Last month I launched a competition with Rock’n’Roll Bride for one lucky couple to win their wedding photography. Every day a new email landed in my inbox, I was introduced to some amazing couples, some beautiful stories and some kick ass weddings. When it came to picking the finalists, I had a really tough time, so many great couples, so many great weddings I wanted to be a part of and document. After a lot of discussion, I have picked a 7 finalists…seriously, I couldn’t whittle it down anymore.
Let me introduce the finalists as I need your help. It’s up to you guys to pick the winner!
1. Sally & Daniel
Dan and I both work in the film & TV industry he as a feature director and myself as an Art Director. As you can imagine our ideas are pretty wild and we have some great ideas for our day which we intend to do DIY!!
Our theme is as follows: a rainbow fairground 🙂
We are having the reception & dancing in the centres marquee which will be decorated with fairy lights, pom poms, lots of sweeties and lots of colours!! I’m not having flowers as I’m not a flower kind of girl BUT there will be lots of cool things to make up for it like balloons and yarn balls and all the bouquets I intend to make from buttons 🙂
Daniel is organising the evening entertainment but we already know there will be candy floss & popcorn stands (I’m still trying to twist his arm into hot dogs & ice cream) games, a DIY photo booth which we’ll set up and Dans going to make a film compiling our favourite movie moments which everyone can enjoy while they boogie on down to our mix of cheese and rock n roll music.
I’m already 99% sure that I’ll be wearing a white Vivien of Holloway Dress and my bridesmaids will each be dressed in a colour of the rainbow. Guests are also going to be seated by colour 🙂 I want favours to be little jars of sweets and also for each guest to have a little party pack including photo challenges and dressing up stuff 🙂
Obviously it’s a while away so I’m sure our ideas will evolve and change but I think one things for sure: it will only get more awesome!!
I guess for a better idea you can check out my pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/sallym0nster
2. Liana & Patrick
OVERVIEW OF THE DAY
We plan to have a ‘Jumble of Love’ day (basically a day where we get hitched infront of our nearest and dearest, full of lots of things that we love – which we hope will all go together by virtue of the fact we love them!!).A mix of classicly romantic elements-with some more 2012 ones; and a mix of literature/theatre with music.
THE PLAN
The day begins on Richmond Hill (in richmond-upon-thames) – though I grew up in Cyprus (I’m half greek/half irish -so, if you believe the news, financially f***ed either way!!) my english family home is just outside richmond . Our ceremony is in a beautiful bright room at the Richmond Gate Hotel on the hill, decorated with a combination of classically red roses and beautiful paper ones (see: http://www.etsy.com/listing/91091723/12-book-page-paper-roses-by-bookcraft as an example). My bouquet will be a combination of the two too – as will the boutonieres. Other details:custom made wedding rings (my sister is a jeweller and her partner a goldsmith – RIDICULOUSLY lucky us)and I’m wearing two dresses.
Hate to blow our trumpets – but our reception venue is THE BOMB!!! We hope it’ll make the day. It’s Kew Bridge Steam Museum (just down the road from richmond) with (working – if we want!!) 1960’s steam engines all lit up by a friend of ours (who works for stage electrics) and decorated with green glass bottles I’ve been collecting all year,sunflowers and aselection of hard back red classics I bought from the second hand shop down the road.We are having Patrick’s 1930’s swing band for entertainment – they are called King Candy and the Sugar Push (http://www.kingcandyandthesugarpush.com/) and scene from shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew by a couple of my Globe actor friends out in the yard in front of the waterwheel. And cocktails and dancing and hopefully fun – come whatever weather!!!
3. Jude & Dan
Venue: Victoria Baths, Manchester (an old Edwardian swimming baths that has been restored, it’s beautiful and we are getting married in the actual pool! No water unfortunately, but the money from the hire of the place goes to getting it up and running as a working baths again, and as we are both swimmers, and I come from a family of competitive swimmers it means a lot to us!) http://www.victoriabaths.org.uk/ Reception is there too.
Ideas: It’s all about the music! Dan and Jude are both musicians and met whilst playing in rival bands, so it makes sense for their wedding to have a rock ‘n’ roll theme. From using 12 inch records in the decorations to making sure there’s an amazing playlist, music is the main thing that links all the elements of their wedding together. Keeping it totally DIY, their family and friends are beavering away making decorations and the Victoria Baths is a totally unique space to have a beautifully scruffy wedding!
4. Rachael & Tom
We’re holding our wedding at Plymouth’s Barbican as this is where Tom proposed and it reflects our love of the sea and all things nautical. The ceremony itself is going to be held at Plymouth Gin Distillery – we chose this as we wanted somewhere quirky (we aren’t really church or registry office type people) and this place is stunning with a huge glass wall contrasted against all of the old distillery equipment – we are suckers from curious treasure / old tat! It’s actually going to be the last ever wedding held there, which makes it all the more special in my opinion!
