Sparkle | You May French Kiss The Bride

Apr 2014

Nicky + Gareth

English Teepee Wedding in Pink

When Nicky and Gareth started discussing the organisation of their wedding, they established 4 rules: it had to be unique, intimate, and above all, fun whilst keeping it local. They ended up choosing to have teepees which happened to be just for them! I really love the festival atmosphere those teepees created as well as all the pink touches that were added. The beautiful pictures were taken by Steve Rooney for Natural Touch Photography, out of England.

•••

The wedding was on August 25, 2013. The ceremony took place at Christ Church – Douglas in Parbold, Parbold Hill, just outside Wigan; the wedding breakfast was on a playing field within the church grounds (a first for the church).

We were so lucky to have perfect weather for our special day, we couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t rain, be cold or even too hot (this is the UK). The celebrations started off a few days before with a festival type theme as the Tee pees were erected, with family and friends helping to fill them with home built and borrowed furniture, a fire pit with a massive bowl of marshmallows then finished off with homemade decorations of pom poms and mix and match cushions.

The Vicar, Simon was really interactive and shared a few embarrassing stories we shared with him which gave a light mood to the service. We had a good friend Skype in from Sydney, Australia to give a reading on the big screen which it was very emotional. We showed videos and a slide show of pictures of our family & friends which tickled many of the congregation whilst we signed the register. We compiled the Church slideshow music ourselves which came from The Piano Guys & the wedding march was Hans Zimmer – Your So Cool from the film ‘True Romance’ which was just so us – not traditional but just lovely.

The speeches were a highlight and Gareth’s favourite bit of the day, my dad did a great job, followed by Gareth. I had to have my say too which I found quite daunting and worried I would cry, I managed to hold it together… just. The best man’s speech from Gareth’s brother was fab, after a funny start of ‘oh I’ve lost my speech actually no I really have lost it!’ it was all concluded with advice from Gareth’s 8 year old nephew Ollie, – ‘Don’t tell Nicky your real age’ tears and laughter were definitely experienced by all.

Name one thing you regret…

I don’t think there is anything we regret about the wedding but if you ask Gareth he thinks we did too much fussing over small things and wished he wore an orange waistcoat he was contemplating. But I was so pleased about the whole day. I think the small things added to the feel of the day & every one picked up on different things.

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

We are so happy how the whole day went, we organised everything ourselves and it was really important that we got exactly what we wanted for the day. It meant that there was a lot of effort required before hand, including making our own cushions for people to sit on with different materials, making pom poms for decorations, up cycling jars with rope & ribbon for tea lights and hydrangea flowers from friends and families gardens, to building frames to put our table plan in & making order of services that doubled up as fans in case it was hot, home-made desserts from family & friends and not to mention the home made bar which lead to several arguments on who was taking it home at the end of the weekend! We used the Church field & Scout Hut as our venue so people only had to walk down a tree lined track after the ceremony. We had games for the children and for the adults including giant Jenga, skittles and badminton and only had our closest friends and family present.

The first dance caused somewhat of a stir. After having had ballroom and Latin dance lessons for over a year and a half, we wanted to impress our friends with the skills we had acquired. We hadn’t shared with many people how interested we had become in dancing. We kicked it off with a slow side step to The Lumineers – Ho Hey, which quickly progressed to a Latin Rumba, my favourite moment was the slow long dip mid-way through the song. I got a glimpse of everyone shouting and clapping and was one of the greatest moments of the day…after saying ‘I do’ of course!

The word of the photographer.

From a photographer’s point of view this wedding was an absolute gem. The weather was great for a start and the reception was in a tepee! But what stood out much more than this was the relationship between Nicky and Gareth and their family and friends. It’s always a joy to photograph a wedding full of emotion and it was so easy to get caught up in the occasion and feel genuinely happy for a lovely couple. It’s this connection with a wedding that I’m always looking for as a photographer. Sometimes it takes a lot of work. Other times, like with this wedding, it happens without much effort at all.

Dec 2013

Christina + Max

A Greek Wedding with a Perfect Venue and a Self Designed Wedding Dress

Christina and Max had two weddings; the first one took place in Paris, the second one in Greece. When the photographers Hanni & Marcus contacted me about these weddings, Hanni wrote “Christina designed both wedding dresses herself. She’s not a designer – but I think she should consider this career choice.”. Well, that pretty much sums up what I felt when I actually saw the dress! The post today focuses on their wedding in Greece; needless to say the backdrop is perfect, and this beautiful couple found the perfect venue to enjoy the scenery. Photography by Hanni and Marcus for Troistudios Photography.

