Wedding photographer Paul Fletcher very kindly shared his images of the wedding with me for the English Wedding Blog. You can read his full wedding blog post with images here.
Abi and Mikael have written a great wedding report and reviewed some of their favorite wedding suppliers for you. I love their advice… particularly the bits about the dancing swan, the importance of hiring a good photographer, and remembering to eat the food!
I’ll hand over to today’s beautiful bride and gorgeous groom to tell you more about their outdoor wedding. Huge congratulations to Abi and Mikael, and thank you for being on the English Wedding Blog! All images are by Paul Fletcher Photography.
Abi and Mikael — a UK outdoor wedding from West Sussex
Wedding venue
Duncton Village hall, Duncton, Petworth, West Sussex
Wedding photographer
Paul Fletcher Photography
How would you describe your wedding style?
Simple, family and close friends centred wedding.
A little about the wedding ceremony
We had the wedding ceremony outside in the grounds of the hall we were hiring. We had already been to the registry the day before so the wedding ceremony was really reconfirming our vows in front of our friends and family and also having the blessing from our church pastor who led the ceremony. We didn’t have any wedding readings. The pastor spoke for about 10 minutes on the bible’s perspective of marriage and we had two people from our church who prayed for us.
Tell us a little about your wedding venue styling and details
The wedding venue was a mid-sized hall with large outside grounds in the middle of Duncton countryside at the foot of the South Downs. We hired it out for the weekend (Friday to Sunday), which gave us time to do the decorations and cooking, the wedding ceremony and the tidying up.
The caretaker was really kind and he was available to help with anything we needed. One of the most fantastic things about the venue was that it was so relaxed and everybody said how comfortable they were there. We were able to do our own decorations and even make use of the kitchen at the venue to do our own cooking.
The views around the venue were fantastic and there were no short places to take our wedding photos. It was just an overall great place to have our wedding but most of all it did not break the bank.
Invitations and reception stationery
Our invitations and reception stationery were all hand made. The decorations (such as the draping and fairy lights) were all bought as that was more cost effective. We have since been able to use the fairy lights as Christmas decorations so it hasn’t gone to waste after the wedding. We did however hire table cloths, plates and other kitchen and dining equipment.
Wedding music and entertainment
A personal friend of mine did the ceremony music and DJ-ing for the wedding so it wasn’t expensive. He was there from about 11 in the morning to 10:30 at night. It also felt more relaxed as we could tell him to change the music or lower the volume if we wanted. One of the positives about having a DJ who is personally known to you and some of the guests is that he also knows the kind of music to play to make everyone dance.
What did you wear?
I wore a simple off white slim garden dress with silver sandals and simple pearl earrings. I wore my hair up with a silver clip.
My husband wore a black suit with a silver waist coat and green handkerchief and tie, and a white shirt.
Memorable wedding day moments
The speeches. Just seeing how much people cared and loved us was truly inspiring and heart-warming.
Wedding day advice
- Invite people who truly care and love you both (it will make the day go easier and make you feel more relaxed.
- Try not to spend too much money on things you do not need because the day goes really quickly and you won’t even see that dancing swan you thought you had to have and spent lots of money on!
- Get a really good photographer because your pictures are all you have left of that day.
- Don’t forget to eat the food you spent so much money on.
- Be flexible as not everything goes to plan.
- But most of all enjoy your day.
Recommended wedding suppliers
- Paul Fletcher wedding photography: www.paulfletcherphotography.co.uk/photoblog
- Flawless makeover: Lisa Griffiths Makeup artist: www.flawlessmakeover.co.uk
- Duncton village hall, Duncton Petworth: www.dunctonvillagehall.co.uk
- Hireall: (Catering equipment hire): www.cateringequipmenthire.net: Address: Unit 4, Hove Business Centre, Fonthill Road, Hove, Sussex, BN3 6HA.
- Afro Caribbean hair dresser: CJ hair (bintu): Tel 07951522059