Creative Wedding Planning
Creative Wedding Planning
In my series of brides talking about their Yorkshire wedding experiences and planning their wedding day. Dora, who is now married to Tom, has kindly agreed to share her perfectly sentimental September wedding, which I was delighted to be part of. Dora is a very creative person, which is seen in all the wedding details and elements of her big day. As a Hull Wedding Photographer, it’s great to hear about these experiences and what helps to make the perfect wedding.
I should begin by saying that I am a very sentimental person, so I always knew that I wanted every element of my wedding day meaningful and personal. I always dreamed about what I wanted my wedding to look like. I remember spending hours as a teenager thinking about colour palettes, wedding dresses, flowers, and, most importantly, wedding photography.
I think, in a way, every little girl dreams of that big fairy tale day where everything is perfect – and I was no different. While my plans changed a lot over the years, there were 3 things I knew I did not want to compromise on:
- Everything needed to have a special meaning and reflect our personalities.
- I wanted to do my own flowers.
- I wanted to find a wedding photographer that would get my vision and help me capture my big day, and create those precious photos that I would cherish for a lifetime.
We wanted to keep our wedding relatively small and had a tight budget to work with, so we had to get very creative with our wedding planning. I absolutely loved the challenge and would do it all again if I could (although don’t tell my husband I said that…)
Because we wanted everything to feel personal and because we are both very sentimental, we created many decorations ourselves. We opted for our tables to be named after places that were meaningful to us instead of using table numbers, which gave our guests a little glimpse into our love story. Both of us absolutely love nature and the outdoors, so we wanted our table centrepieces and our flowers to look a bit wild. We used many wood and glass elements to create a rustic barn effect that perfectly captured our love for the countryside.
This will sound a bit crazy, but we actually bought the flowers the day before the wedding from a local florist and just went with whatever was in season. I had such an amazing, fun and relaxing time creating all the centrepieces and bouquets before the wedding, and it felt so satisfying to see everything come together. Because I was so involved with my wedding’s creative aspects, I felt that everything was much more personal, and I created some lovely memories along the way, too.
The last thing on my list, which was, without a doubt, the most important element for me, was wedding photography. When choosing a photographer for our big day, I knew Abraham was the right person for the job. We met up and talked about our wedding plans, and I felt like he truly understood our vision. Building that connection with him was essential to me because I knew I would not be able to DIY my own photos, so having someone I fully trusted on board was key.
Our dream was to have a long wedding photo shoot between the ceremony and the reception, and we really hoped to add a country element to the mix. We chose the stunning Bishop Burton village, East Yorkshire, as a photography venue because we loved the cottages and the beautiful lake memorial in the village centre. Abraham very kindly came to explore the village with us a few days before our wedding to choose a few key places to include in our photoshoot. The results, I must admit, took my breath away.
I absolutely love the autumnal colours and the moody, grey sky in our wedding photos, and I love how he managed to capture somehow how happy we both were on the day. The pictures are beautiful, and they tie in really well with our wedding theme. Plus, having a longer photo session helped me relax and unwind on the day, which is exactly what I needed. It was lovely to spend some time alone with my husband in the middle of a very crazy day.
Looking back at our photos now, I realise how many little details I missed or can’t remember from the day itself because there was so much happening, but Abraham managed to capture so much detail in the photos that I don’t feel like I missed out on anything. The truth is we can’t be everywhere and see everything on our wedding day, but a brilliant wedding photographer will capture all those special moments for you.
In conclusion, our wedding day might not have been the most elaborate, grandiose, fancy day ever. Still, it was our perfectly sentimental September wedding that I will remember for years to come. And with such beautiful wedding photographs to remind me of how special it was, what more can a bride ask for?