Stephanie and Luke's Laidback Pub Wedding with Rustic + Bohemian Styling...

pub wedding, Mr and Mrs Unique, Creative Photography, Lace & Grace, Marni V Photography, Bristol Wedding, Rustic Decor, DIY Wedding, The Battleaxes, Budget Wedding, Dogs at Wedding, South West Weddings, Homemade Bunting, Gin Cocktails, Garden Reception, Bohemian Dress, Welshe Cakes, Wildflowers, Flower Crown, Small Wedding, Deckchair Reception

Relaxed Pub Wedding…

Good morning and welcome to another unique real wedding instalment here on the blog! Today we have the absolute pleasure of sharing Stephanie and Luke’s laidback, beautifully bohemian, pub wedding with you, captured by the wonderful Marni V Photography. Her relaxed and informal style suited this couple perfectly, as she describes herself as offering ‘Fun, Creative, Alternative Wedding Photography for the Crazy In Love‘. And speaking of love, you can just feel it radiating from these two…just look at the way they give each other that ‘look’!

I absolutely adore Stephanie’s flower choices, as she’s picked simple yet sophisticated petals and foliage that work against the bare table setting so well. The couple were actually on a lower-than-average budget too, although you would never know it with this beautiful pub wedding! This wedding is super effortless, vintage-boho chic at it’s best. And let’s not forget the invitation of the couple’s dog please – I am a HUGE dog lover, so pet-paws at a wedding gets a big smile and a firm thumbs up from me!

So happy to hand over to photographer Marni and bride Stephanie to tell you all about the day in a little more detail….

Marni V Photography

How did the couple find you?

I was referred to them by another photographer who was already booked, (which was lucky for me!). They had a nosey around my website and the rest is history!

What was your favourite part of the day?

The ceremony was definitely a highlight for me! Stephanie and Luke were just beaming with happiness throughout it, and their friend’s reading had everyone laughing. It was just so great to be a part of it all.

What was your favourite shot of the day?

My favourite image has to be one taken just after their first kiss. Stephanie is holding Luke’s hand with both of hers and they both look so excited. It was just a natural happy moment, and it makes me smile whenever I look at it!

Stephanie and Luke

How did you meet?

We met each other in 2010 in Halong Bay, Vietnam. We were both travelling with friends and ended up on the same boat trip. We lived in Melbourne for 6 months and travelled around New Zealand before deciding to get together when we returned home.

How did you get engaged?

We got engaged in a converted windmill in Anglesey, North Wales. Luke had seen the place years beforehand and decided that it was the perfect place to propose and it was. The scenery was amazing and the top level had almost 360 degree views looking out towards the sea. He planned the perfect weekend with food, drink and even a surprise visit from my parents the day after we got engaged which was so lovely.

How would you describe your day?

As Luke is from Wales and I’m from Newcastle, there were lots of family and friends travelling to Bristol for the weekend, so we wanted it to be as relaxed and laid back as possible. After the ceremony, the sun came out and our guests were able to relax outside in a deckchair with a gin cocktail and then once it got dark, everyone was on the dance floor and the atmosphere was amazing.

We didn’t want go for a theme as I’m not really into everything matching. We had bright flowers decorating the aisles, tables, all of the buttonholes and the corsages were different for each person. Homemade mismatched bunting hung over the garden with brightly coloured paper pom poms.

How was your day unique to you?

We had lots of unique touches on the day that reflected us, from music during the ceremony by bands we’ve seen together, welsh cakes made by Luke’s nana and a starring role for our dog Olive.

How long were you planning it for and what was the best bit?

We booked our wedding venue around a year beforehand. Although we hadn’t thought about anything else, we knew that The Battleaxes was the perfect venue. We then didn’t plan anything else until 5 months before the wedding managing to book in everyone we wanted.

How did you find your suppliers and why did you decide on them?

As soon as I checked The Mighty Quinns Flower Emporium on Instagram, I knew this was the place for our flowers as they were so bright and quirky. I found our photographer Marni online and loved her photos. She is a very natural photographer so I knew she would be perfect for how we wanted our day to be remembered.

Tell us about your wedding outfits

I found my dress in Lace and Grace in Bristol which had so many amazing dresses. The wedding dress I chose was actually the first one I tried on in the store and I knew immediately it was for me. I wanted something which was easy to wear and which I would be able to dance in. I loved the vintage feel of the dress with all the beading but felt that the lace insert sides and cut out back gave it more of an edge. I always knew I wanted a floral headpiece and had the perfect half crown made for the day.

For the suits, a friend had spotted a blue tweed suit in a shop in Bridgend which was exactly the style we wanted for the wedding. Luke went to try it on and was in and out of the shop in around 25 minutes, shoes included!

What was your budget?

We didn’t have an exact budget but aimed to spend around £12,000 which we pretty much stuck to. We were really lucky that our parents gave us some money towards the day and my dress was purchased with some money that my Grandma had left me.

If you could relive one part of the day all over again, which part would it be?

I would love to relive the actual ceremony – it was over so quickly that I would love to go back and take it all in again.

What are your favourite details of the day?

There were so many details of the day that we loved, one being the reading which we had during the ceremony. Two of our friends read the poem ‘You’ll always get a guy with a pie’ by John Cooper Clarke. It’s a favourite poem of ours and had everyone smiling and laughing as it was so unexpected!

Another favourite detail was having my friends on Skype so they could watch the wedding. My best friend, who would have been my maid of honour, was 9 months pregnant and couldn’t come down to Bristol for the wedding. We set it up so she and her husband could watch the ceremony and speeches which meant the world to us.

Do you have any advice for couples currently planning their wedding?

Go on a final ‘un-married’ date and just enjoy the lead up to the wedding. We went for food, cocktails and a comedy gig the week before the wedding which was a lovely way to start the wedding week and meant we got to spend some quality time together before all the madness started.