Tag Archives: Alternative wedding

A Viking Manor Wedding on Friday 13th – Emily & Jamie

Today on Marry Me Ink, I have the amazing Viking wedding of Emily & Jamie from Sky Photography who were married earlier this year (Before the Pandemic hit) at the beautiful Dodford Manor, complete with their pup in tow.

Emily & Jamie are teenage sweethearts, meeting when they just 13 and 14. Two of Emily’s friend also fancied Jamie at the time, but he chose Emily because, in his words, she had the “Best Ass”.

“There was essence of Viking hidden everywhere, we cut our wedding cake with an axe, had a shield as decoration, a chocolate skull on top of our cake. We also had Viking horns on our table, statement chairs & everyone’s wedding favours had “Skol” on, which everyone said all day instead of cheers. I also love that our first dance song was a Bullet for my Valentine song and we went full nostalgia youth on that shit.

I made pretty much everything, for me the most fun to do was the save the dates, invitations, name cards, table setting, I use to be a designer so creating bits in illustrator is one of my favourite things to do. I also loved making the wedding favours, centre pieces and decorations in front of the table plan.”

“Our favourite parts of the day included when none of the guests knew that Jamie’s middle name is Leslie, so when doing the vows, the registrar clocked that he was saying his middle name really quietly so she shouted it, and in the end, it was just me and the registrar shouting Leslie whenever we could.
The guests were clapping and cheering 5 minutes into our ceremony and it really just set the scene for the whole day.

We also spontaneously had a Viking horn chugging session at dinner, I love the fact that the mums got involved – It probably wasn’t the best choice at the very beginning of a pandemic.. It was called the corona-horn the next day.”

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A Summer BBQ Wedding In Chester – Jenna & Tom

Jenna and Tom were married last summer at the gorgeous Oddfellows in Chester (which only took them 4 months of planning!) where their day consisted of a laid back summer BBQ with donuts on the terrace.

Their favourite part of the day was having their photos taken by Helen Jane Smiddy Photography – “We did these before the ceremony in Chester city centre. We knew Helen our photographer had figured out some really cool locations to shoot and she did not disappoint. She took us to the graffiti’d car park across from our venue that had Mutley from wacky races on the wall to match the one on my sleeve.”

“When it came to the finer details of the wedding, me and Tom always referred back to whether our decisions would make everyone feel laid back, ourselves included. We wanted our friends and family to grab themselves a beer from the buckets, get a burger and a donut, sit where they wanted to and listen to the sax in the sun on the terrace. I think creating a laid back atmosphere made it easy for friends and family who didn’t know each other to strike up a conversation, over a donut or a bowl of popcorn.”

“When shopping for wedding dresses, I wanted the dress to be simple and non-traditional enough to compliment my tattoos and make them stand out. Flamingo Boulevard Bridal Studio made this so easy – I could have happily worn all the dresses I tried on in her boutique.”

“Our top tip would be to only follow tradition when you want to – It was important to me that my Dad walked me down the aisle, but one of our favourite parts of the day was also myself and Tom poorly attempting to iron the wedding dress the morning of the wedding – It’s okay to pick and choose the bits of tradition that you like!”

Thank you to Jenna and Tom for sharing their laid-back wedding day with Marry Me Ink – You can see a full list of their suppliers at the bottom of the post. Would you opt for a terrace BBQ over a traditional wedding breakfast?

Photography – Helen Jane Smiddy Photography
Wedding Venue – Oddfellows, Chester
Jenna’s Dress – Flamingo Boulevard Bridal Studio
Tom’s Suit – Noose & Monkey
Bridesmaid Dresses – Maya
Flowers – Flowers by Jenny Penny, Frodsham
Make Up – Katie May MUA
Wedding Cake – Ben Read Cakes
Donut Wall – Events By Myla

A Welsh Country House Wedding – Jade & Andrew

Today on Marry Me Ink, I get to share with you Jade and Andrew’s wedding at Bryngarw House in South Wales, complete with a Krispy Kreme doughnut tower, from Larissa Joice Photography.

We met in the pub where I pestered Andrew to buy me a drink for ages before he eventually gave in. I left without giving him my phone number so he tracked me down through mutual friends and then asked me on a date.

I think the favourite part of our day was towards the end of the night when everyone had let their hair down and was just dancing and having a good time. We sneaked off for ten minutes just to have a bit if a breather and take it all in.

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How the Alternative Bride Can Include Even More Colour into Her Wedding

Photo by Wu Jianxiong on Unsplash

As years have passed, weddings have taken so many forms. Traditional, destination, and alternative are just some of the directions you can take when planning your wedding. For non-traditional weddings, otherwise known as alternative, these can be some of the most fun events to attend. Even though alternative brides and weddings are already unique and as colourful as possible, here are some ways that alternative brides can add even more colour into their big day!

Photo by Davids Kokainis on Unsplash

Wear a Colourful Wedding Dress

The first and most obvious place to start with wanting a colourful alternative wedding is within your wedding dress. Nowadays, there are numerous kinds of wedding dress colours available. Whether you’re interested in wearing a light pink, black, red, or blue, wearing a colourful wedding dress is the perfect starting point for making your wedding a colourful affair.

Photo by Analise Benevides on Unsplash

Add in Bold Accessories

Why not use your wedding dress as the perfect building block to add in other bold accessories as well? Depending on what kind of vibe you’re going for, this can be achieved through wearing a wide-brimmed hat, rocking feather earrings or adding a colourful bib necklace to your look. Whatever you choose to go with, wearing a bold accessory is just one more thing that will help add colour and personality to your wedding.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Find Dresses that Show Off Your Tattoos

If you’re someone with a love for ink, use your wedding day as the time to show it off! While there are numerous styles of wedding dresses, find one that not only fits your body perfectly but also shows off some of your body art. If you have tattoos on your back, find a backless wedding dress that shows them off. If you and/or your partner have tattoos on your arms, you can wear a sleeveless dress and your partner can wear a shirt with his sleeves rolled up. The other option is of course to find a wedding dress you love and make alterations to your exact specifications. This day is all about you, so don’t be afraid to show off what makes you uniquely special.

Photo by Valerie Elash on Unsplash

Have Your Bridal Party Rock Coloured Hair

If you really want your alternative wedding to stand out, have your bridal party get involved. As your bridesmaids are more than likely to be rocking the same kind of dresses, why not have them rock similar coloured hair as well? Adding in fun hair colours to your wedding party will be something your guests and bridesmaids will look back on fondly. If in need of inspiration, take a look at hair colour company, oVertone’s Pinterest as their boards offer both hair colour and hairstyle ideas perfect for any wedding!