After a swift gin and tonic in the swanky Gin Distillery bar, it’s going to be off (by foot as it’s only up the road) to Duttons restaurant where we are having a gormet BBQ – we’re not really format dinning people and want to keep the feel of the day fun and relaxed. Dutton’s is a small family-fun restaurant, on a little cliff overlooking the Barbican – they’ve only ever catered for one wedding before and are really excited about it. We are having a marquee in the garden and I’m currently making miles (literally miles) of nautical themed bunting to decorate the marquee and restaurant with. This is going to be given to two of my best friends who are theatre set designers and are doing the rest of the decorating as a wedding present – they want to keep it a surprise from me though so I can’t tell you what it’ll be like, although I know they’ll go to town on it! Tom’s brother’s band (punk rock) are going to play some covers while everyone has a nice time in the (hopeful) sun afterwards. Our dog, Poppy, is going to join us for something to eat too.
We are sending our Save The Date cards in a few weeks time, when it’s a year to go – we’ve commissioned a local illustrator to draw a map of Plymouth’s Barbican with all the places special to us marked on, in an Sailor Jerry tattoo style. It looks fab and I’m looking forward to sending it. I’m making the rest of the stationary myself, Tom’s making our cake as a token of his affection (bless him -he’s not really into cooking…) and I’ve been taking silversmithing classes for the last six months as I’m building up to being able to make our rings myself!
5. Joe & Nikki
No words from Joe and Nikki, just this visual aid!
6. Elena & Gabriele
My name is Elena and I’m going to marry my beautiful fiancé Gabriele on our 8th anniversary!, in Fortunago, a lovely medieval village in Lombardy.
We’ll have an outdoor civil ceremony under a tree with an amazing view on the hills (if it doesn’t rain, of course).
We chose a 50s rock’n’roll theme because we love the fifties and 50s style weddings always look so joyful and fun and that’s exactly what we want for our big day.
Think bold colours (red, white and black and maybe a touch of tiffany blue), music from the 50s and the 60s and a bride in a red short wedding dress.
Also, I don’t want any floral decorations, but we’ll have plenty of pom poms, paper flowers, buntings and lots of DIY details. I’ll also have a non floral bouquet, maybe a button bouquet.
Gabriele is very good at graphic design and he’s in charge of the wedding stationery. Can’t wait to see the results!
I’m a wedding enthusiast, I love reading wedding blogs (but Rock’n’Roll Bride is my favourite) and I recently started a little wedding blog in Italian.
Alternative weddings are very rare in Italy and outdoor ceremonies are uncommon, so I’m sure our guests will remember our wedding for a very long time.
I attach a picture of us taken in London. This is my wedding inspiration board on Pinterest:
7. Sarah & Ewan
Me and my partner Ewan are getting married next year, we are planning on a New York wedding, in Central Park.
We decided on a New York wedding as we love the city, and we thought that NYC would be an amazing backdrop to our wedding – the whole city is so iconic, it would be like getting married on a film set! Our photography plan would be to cover the prep on the day, the wedding, and then for the two of us to disappear with the photographer on a whirlwind trip of NYC, getting wedding photos in the best known spots around NYC – Times Square, the Flatiron Building, Brooklyn Bridge-that sort of thing!
I have been with Ewan for 5 years now, and he proposed to me last November, in the middle of some boggy ground, just outside Hardknott Roman Fort, in the Lake District. I had wondered why he got grumpy about people turning up just as we were leaving the fort (after all, we were leaving!) but it turned out his plan had been to ask me at the entrance, overlooking a beautiful view of the surrounding hills. He decided not to do it then – wanting some privacy, and asked as we tramped back to the car through the mud, as he obviously couldn’t keep it in any longer. We chose my engagement ring a few weeks later, in York, in an antique shop. He knew I wanted vintage, so let me pick myself (although he spotted it) – it is from the 1920s or 30s, and it is a sapphire and diamond gold ring, I love it!
I am planning a mainly DIY type of wedding – I have plans to make my bridemaids dresses myself (I have three bridesmaids, all called Kirsty!) This will prove to be a challenge, as I have only recently started learning dressmaking, but feel that the end result will be all the more special to me that way.
I am a bit of a crafting fiend, so I’m also planning to make my own brooch bouquet, and I am currently sourcing patterns to knit my own wedding shawl (if I get ambitious, I might even make ones for my bridesmaids). All little details that I hope will photograph well all the day, and will tell a lovely story.
The wedding party itself will be eclectic too – Ewan is going to wear a kilt in his clan tartan, as will a few of the other guests, and his best man is a Captain in the Army, and he will be wearing his dress uniform, hopefully with ceremonial sword.
So that is all 7 finalists, which couple is your favourite? I honestly can not decide who should win, these couples are planning some amazing weddings, completely centered around their love and their friends and family. Every couple said that all they wanted was to be surrounded by their friends and family and for everyone to have an amazing time…what more could any couple hope!
Get voting people…these guys need your help!
CLOSING DATE IS AUGUST 5TH
I voted for Racheal and Tom!!!!!!
Good luck everyone!!!!!
🙂
actually cant choose. i wanna feature ALL these weddings!
voted sally and dan!
