“We found Anna on the internet but everyone assumed she was a good friend (we wish she was!) That’s just how well she fitted in with our wedding. Plus, she caught such special moments, and a whole lot of hilarious moments! If you haven’t yet booked your photographer, book Anna. And trust her. You won’t regret it!”
Sarah and Bex got married at Brighton Town Hall in the Council Chamber. It was reminiscent of a London town hall, with its grand architecture and staggered auditorium seating. During the ceremony they had all the guests pass their rings around to warm them, a beautiful way of involving everyone in the ceremony. The party was at Iford Village Hall in Sussex.
The funniest moment was when the registrar did her usual spiel about going outside and doing confetti, and you could see everyone looking confused and the registrar slowing down her words as she realised no one had confetti. So I herded everyone outside to do a big cheer as the girls walked out. Once they were finally ready after ages of moving people out of the hallway, I ran up the two flights of stairs to fetch the girls and told them everyone was outside waiting to cheer them. We got downstairs and everyone was back in the hallway! Did I imagine it all? What was going on? They pointed outside. It was BUCKETING.
Then we discovered the taxis they’d booked weren’t there (turns out they were all booked for the next day, whoops!), and we were trying to cower in the entrance of the town hall while the next wedding party tried to get in past us. We finally got a call from our cab – he was on the other side of the square and we had to run through a fancy hotel to get to him! It was raining so hard the girls waited in the middle of the revolving doors for Sarah’s brother to come with an umbrella for them. Well, what was once an umbrella.
The party was at Iford village hall in Sussex where they’d decorated the room with succulents (love) and books with scenes carved out of the pages by Sarah – so much talent. A lot of my brides say they want to become a wedding stylist after their wedding, and I reckon Sarah would be amazing at it.
Sarah and Bex officially win the award for rocking their dresses the hardest. They took me through the muddy woods near the village hall after the ceremony and we came across a murky pond with beautiful overhanging trees. These girls are pretty adventurous and up for anything fun (see the crowdsurfing pics below) so they didn’t take much convincing to get in! I love the woodland photos, the light was beautiful and it was the one time the entire day when the sun came out. The best moment had to be when the wind shook the tree above them and all the rain came out of it, their reaction is brilliant.
Dinner was South African fare from a mobile food van, it was delicious and I broke my no-meat rule for it…
At sunset (or what would have been sunset if the sun had showed up) they had a handfasting in the field, with guests sat on haybales.
Straight after that they launched into their first dance, which involved changing outfits into Bollywood gear. I imagined big bulky dresses with lots of material. What we got was sequined crop tops and harem pants – these girls know how to look good. Bex kept hers on the whole night, which made dancing like a nutter so much easier 🙂
Their Bollywood first dance was incredible, and so much fun. Their guests absolutely loved it, and the whole thing was a complete surprise.
The best bit (as they warned me it would be) was the dancing. They threw shapes all night, with an awesome playlist, devised by the girls. And Sarah’s friend took great pleasure in pressing the smoke machine button every five minutes. The night ended with the smoke alarm wailing, which sounded like part of the last song, which is why no one noticed! Well it’s one way to finish a kick-ass party!
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