The most important thing to Zoe and Tom was that they brought both their families together to celebrate their wedding. “All we wanted was a completely inclusive and family-based wedding that everyone (big Irish and Geordie families!) was invited to and welcome at”, Zoe said. “We wanted everyone to mingle and mesh together in one big happy muddle. I think this was probably the thing that most people commented on too which was nice.”
“One of the best moments of the day was actually when our immediate families all clubbed together and performed How Sweet it is to be Loved by You in the evening. They took over the band’s stage area and were playing guitars and drums and tambourines! It got everyone joining in with the singing. It was amazing.”
The décor in the reception space was a mix of rainbow coloured lanterns and felt pom pom ‘flowers’ (made by the bride’s mum) and gin! “We already drink a lot of gin so it made sense to have our table names as gins!” laughed the bride. “We saved our gin bottles throughout the engagement and used them as the table names.”
“We also purchased (and had friends and family finding) glassware of all shapes and sizes in charity shops for the tables. The escort cards (to help people find their seat) was in an envelope and pegged onto a piece of string in a photo frame that we just put together with drawing pins!”
Zoe wore a vintage dress that she found on Etsy. Her shoes were from Coast and her barefoot sandals that she wore them with were also via a seller Etsy. “My dress wasn’t expensive”, she explained”, and we also saved a lot by making and collecting things for the tables ourselves. Our biggest costs were the venue and the food. We fell in love with Utopia at Broughton Hall when we saw it and as we’re both hugely into food it was important for it to be great! Our caterers did an AMAZING Texas BBQ feast.”
“Our advice to other couples getting married would be to do things as you want, and do them slowly. Once you have your main suppliers booked there’s no need to rush and stress. Just figure out what the most important things to you are and spend the money on that. After that it’s just little bits that you can do – do your research on to get things cheaper! Also, relax into it and enjoy the process, it’ll be over before you know it!”
