Wedding photography in Elvetham Hotel, Hampshire
Elvetham Hotel
Wedding celebration with a WOW factor! Grand Elvetham hotel, stylish guest looking like movie stars from the 1940 Hollywood, champagne and live swing music filing everyone’s hearts with joy. Lauren and Mathew, here’s to a great wedding and an even better life together!
* what advise you can give to the other Brides in the whole process of creating your Perfect Day?
The only advise I can really give is to remember that it is your day and nobody else’s. The planning can very quickly escalate and before you know it you have 40 extra people coming to please everybody else but it’s you that has to pay for the extra food, favous, chairs, drinks etc. It’s not like our grandparents generation where they got married in the local church and went back to the social club / pub so the extra person didn’t matter. Also, don’t make any decisions or pay for anything until you are 100% certain what you want, look around and compare. I bought my pageboys suits, and various other bits from eBay.
* decorations and theme:
I really wanted a beautiful historic venue which spoke for itself and didn’t need a lot of decoration. When we looked at the Elvetham we knew it was the one straight away, it had an amazing feel and had such a great vibe about it. Also, the staff were so friendly and helpful. From day one of planning the wedding I was happy with everything but not overly excited, I knew I was yet to find out what I really wanted from the wedding. Mat and I went to the royal tournament at the Earls Court where there was a big American 40s band, and that’s when I knew what I wanted. Mat wasn’t easily persuaded as we had already made a few plans but he went with the decision, and it turns out he loved it! I’d grown up listening to swing, jazz and mostly rock n roll, and the music and theme played such an important part for me that everything else had to work around that. Once we had decided on the 1940s Hollywood glamour theme everything fell into place.
* what was the hardest to organise?
I think the hardest things to organise are the guest list and seating plan. Also, the dress code with a themed wedding. I made sure I had pictures of clothing styles for the men and women which I put with every invitation and said that it was a STRICT dress code so that everybody made the effort. I did have a few people who thought it was a big request but it is the most important day of anybody’s life and they should want to make the effort for you. We also made a lot of things, we made our chair decorations, the table numbers, ring pillow and seating plan and we also made the centrepieces. I regretted that decision when I was two days away from the wedding making up centrepieces in a freezing cold garage. It was hard because I couldn’t relax in the morning knowing that I didn’t have a florist making sure everything was perfect but it all worked so well and I am really pleased we done it that way because nobody will ever have the same as us.
* important factors to consider when hiring your wedding photography:
I think the most important factor is communication. I think the photographer has to be able to understand exactly what you want, and what you like. I was very nervous in front of the camera at first but our engagement shoot with Kristina made me feel so much more at ease. Kristina made us feel very comfortable and ensured us she would show us what worked / didn’t work in front of the camera. You also have to genuinely like your photographer and build a relationship with them. For Mat and I, we knew we wanted Imaginarium as soon as we found them. All the photographers we looked at were fab but there was something about Kristina and Diego which stood out, they almost have this commercial side to them which gives them that extra edge which we love!
* your seating plan was so stylish, please do tell us more about it:
When thinking about my stationery, favours, extra details, I thought about all the weddings I had been to and what I remembered from them. Two things that stood out in my mind were chair covers; I think they make any wedding look the same so we had little hearts on the back of our chairs. The other thing was the seating plan; no matter how they are designed, they are usually a flimsy piece of card on an easel and they don’t stand out or have the wow factor. I wanted to pay attention to all the little details and let the bigger details take care of themselves. As our wedding was to be glamorous and classy I was looking at a lot of Art Deco style books, casino styles and trying to combine them. The idea for our mirror seating plan came to mind when we were shopping and saw the mirror hanging on the wall. Within seconds I had this whole outrageous idea of what I wanted. It meant Mat having to make an easel big enough which was an extra cost and time but it paid of in the end. We also bought photo frames, glossed them and had mirror cut to size to make the table numbers.
* contact book:
Dress: For You Dresses // Shoes: Pink by Paradox // Headpiece: Twigs and Honey // Grooms Suit: Savoy Tailors, Gunwharf Quays // Cake: Jellycake // Singers: The Three Belles // Car: Christopher’s Cars
* how long it took you to plan your Wedding Day?
The wedding took us around 18 months to plan, but I am very stubborn and a bit of a perfectionist so the only help I had was from Mat and my mum, Sara. The bridesmaids didn’t have chance to do a lot, even though they offered on numerous occasions. I even planned my own hen night to Cafe de Paris in London.
Wedding photography in Hampshire at Elvetham Hotel