Jess and Mick tied the knot with a modern city wedding at the The Mount Without in Bristol on 9th April this year.
This incredible historic city based venue, played backdrop to a day full of floral colour and joy. The bride worked with a designer friend on the creation of her own dress, before slipping into a slinky Rixo design to dance in in the evening.
The couple talented wedding photographer, Tom Wyatt, to capture these images. We adore Tom’s work and it is our pleasure to recommend his work to you today. Enjoy!
The Dress
My dress was actually made by my mum and one of my bridesmaids Caroline. I knew I wanted something simple and had always liked the idea of my mum making my dress – she had spent a lot of our childhood making my sister and I costumes and clothes, so I thought I would take the plunge and ask her to make me a dress.
Luckily Caroline has a degree in Fashion and is incredibly creative; she is the lady behind @hallie&co. She cut a unique dress pattern based on a collection of designs I liked and voila, my dress was made and truly special. It was a true labour of love and I can’t thank Caroline and her team enough for the hard work they put in.
My main wedding dress was incredibly special. The simplicity and modernity of it was exactly what I was after and the neck line was what made it for me.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
My shoes were Carvela. The colour of them was perfect. I wore Chanel No 5 as my scent. I also wore my Grandmother’s ring and some Monica Vinader earrings. My bridesmaids and I did all our own makeup. Hair was by ‘Bridal Hair by Jodie‘.
Jodie was amazing, I changed last minute on the day with what I wanted with my hair and she completely put me at ease. I loved my hair and all my bridesmaids and mums hair.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids dresses were from ASOS. I wanted something that would compliment and be similar to the style of my dress. I chose navy blue to compliment the usher suit jackets and to contrast against the colourful flowers. They all supplied their own shoes – the only brief was bright, colourful Orange or Pink.
Our flowergirl dresses were form H&M. The only specification from my 4yo niece was that it could spin out like a princess dress – which Tom captured wonderfully. They also wore pink Doctor Marten boots. The page boy wore cream chinos and a white flannel shirt to compliment the ushers – all from Zara. His poocket square was hand made by mum (along with all the ushers) to match my shoes.
Ceremony
We got married at The Mount Without in Bristol. Whilst we now live in London, we both grew up in Bristol and always wanted a city wedding. The Mount is close to the Clifton area of Bristol which is very close to our hearts – it’s a beautiful and striking venue which felt unique. We liked that it was all on site. There was also a great food option.
My dad accompanied me down the aisle, to the sound of Calibans Dream by Underworld. It was played at 2012 opening ceremony Olympics and we have loved it ever since.
We also had Mick’s cousin Josh play ‘The Detectorists’ sound track on the piano and sang it for us. It brought the house down and was an amazing rendition of a much loved song.
One of our oldest friends, James Norman, officiated our ceremony. He was brilliant on the day and we can’t thank him enough. He made it very special and put a lot of thought and effort into the role.
We wrote our service really closely with our celebrant to give it all sorts of highly personal touches and very much our own.
We had my brother in law, Dave read A Spring Morning by Jon Clare and Mick’s cousin Sarah read ‘Oh the places you’ll go’ by Dr Seuss.
My wedding ring was from a Spanish brand, San Soeurs.
Recommended wedding supplier
Tom Wyatt Co.
Photography
Our photograph was Tom Wyatt. We chose Tom firstly for his style. We wanted natural candid shots and from his portfolio that’s what we saw.
When we met him, we knew he was right for us: calm, listened to what we wanted and made us feel at ease. From that point on, we had great communications in the build up.
Tom was very, very easy to work with to build a plan for the day. He has a brilliant style combining perfectly capturing the key beats of the day but also the more candid, unguarded moments which is just what we wanted.Tom is also a lovely person to have around at your wedding, worked away in the background but was a great communicator when there was a group shot he needed or a specific shot he thought you’d like – a great balance.
We got lots of comments from our guests with how great they thought he was. The results are spectacular. Thank you Tom!
