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A beautiful Nunsmere Hall wedding

Following the excellent news that we should be back to some kind of normality from June onwards, I thought I’d share a beautiful wedding that was shot last October at Nunsmere Hall. The wedding of Holly and Katie managed to go ahead after being postponed from May 2020. During the times during lockdown, I’ve mainly kept myself busy doing family photoshoots, which I’ve adored. But I have to say, I was so excited to shoot another wedding, as they’re my passion.

 

The Wedding of Holly and Katie

Holly and Katie had already postponed their May wedding date, but come October, they’d decided that they wanted to try and go ahead with their small ceremony before the National lockdown kicked in in November. And I’m so glad they did! Despite the small numbers (just 13 guests), the wedding was truly beautiful and they were both so happy.

Holly got ready at Nunsmere Hall, booking both a hair and makeup artist for the occasion, along with her mum, her two bridesmaids and Katie’s niece, who made the most adorable flower girl!

 

Nunsmere Hall for the wedding of Holly and Katie

 

Holly the bride having her makeup done

 

The bride looking in the mirror while her flower girl gets dressed

 

The ceremony room was adorned beautifully, with blossom trees, LOVE letters and gorgeous pink chair covers. The chairs were all spaced out so that the 13 guests weren’t sitting too close to each other.

 

Nunsmere Hall ceremony room with LOVE letters lit up

 

Nunsmere Hall ceremony room for a Cheshire wedding

 

I love taking photos of the groom or bride as the bride walks down the aisle and I captured this shot of Katie as Holly entered the room.

 

The bride waiting for the bride coming down the aisle

 

Bride and bride kissing after their wedding ceremony

 

While I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing guests in masks, the ceremony was still beautiful and personal. Both brides walk back up the aisle following the ceremony with huge smiles on their faces.

 

The brides walking up the aisle together at Nunsmere Hall

 

Following on from the ceremony, it was time for some fun wedding photos and these two were all up for smoke bombs!

 

The bride and bride using coloured smoke bombs for their wedding photos

 

Smoke bombs are so much fun and really make for some beautiful, colourful photographs, particularly when you have such gorgeous scenery behind you, as Nunsmere does.

The stunning sunset allowed us to get some gorgeous low-light photos too, with a beautiful orange glow. This is why I love autumn weddings so much. The orangery in the trees combined with the sun peeking through makes for a gorgeous photo.

 

Two brides on their wedding day in the forest

 

After photos, the couple were able to have a small wedding breakfast, complete with speeches, where the blossom trees were reused and helped to set a gorgeous backdrop.

Wedding breakfast at Nunsmere Hall with speeches

 

And finally, the evening was finished off with some stunning fireworks. I love this shot of Holly wearing Katie’s jacket, hugging as they watch the lights!

 

Fireworks at Nunsmere Hall for a gay wedding

 

I hope these photos make you as excited as I am for June, when large weddings can be held again and we can all laugh, drink and be merry!

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A Small Last-Minute Lockdown Wedding

Every wedding is beautiful, no matter the style, setting or number of guests. But COVID has certainly made getting married harder. This doesn’t mean your wedding can’t be absolutely stunning and the perfect day you always imagined. In fact, Amy and Chris had their beautiful day….that was organised in just 4 days!

 

The Wedding of Amy and Chris

Amy and Chris were originally supposed to get married in April 2020, however this had to be postponed. They had no plans for when their wedding would be when it was postponed, but I’m sure as many people thought, that they assumed this would all blow over in a few months. Well, it gets to September and rather than the virus disappearing, it was coming back with a vengeance.

As restrictions were becoming tighter, it became clear to Amy and Chris that if they didn’t get married soon, it could be another few months or even longer before they could get married. So they took the plunge and decided to get married with 4 DAYS’ NOTICE as they could still do so with up to 30 people in attendance.

So they began replanning their small wedding on Wednesday 23rd September and on Sunday 27th September, they tied the knot!

 

Getting ready

Amy got ready at home and had a hairdresser to help out with the hair styling, but they decided they could all do their own makeup for the day. As you can see from the images, the girls had a blast getting ready and all gathered around mirrors in the conservatory.

 

Bride getting ready at home while hairdresser does her hair

 

The bridal party doing their own makeup at home

 

Wedding gown hanging from the staircase

 

Bridal party getting ready and doing their dresses up

 

I absolutely love the above photo of the bridesmaids having their dresses down up in a sort of train while Amy has final fixes done to her hair.

Luckily, as they were due to get married in April, Amy had already sorted details like her dress, so there was no panic shopping before the day!

Once everyone was dressed and ready to go, we had some time to get some fun shots outside. Amy was so chilled and, as you can see from the below photo, was having so much fun!

 

Bride and her mum laughing outside

 

The couple had managed to organise a vintage car for the day, and it picked up Amy and her entourage and whisked them off to the local church. The weather was perfect and meant that the car could have the roof down.