I voted for Elena and Gabriele. Mainly because, being a photographer and knowing very well the location they chose, I think it will be aesthetically wonderful. So, basically, it will be an awesome portfolio wedding. 😉
Victoria Baths is beautiful – so Jude and Dan get my vote. X
DAN AND SALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
BUT GOOD LUCK EVERYONE ELSE.
LOVE FROM THE GOOSE
XXXXX
I voted for Sarah and Ewan’s wedding, a central park wedding will be fantastic!
Wow, so many wonderful weddings, I’m so honored to be a finalist!
Gosh all of these weddings are incredible! Good luck to all of the other finalists 🙂
Woo hoo – I’m so happy to even be in the final 😀 Good luck everyone!
They all sound fabulous, good luck everyone.
oh wow all these plans and couples are so lovely! i did vote for one couple, but they ALL deserve you as a photographer – free or not – cos you and your amazing style will suit them all so much! LOVE IT X
thanks for heads-up Audrey – I have voted for the couple who spoke to my heart – Good Luck everyone!!
Well gosh darnit now!! Have to be 100% honest – am one of the finalists – and utterly chuffed and TOTALLY hope to win (GRRRRR all other competitors!!! ;-))….but there are some SUPER kick bum weddings here, in fact AT LEAST a couple I’d pick in a competition above my own. Bestest vibes all round and just hope one and all have a fantastic fantastic day xxx
Abbiamo votato per voi, in bocca al lupo Elena e Gabriele!!!!
I voted Sally and Dan 🙂 But good luck to everyone! xx
They all sound so fabulous! Good luck lovely people and enjoy your wonderful weddings xx
It is such a hard decision! They all sound like they have wonderful weddings planned and are all deserving winners. Whoever wins is very lucky to have you capture their special day. Your work is amazing x
It’s Nikki and Joe, they are soooo cute!!!
Joe & Nikki all the way – love the creative visuals & their wedding in the wilds of Somerset sounds magical!
Joe and Nikki in the wilderness wedding….whoop whoop!!
Joe and nikki! Good luck guys! 😀 you deserve it!
I am a finalist and thank you so much for picking us to be in the top 7! Everyone else’s weddings sound aMAZing, feel like I should have written more on our info but didn’t want to give too much away for the guests! Am having a crafty steal of a few of your ideas though, there’s some really unique and new things there! Good luck to everyone! xxx
Joe and nikki.
Good luck guys, the wedding sounds magical.
The presentation and wedding snaps would make a good advert too.
Visions of the pup running away with the bouquet playing the BEST GAME EVER
Jo & Nikki! Great mood board love the creativity.
wow – what wonderful ideas… I wish I could vote for more than one. Choose Jude & Dan as their venue hire fee goes towards refurbishing the baths to get them working again. Happy weddings and more importantly happy marriages to all the lucky couples xxx
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Joe and Nikki have got my vote! Loving the creativity!
Wow, what lovely couples. I wish them all a dream wedding and long and wonderful life together!!
I’ve voted Joe and Nikki because theyve been so fun and creative and I know how bad they want this!
Joe and Nikki FO SHO XX
Dan and Sally. I love the idea of a button bouquet! xxx
Sally and Dan!
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Sarah and Ewan but only coz one of the Kirstys coerced me into it 😉 but in all seriousness an NYC wedding would be amazing!
Momentum building up for Joe and Niki? Well, I just voted for them, so maybe…
Good luck to all though, and most importantly ENJOY your lives together. I’ve been happily married 21 years and know what I’m talking about.
Wow, Joe and Nicky get my vote. They all look amazing but went to Greatwood years ago and it’s the most beautiful place ever!!! Pics will look amazing!!!
Such a tough choice!!! I can see why you want to shoot them all, Lisa 🙂
I’ve voted!
Good luck everyone, and I can’t wait to see the wedding of the lucky winner!
Wow they all look great but Joe and Nikki win for me- getting married by friends in a forest,sounds incredible!
Love Joe and Nikki’s visual aid!
Joe and Nikki I got everyone in Manhattan and LA voting for you! You deserve to win!
I vote Elena & Gabriele!
🙂
Jo and Nikki. 2 WONDERFUL and creative people. love you both
Dan and Jude get my vote; great choice of venue that would make some great photo sets!!!
Sarah and Ewan! Good luck.guys…may the (whole) Force be with you lol xx
Jude and Dan at the Victorian Baths. Their reasons for choosing the venue make it very special.
Jude and Dan at the Victorian Baths. Their reasons for choosing the venue make it very special.
Jude and Dan at the Victorian Baths. Their reasons for choosing the venue make it very special.
Jude and Dan at the Victorian Baths. Their reasons for choosing the venue make it very special.
Jude and Dan at the Victorian Baths. Their reasons for choosing the venue make it very special.
Jude and Dan at the Victorian Baths. Their reasons for choosing the venue make it very special.
Can they not all win??
Who won???
I am too late to vote, but I love every one and no doubt every single day will be incredible!
Who is the winner?