I Do, I Do, I Do….

We love a wedding.  Nothing beats working with couples to make their dreams a reality and yet we do not work alone! Behind every wedding is a team of people who rarely meet and yet we all have one single vision: to make the day as wonderful and memorable as we can. So, we thought it was high time to get to know the bigger team behind many of Hampshire’s weddings and celebrate our collective talents!

Moutan table arrangement

We do, of course, from time to time meet at wedding showcases and also when we’re dressing venues, putting the finishing touches to rooms.  Occasionally, we also have the great pleasure of collaborating on photo shoots. However, most of our interactions are found on social media through likes, follows and shares, marvelling at the magnificent cake, dresses, the beauty of hair, make up and the finishing touches in the photographer’s photos.

How nice it has been to spend some time chatting with those who we admire, face-to-face and talking about weddings!

Bridal party bouquets. Image Courtesy of Alistair Jones, Ideal Imaging

We’re very lucky in our little pocket of England to have so many beautiful wedding venues, both grand and intimate, and also of the amazing talented teams whose expertise and attention for detail really make the difference. Even the most relaxed, do-it-yourself style weddings takes planning and preparation! 

One of the nicest elements of working on a wedding is getting to know our couples and collaborating to incorporate as much of their likes into our arrangements. Favourite colours, flowers and scents can all be worked into bouquets, button holes and room decorations – we have even made a flower collar for a faithful pooch ring bearer! The key is always you at the centre of what will be one of the most memorable days of your life together.

There’s an element of pressure on couples in these days of constant imagery and it’s all too easy to fall under the Pinterest pressure.  This is where we all help!  With a team behind you we’ll help to take the pressure from you and work with you to deliver the day that means something to you – this is after all your special day!

Boo Bridal, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire

In the comfort of her beautiful boutique, Emma, owner of Boo Bridal, happily chatted to us about exactly that and how she loves nothing more when her brides visit with a select few close friends or family and without a huge entourage leaving the ‘say yes to the dress’ pressure at the door.  “This really is the brides escape” says Emma, ‘this way you really do feel the love in the room”. Typically, from order to fitting a dress will take 7 months so unless you are buying off the peg (Boo only have one sample sale per year) then you are going to have to plan this part of your big day well in advance. 

Always on the side of the bride, Emma loves nothing more than helping them dress ready for the big day which also helps to calm nerves without the hub-bub of everyone else in the room! Keen to stress that she does not sell a dress but your dress, Emma recounted the story of when, 20 years ago, she was the bride to be trying on dresses for her own wedding.  Unfortunately, she felt cheated of the sheer joy of choosing her dress, (as she bought the first one she tried) and goes to great lengths to ensure that her customers are not left feeling the same way which is just as well as there are so many beautiful ones to try in the boutique!

Boo Bridal dresses, Hartley Wintney

Appointments must be pre-booked and based on a quick chat at the time of booking Emma has an idea of what type of wedding her bride will be having and pops a couple in the dressing room as a starting point.

“Wedding dress styles are like parsnips!  You can’t say you don’t like one until you’ve tried it!” Emma, Boo Bridal

Image courtesy of Alistair Jones, Ideal Imaging

As far as trends go, heavy lace is being replaced by plainer fabrics as the Kate (Middleton) effect wears off making way for the Meghan (Markle) influence. However, the everlasting romantic and traditional styles are still very popular.  Veils are still very much the go-to for church brides with the Millennial bride often attracted to a more boho vibe with flower garlands or sprigs in their hair.

As much as your venue will dictate the style of your day, your dress can inspire not only your flowers but also your cake. Someone who we often meet at wedding showcases is Yevnig Davis from Unique Cakes by Yevnig whose creations are simply amazing and the detail in the hand-crafted sugar flowers has us pinching ourselves to reminding us that they are not real! Having studied the flowers to produce life-like replicas they have volume and weight even in their sheer lightness and are true works of delicious art!

Not only do Yevnig’s cakes look amazing, they taste divine too. She spent 3 years prior to launching in 2013 developing flavours and combinations and no matter how incredible they look, her cakes are meant to be eaten!  Pulling on inspiration from her favourite designer Elie Saab, Yevnig also draws on her Middle Eastern roots steeped in delectable sweet pastries and elegant cakes colourful and packed full of delicious flavours.

Taking influence from the whole wedding; dress, venue, flowers, and colours, Yevnig designs her luxury bespoke artisan cakes in close connection with her clients adapting the level of grandeur to suit.  Building the relationship with her clients is key and together they journey from ‘consultation to crumbs on plates’ with lots of cake sampling along the way!

‘Enduring Glamour’, Unique Cakes by Yevnig Davis, image courtesy of Kate Nielson Photography.

“I love nothing more than being given free rein to design cakes full of elegant grandeur” Yevnig Davis, Unique Cakes by Yevnig

One fairly recent trend that Yevnig loves to work with is the desert table. Offering a mouth-watering choice of petite fours, cupcakes, macarons, doughnuts, truffles, and of course a traditional cake taking centre stage, guests approach the table like a child in a sweet shop!

“Desert tables work really well and it’s a great way to offer something for everyone as well as splitting the number of servings between the main and smaller cakes” Yevnig Davis, Unique Cakes by Yevnig

‘Regina Lux Desert Table’, Unique Cakes by Yevnig

No one works more closely with the happy couple than the photographer and nothing beats the sheer delight of reliving your special day by looking back over your album.  The photographs are valuable for all of us too. Long after the flowers have gone, the scrumptious cake has been eaten, and the dress boxed up, the memories live on. We long for the moment when a photographer shares the images from a wedding that we have worked on and see the couple celebrating with their friends and family.

“Your wedding album is your first family heirloom” Alistair Jones, Ideal Imaging

Catching up with Alistair Jones from Ideal Imaging he spoke passionately about the importance of providing his couples with their first family heirloom within 3 months of their wedding.  It might not be something that everyone thinks that they want however, the story it captures from the start to end of their day is something to be treasured. Alistair’s style is such that moments the couple weren’t aware he was shooting can sometimes sum up the day in one joyous shot.

Image courtesy of Alistair Jones, Ideal Imaging

Alistair has a privileged place in a wedding from the big dress reveal, a first look from the groom, to watching the reactions from the speeches to the fun of everyone racing to the dance floor after the first dance.  He sees all of this quietly from behind the lens and captures those moments that even the couple may not.  He also offers something quite unique, a same-day slideshow packed with candid shots to make all guests, day and evening, part of the whole experience. 

“I love the excitement after the ceremony, capturing the flow of everyone celebrating with the couple” Alistair Jones, Ideal Imaging

Image courtesy of Alistair Jones, Ideal Imaging

Offering some sound advice when booking a photographer, Alistair’s first is not to leave it too late – he is currently booking up until the end of 2021! It is also important to look at a whole story of images from a photographer and not a few chosen ones the photographer wants you to see. However, perhaps the most vital advice of all is to meet and take the time to get to know each other after all, you are inviting them in to your big day and you must feel comfortable with them.

It has been a great pleasure catching up with Emma, Yevnig and Alistair and chatting about such a happy life celebration and also how all our elements interact. Like a jigsaw we all slot into place, working with couples to help their whole picture come to life.  Professional and yet personal, a balance which always wins through. 

Moutan bridal bouquet. Image courtesy of Alistair Jones, Ideal Imaging.