All pictures: Livi Edwards Photography
Original Date: 13th March 2021
Day it Happened: 25th April 2021
Like so many people, our wedding day got pooped on by covid. When lockdown happened in March 2020, so many people were saying to us 'oh you should be fine for your wedding'.. and at the time we would look at each other and laugh, Ha! 'of course we will!' ... As time went on, we started to get a little jittery and in September we postponed our main reception to March 2022, and decided to get married in March 2021 anway. We jumped the gun a little with postponing, but we have important family and friends abroad and we knew that it was becoming highly unlikely that they would be able to get over for a reception. Still, we thought, we will be able to have a small reception! We booked to hire out a little cafe for a little get together after. Once the roadmap was announced, our date of March 13th had to be postponed as we would still be in full lockdown. Postponing for a long time wasn't something we were prepared to do, so we postponed to April, once weddings and receptions of 15 were due to be allowed. So we cut our guest list down to 15 and booked a tiny reception at Rufford Mill, Nottinghamshire. Of course, when we booked this, the government hadn't bothered to mention that receptions of 15 were only allowed OUTSIDE. Once this was announced, this had to be cancelled too! At this point, I think there was only a month or so to go until our second date. After a while of trying to think of a place that was going to be allowed to be open at this point, that had an outside space and also fit into our budget (baring in mind, we still have to pay for a reception in 2022), we gave up. We decided to host groups of 6 (4 plus us) in our garden in slots. It sounds really clinical, but because of the situation, everyone understood (or at least I hope they did!).
So, our day..
We broke traditions and both stayed at home the night before. Matt sent me off to my Mums in the morning (around the corner) and I walked round in my bridal robe and slippers at half 7 in the morning.
I had the best team to make me and my bridal party feel amazing on the day. The bride always tends to go last or second to last for hair and makeup. After a very chill few hours, first up for me was my hair by the amazing Robyn from Perfect Silhouette Hairdressing
As soon as I met Robyn I knew I wanted her to be part of my wedding day. Being in the industry, it can be both a blessing and a curse to pick suppliers when you know so many amazing ones. The important thing to do is pick the best supplier for you and the style you love, as well as someone you just get on with really well. This is particularly important for your hair and make up suppliers - they are with you all morning when you are getting ready for your big day, It's a very intimate part of your day and it's so important to have people you're happy to have with you. Robyn was able to nail my style based on a mass of random images I had saved and also a picture of my dress. She also did an amazing job for my bridesmaids and my lovely mum.
Next up, it was time to have my face done by Ruby of Ruby J Makeup Artist. I've known Ruby for what must be like 5 years now! I knew she was always going to be the makeup artist for me from the first time I worked with her, and she was one of the first suppliers that I booked. Ruby is great at making you feel like the best version of yourself, which was so important to me. I don't wear makeup often, once a week if you're lucky, so I didn't want Matt to look at me and think who on earth is that! For my trial, I gave Ruby zero help with my look. She knew me and what would look good and she nailed it.. if I do say so myself!
Next up, it was time to get dressed! My dress was a Kelsey Rose and was a sample dress from Cherished Wedding Boutique which I got in Sept '20. I lost a fair amount of weight between sept and April, and by the time seamstresses were allowed to be open (April 12th), my dress needed quite significant alterations and we had a 2 week window to get it done. The amazing CHALK tailors, Beeston, got it done for me in record time and I'm still not sure how they managed to change it so much!
I also got my first ever spray tan on the Friday before my wedding (Sunday), and I'm so glad I did because it gave me another glow. I chose Wild About Tan. They made me feel comfortable, it was so easy in my own home and I knew I would be okay because of their amazing reviews and recommendations.
Meanwhile, my handsome husband was getting ready at home with his main men. I left him and his best man with the job of taking the flowers up to the church, which worried him but they nailed it! Matt and his groomsmen's suits were Marc Darcy from Blidworth Menswear. They sorted them all out, all through covid, and with one groomsman not being able to go into store until very close to the day. All alterations were done in house and they all looked super dapper!
Forever the cheapskates, we didn't want to pay for a wedding car to drive us/me around to the church, literally a 2 minute drive. It took us a while to realise my bridesmaid, Kayleigh, had a cream mini, which she dressed up. Doesn't she look the part!
Our flowers were simply stunning and were created for us by our good friend Lucy at Bennington Blooms. As per usual, I gave no ideas to Lucy whatsoever. She knows me and us and knows the sort of thing we like and she created total masterpieces. She bought an image to life that I didn't know we had.
We had a church wedding at All Saints Church, Annesley. It's such a beautiful church which we can actually see from our living room. Walking down the aisle in a mask was pretty strange, but it's different and honestly didn't make a massive difference to things when we could take them off at the front. We set up a live stream through a private facebook group, for everyone that couldn't join us, and it worked great!
We stayed local for our pictures because there are so many gorgeous spots local to us. Having a garden reception means you don't have the usual wedding venue grounds for pictures but it's so important to scout out some great spots. This would be a great place to point out how much of an incredible job Livi Edwards Photography did. Every single photo in our gallery is incredible, choosing the pictures for this blog is such a tough job! We were quite crammed in during prep, and we had a timeline to stick to, and Livi did an amazing job. I came across Livi just before we got engaged as she shot a wedding that I made the cake for. As soon as I saw some pictures that the couple shared, I made a mental note for when Matt finally proposed.
And so, just like that, we were married. We went home to begin our slots in the garden, with cake and a bar ready and prepared by our lovely bridesmen/groomsmaids. We saw friends and family in 45 minute rotations and finished the night with our bridesmen/groomsmaids for drinks and dominos - classy and perfect!
Both being in the wedding industry, we were both a little cynical. You hear people say it was 'the perfect day' and think hmmmm.. okay. But honestly, it was the perfect day! Our day working out like this, was perfect for us.
Listen to our podcast about our wedding here .... (or wherever you listen to your podcasts)
Hope you have enjoyed reading about our micro covid wedding in lots of detail! I'm sure there will be more, but this was long enough already! Love the new Mr and Mrs Hunt! xo
Fancy watching our video? Kingfisher Wedding Videos created this masterpiece. There was very little going on in terms of good video content on our day, and they did an incredible job!