Anyone who tells you weekday weddings don’t go off needs to take a look at Grace and Rob’s gorgeous wedding. Grace and Rob met at Northamptonshire County Youth Brass Band (and we have so many weird small world connections mostly rooted in my time as a music teacher in Northampton!) As a musician myself, I adored the musical elements to ceremony and their friends and family are all just SO FUN it was well deserving of a spot on the blog… and of course, it was at one of my all time favourite venues, Dodmoor House. Their advice about flip flops towards the end of this blog is one that I can totally get behind; I hate wedding fads but based on Grace’s experience of dancing barefoot on the dancefloor… the bigger the bucket of flip flops, the better. 

“Hannah doesn’t just take photos – she was an unflappable pillar of support on the day.”

HOW DID YOU MEET?

We met sitting next to each other in Northamptonshire County Youth Brass Band. Top notch flirting techniques included me hitting Rob’s knee with mutes and Rob making me laugh just before I was about to play. It took approximately two years of this nonsense before Rob asked: ‘Are we going out?’

TELL ME YOUR PROPOSAL STORY:

Rob had been away for a while so he suggested some wine and a film of my choice – The Revenant. I was on the edge of my seat for about half an hour with my wine untouched. Eventually I took a sip and the wine tasted disgustingly sweet. I looked down and there was a half-disintegrated Haribo ring in there. He thought I’d notice immediately so was sitting there side-eyeing me for half an hour (also desperate for the toilet) while I oohed and aahed at the film.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE VENUES YOU CHOSE FOR YOUR DAY?

IThe church was an easy one as it’s Rob’s family church and his parents and grandparents got married there. It was really special for us to carry on the tradition. As for the reception venue, we had our eyes set on a different venue at first but thought we’d better go to Dodmoor House ‘just in case’. What we thought was our favourite venue online just felt OK, and it wasn’t until we turned up at Dodmoor House afterwards that we realised what it was supposed to feel like to find your wedding venue. There was just a sort of warmth and familiarity there, and the staff were incredible from our first enquiry right up until the morning after the wedding.

WHAT WAS IT YOU LOVED ABOUT YOUR OUTFITS AND ACCESSORIES THAT MADE YOU CHOOSE THEM?

I went to David’s Bridal with a list of fishtail/mermaid wedding dresses, but then immediately clocked this poofy Vera Wang number on a mannequin and went home with it! I’ve never worn anything like it and probably never will again – and that’s why I loved it. My bridesmaid Bryony also made my wedding jewellery, which was so special and perfect.

As for Rob, the army is a huge part of his life and he likes to look ‘[as] smart as a carrot’, so he was always going to wear his ceremonials for the ceremony. Then for the suit for him and the groomsmen, he ‘wasn’t fussy’ apart from wanting a curved/horseshoe waistcoat – which seemed to represent about 5% of waistcoats. Conveniently, there was one that we both liked at the suit shop where I worked at the time, so that was it!

TELL ME ABOUT THE VISION YOU HAD FOR YOUR WEDDING INCLUDING YOUR THEME/COLOUR SCHEME/STYLING/FLOWERS:

I knew I wanted lots of foliage and not too formal, but it was the unexpected rusty/peachy/corally/pinky (WHAT is that colour?) bridesmaid dress colour that shaped the colour scheme. I therefore went for peaches and pinks in the flowers and tried to tie in the suits with a peachy tie. Sofia from Green Room Flowers understood my peachy pinky dream perfectly and the flowers were beautiful.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST DANCE AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE IT?

We chose our song, In The Stone by Earth Wind and Fire, as we were both way more comfortable boogying than slow dancing. We pulled Harriet (Rob’s sister and my bridesmaid) onto the dance floor at the earliest opportunity so that everyone would follow and take the attention off of us!

WHAT WERE THE MOST WONDERFUL PARTS OF THE DAY FOR YOU?

As we had just come out of Covid restrictions, we just loved seeing everyone chatting and hugging at the reception after so long. We had a beautiful summer’s evening after the meal, and I just remember looking out at the courtyard at everyone we love all in one place looking so happy. Similarly, we loved the evening reception – watching people from different parts of our lives dancing together ALL NIGHT LONG.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HANNAH HALL PHOTOGRAPHY AS YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER, AND WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY ON THE DAY?

I found Hannah just by searching ‘wedding photographer Northampton’ on Instagram. When I was scrolling through her photos, I came across someone I knew from school. I asked about her experience with Hannah and she obviously gave a glowing review. Hannah was (is) the perfect wedding photographer. She went unnoticed when she needed to get those perfect natural shots but went into bossy mode (only in the best way) to herd the tipsy and excitable guests into position. After going to other weddings, we’ve realised how essential it is to be able to do both. Rob and I also hate posed photos, but Hannah was amazing at just making us laugh and feel relaxed so she could do her thing. Also, Hannah doesn’t just take photos – she was an unflappable pillar of support on the day. How many photographers also double up as your veil attendant?

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR BEST BIT OF ADVICE TO OTHER COUPLES PLANNING THEIR WEDDING?

I know everyone says this, but don’t sweat the small stuff. On the day, you realise that everyone is just so happy for you and couldn’t care less if it’s champagne or cava, if the tie is pink or peach, or if you bleed all over the dance floor and ruin their shoes. That’s the other thing – never take your shoes off on the dance floor or you might step on glass and rupture a tendon on your wedding day… I’ve seen some couples provide a bucket of flip flops for sore feet so would definitely encourage everyone to do this!

GRACE + ROB’S SUPER FUN WEDDING HAPPENED WITH THE HELP OF THE FOLLOWING SUPPLIERS

Hair Leanne Eldridge / Makeup Claire Bache / Dress Vera Wang from David’s Bridal / Flowers Green Room Flowers

Venue Dodmoor House / Jewellery Bryony Wong / DJ Neil Harrison + Potter Group

Suppliers please drop me a line for image use!

HELLO, IT IS ME YOU’RE LOOKING FOR?

I’ve shot over twenty weddings at Dodmoor House over the last five years and now the place like the back of my hand; you can read more and see more of my photographs here.

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