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After 8 years together we finally tied the knot earlier this year on 23rd April 2022 and it was literally the best day ever! We got engaged in May 2021 and spent just over a year planning our wedding day. So, I thought it was time I shared all the details, what we planned, which suppliers we used and our favourite moments from the day! Links to all of the suppliers which we used for our day can be found at the bottom of the page.
Venue
The first thing we booked was our venue, The Arches at Dean Clough which is based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The Arches is the ground floor of an old Yorkshire mill so it’s full of industrial features and character. Prior to getting engaged, we spoke a lot about getting married, so we’d already decided that we wanted this to be our venue. We were initially drawn to the venue for a few reasons:
It’s huge, so we knew it would accommodate our guestlist.
The venue is like a blank canvas which allowed us to decorate the room how we wanted to.
It’s just really cool! (Picture above!)
We love everything about The Arches from the high red brick ceiling covered in twinkly lights, to the Yorkshire stone floor and the huge windows which just let light pour into the venue. It really was the most perfect venue for our alternative colourful wedding, and we decided to have both our ceremony and reception take place here.
Photographer/Videographer
After the wedding venue, the photographer and videographer were the most important suppliers which we booked! We knew we wanted a documentary style photographer and someone with a laid back approach to match the casual wedding we were planning. We stumbled across Jenn Davy Day Photography on Instagram and immediately loved her style and use of both digital and film photography. We also decided to have a second shooter on the day which I would highly recommend! It was nice to have moments like our first dance, first kiss etc documented from more than one angle. Jenn delivered the most beautiful gallery and documented the day so authentically. Obviously all of the pictures on this blog post were also taken by Jenn!
Finding a videographer that we liked was even harder! We knew we didn’t want a traditional videographer or a feature length film of the day which we’d never watch again, and we also didn’t want a video with our voices or soppy love songs played over the top. When we discovered Electric Reel Films, we knew that Georgia was perfect for the job, her videos are incredible… fun, upbeat and lively with awesome music to finish it off! We ended up getting a short teaser video, a 5 minute video which covered the full day from getting ready to dancing the night away and also added on a full video of the speeches.
Transport
Alongside Sketch By Sam, I also run another small business which is called The Volkswagen Wedding Co which hires out VW Campervans as wedding transport so obviously we used our own cars for wedding transport. After years of driving other people to their wedding, it was a very special moment to finally drive to my own wedding in our cars!
My first car was a VW Beetle named Frank which has been stored off road in a very sad state for over 10 years, he’d definitely seen better days! I’d said to my dad for years that when I get married, I’d like to travel to my wedding in Frank, so around 6 months before the wedding, he set about restoring the old beetle and worked tirelessly in the weeks leading up to the the wedding to make sure he was ready (in a fashion) for the big day.
Flowers
Our flowers were created by Charlotte’s Floral Design and oh boy did she hit the brief! We asked Charlotte to create some bold and colourful flowers, this included the usual bouquets and buttonholes, along with a flower collar for our dog Penny and a showstopping floral arch which we used as a backdrop for our ceremony. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and tied our colourful wedding theme together perfectly! We decorated the venue with hand-made pompoms to add even more colour and Charlotte kindly added these into the flowers too! Charlotte uses seasonal flowers which are grown locally in Yorkshire which I thought was a really nice touch.
Entertainment
Our entertainment for the evening was the fantastic Back Chat Brass. An 8-piece brass band which play a huge mix of different songs and are guaranteed to get people up and dancing! We had the band crash our first dance as a surprise for the guests (and to also make the first dance less awkward!!) They were an incredible addition to the day and really got the party going in the evening.
We also had our VW Camper Photobooth set up for the evening guests to enjoy. Our campervan can be driven inside The Arches, and it looks great tucked away in the corner. After visiting the photobooth, we had guests sign a guestbook and stick in their pictures which was a lovely keepsake to look back on after the wedding.
Décor
We did all of the décor ourselves and spent the day before the wedding setting everything up! I bought ribbon in bulk to decorate the backs of the chairs, we had patterned table runners which we had printed to match our stationery. The tables were also styled with lots of Sketch By Sam designs which included wooden ‘Bride’ & ‘Groom’ chair signs, laser cut place names for guests (these also doubled up nicely as a wedding favours) and personalised table name signs.
We also made a huge doughnut wall and stocked it up with colourful glazed ring doughnuts from Whip & Whisk Cakery. There was a wedding table plan display with colourful ribbons and laser cut name signs for each table, ‘his & hers’ cocktails with illustrations of the drinks and a welcome sign which was decorated with bright flowers and pompoms.
Groom Outfit
Chris picked his suit from Norton & Townsend, he selected everything from the fabrics right down to the thread colours! We even had a custom print added into the lining & onto the back of the waistcoat.
Bride (Dress)
My dress was from Sassi Holford, and I absolutely loved it! The colourful floral embroidered top was separate so it could be worn with or without this and the dress even had pockets!
Bride (Shoes)
My wedding shoes were from Charlotte Mills and were the comfiest heels I’ve ever worn! They were covered in Pearls (my birthstone) and even had a six pence in the sole for good luck!
Bride (Veil)
My Veil was made by Kindling Bridal and was a cathedral length tulle veil scattered with small pearls which matched my shoes perfectly!
Rings
My Ring - Jessica Flinn
Chris' Ring - Flinn & Steel
Bridesmaid Dresses
Yellow Dress – BHLDN Weddings
Pink Dress – Jarlo London
Green Dress – Dresscode Bridesmaids
Bridesmaid Gifts / Ring Pouch
On the morning of the wedding, I gifted my bridesmaids a small leather clutch bag made by Claire from GVG Accessories. The bags matched each bridesmaid’s dress colour and was even personalised with their name. We also ordered a small leather pouch to keep the wedding rings safe!
Cake
Why have one cake when you can have three? We ordered our amazing cake from The Palms Bakery and they tasted as incredible as they looked!
Doughnuts
Glazed ring doughnuts covered in colourful sprinkles, what's not to love! We made our own doughnut wall and then added a huge doughnut sign and pegs for each doughnut to sit on... they didn't last for very long!
