With a budget of just £7,000 but a shed load of creativity and love, Steph and James had a beautiful wedding at Birmingham’s The Old Library, inspired by their personal style and interests. Guests signed a record player instead of a book, tables were named after their favourite travel destinations, and a temporary tattoo station kept both kids and adults entertained. Steph wore celestial jewellery, a nod to James’s nickname for her, ‘Luna Lady’ and she made her own dress!

“I only ever wear black, so I knew my wedding dress had to be black too”, she explained. “I studied Fashion Design at university, but I ended up in a very different field for a career. This felt like the perfect opportunity to dust off my sewing machine and make sure I had exactly the dress I wanted.”

There was no dress code. Guests arrived in everything from trainers and beanies to sharp suits and formal dresses. Even the celebrant joined in the spirit, wearing a hot pink velvet jacket and blue suede shoes.

The ceremony began with Steph walking down the aisle to Storm by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, arm in arm with her dad. Their vows, written separately were kept secret until the day. “One thing that felt really special was that we had both made very similar promises to each other” Steph continued. “We both mentioned similar things and included plenty of our humour.”

After the ceremony, the space was turned around by the venue staff so they could reuse the same space and décor. “The candles for the aisle went on the tables, the table (which we upcycled) that was used for the cards box became the cake table and we kept the greenery arch up”, Steph said. “We then added a few floral centrepieces to the tables, and I made everything else including the table decorations, menus, table numbers, and even sewed up grey linen napkins for each place!”

Although, in hindsight and if they’d had the budget, they do wish they’d had their own wedding planner or stylist to do this instead. “The chairs we ordered never arrived, so we had to use the venue’s gold ones (which didn’t match our colour theme). I was on the phone to James in the morning trying to explain where the arch needed to go, where to put the candles, where the signs needed to go, how to set up the aisle, and I know we both found that stressful. There was a massive rush to set up the room for the reception after the ceremony too, and so a lot of things didn’t end up where they were supposed to – our favours didn’t get put on the tables and our foliage just ended up getting kind of plonked on the top table, so it looked a bit sad!”

However none of that really mattered, they were having a great time and their DJ totally got the memo about the emo bangers! Their first dance to Bright Eyes’ First Day of My Life and later, the dance floor became a mosh pit, James broke his new braces during Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff!

For food, a sit-down meal didn’t fit the tone, and as vegetarians they weren’t inspired by the usual options. Instead, they hired a food truck serving burgers, fries, mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets for the kids, followed by doughnuts. It allowed people to mingle and was one of the most talked-about parts of the day afterwards.

Steph, who is autistic, adapted traditions to make the day more manageable. They married legally in advance with only her grandparents as witnesses to ease ceremony pressure. She also did her own make-up, got ready mostly alone for quiet time, and made use of a sensory room during the day.

Their advice to other couples is to accept that things will go wrong and not let them derail the celebration. “If you step back, you’ll see that they often aren’t a big deal”, they concluded. “Don’t let them ruin your day. We had our fair share, but we laugh about them now. And remember, its totally possible to have a day that feels special and unique without spending a fortune on it!”