Morning beauties! Hope you’re all wide-eyed and bushy tailed on this fine Thursday morning. We have such a beautifully quirky and super unique real wedding to share with you today, sent in by the brilliant Norfolk-based photographer Beth Moseley. Yasmine and Mike’s wedding was set in the Norwich Puppet Theatre after the couple decided that the host of conventional venues they’d visited just didn’t fit the bill when it came to pairing up with their style. Like many couples, it was so important to them to design a day that reflected them and only them. And what a cool pair they are!

The fun soon began outside the theatre as the wedding party piled into a towering ruby red double decker bus filled with sweets for the journey to Hunters Hall; a perfectly plain old barn with a heap of rustic charm. The couple filled the barn with DIY décor and kept things simple. Yasmine even designed all of the stationary by hand using her love of watercolours as her inspiration.

There are so many things to admire about this wedding; the bride’s authentic and admirable style (feast your eyes on her beehive hairdo and bright red lips!), the electric blue shoes matched up with a one-off bespoke satin-finished plunge back gown. And I’m an absolute sucker for a bold and beautiful bride that bares tats – my favourite kind of gal….there is no better accessory than your ink! And perhaps the best thing of all is that this wedding was completely VEGAN, and being a fellow vegan, I’m more than into this. The caterers ticked every box to accommodate the couple’s vegan status and laid on an array of fancy meat and dairy free canapés, a cutsie afternoon wedding tea with fresh scones and sandwiches followed by a whole heap of vegan delights including a fully-stacked naked wedding cake. This couple are totes inspirational and we adore them for it.

Elegant and vintage chic meets bright, bold and fun – this wedding is certainly one-of-a-kind. Please let me introduce you to Yasmine as she talks you through her theatrical stage slash vintage barn wedding!

Enjoy the planning of your wedding because the day goes by so quickly. Really research your suppliers and make sure they understand you and give yourself plenty of time as the best suppliers get booked up way in advance. And on the day just relax, have fun and savour every single second. It truly will be the best day of your life!

BIRTHDAY PROPOSAL

Mike finally found the courage to propose on his birthday! The day was perfect; we went on a seal tour at Blakeney Quay (he was going to propose on the boat but chickened out as he was terrified he was going to drop the ring overboard!) so he ended up doing it back in our kitchen at home after blowing out the candles on his cake. He got down on one knee, opened the box and said….’I wished for you’.

BESPOKE WEDDING GOWN AND THE VERY BEST HIGH STREET ATTIRE

Choosing a dress was really difficult for me. I have a very distinctive style and I knew what I was looking for right from the start but couldn’t find it anywhere. I must have tried on over 70 dresses! My colleague Laura Old (who has worked in the fashion industry for years) offered to make my dream dress for me. I wanted something timeless and classy. We co-designed my dress and I loved it. I wore Ted Baker court shoes with it in shocking electric blue with statement brooch detail.

Mike wore a burgundy wool blend suit from Next and a navy Ted Baker tie. I gifted him some cufflinks that had a photograph of our dear house bunny Penelope on them (so she could be with us on the day) and an antique pocket watch. The girls wore separates from ASOS and the top from Coast. I really wanted them to feel comfortable on the day and the girls loved how the skirts moved. They didn’t stop swishing all day!

I love vintage hair so I went for a beehive created by the super talented Flamingo Amy with make up by Emily from Love Moi Make Up – lots of red lipstick and blusher!

CEREMONY ON STAGE IN A PUPPET THEATRE!

We had our ceremony at the Norwich Puppet Theatre followed by a reception at Hunters Hall. Searching for the right venue was our favourite part of the planning process. I’m a self-confessed control freak, so I organised the majority of the wedding on my own! Our main priority was for our wedding to reflect us, so we decided to think outside the box. Norwich has so many historic, quirky and beautiful buildings and when we viewed the theatre we just knew it was the right place. It has such dramatic ambience, beautifully framed by grand red velvet curtains. It felt so unique and so us!

The atmosphere was amazing – the lighting, music and stage together was electrifying. I was walked down the ailse to ‘You’re the One That I Want’ by LuFang. and during the ceremony I read lyrics from a Pocahontas song. The soundtrack to our ceremony included songs we really loved and a medley of vintage covers by the post modern jukebox. Décor was kept to a minimum.

RUSTIC BARN AND A BIG BRIGHT RED DOUBLE DECKER BUS

Hunters Hall is a simplistic, old rustic barn with lots of exposed brickwork. We absolutely loved the feel it had to it. They were brilliant at catering for our vegan wedding. They had great overnight accommodation, plus a field full of baby cows (the real selling point as we love animals). We chose to hire a vintage routemaster double decker bus (Bus and Us) to transport us and all of our guests from place to place.

We wanted to avoid ‘the norm’. We took inspiration from all of the things we loved. I had many Pinterest boards (as every bride does) – I really wanted the day to reflect Mike and I, so we decided to keep the décor as simple as possible and added as many personal details ourselves to keep the focus about us. I hand painted all of the place cards and table plan and these were based on a floral watercolour painting I had used across all of the wedding stationary. My dad made a wonderful photo booth back drop that I also hand painted.

VEGAN FEAST WITH A BEAUTIFUL VEGAN NAKED CAKE

I’ve been vegan for ten years and my husband is a vegetarian so we chose to make the whole day vegan! We had some amazing canapés, followed by an afternoon tea complete with vegan scones and cream cakes, sandwiches and sausage rolls. For the evening we had lots of dips and chips, chilli and breads etc. Everything was so delicious and all of our guests complimented on the food after the day. Everyone was so surprised at how good vegan food really is – I think we may have even converted a few people!

We had an elegantly decorated semi naked Victoria sponge cake and it was also completely vegan, made by the awesome Sugar Buttons Cakes – it was divine! Libby Ferris Flowers was our florist and used lots of green foliage and white flowers – it was all so pretty! We just had a DJ in the evening and he played our personal playlist.

PHOTOGRAPHER: ‘A TRUE ARTIST AND A CREATIVE GENIUS’

Our photographer was Beth Moseley and she was amazing from start to finish. She is such a friendly, likable person and I feel we all gelled with her. She was super professional and I could see that she was always watching and capturing the hidden moments. Her photographs are absolutely stunning and our precious memories are now preserved in time thanks to her. Beth is a true artist and a creative genius!

My bridesmaids were in charge of creating a little movie for me using a home camera. It was absolutely hilarious! It includes a of ‘the wheels on the bus’ and my dad constantly wishing me a happy birthday! Priceless.

FIRST DANCE

Our first dance was mega! For the year prior to our wedding we took private ballroom dancing classes. We learnt the Viennese Waltz! We had a specially choreographed dance routine which I think really surprised our guests.

FAVOURITE MOMENT

All of it! It was all so perfect and exactly how I had hoped it would be. Our guests had an amazing time and we loved every second of our day. I just wish I could do it all again!!!