How They Met
Mick and I went to school with each other. We were always best friends and then eventually, we became a couple. We got engaged in March 2022 in St Anton, Australia, whilst skiing on a chair lift – the ring was hooked into Mick’s jacket so there was no chance of him dropping it!
We were on a chair lift up to the top of the mountain just before lunch when he asked. Obviously I said yes! At the summit, there was a great restaurant with amazing views. We enjoyed a bottle of champagne and lunch before meeting friends to celebrate.
We walked back down the aisle after getting married to the Ski Sunday sound track in homage to our engagement.
Mick wore a Paul Smith tailored suit.
The Reception
The Mount is beautiful in its own right, so we just had candles laid out and colourful flowers dotted around by Imogen. The Mount Without supplied a wedding planner, Katie Dane to help with the day.
Katie helped us co-ordinate the day, made us feel at ease and was on hand to answer any questions. She’s absolutely lovely and would recommend her to anyone.
Mick’s Uncle is a chocolatier so he and his wife made chocolates as wedding favours. They were delicious and perfect for an easter weekend wedding. Mick’s Auntie also made Limoncello in little bottles for the table.
Flowers were by Rose & Co Floral Studio. Floral Designer Imogen was absolutely brilliant from start to finish. She worked with us on the initial plans and provided inspiration as well as suggestions to fit our desired look.
We created all our own menus, orders of service, artwork and signage which made for a really unique look and feel very specific to our tastes. Our table names referred to all the different pubs we like to drink in with the people on each table – we wrote them a note for each describing our favourite evenings there (people loved these).
She was always on hand for a phone chat if needed. She was a dream to work with; fast and clear communications – we were put at ease from day 1.On the day, the flowers and candles looked absolutely incredible and nailed the brief. We didn’t lift a finger in preparation or clearing up – everything was done entirely by Imogen leaving us to worry about other things. Thank you SO much – I highly recommend them.
The cake was made by Mick’s Auntie, Frances Cooley. Lucky for us she is a highly qualified pattisiere and made a beautiful mandarin and almond cake. She worked with Imogen, our florist to get it decorated with the flowers.
Our caterers were Biancis – what AMAZING food! It was faultless. The service was fantastic and the communications in the build up and on the day really clear and helpful.
There was a fantastic range of options at great prices and extremely high quality food. We have had so many comments on how good it was from guests since the day. Can’t recommend them enough.
The napkins were made by my mum to match the colour palette of the wedding.
Evening & Dancing
My evening dress was by Rixo. I tried their Harpers concierge service, where a lady came to my house and brought about ten dresses to try on. It was a great experience and I really recommend it. It meant I could try dresses on from the comfort of my own home, test out different shoes and jewellery with a bottle of fizz and one of my bridesmaids. I only had to pay for the one I wanted to buy, and the stylist took the rest away with her.
I liked switching into the evening dress which felt more like a party dress and I think, helped switch the tone of the wedding. I loved the black bow on the back of the Rixo Dress.
Our first dance as to ‘You Make My Dreams Come True’, by Daryl Hall and John Oates. We simply wanted something upbeat and would start the party. Plus we love the song.
We hired Marcus of Speaker Box who absolutely killed it – he was SO good. We booked him for our wedding having heard rave reviews and he kept the party going from start to finish without let up. We never left the dance floor all night and neither did anybody else. He was so easy to communicate with in the build up, on the day and after the event – an absolute joy.
We gave Marcus a little brief and a few songs we definitely did and didn’t want played and then trusted him and SO glad we did – we could never have built a better set ourselves or read the room as well as he did. We didn’t bother with a band – didn’t need it.
If you are getting married at The Mount Without (where he regularly DJs) you are MAD if you don’t book him.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Everyone tells you to savour the day, try to take a moment and enjoy it or attempt to not let it go in a blur. From our experience that is almost unavoidable no matter how hard you try – so get a good photographer! Take the time to think about personal touches, you might think people won’t notice them but they do.
Taking the time to make all these personal touches is so worth it, we’ve had endless comments on it and that is so satisfying given the work that goes into it.
Additional Credits
The below suppliers and venues are featured in this article, but are not part of the Love My Dress Wedding Directory.
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
