth until we decided on a simple band with a ruby heart and two little skulls engraved either side with tiny black diamond eyes – it’s so cute!”

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Whitby Gothic

in Styled Photo Shoots | Written by Photos by

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Shot in the Gothic paradise of Whitby, North Yorkshire (they have a famous twice yearly gothic weekend festival) photographer Michelle of SilverStar Photographic had long wanted to shoot here. However her initial idea didn’t become a full blown vision until she met Michelle from Victorian Gothic Clothing.

“I always imagined doing a photo shoot in Whitby, but it is nearly four hours away from where I live so never thought it would be possible”, photographer Michelle began. “Then I met (the other) Michelle. She shared my vision and instantly we became excited about the dresses which were inspired by the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker. My vision for the shoot was to have the models pop out of the background but still being able to see significant details in the background. The whalebone arch was a gorgeous location as you could just see the Whitby Abbey in the background and really added depth to the photos.”

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“The dresses were deliberately designed to be big statement pieces, with an emphasis on couture designer elements whilst still incorporating hints from the past bringing them full circa to the present”, took  over Michelle of Victorian Gothic. “I wanted to capture a glamorous, gothic vision encapsulating alternative fashions, so tattoos, piercings and brightly coloured hair were all a definite yes from me! The dresses were named after the four lairs of Dracula (there is still one to come) as mentioned in Bram Stokers novel; The Carfax Gown (blue and black), The Piccadilly Gown (black and red) and the Mile End Gown (bright red). I also created all of the millinery. The ship hat  (‘Demeter’) recalls the ship that arrives at Whitby during a storm and brings with it Dracula.”

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