Harry and Abi, affectionately known as Habi by their friends and family, planned for the big 2020 wedding which was obviously scuppered due to a little thing called the COVID-19 pandemic. However, not wanting to wait a whole year to be legally married, they kept that August 24th date and did the micro wedding thing, with an intimate ceremony at Chelmsford Register Office followed by a small, government-approved outside gathering for just a few people in their back garden.
“With everything going on with COVID and having to postpone our big wedding, we just wanted to get married and have some fun with our family”, the bride told us. “This meant that we only had to focus on the little things that really mattered!”
“We already had the registry office booked as our main wedding venue is outdoors and not licenced. We thought the ceremony would be super quick and impersonal but the registrars were really lovely and made the ceremony wonderful. We both cried the entire time, which we weren’t expecting, and that was mixed in with a lot of laughter.”
OK hear me out, while 2020 sucked in many, MANY ways, also, it was kind of amazing. We got to spend time at home, we started to appreciate the small things, we realised just how lucky we are to have the NHS and we got to revaluate what is really important to us, too. While having to postpone your wedding was obviously a massive suckfest, it did give you more excuses to buy more issues of Rock n Roll Bride magazine soooooo who can really be mad about that!?
You may have gone into wedding planning thinking it was all going to be about dresses and flowers and champagne breakfasts (believe me, it’s not, even if you don’t have a worldwide pandemic to contend with!) But I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all realised what the true meaning of weddings, and marriage, is over the past nine months.
Love. Commitment. Standing up in front of your loved ones (even if that is over Zoom!) and saying “YOU ARE THE ONE I CHOOSE; YOU ARE MY PERSON.”
That, my friend, is why you chose to get married in the first place, and that will never, ever change. Even if your wedding ended up looking a bit different to how you expected, or its going to happen a little bit later.
At Rock n Roll Bride magazine, 2020 was also the year that we made history…. naturally! (see what I did there?) by being the first bridal magazine to be invited to shoot an editorial at the Natural History Museum in London. It was closed to the public due to Covid and we were given the run of the place. I mean… WHAT!?
It was a dream come true and a huge “OMG how the FUCK did we get here?” kind of day and I am so flipping excited to share the final results with you. Obviously this had a huge spread in our Nov/Dec issue (you can still order a copy here if you missed it), but there were SO MANY more amazing photos which we just couldn’t fit in. I’m really excited to be able to share even more of this magical day with you.
When putting together this shoot, we knew it was time to go big or go home, so we partnered with Browns Bride, who seek out and stock some of the most beautiful wedding dresses in the world, to shoot some of their stunning designer collection. We even got to shoot dresses by my all-time favourite designer, Vivienne Westwood, too so yeah… it was more than a little bit special.
The day was exhilarating, creatively stimulating and the MOST FUN EVER. To see all the behind the scenes action, check out the video by our epic video-making BFFs, Loved Up Films.
The Natural History Museum museum offers exclusive hire of their magnificent spaces, including Hintze Hall, with incredible Victorian architecture and soaring arches which provide a truly remarkable backdrop. There are actually twelve galleries in the museum that are licenced for weddings, both big and small. If you’ve ever dreamt of taking wedding photos like this then this is your chance! To enquire about this just drop their events team a line via their website contact form or give them a bell during office hours on +44 (0)207 942 5434.
If you are reading Rock n Roll Bride then its highly likely that you’re dreaming having of an alternative wedding and if so, a humanist ceremony could be perfect for you. With a humanist wedding, each ceremony is created from scratch, so you know yours will be tailor-made to fit your style and personality.
What is a Humanist Ceremony?
Humanist wedding ceremonies are non-religious wedding ceremonies led by celebrants accredited by Humanists UK, who we are delighted to have partnered with on this article! If you don’t want a religious or register office ceremony, then this is going to be a great option for you.
The great thing about a humanist ceremony is that they can be totally personalised and feel very authentic to the couple getting married. There’s are no ‘must haves’ to consider which means you can make it as personal as you like, with your own vows and promises, poems, songs or even a spot of crowd-surfing! There’s also no time limit on the length of the ceremony which means you can incorporate all the traditions and symbolic acts that are meaningful to you.
In England and Wales, humanist weddings are not yet legally recognised which means you will need to also go and sign the bit of paper at the register office, but this can be done quickly and with very little fuss.
Humanist Ceremonies™ celebrants are full of creative ideas and your celebrant will be happy to work with you to put together a ceremony that is inclusive, unique, and unforgettable. The sky’s the limit! Their celebrants have overseen Chinese tea ceremonies, German ‘heart races’, ‘tying the knot’, ‘jumping the broom’, ‘warming the rings’, and much more.
Here are some unique ceremony ideas which you might want to consider for your own day…
I think it’s pretty safe to say that very few of us will be sad to see the back of the year 2020. For most of us it’s been painful, its been stressful and it’s been life changing. Things that we took for granted now feel like luxuries and things we assumed would be a given just, well, weren’t.
Wedding postponements, businesses closing, the ever-changing government guidelines – there’s been a lot to deal with in the wedding world particularly, and while it would be all too easy for me to regurgitate the clichés about love not being cancelled and us all being in this together, I think it is important to acknowledge that for many of us, this year has been one of the hardest of our entire lives.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve personally loved seeing how people have been adapting to this ‘new normal’ with their weddings (and wedding businesses) and in many ways this year has forced us to take it all back to what a wedding should actually be about. Getting married is not about spending an amount you really can’t really afford; it’s not about caring what other people think of your decisions and it’s not about having a guest list of 200 people.
Sure, a big wedding is absolutely awesome, and if you plan to have the large celebration later next year, more power to you. BUT if you were only doing those things because you thought you ‘should’, well, 2020 has been the perfect opportunity to do a complete 180.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that 2020 wasn’t the year any of us hoped for or expected, but that doesn’t mean there still aren’t many fabulous things to look back on – LEAST of all the 300-odd real weddings that we published across the Rock n Roll Bride blog and print magazine!
As an editor it’s always fun for me to look back and see which posts people enjoyed the most so today we’re throwing it back and sharing the top 10 most viewed weddings that we published over the past twelve months. Did your favourite make the list?
Starting off strong with Jen and Joe’s heavy metal inspired wedding. The couple hired a blank canvas of a venue which meant they could really put their own unique stamp on the day and oh boy did they! With a bespoke dress made to show of the bride’s tattoos, skulls as décor and some pretty epic smoke bomb portraits, it’s hardly surprising this wedding was so popular!
What could be better than your wedding day? Well, how about having THREE wedding days? Steph and hil wanted plenty of festival spirit for their summer wedding which they achieved by having it span over three whole days. Married in France they included nods to both the bride and groom’s Jewish and Catholic roots as well as plenty of bohemian flair.
This is a photo shoot in two parts, with two sets of real life couple models. Inspired by the 70s, we actually published a few shots in our last print issue, but we loved the images so much we wanted to share the full set with you today too!
Photographer Angela Gallo was inspired by a vintage shop near her home for the styling, “It’s basically a 70s dream!” she said. “One day I saw this little vintage lace wedding dress that caught my eye, and that’s when the idea hit me. I wanted to showcase two sides of an era, with the retro 70s bohemian look and a more retro-glam look.”
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