Clair and Dan Real Wedding
You may recognise the bride in these photos, they are none other than Clair, owner of The Chalk Spot. Clair and Dan were married at The Secret Garden in Kent with a super relaxed, family and friends focussed day, They had lots of music throughout the afternoon with a band who played acoustic music on boxes and chairs, loads of food served mostly from picnic hampers, and a beautiful victorian botanical theme. Pennies were saved by using the family car to drive to the venue, and asking guests to bring a cake for a bake of style wedding cake competition (prizes included afternoon tea at the venue, and a photoshoot with their photographer Livvy Hukins!) Clair decorated her marquee with framed pictures and quotes, all filled with references from their ten year relationships and young family. The welcome sign, table plan, order of the day and other signage was all created on wood, ahead of the trends at the time, and the artwork was bespoke and personal.
Clair has given these top tips for surviving planning and enjoying your day.
"I would definitely say you need to make your day your own. Don't be tempted to follow what everyone else is doing just because you think that is what you should be doing. We changed lots of aspects of our day to suit us, including avoiding posed/group photograph time. We wanted to spend as much time chatting, dancing, drinking and playing with our friends, family and little people - not standing around for hours having photos taken. Our photographer Livvy was fantastic. We love our photos, we still have beautiful casual images of everyone who came, and we found time in the late afternoon for a few shots of us when our evening guests were arriving, and we have a handful of group family photos which is all we need. My favourite photo of me and my girlfriends is of us all hugging, caught spontaneously and is much more beautiful than a picture of us standing in a line :) This isn't going to suit everyone but it's what suited us and that's what is important. You need to do what makes sense for you."
"The decor wasn't just months of collecting random bits and pieces all in the same colour to match a theme. I loved planning our decor as i had to get up in the loft, pull out old photo albums, find lost emails and 'msn messenger' chats, go through old text messages. I loved reminiscing on mine and Dans relationship over the past decade and incorporating it all into the day. Much more fun than finding 100 lilac bows to perfectly match the bridesmaid dress ;) I used all our memories to fill frames with quotes, draw images on order of services and choose quirky nic nacs for our table centre pieces. Everything about our day related to us and our loved ones"
We hope you enjoy these images below of Clair's decor and style, Big thanks to Livvy Hukins Photography for the pictures.
