6 minute read
SMALL BUT MIGHTY
SMALL BUTmightyNatalie and John’s wedding had a colourful red and white colour scheme for their big-day theme
Images courtesy of Chloe Lee Photography
Natalie and John South-Law met in old-school fashion on a night out in Romford back in 2009! “For both of us, we were attracted to each other’s style and confidence,” shares Natalie. “At the end of the night, John offered to buy me a drink, but the bar had closed!”
Nearly a decade after that first night, John proposed to Natalie on her 30th birthday, May 2019. “We had a joint birthday and housewarming party which was fancy dress and ’90s themed,” recalls Natalie. “I was dressed as Angelica from the Rugrats, and John was the wrestler John Cena. It was quite late on, John and I found ourselves in the kitchen on our own and he proposed ‒ so we added ‘engagement’ to the list of celebrations that night!”
The big date was set 5th October, 2020 at The Old Parish Rooms, Rayleigh, Essex; here Natalie tells us all the finer details about their day...
We loved that The Old Parish Rooms is small and intimate; even before COVID we had planned a small, low key wedding. The venue was a complete blank canvas for us to decorate how we wanted, but at the same time, beautiful as it is – that light fitting!
Our centrepieces incorporated the red and white flowers, big candles and greenery. And also, is it even a wedding without log slices?! Our flowers were faux arrangements as we wanted something we could keep forever – we also both have hayfever! The flowers dictated our colour scheme; a white Yorkshire rose (John’s home county) and the red carnation, Spain’s national flower, in honour of my mum’s heritage.
Our cake was so so nice; we went for a two-tier semi-naked cake of Victoria sponge and red velvet, with red and white macarons cascading down the side. Lou, of The Sticky Finger Cake Co, was amazing and also provided some cupcakes too. The cake tasting was definitely the best part about the whole wedding planning!
Due to COVID we had to reduce our numbers, but this meant that we were able to have one long table and have the Harry Potter table of dreams! The place names were created by LK Designs, Laura the designer I met on Instagram and we still talk now! I had purchased the place settings from Great Ormond Street Hospital, along with a donation, as they are very dear to my heart.
Our favours were little bags with two items in: personalised handsanitiser and personalised packets of Millions sweets that said ‘One in a million’. My man-of-honour and myself spent one evening putting these together over a bottle of wine!
Our caterers were the wonderful Gather & Feast Events who we had to arrange 12 days before! We really could not have been happier; Linda and her team were fantastic, and we still think about the food now to be honest! A local Facebook group helped me arrange our transport; they put me in touch with a neighbour, 85-year-old John, who owns a classic red car – it fit our colour scheme perfectly! He said that he’d do it for no cost to him, but just a donation to a Cerebral Palsy charity, as his nephew has the condition. I have the same condition, so of course I was happy to agree!
I wore a ’50s-style swing dress from Vivien of Holloway with red sparkly converse! After the ceremony I wore a denim jacket with a patch on the back that says: Love You To Death. For the ceremony, I had a heart-shaped necklace from Tatty Devine and then for after a custom-made necklace from Sugar and Vice.
The bridesmaids wore white converse and a red dress with white polka dots from Hell Bunny. My man-of-honour picked his own suit from Topman, and paired it with a red bowtie that had white polka dots on it, so it worked really well! 37
Because of COVID, we didn’t have entertainment, the day literally was ceremony, photos, drinks and food ‒ which was an absolute feast as we really went all out!
It was small, but we are so glad we carried on, we had those who mattered most to us there, and being able to have everyone on one long table really was magical, as we were able to talk to everyone, and soak in the whole day so much easier.
Two moments that really stick out for us: Chloe standing in the middle of the road trying to get a group shot (while trying not to get run over). Our neighbour John talking his way out of a parking ticket while waiting for us to come out of the venue – legend!
I didn’t feel nervous at all through the morning, which I thought was odd, given what people had told me about their days, but I was just excited! John was nervous in the morning, and waiting at the venue, but during the ceremony, all that went away, and it was just the best day.
THE LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Venue, The Old Parish Rooms, www.theoldparishrooms.com Photographer, Chloe Lee Photography, www.chloeleephoto.co.uk Cake, Sticky Fingers Cake Co, www.sfcakeco.com | Caterers, Gather & Feast Events, www.gatherandfeastevents.co.uk | Hair, Samantha Thomas Hairdressing, www.instagram.com/samanthathomashairdressing | Makeup, The Glam Shack by Jodie, www.instagram.com/theglamshackbyjodie Flowers, Flowers for Keeps, www.flowerstokeep.co.uk | Place names, LK Designs, www.lk-designs.co.uk | Dress, Vivien of Holloway, www.vivienofholloway.com | Suit, Suit Direct, www.suitdirect.co.uk Denim jacket, Hallow Collective, www.hallowcollective.com Necklaces, www.tattydevine.com, www.sugarandvicedesigns.com Bridesmaids’ dresses, Hell Bunny, https://hellbunny.com
YOUR VENUE, YOUR VISION, YOUR VERY SPECIAL DAY
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