Black Tie At Home Wedding With Gin Bar
Photography by Carrie Lavers PhotographyHannah & Joel both live and work in London, so they wanted a classically beautiful Hampshire countryside summer wedding away from the city but with a cool London edge and their own stamp captured by our Recommended Supplier, Carrie Lavers Photography, who really understood the assignment. The couple opted for an optional black tie dress code, so guests got all scrubbed up and looked amazing in all these pics! There was so much love and happiness all day and it massively exceeded all of Hannah & Joel’s expectations! Hannah & Joel also got their confetti from Recommended Supplier, Flutter, Darlings!
One detail we adored about this wedding is how Hannah booked for the bridal party, mum, mum-in-law, and aunt to get their hair and makeup done! Despite the expense and the early start, it was worth it for the ultimate girly morning they had sipping champagne as they all got glammed up. Hannah’s Nana also made a special request for a "teal smoky eye” (what is it with Nans and blue eyeshadow or eyeliner?) in total iconic behaviour. Hannah also had a second hair and makeup look for the evening in only 20 minutes thanks to the wonderful Recommended Supplier, Sabrina Duparcq Hair! The couple also chose Recommended Supplier, The Wedding Shop, for their gift list.
Traditional church wedding ceremony with personal touches and modern wedding readings
Try and make everything as fun as possible - savour and enjoy it and make the most of all the fun (often free!) wedding stuff you can do. We loved taking advantage of the free sparkling wine at wedding gift showrooms like The Wedding Shop and wedding appointments at places like Jo Malone London.
My dad also turned choosing wedding wines into a game, which was great! At any family gathering, we would blind taste lots of wine, give them a score and then vote on which we liked the best and should serve at the wedding. Our other accidental big win was inviting our families to the stag and hen do, this meant that everyone had met before the wedding day so all our friends and families already knew each other and had lots of shared jokes so we could relax around each other and I think this really helped the vibe of the day.
Hannah & Joel
At-Home Marquee Wedding Reception
The wedding reception took place at Hannah's family home with champagne and jerk chicken roti canapés on the lawn, and then a traditional marquee for the meal with lots of locally-grown flowers. The wedding breakfast was informal sharing boards which got the guests chatting and mixing. Hannah & Joel love live music so they had three sets of musicians with different styles to make sure there was great music all day that appealed to guests. Another thing that Hannah & Joel both love is a G&T so, naturally, they had a gin bar with different gins with recommended tonic and garnish pairings. As an alternative, there were limoncello spritzes too! These two drinks are quite quick to make, so the queue at the bar never got out of hand either. To end a spectacular day, the couple finished up with a firework display.
Traditional Chruch Wedding Ceremony
Hannah & Joel both said one of their favourite moments of their wedding day was the ceremony as it was personal and special. The couple recommends investing time in getting to know your vicar if you can, Hannah & Joel went for a coffee with theirs a month before the wedding and also had a rehearsal with him in the church the day before the wedding and then had pizza and a few drinks at the local pub with the bridal party, groomsmen and family. This meant he knew all about Hannah & Joel as a couple and had met their friends and family, which is what made the ceremony so memorable. This also meant they felt more relaxed during one of the biggest moments of their lives! Despite having a traditional church ceremony, the couple had modern wedding readings including Union by Robert Fulghum and Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton.
At-home marquee reception with a gin bar, limoncello spritzes and outfit changes
Fellas, do more! It's really easy to sit back and let your partner do everything and end up walking in surprised at how lovely the marquee looks! My approach was to leave all planning until the weekend came around and do it in big chunks. However, Hannah would have already done everything I did and more during her commute every day. It's such a special time planning your wedding and try and get involved in it as much as you can! Also, if your photographer offers groomsmen pictures the morning of the wedding as you get ready (even if you have to fake get ready), definitely do it. It feels quite weird at the time but is totally worth it when you get sent your pictures. And it's an excuse for morning champagne/beers!
Hannah & Joel
Joel actually had a custom suit made for the occasion and said “It was one of the best things I did, not only did I love the process of designing the suit, but the feeling of a completely customised suit makes you feel incredible on your wedding day!” If you’re considering a made to measure wedding suit, we have all the advice you need! The flowers for this wedding were absolutely gorgeous with a flower arch, flower cloud, and meadow aisle flower arrangements. The best part about these incredible decorations is that they are reusable across the church and reception! If you’re DIY’ing your flowers, flower arranging sessions with your bridal party could be such a fun wedding activity. If you need some inspo, see our wedding flower arrangements article for some more ideas.
