Chris and Rachel’s Fabulous Fun Wedding, all Planned in 10 Weeks. By Sophie Evans

Today’s wedding is proof that you don’t need loads of time and a whole stack of cash to create a wedding that is fun and personal to you. Rachel and Chris decided that they wanted to have a fabulous wedding but without it breaking the bank. On top of that they decided to plan it all in 10 weeks! eek!! Well they pulled it off and the result is a fab, fun, laid back pub wedding where the couple did everything themselves and cut out loads of the fuss that can sometimes just make weddings over complicated! I love this wedding, it’s refreshing to see such a laid back day, Rachel and Chris have done a great job in pulling the day together in such a short space of time. Big thanks to Sophie Evans for the photos.

‘A fabulous, fun day for all our friends and family to enjoy. An unusual tailor-made wedding that suited our personalities and relationship perfectly’

Rachel and Chris were married on 13th  July 2014 at The Church Inn, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. ‘We wanted a venue that was relaxed for both us and our guests and somewhere good for a party with great food. And we only decided to get married 3 months before so we didn’t exactly have a large/any budget!. We had 120 guests and it took roughly 10 weeks to plan.’

How they met
We met on line 5 and half years ago

The proposal
Well, it’s complicated! Chris originally proposed 5 years ago on New Years Eve. We were supposed to get married in July 2011 but we split up for 9 months. Second time round it was more of conversation where we just decided to do it, very low key!

How did allocate your budget?
Most of it went on food and clothes! As we didn’t really have one to start with we had to make sure the essentials were covered, there was no hire charge for the venue and we make people buy their own drinks. We didn’t have a lot of the usual expenses like cars or a make-up artist, we shoe-stringed it!

Why did you choose your photographer?
Sophie Evans is actually the wife of a friend but we chose her because her photos are very natural and fluid, with very few conventional constraints, which we liked. On the day she was fabulous and so easy to work with.

The dress
I got my dress on line from inspirationbridal.co.uk I was very happy with it eventually but it had to be altered twice, however, it was amazing value for money at under £200. My shoes were Monsoon and my hair accessories from Amazon, Claire’s and Accessorize.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
All the suits were from Next and the Bridesmaid dresses were from tigermilly.com, a total bargain under £30 each, they looked totally stunning and worked with my dress perfectly.

Theme or colour scheme 
We wanted it to be vintagy and a little shabby! We had lots of bunting and paper pom poms but no real scheme.

Flowers
I just had a very simple cream bouquet.

Decoration
We went for bunting, paper pom poms, fairy lights and flowers. I made a flower arch for us to exchange vows under and we had a red carpet for an aisle just to jazz it all up a bit!

Food
We had pulled pork brioche buns, which were delicious by all accounts, I had the veggie option, and Chocolate Brownies to follow. And lots of cake

Wedding cake
We had a ‘naked’ 5 tier cake from the biglittlecakecompany.co.uk, covered in summer fruits, looked and tasted gorgeous

Entertainment
We had a DJ, Henry Evans, who I knew would be perfect, there was never a lull on the dance floor! Plus a friend of mine did some close up magic, which was so popular, it’s what everyone keeps asking me about ! markbowdenmagic.co.uk

Buy or DIY your Stationery?
Our invites were postcards, photo of us on one side, info on the other, from moo.com

Personal or handmade touches
We did a lot of it, all the decoration, wrote our vows, had a song sheet for the service (the guests belted out Elvis!) Chris even made the buttonholes for the boys himself!

Special moments 
The speeches were pretty special, my son gave me away and did a ‘father of the bride speech’ and my stepson was the best man, both were brilliant. And Chris did a power point presentation for his speech which was hilarious and very touching.

Advice for other couples
Make it your own, so it means something to you, not something off the shelf. Don’t be afraid to do things differently or leave things out that other people might consider vital, on the day no one will notice what isn’t there, just what is!

Biggest surprise of the day?
When I walked down the ailse how happy and smiley everyone was and how they all sang during service and cried a little too!

Supplier Shout Outs 

• Venue  – www.churchjq.co.uk
• Dress –www.inspirationbridal.co.uk
• Cake  – www.thebiglittlecakecompany.co.uk
• Bridesmaids dresses – www.tigermilly.com
• Magic – markbowdenmagic.co.uk
• Photographer www.sophieevansphotography.co.uk

For more information on Sophie’s work go to

www.sophieevansphotography.co.uk
[email protected]
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07815196434

I am based in Warwick and specialise in natural, romantic reportage style photography.