Totally loved going back over this 2 part wedding from last year where I got to share time with these 2 incredible people. Im seeing a massive shift in couples doing things their way on their wedding day but these pair effortlessly took it to the next level. Check out their background story followed by some of my favourite images from our two encounters….
YOUR NAMES:
Amy & Simon
WHAT DATE DID YOU GET MARRIED?
26/08/2017 and 21/10/2017
WHERE DID YOU GET MARRIED?
Kidderminster Town Hall & The Vaults
HOW DID YOU MEET?
Si and I met at a hen do which I was on in Birmingham. I was in a bar with my girlfriends and Si and a group of guys walked in body painted from head to toe and wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. (they were doing promo for Gatecrasher). Lets just say that he caught my eye. We chatted for a short time on the night and then following a couple of months messaging back and forth on facebook, we went on our first date!
WHERE DID YOU GO ON YOUR FIRST DATE? HOW DID IT GO!?
We met in Bar Estillo in The Mailbox in Birmingham. Si was late because a pigeon had poo’d on him and so he had to get changed! The date went really well, we had lots to talk about and we even had a little snog in the Mailbox car park! I called my mum on the way home and said “I’m going to marry him” and 7 years later I did! 🙂
WHERE, HOW AND AFTER HOW LONG DID HE/SHE PROPOSE?
I was about 12 weeks pregnant with our daughter Marnie and Si had surprised me with a weekend away in Bath for my birthday. Bath had been the first break we had taken together at the start of our relationship, so it was a lovely nostalgic trip. He proposed outside the cathedral on our walk home from dinner on our last night. He presented me with a scrap book which basically contained pages of pictures and snippets which he had been collecting of things like wedding cakes which he liked, flowers, dresses, rings etc. Towards the back were snippets more directly linked to the planning of his proposal such as a copy of the email which he had sent to my Dad in Oz, asking for his permission to propose to me. That is when I clicked what was happening. He said “Ive got one more present for you” and it was my engagement ring. It was very private and personal and VERY EMOTIONAL! Perfect!
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR WEDDING VENUE?
We were keen to go have a humanist ceremony, as neither of us are religious and having been to humanist ceremonies previously, we felt happy that we would be able to make the ceremony all about us as a couple and a family rather than about anything religious or ‘legal’ sounding. However, humanist ceremonies are not yet legally recognised so we had to do the ‘legal’ bit first and then we decided to do a humanist wedding later on. We got married at Kidderminster Town Hall and we had a very intimate ceremony with only our parents, siblings and our children. The ceremony was extremely emotional! We followed this by a short walk around the corner for a brunch with the family and we then raced home to grab our cases and head off to the airport for a week away in Spain with the children.
Si & I always go out of our way to be different, and so we were very keen not to go for a traditional type ceremony or location for the ‘Humanist bit’. The beauty of this part of the ceremony was that we weren’t restricted to where we could hold it, or what the format of the ceremony should be. We made it personal to us! We saw this part of the celebration of an affirmation of our vows which our extended family and friends could share with us and then a good old knees up! We like the industrial, stripped back look, and so we chose The Vaults in the Jewellery Quarter for our ceremony location. It seemed perfect!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MOMENT OR MEMORY OF YOUR WEDDING DAY?
My 11 year old Son Jude is from a previous relationship and so we were very keen to make him part of the ceremony as in our eyes, it wasn’t just me marrying Si, it was Jude too! For that reason Si prepared some vows for Jude too which he read to him and he then presented him with a bracelet which said ‘my Son always’. Jude was in tears and so was the whole wedding party! It was an extremely emotional and touching moment which I will remember forever!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO NEWLY ENGAGED COUPLES?
Plan the wedding that YOU want and not what your family and friends want you to have. We wore what we wanted, had the wedding where we wanted, said what we wanted, invited who we wanted and ate and drank what we wanted! Everyone will have an opinion as to what you SHOULD be doing on your wedding day, but try to resist! Si and I are lucky to have extremely supporting families who didn’t put any preassure on us, but I know that there are couples who aren’t so lucky and I would hate the idea of looking back and thinking that I wish I had done things differently!
HOW DID I DO AND HOW WERE YOUR IMAGES?
You were amazing and I’m not blowing smoke up your a**e! We wanted natural un-posed photos – documentary style, and I couldn’t have imagined that the pictures would turn out as beautifully as they did! You managed to capture moments which I completely missed, whether it be people laughing together or my youngest doing spins in her ‘princess dress’ You captured the moods of the 2 dates perfectly and they reflect exactly what we hoped and asked for. I don’t know where to start deciding which ones we will print and frame! I just love them all! You were also a pleasure to have there on our special days! A really lovely guy with a great sense of humour and at the same time completely un-imposing just present in the background capturing the day!