 

The bride in the back of the vintage car before getting married in Liverpool

 

St Stephen’s Parish Church, Hightown, Liverpool

The wedding was set at St Stephen’s Church, a small but beautiful building that was the perfect place to get married for Amy and Chris. Guests could space out within the church while all getting an excellent view of the ceremony (one of the perks of a small wedding). The couple wore masks to start with which they were allowed to take off during the ceremony.

 

Bride and her father walking down the aisle while wearing masks

 

Couple laughing at the alter while getting married

Husband and wife walking up the aisle after getting married

 

Bride and groom outside the church for a confetti shot

 

This couple were as happy as any other I’ve seen, despite the quick organising and the reduced numbers. I adore the confetti shot above which seems to light the couple up in the sunshine.

 

Bride and groom in the wedding car with some champagne

 

The Reception

Their reception was held next door at the village hall, the perfect setting for a small number of people.

 

Bride and groom laughing during the wedding speeches

 

The couple had some beautiful flower arrangements that just lit up the village hall. As you can see from the photo above, they’re surrounded by stunning bouquets. The speeches were hilarious and had Amy and Chris in stitches.

 

Couples outside the village hall

 

We did some beautiful, spaced-out couple photos as the sun was beginning to get lower.

The beauty of this location on the outskirts of Liverpool, near Formby, was its proximity to the beach. At sunset, we headed down there and the photographs came out absolutely beautiful! We couldn’t have planned such a beautiful photograph if we tried, and it shows that whether you plan a wedding in 4 days or 4 years, the day will be perfect.

 

Couple dancing on the beach at sunset on their wedding day

 

Simple buttercream wedding cake with real flowers

 

The cake was simple but beautiful, adorned with fresh flowers. Amy said that Amazon Prime was a lifesaver when planning a wedding in 4 days and that lots of her little extras came from here.

I hope this wedding day doesn’t put people off having a small wedding, and encourages you to do it anyway despite coronavirus. A virus cannot and will not destroy love and weddings will continue for years, centuries to come!

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How to have a very small wedding

Unfortunately with COVID-19 restrictions looking to stay as they are for a long time, weddings are going to be small for the foreseeable future. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Small weddings can be intimate, personal and beautiful, a moment shared with your very closest family and selected friends. This is why I thought it would be a good time to write how to organise and host a very small wedding.

Weddings of less than 20 guests is typically called a microwedding, and these are the only kinds of weddings allowed to go ahead in the UK currently. But your microwedding doesn’t have to miss out on atmosphere or sparkle.

 

Choose a venue based on your numbers

It can be difficult to find a venue that will accept small numbers. This is generally because they don’t make as much money, if any, from weddings with very few guests. The more guests you have, the more you’re likely to spend on food and all the accompaniments, such as centrepieces.

But this means you can think outside of the box. An intimate outdoor wedding might be perfect or maybe you could hire an idyllic cottage. You may choose to have a small, private church wedding and go for a reception elsewhere afterwards. Many restaurants have the option of hiring out a small section, which might be ideal for you.

If you would prefer to have a larger venue, but they’re not allowing you to book because of your small numbers, you could suggest that you don’t have full venue exclusivity. This may mean that you’re sharing the venue with other guests or parties of people. If this doesn’t bother you too much, it could be a great compromise.

A destination wedding is ideal for such a small number of guests, so you could even consider going abroad. This may not be the easiest option at the moment, but definitely one to think about for the near future.

 

Go for casual, intimate dining

The fewer guests you have, the odder it feels to all sit on separate round tables where three courses are served in a formal setting. Instead, you may prefer to make things a bit more casual. Think good pub food, fresh pizza from a pizza oven or even a small hog roast that’s suited to less people. These things can be eaten both standing or sitting.

Alternatively, if you do want the more formal 3-course meal, you should have everyone sitting around one very large table. The table can be decorated in all sorts of ways (you don’t have to keep everything simple) but sharing a meal together in this way is a lovely idea.

 

Keep the smaller details

You may think that in having such a small wedding, you can do away with additions like photographers, videographers, flowers, a cake, etc. But these things are still so important. No matter whether you have 5 or 105 guests, it’s still your wedding day and a wedding photographer can still capture some beautiful images that you’ll be able to keep forever.

Cakes and flowers can still be part of your day, just in smaller amounts. No need to get a cake for 50 people, but you could choose little personalised cupcakes or even a very simple two tier. Don’t forget most wedding cake can be frozen and defrosted!

 

Wedding cake covered in white chocolate and strawberries

This one tier cake surrounded by cupcakes would be ideal for your small wedding

 

Don’t give up on your dreams

Most people look forward to the glamour of a big wedding (though it certainly isn’t for everyone). But just because your wedding is smaller than you imagined doesn’t mean you can’t have entertainment, a gorgeous venue, hair and makeup, a beautiful dress. You should keep these aspects of your wedding as close to what you would have wanted originally.

 

A small wedding definitely doesn’t mean that it’s any less of a celebration. Embrace your microwedding and see it for what it is – getting married with your very nearest and dearest alongside you.

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