Hannah and Jake’s beautiful, modern and elegant wedding was held in the heart of Manchester City.

Both bride and groom are from Greater Manchester and so are most their family and friends, so opting for a celebration with the glorious, Victorian, Neo-gothic municipal building backdrop of Manchester Hall was an effortless decision. Working closely with planner and stylist, Catherine Stott of Willow and Fig, the couple planned a laid back, fun, late afternoon wedding.

The bride looked incredible in her minimalist, bias cut gown by Theia Couture, which she styled with a slicked back, low bun and long veil with floral detail.

This elegant black tie wedding was captured to perfection by Lindsey Ria – enjoy!

Bridal Beauty & Accessories

My shoes were the Monsoon diamante trim point toe bridal heels in ivory – I got them from John Lewis. My headpiece was from MRCSShopArt on Etsy.

I wore a bracelet that matched perfectly with the style of dress and the veil,  given to me on the morning of my wedding day by two of my best friends that had gone above and to make all of my pre wedding day celebrations so special and making me feel so loved. It was from Lily & Roo.

My perfume was Chanel’s Chance Eau Fraiche. I got asked often if I was going to wear a special perfume on the day but this is the perfume I wear everyday and I wanted to smell like myself, familiar and recognisable at the altar. 

The veil was so beautiful and really made the whole bridal look. It was the Natasha veil by Dream by Savin, which I purchased at Pretty White Dress.

Photography

Choosing our photographer was despite everyone saying it would be one of the most important decisions you make because the day won’t last forever but the pictures will. 

Jake sent me two photographers he liked the style of and asked me to decide which one I preferred. After speaking with Lindsey Ria on Zoom we knew that she would be a great fit for our wedding. She was so friendly and reassuring, talking us through how she typically operates and likes to work with her couples. We both loved her and her photography style so it was a no brainer. 

Yes Yes Yes! Of course I would recommend Lindsey to any future bride to be she truly was incredible. Prior to the day we met up and did a walk round potential photo opportunity spots, ran through the day and despite the many changes we had she was never phased and adjusted accordingly.

The lead up was so smooth and made us feel very organised and prepared with the pre wedding questionnaire to ensure we got all the pictures we wanted. On the day Lindsey was everywhere all at once I don’t know how she did it.

I have received so many compliments on Lindsey from our guests about her work on the day they were all so impressed! Our previews came through so quickly and they were so much better than we could have imagined, I can’t believe those pictures were us on our wedding day and we get to enjoy them for the rest of our lives. 

How They Met

We met in high school. We actually dated for a short while when we were 13 but got together officially at Formby Beach where we went for one of our close friends’ 16th Birthday the day before our final year of high school  on 02/09/2013 when Jake asked me to be his girlfriend in the sand dunes.

So, our wedding day was made even more special as it was also our 10 year anniversary – it couldn’t have been any more perfect as it also happened to fall on a Saturday! 

Jake wore a Jaeger suit from Marks & Spencer.

Reception

We used a wedding and event stylist, Catherine Stott of Willow and Fig.

We actually planned our wedding before we announced the engagement so everything was just as we wanted it without any outside influence. We wanted to bring our family and friends together to celebrate our love but in a fun and relaxed way. The ceremony wasn’t until 4pm, we had a BBQ as the wedding breakfast and for our wedding favours did a bongos bingo style prizes give away from cash to wigs – it really started the party right!

We did a bongos bingo style tombola for wedding favours where we got everyone up dancing with the DJ playing music intermittently as I pulled numbers out a bingo wheel and invited the lucky winner up to collect their prize.

Each place card had a number on the back which guests had been guessing throughout the day what it could mean.  

Entertainment

This caused many a debate but for our first dance, we went with Elton John’s ‘Are you ready for love’.

Music was a key element for Jake and he booked The B Street Band, after seeing them play on a work night out at Albert’s Schloss (Manchester) and they really did make the night, dancing under the stars to an incredible six piece band. 

Words of Wedded Wisdom

Whatever budget you have in mind, double it then double it again. Our original budget definitely had to be increased but that was just due to the realisation of how expensive a wedding really is. Seeing as my original plan was more a village hall and pot luck kind of vibe! But the one thing we both said after the day was that we don’t regret how much we spent. 

Remember that it is your day, yes there are things you are going to do for other people/ to please others  but don’t feel like you have to do something because it is tradition or expected. This also goes for online influences – you really don’t need all of that extra stuff to make the day about what you enjoy and love and your family and friends will to! 

Also, plan in advance if there is something you can do now then do it because in the final months, weeks, days running up to the day so many little bits will creep up and don’t underestimate the importance of forward planning your logistics for the day – not the most glamorous but pays dividends. 

Worry less and enjoy the process – everything will work out on the day!  Even though we knew that we needed to make a conscious effort to actually spend time together on the day this was definitely more difficult than expected! So, the one thing we would change is spending  more time together enjoying the fantastic event we managed to pull off. 

And most of all relax and enjoy all your hard work because it really is worth it.