Dan and Sophie’s wedding was dubbed ‘Leicestival’ (based on their surname). They wanted the wedding to reflect a live music vibe as they both love music, festivals in particular.
“The inspiration for Leicestival was our mutual love of live music!”, began the bride. “Not only did we meet through music (Dan was in a band and I was a big fan!) but we also met a lot of our closest friends through music too. We love the atmosphere of music festivals; how relaxed you feel when you’re in a field paired with great music, food, drink and surrounded by the best company. That’s what we wanted, and we wanted everyone else to feel that way.”
They really wanted an informal wedding that all their guests would enjoy. “I went to town on branding everythingl. I’m a digital designer so I designed everything I possibly could. I was definitely more excited about creating wristbands and invites rather than my wedding dress! I designed tonnes of merchandise; plectrums, badges, wristbands, t-shirts, lanyards, stickers etc. and put up ‘Merch Desk’ for all the guests to collect and keep memorabilia from our special day!”
“In keeping with the festival theme, the ‘main stage’ was a tipi and we had other marquee tents hosting the photo booth, merchandise desk and an acoustic guitar to hand sign. We had two of our favourite caterers to prepare and serve hand made, fresh food from of food stalls in the field. We even encouraged people to put up tents and stay over to camp that night to prolong the day/night. We really didn’t want it to end!”
Being a festival theme, of course the entertainment was super important. “We booked tribute bands for the festival such as Hull based Novana (Nirvana). We thought some of the classic Nirvana tracks may be a little heavy for our grandparents and older guests so we asked them to play the ‘MTV Unplugged’ acoustic set instead – complete with a string duet – it was pretty different for what you expect when you see that a grunge band is on the line up! As well as Nirvana, our friend’s played some Fall Out Boy covers along with other pop-punk, rock classics to get everyone up and moshing.”
“As a very sentimental part of the night, I pleaded to Dan that we had to have Three Quarters (his band) play at our wedding. This band is how we met and got together as a couple, and also how we met a lot of our friends. There are a lot of great memories associated with their tours and our many friends. It was a perfect reason to get him back up on the stage!”
“We tried to save money on whatever we could”, she explained. “Making the paper roses took a long time but doing them ourselves saved a lot of money in comparison. We made five bouquets as well as several boutonnieres and corsages for our wedding party – the supplies cost a grand total £50!”
“I also found my wedding dress online on preloved.com for £150. It didn’t bother me that someone had worn it before. I had my seamstress bridesmaid take the length up which saved money on alterations too. I have since decided to donate my dress to Gift of a Wedding, which is a local charity that provides free weddings and gifts to people with terminal illnesses. It’s the best I can think to do with my dress after it has seen me through my most favourite day of my life so far, and I hope it can do the same for another bride who is in need much more than myself. Much better than it being hung up in my wardrobe the rest of my life!”
“We also got quite a few bargains from eBay; my veil was only £30, my bridesmaids’ footwear were navy Converse costing £35 each. I bought the bridesmaids dresses online for only £10 each, I took a risk and it paid off; you would not believe that they were so cheap and each one of my bridesmaids looked stunning in them!”
“My very favourite part of the wedding was marrying my best friend”, she concluded. “But without sounding like a broken record, the music was definitely another favourite part of day!”
