Dave and Laura both grew up by the sea, so although they got married in the middle of London, they wanted to bring this into the day. They had a church ceremony followed by an informal party afterwards.
“We are both from coastal cities and we wanted to bring the sea to central London”, said the bride. “We fed our guests with fish and chips and picked a beautiful venue on the water that looked like the inside of a ship. We did everything ourselves, from Dave grafting to set up the venue with his groomsmen and me investing weeks into making all the table decorations and finishing touches.”
“I worked hard to create all the details including a chalkboard for the bar, rope napkin ring holders, doilies as placemats and a colouring book for the kids. Most items were sourced cheaply from craft shops and eBay.”
The couple’s biggest expense was their fantastic photographer, Ed Godden. “Dave and I both knew that getting brilliant photographer was one of the most important investments for our wedding”, Laura said. “From the moment we got engaged, Ed was our only choice. He totally understood our vision and worked seamlessly to capture amazing images, that narrated the day down to the littlest detail. If we could give any advise to a newly engaged couple, it would be to invest in a decent photographer, as memories fade but great photos last a lifetime.”
“My advice to other couples getting married would be do not stress!” she concluded. “Our motto for the weeks before the wedding was ‘let it all wash over you’. Neither of us got overwhelmed and it made the day so relaxed and enjoyable. We broke the planning down into three parts – booking the venue, important suppliers and figuring out the theme first of all, then a few months before we started thinking about the guest list and realistic budgets. This was the time we started doing our craft projects too. Then, finally the few last weeks were dedicated to getting the alcohol, finalising the event schedule and most importantly having fun! Wedding planning also doesn’t need to be difficult or stressful. We did most of ours in a few weeks.”
