Emily and Craig have been to a LOT of weddings over the last few years – 33 in five years, to be precise – so knew they wanted to do something completely different to what they’d experienced before. As music is a massive part of both of their lives so it was super important to them that it play a big role in their wedding day, too. They wanted the wedding to feel like a music festival with a contemporary twist – less wellies and haybales, more Berlin industrial with street art, greenery and warehouse vibes.. Oh and a massive party to boot!
With a £23,000 budget, they started their planning by sorting their venue. They fell in love with Constellations in Liverpool, which set the tone for the day. They had a hefty price to pay to secure it exclusively on a Saturday in peak wedding season, but Emily and Craig felt it was worth every penny. “If you find somewhere you love, with a vibe you love, just go for it,” advises Emily. They saved money by creating all their own signage and decor, and serving their wedding cake as dessert. “Other than that we tried to everything carefully but out motto was if you really want it, get it – you only do this once.”
Their ceremony was personal and funny – they got the legal stuff out the way the day before, meaning they were able to tailor the wording of the ceremony to them. As they’re both teachers, they spend ever summer travelling the world, so gave their ceremony a loose theme of ‘Our Greatest Adventure’. “We met our officiant, Lorraine, a few months before the wedding and knew instantly we’d made the right decision in hiring her to create our ceremony! She was funny, charming and witty – exactly what we wanted our celebrant to be.”
They served festival style food out of a VW camper and had four amazing live acts and a silent disco as entertainment! “Having the whole day sound-tracked by unreal musicians meant it had a genuine festival vibe. I feel the term ‘festival wedding’ is overdone but this just felt special particularly as we personally knew most of the acts,” said Emily. “My highlight was when everyone was signing along to Oasis’ Half the World Away during our wedding meal; candles in the air, arm in arm… no one cared it was 4pm and ‘that’s not what you do at a wedding meal’ there was pure joy and love in the room! The party started there and didn’t stop until 1am!”
Emily and Craig have the following advice for future brides and grooms; “Do it your way… if you don’t like a tradition, don’t do it. If you have a weird love of something, find a way to include it. SO many people were really worried about the venue being a warehouse, not serving traditional food and the vibe of a silent disco at a wedding but it all worked out a treat and the silent disco was the highlight of the day for most people including our parents and my 80 year old grandma!”
“We also lived by a mantra during the planning phase that kept us sane, happy and totally loved up; ’if it seems like a chore, it’s stressful or upsetting – stop, walk away and come back to it’. This is meant to be one of the most wonderful experiences of your life. Don’t let it be negative, that will only filter to your relationship.”
