Rebecca and Tristan’s at home Dr Who Themed Wedding
“Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It’s like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world’s turning and you just can’t quite believe it because everything looks like it’s standing still. I can feel it. I can feel the turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We’re falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go…”
I make no apology for my not-so-secret nerd tendencies. A Dr Who Themed Wedding was right up my street and I was very, very excited to be a part of Rebecca and Tristan’s day as their alternative wedding photographer. Star Trek is my main obsession but I’m also a big Dr Who fan. I watch a lot of reruns on Netflix. I’m also of the not-that-popular-opinion that Matt Smith was the best Dr Who. He was and I love him, ok?!
While I’m a fan, I’m nowhere near as much as a Whovian (yes, that’s what Who fans are known as!) as Rebecca and Tristan. They have a Dr Who room in their house. It has a tardis door for a door. I might have freaked out a bit when I saw it.
They also have a replica of every sonic screwdriver and a picture of every Dr on their wall. They’re Whovian through and, er, throughvian (sorry…!).
Working with Babb Photo
Here’s what Rebecca and Tristan had to say about working with me for their Dr Who themed wedding:
We are thrilled with our photography! Laura did an amazing job of making us feel comfortable. Tristan especially is nervous in front of cameras, and Laura’s calm attitude and no-nonsense directions (when she felt she needed to give us any) for the posed part of the photography really helped him to not feel stiff and look awkward. Once we got to the actual wedding part, Laura was unobtrusive and ever-present- I know she was getting great pictures, but I often didn’t notice her until she took her camera down after having taken something.
We decided to book with Babb Photo because the photos on the website (and the website itself) are fantastic- they give a sense of what Laura is about, and of what the experience, and the pictures, would be like. It was very accurate!
As a bigger bride with non-traditional styling who wanted the photography to be about both of us and not just me, it was really important to me to find someone who was comfortable with all of those things, because a lot of wedding photographers just aren’t. Laura really lived up to the promises on her website. We really enjoyed the photo process and think the pictures really reflect us. Would absolutely recommend!
Scroll to the end to read all about Rebecca and Tristan’s Dr Who themed wedding in their own words.
How we met
We met in California in 2004 when Tristan accidentally threw a beer on Rebecca while trying to look cool. We dated long-distance for two years, spent another two where Rebecca was gradually moving over here, and then a number of years living together. Tristan proposed in 2015. We got married in 2017 in upstate NY but a good number of our immediate family were unable to make it, so we threw a second wedding. It was great to be able to celebrate with them and all of our friends who weren’t able to come to the US. With all the legalities out of the way, the goal for this event was to make it a lot of fun!
The wedding venue
We were already legally married, so we chose to have the ceremony in our back garden, partly for convenience. It’s actually pretty lovely and we wanted to fully use it for once! Streatham Wine House, where we had our reception, is just around the corner from us and we spend a lot of time there. It was an obvious choice, plus their wine selection is amazing.
The outfits and accessories
I was pretty sure I didn’t want a white dress. I tried some on, and they just weren’t me! Plus, I’m not a fan of either lace or sparkles. I found an amazing dress designer, Felicity Westmacott who has done a lot of work with historical-inspired dresses. After sending her about a hundred photos with labels like ‘I like the neckline on this one’, and ‘that thing about a third down the skirt is pretty’, she was able to design the perfect dress.
I love the colour, the fabric embellishments, and the way the corset works with my shape to be really flattering but not uncomfortable. It feels Victorian but modern at the same time.
Tristan decided to go for something that would stand up to hot weather, so he went looking for seersucker. He wasn’t having much luck, but then a new tailor opened near his office with a grey seersucker suit in the window, and he was sold! My mother covered a cheap tie with leftover fabric from my dress and made a pocket square. I found some braces to match, to surprise him on the day, and he was set. He loved the fact that he looked a little bit country in his outfit, and he felt very special having accessories that no one else will ever have. He also loved his really comfy shoes.
A Dr Who themed wedding with lawn games
In thinking about a garden wedding in the city, I wanted to work with elements we already had. We had a bunch of carpets from when I used to work in rural Turkey, so that became the aisle. My mother made amazing bunting to hang in the tent at our first wedding, so we reused it.
I left at 4:30am on Thursday to go to New Covent Garden Flower Market to pick out flowers, and my mother arranged them into a collection of glassware that we had saved and bought over the preceding six months. We spread that all out throughout the house and patio. It fit with the plants I had planted that were blooming and the turf I laid down as a pathway.
I commissioned an artist on Etsy to make a ‘cake topper (too nice to put on a cake if you ask me) of us in our outfits, with little science fiction bits that we love. Our guest book was also from Etsy and designed to look like the Tardis.
Since we wanted to spend some time in the garden, I thought funfair and lawn games would be fun so I made a coconut shy, ladder golf set and we got some skittles. I thought it would be really nice to have pictures of everyone goofing around, so I made a paper moon for the photo booth. I painted a bunch of signs for everything. At the wine bar, we hung more of the bunting, and put out more of mom’s flowers, with a pile of mismatched antique plates I found on eBay.
A personal wedding ceremony
Everything about our ceremony was tailored. Lenna, our friend, did a fantastic job with a fairly short script. While we could have had the same readings and vows as last time, some people were coming to both, so we took the time to find new material. We kept them a surprise for each other, and tried to have a mixture of fun and sentimental, because neither of us wanted to cry during the vows. Tristan is a big Dr Who fan, so he worked that prominently into his vows, while I referenced a couple of different elements in mine!
Words of wisdom for other couples
Relax! Even if everything goes terribly, odds are high that you will end up married. Remember that something always goes wrong or gets forgotten! Those things will eventually become fun stories, not the major disasters they may feel like on the day. If I had all the money in the world, I would have had someone take care of the details for me. In the end, spending that time with family and friends was more fun than sitting around would have been.
Good photography is the thing to spend on! Aside from your spouse, that’s the only thing you will have in later years. Also, remember to eat. I was starving by the end of the day!
It was wonderful to be part of Rebecca and Tristan’s Dr Who themed wedding. You can check out other non-traditional and alternative weddings on my blog including Lorna and Chris’s wedding with live wrestling, Charlotte and Nick’s colourful outdoor wedding in Norfolk, Jessie and Ed’s back garden wedding, Lucy and Ade’s rock venue wedding in Kent, Elizabeth and Alison’s wedding at home and Keira and Jake’s alternative Sussex wedding.
If you’re looking for a wedding photographer in Birmingham, the Midlands or across the UK get in touch.
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