•••

The wedding took place in Thassos, an island located in the North part of Greece, on August 17, in the church village, Sotiros. The bride is half Greek which is why this couple decided to have their wedding in Greece despite the fact they’re living in Qatar. Here’s more about their choice to get married n Greece and how long distance planning worked for them:

This is where my mother’s family is from and where I got to spend all my summers until now. Maxence, my now husband, has also fallen for the place and for the last 5 years has been more than happy to spend our summer vacations in my family home.

Leaving and working in Qatar, I can say that this was quite a challenge to organize a wedding in an other country! We had to rely on friends and family that leave in Greece to help us. We chose both the place and the catering company only based on pictures and phone calls. We were really relieved when we actually saw the venue in July, it was indeed a great place.

It can seem to much of a difficulty to put us through, but a wedding, when you decide to organize one, is about what is meaningful to one another. After hours of brainstorming it was obvious that we really wanted a wedding in Greece.

Name one thing you regret…

Letting stress and panic overwhelm us when in the end you always find a suiting solution for everything, yes even for this huge problem you feel at the time will make you cancel the whole thing!

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

Being able to mix successfully French and Greek people who do not speak any common language and do not share the same party habits. You need to trust your guests, and when your part is done as a host there is no reason to worry about people having fun. They will!

The word of the photographers.

The (second) wedding in Greece blew us away. Christina is half-Greek and they decided to get married on the island of Thassos where part of her family lives.
They found the coolest location and it was just amazing to see how all their friend came from all over the world and helped with everything. Christina and Max made us feel like part of the family. And we’re so thankful for their trust because we shot our first wedding videos for them.

More pictures on the photographers’ blog here.

Mar 2013

Lauren + James

Real Extravaganza Circus Wedding!

If there’s someone here who, deep down inside, still thinks weddings are boring and out of trend, this HAS GOT to be the one wedding that will shut this little voice up forever and turn you into a pro-marriage activist. This, my dear friends, is simply the most unique wedding I got to see and maybe feature in a very long time. Lauren wrote, We don’t like cliches or stereo types and we like things to be fun. Wearing a white dress was not part of my life dream. (…) James’ background is Singaporean Chinese, so the format we chose really pushed the boundaries and conventions as far as weddings go!! Actually, no need to be Singaporean Chinese to realize that boundaries were pushed — and you know we love that. Photography by the amazing Australia-based (but available for some May & June weddings or else in Europe/ France—reservations start now!) photographer Lakshal Perera.

•••

I know this shouldn’t be that exceptional, but Lauren proposed to James, and I think I haven’t seen that before, at least not since I’m running the blog. From Lauren:

The engagement happened on 29th of February 2012 in a reasonably non-conventional way. After living together for 11 years, I decided to propose to James by hanging a 13 metre poster across a freeway overpass leading into the city. He didn’t crash the car… and he did say “yes”.

OK, I know that’s all you’re waiting for, so here’s about the circus theme.

After we became engaged, we threw around some ideas and very quickly settled on the circus theme. The more research and people I spoke to the more exciting it became. It wasn’t without some resistance from the traditionalists, but I guess people had 11 months to ask some questions and embrace the idea.

Everyone, including our guests, were in costume. During the evening all things were circus. Food presented in theme, the MC Heidi (miss Amour) was stunning and entertaining. Our events company showcased the various acts, with an umbrella foot juggler, an aerialist / contortionist who can hoola hoop, and the “muscle boys” performed a comedy and athletic balancing routine. Just spectacular.

Name one thing you regret… Maybe that sounds a bit of an unnecessary question, doesn’t it? Let’s just go on with more stories from Lauren and James’ circus wedding, because I don’t know you, but I can’t get enough.

We choose the traditional bits of a wedding we liked, like entertaining and heart felt speeches, being walked down the aisle by my Dad, the Chinese Yum seng, and a fabulous band and ditched the bits we didn’t. As promised, our Jack Russell dog, Milo Dinosaur, delivered the rings with her 6 year old assistants (the animal tamers) and even barked in response to the crowd’s round of applause.

… And one thing you’re really happy about / proud of.

In terms of the Wedding day, we held both the ceremony and the reception at the same venue, doing photos the day before, something I would recommend to brides to be. I loved the way people got involved and proud of how the event unfolded and was just as we had envisioned it. Our friends and family really went to a great deal of effort to help with the festivities leading up to the event, making invites, a piece of art for decoration, a kissing booth, hen’s and buck’s nights and the list goes on. A lot of thought and effort went into costumes and the response to the invitation calling for “Dress: creative circus” was met with great creativity indeed. The kissing booth seemed fitting for a wedding and has now become a feature of the venue. The later part of the night attracted greater participation in the booth!… and Lucky our photographer was able to capture it all through his lens.