A blustery beachy location, a groom with the most amazing mohawk ever and a bouquet made of seashells are just a few of the elements that I adore about Kelly and Louis’ wedding at Swell Cafe in Whitby.
“When people asked what our theme was we’d always reply with the same thing: ‘Fuck the theme!'” Kelly laughed. “We basically brought in bits and pieces from all the stuff we love like. We made our own seashell and sailor jerry themed bunting, complete with song lyrics from our fave punk bands. We also used about a million seashells to make things such as the ring holder and the decorations in the ceremony room. My incredible seashell bouquet was designed by me and very kindly made (for free!) by my Mum’s friend Sam Robey, who is a florist.”
“Other DIY décor items included Lego cake toppers, and lots of Wes Anderson’s Life Aquatic inspired pieces thrown in. We made our own photo booth props and I designed a wedding poster and made some framed prints. The main DIY task was making the fishing nets which decorated our ceremony venue. We added paper clips to the backs of hundreds of shells and added a few plastic lobsters and crabs on the nets for good measure. The DIY decorations made the whole day come alive for us, immersing our guests in our geeky little world. We also always wanted things to feel very punk which you can see in our hair, my dress, and the fact that we both wore Dr. Martens.”
One of the best part of the day for both Kelly and Louis was the ceremony. “It was incredibly personal, we wrote our own vows and managed to throw all the traditional vow options out the window! We promised to be equals and to love each other until the end of time. Louis walked down the ‘aisle’ with me playing ‘Thank you’ by The Slackers onhis guitar. Our guests cheered and clapped along as we entered. The highlight was the collaborative reading from our friends. It was a mash-up of all our favourite film, TV, book and music quotes. Throughout the ceremony we where really animated and got to hold each other close and move about a bit. We didn’t just stand there like planks waiting to sign a book. And then to top it off we hadn’t planned it, but we both affirmed the vows with a mighty ‘Hell yes!’ rather than an I do!”
After the ceremony, they had a fish n chip supper at Swell Cafe. “The cafe did a drinks reception for us and they sourced in their fish n chips from Mariondale Fisheries, just down the road. We wanted our day to be unique and different. The second anyone said we had to do something because it was tradition, we ditched it!”
“If you have decided to try and make your wedding a little different and a representation of your-awesome-selves, only select the vendors, guests, and a photographer that are in for the ride”, Kelly concluded. “It’s your day, surround yourselves with the people that you love and who love you in return. Wear comfortable clothes and don’t squeeze yourself into something that doesn’t fit you. Use your wedding to learn how to love yourself and those who mean the most to you.”
