Greys, nudes and blushes at Dodmoor House

I have known Tanice since well… whenever I first shot a wedding at Dodmoor House, because until recently she was a wedding coordinator there. When she asked me to photograph her wedding at Dodmoor, it felt like the ultimate compliment because of course, in her job she saw hundreds of weddings and THOUSANDS of wedding photographs and I know from my own experience, picking suppliers from such a talented pool is hard. Covid might have delayed things a little but in October, fresh from my own wedding two days previous she finally married her love, Ty and of course, it was mega. Tanice and Ty decorated Dodmoor House with tones of grey, nudes and blushes with pampas grasses and song lyrics thrown into the mix and Ty looked sensational in his (two) velvet dinner jackets. What a day! 

How did you meet?

We met on a night out through a mutual friend 2 weeks before Tanice’s 18th birthday party, we both liked each instantly and she invited him to the party. We were both a bit too shy back then and it never really amounted to more than a few drunken kisses but we stayed great friends for years and finally decided to get together when we were 24 and the rest is history!

Tell me your proposal story!

Tanice being a “bit” of a control freak meant the original plan on proposing on our 4th anniversary in Amsterdam was foiled before we went, so Ty decided to wait a little longer!

We were extremely lucky to see our favourite rapper, Drake in a box at the O2 and although Ty’s plan was to propose at Greenwich Park the next morning, he couldn’t wait when we got back to the hotel later that night. The only problem was we both could barely speak through screaming at the concert that night…

Why did you choose Dodmoor House for your wedding venue?

I had worked at Dodmoor House for years as a wedding co-ordinator so there was literally no other option for me. When you spend your days planning everyone else’s dream days it’s impossible not to imagine how you would do things yourself, plus you have very high expectations when it comes your own wedding day! We both trusted the team there to pull off our dream perfectly which they did.

Real couples top three tips for planning your wedding at Dodmoor House

 It’s very easy to get caught up in the littlest of details, I think I wrote some of my place cards 4 times to get them “perfect” but at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter!

Make sure your bridesmaids & groomsmen know their roles and the details for the day so they can talk to the venue and suppliers so that you can be left to enjoy yourselves.

Finally schedule in a few little pockets of time to have with just your new other half, we snuck off before the next big thing just for a few minutes to catch up and check in on each other, when you’re with all your guests you won’t have time to chat to each other.

What was it about your outfits and accessories that made you choose them?

For Ty, we always know we would go for a velvet smoking jacket as he wanted something that was a bit black tie but without a traditional suit. He decided he wanted to change out of the traditional black for an ochre colour with matching braces for the party in the evening!

For Tanice, I wanted something that was different to everything I would usually go for. I’ve always been really body conscious and go for over sized clothes but found that tighter wedding dresses really made be feel confident! I never thought I would go for lace but the modern patterns and floral appliqués on the dress were dreamy! I also didn’t want a super long train as I wanted to be conscious of people stepping on it all day (which of course they still did)

Tell me about the vision you had for your wedding day?

There wasn’t a proper theme but we picked lots of things we liked which all came together perfectly! We named our tables after our favourite rappers as music is a big part of our relationship & had lyric quotes dotted around (a joke as everyone knows Ty used to send me song lyrics on drunken nights out to declare his love)!

Colour wise I wanted all mismatched bridesmaid dresses so went for greys, nudes, blushes and mauves which we tied into the table settings and flowers. I wrote all the signs, place cards, menus and table plans myself which was very time consuming but definitely saved me a lot of money!

For the flowers my inspiration was from Australian weddings with pampas grass and dried flowers, however I wanted to tone it down slightly so we had quicksand roses, gyp and lots of foliage. Anna from Julianna Flowers absolutely nailed it, it was one of my favourites things of the day.

What was your first dance and why did you choose it?

We chose Miguel – Sure Thing. We wanted a slow-ish song with a beat to it and Tanice is a massive Miguel fan (so much so we walked down the aisle to one of his songs too). The lyrics describe our relationship to a tee!

What were the best parts of the day for you?

We both agree that we enjoyed the actual ceremony part of the day so much more than we thought we would. Once up there, it really is like no-one else is in the room with you.

Apart from that the weather was gorgeous for a late October wedding so much that we had all our drinks and live singers in the courtyard, people were dancing around with cocktails in hand at 2:30pm which was just so amazing to see!

Getting ready with my closest girls was also so lovely and seeing my Dad for the first time was a moment I had dreamed of forever!

Why did you choose Hannah Hall Photography as your photographer, as what was your experience of your photography on the day?

I met Hannah on her first wedding at Dodmoor House and we ended up working on lots of weddings together. I love how her photography captures the fun of the day but she still manages to get those timeless photos that your parents want framed!

She was my only option for a photographer when I got engaged that I checked when she was free before even checking the dates for Dodmoor…

We were so blown away from the photos we received, you can literally feel what a good time everyone had from looking at them and I don’t think she got a single photo of me not smiling (my cheeks did hurt at the end of the day)!

Tanice + Ty’s Dodmoor House wedding happened with the help of the following folk

Hair Georgia Duffy / MUA Sophie Duffy / Dress Pronovias from Serendipity Brides / Flowers Julianna Flowers

Cake Gardner’s Bakery / Caterers The Lazy Pig / Bridesmaids ASOS 

Entertainment The Potter Group, Girl on Sax / Videographer When Charlie met Hannah

Are you a supplier who worked on this wedding? Please don’t screenshot images from this blog, read my image use policy here.

Are you getting married at Dodmoor House? It’s an honour to be a recommended supplier at Dodmoor and I shoot a number of weddings there each year so please get in touch!