Epic Humanist Wedding at Colwick Hall | Claire & Matt

My first highlights post of 2020 and one I’m really excited to share. This totally awesome humanist wedding at Colwick Hall would be the final wedding I captured before the lockdown and I’m so glad Claire & Matts wedding went ahead as it you’ll see in the photos!

After first speaking with Claire & Matt about their day it was very apparent they wanted their day to be exactly how they wanted it, with less traditions and bags of fun thrown in! Prior to the ceremony they would make their entrance in style based around a video shown to the guests.

Following their humanist ceremony it was party mode from here on out! A few of the things that made this epic Humanist Wedding at Colwick Hall so great are; Jagers, cigars, lighting and sound (Would recommend Karl and his magic in creating colour and atmosphere all day long) video messages from celebs, the actual George Michael, the energy on the dancefloor and so much more!

Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Moreton.

How long have you been together/Any stories about how you met?:

We have known each other for over 20 years as friends but we have been a couple since 2013.

Any stories or tales from the proposal?

Last June we travelled to California and spent some time in our favourite place in the world – Palm Springs. After a few crazy days in LA we drove through the California desert and stayed in a gorgeous house for 2 weeks.

Matt had an elaborate proposal planned with a band on stage in LA but he was so nervous about it he couldn’t keep it a secret so he was rumbled! Instead, the proposal happened at the end of a perfect day. We had been out to Frank Sinatra’s favourite bar, listened to music till midnight and when we were back at the house sitting by the fire-pit Matt asked me to marry him.

Reasons for choosing your venue?

Colwick Hall was the first and only venue we looked at. We had scoped out a few local venues online but we knew we wanted to create something a little different. We were looking for a venue that was open to letting us bring in lots of external suppliers and be really flexible with their services. Naomi at Colwick Hall and she basically said ‘Yes’ to everything we were planning. The venue is beautiful and they had everything we needed so we booked on the spot.

Theme/Style:

Our wedding was always going to incorporate lots of non-traditional elements, and that was something we both agreed on early on.

No bridesmaids, no best man, no bridal bouquet, no first dance etc. We just didn’t understand why we had to have those things! (We still don’t!). So instead we wanted to create our own version of what we thought our wedding should be. We knew we needed to wow people with entertainment – Matt is in a band and we knew our guests would be expecting a show!

They got a show early on with our individual video entrances to the ceremony. Incidentally this took more organising and planning than any other part of the day but seeing our guests reactions made it totally worth it! It still needed to feel like a wedding, despite bringing our own style to it. We decided on a humanist ceremony and although this was highly personal to us, we kept the vows quite traditional.

The colour and design of my outfit was a massive secret as no-one expected me to wear anything remotely bridal and definitely not a dress of any kind. (The good money was on gold or red!) I had a couture outfit made by Claire at the Bridal House and she smashed it with an ivory jumpsuit with a long train based on a few basic ideas I had. Safe to say, the choice of ivory was a huge shock to everyone, not least Matt who couldn’t speak to me for the first 10 minutes of the ceremony through shock!

With the flowers, I knew I wanted dark colours with lots of foliage but I let my florist run wild with that! I hired venue stylists and simply told them: candles and copper accents as many as you have. Again, they did a brilliant job creating different looks for the ballroom for each section of our day.

Any special thoughts/memories from the day?

I loved hearing the guests laughter and cheer through the wall as they watched Matt’s entrance and Matt has still not got over seeing me looking like an actual bride. We also loved the things we had both planned that our guests did not know about.

When Matt announced the amazing Rob Lamberti as George Michael, I thought the cheering would take the ancient roof off Colwick Hall!  Having such a personal ceremony was also a highlight. Karen, our celebrant made everything about our own story, our friends and family and it was so special to us.

Any advice for couples planning a wedding?

Don’t listen to people who say you ‘must’ have certain things. If you want to think outside the box then be brave – just because you’ve never seen something at a wedding before doesn’t mean you can’t do it! The thing our guests have said more than anything else was ‘It’s all just so you!’. Make sure your suppliers are really on board with what you are trying to achieve. Our vision would have been hard to execute without the help of all our fantastic professionals. They all went above and beyond to deliver because they they really ‘got’ what we were trying to do and wanted to be a part of creating it.

Also – unfortunately things cost money. Decide what the most important elements are to you and spend your money there. We knew we couldn’t do what we had planned without bringing in lighting, sound and staging so that had to be a priority in the budget. As a result, sacrifices were made on things like a wedding cake & bridesmaids.

Lastly – Make sure you get to spend at least a little time with each other during the day. It easy to forget what the day is really about when you have guests clambering to talk to you and different things happening every 5 minutes. The day will fly by so make sure you take the time to take in as much as possible as it’s happening.

Heres the photographs from Claire & Matt’s Humanist Wedding at Colwick Hall

(Viewing on a mobile? Crank your screen brightness up to full for the best viewing experience)

Supplier details

Venue: Colwick Hall – colwickhallhotel.com

Hair Stylist: Catherine at Gracie Belle Beauty https://graciebellebeauty.co.uk/

Makeup artist: Catherine at Gracie Belle Beauty https://graciebellebeauty.co.uk/

Dresses: Bespoke outfit made by Claire at http://www.thebridalhouse.net/

Suits: Groom’s jacket and waistcoat by Marc Darcy  Marcdarcy.co.uk

Florist: Marie at Fruits of the Florist http://www.mariealdridge.co.uk/

Cake: Cupcakes by Laura at Alfie Loves Cupcakes http://www.alfielovescupcakes.co.uk/

Stationary/Styling: Full venue styling by Lily Rose Weddings and Events https://www.lilyroseweddingsandevents.com/

Band: Rob Lamberti – roblamberti.com & Freddie The Band – www.freddietheband.com

Sound, lighting and staging: Karl at Limelight Events – http://www.limelight-events.co.uk/

Humanist Celebrant – Karen Faulkner at Stand Out Ceremonies – https://www.standoutceremonies.co.uk/

Master of Ceremonies: Ben Hicklin – justben.co.uk

Thanks for viewing the highlights from Claire & Matt’s epic Humanist Wedding at Colwick Hall. If you’re looking for a Nottingham Wedding Photographer drop me a line with your wedding date or arrange a time to pop into the studio for a chat!

If you’re planning a humanist wedding, here’s a link to one I captured last year.

View more info & images from Colwick Hall here

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