Pink haired brides always have a special place in my heart (it’s not difficult to see why!) and so when wedding photographer Chris Barber submitted Cat and Craig’s October wedding I didn’t hesitate to say yes! The wedding took place on Sunday 20th and was held at New Hall Hotel and Spa in Birmingham.
“Our wedding theme was based around Alice in Wonderland”, explained Craig. “Our waiting music consisted of instrumental pieces by the films of Tim Burton and the guest tables were named after famous Alice in Wonderland characters. Each centrepiece was individual to each particular character from the book and items were sourced from vintage fares, car boot sales, charity shops, second hand shops and eBay.”
“We selected the iconic moments from Alice in Wonderland for the tables. For instance, the mad hatter table was themed around a tea party and the caterpillar table was themed around his hookah pipe.”
“We both have a love for alternative music and spent weeks individually choosing each and every song for our big day”, he continued. “We wanted the music to appeal our guests whilst reflecting our own personalities. Our favourite part of the wedding was seeing people enjoy our chosen music. The dance floor was full all night long and everybody had a genuinely great time.”
“We created our own sweet buffet for our evening guests, placing ‘eat me’ labels on teapots and jars. Our place names were handmade personalised playing cards, each with a vintage antique key attached. The men had Kings, and women Queens.”
“I had playing card cuff links, a pocket watch and playing card buttonhole as well as a subtle chequered waistcoat reflecting elements from Alice in Wonderland. Outside we had tea lights hanging in birdcages and ‘This Way’, ‘That Way’ signs as seen in the films. Our wedding cake is still our most talked about item from our big day. Ben the Cake Man was given a brief and many quirky ideas by ourselves but the overall outcome was a surprise for us both and he certainly didn’t disappoint!”
“Looking back the only thing we would have changed would be to have had the ceremony earlier so we had a longer day,” Craig concluded. “The time goes so quickly that an extra hour of two would have been very welcome. Our advice to other brides and grooms would be to not try to please everybody and make sure that you create a perfect day for yourselves. When making preparations don’t lose sight of the final goal and remember that the devil is in the detail. Doing more jobs yourself and adding your own personality into areas such as the table decorations gives a greater feel of pride and achievement whilst also keeping things personal and thoughtful. Overall don’t stress about the unknown and simply go with the flow instead.”
