Friday 13 December 2013

Dan, Briony and their little wedding... Hovis style!


Off to the West Country for Dan and Briony’s mini-wedding; Dom (aka Tato) in tow and in full tweed regalia. Not normal attire for a wedding it has to be said (there were comments), let alone one you’re assisting with, but the man wears it well and we were in the country so, when in Rome n’all…

We started the weekend with a pre-wedding meal at the fabulous home of Dan’s parents who cooked up the most delicious feast, made us laugh, plied us with fine wine, and sent us off swaying - only to be shooting their son’s wedding the next day.  If only all weddings were so relaxed. At one point, all the men sitting around the table had their trousers off. Port Club was in session and I would suggest readers leave their imaginations at the door.

The ceremony was at Shaftesbury Town Hall, which backs onto a cobbled street with the most superb view – this street is actually famous! If you’ve ever seen the Hovis advert (directed by Sir Ridley Scott! Who knew?!), with the little boy pushing his bike up the street (I can hear the music in my head now), then you will know this street. It’s just beautiful and so quaint (so hard to walk on in heels, as Briony discovered) – it’s so sentimentally beautiful it makes me want to buy bread and ride rickety bicycles down it.

This was the backdrop for this wonderful couple’s special day. And what a lovely day it was. It was one of those cold, crisp blue-sky days; very bright, but stunning and the service was so adorable - you certainly can’t beat heckles from a couple of rowdy two year olds for giggles and entertainment.

Dan looked very dapper in his suit and beaming smile and Briony looked utterly exquisite in her dress and cape, lovingly made by her mother. Now this lady is incredibly talented…not only did she make the cape (see pictures), she made the cake (see pictures) and the confetti (a little harder to see in the pictures) and she also made the little ones’ coats (see pictures)…is there no end to this lady’s talent? I half expected her to unbutton her shirt to reveal a wonder woman sign emblazoned across her chest, but alas, she’s just a lovely mum with oodles of talent wanting to do the very best for her daughter on her wedding day. Bravo Liz!

We then popped to The Grosvenor Arms for afternoon tea and speeches and because it was so cold outside we squished in to do a few family shots inside. There was an awesome Soft Play area for all the kids (and grown-ups) - they do make quite nice hats after all (see pictures).  We then poodled off to the Lamb Inn for drinks, supper, more merriment and speeches, plus I learnt that Briony is an intrepid adventurer and Dan is light-fingered and not a good keeper of important tickets. His grip is no match for tube wind, much to his father’s disappointment ;-).

All in all this was a wonderfully simple and elegant day for two people to say ‘I do’, in front of the people who matter most to them.  There was no pomp, no standing on ceremony -just lots of heartfelt laughter, good times and yum food. I think it was exactly what they wished for.

So to Dan and Briony (and little Tobias), I wish you all the love, luck and happiness in the world! You’re such a gorgeously cute couple and you deserve the very best. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your special day – you were an absolute pleasure to work with and I hope the images will bring back lots of warm, fuzzy, champagne-soaked, happy memories ;-).

My love and best wishes to you all…


Loukie xx