I ended up taking on Yvonne and Criag’s Mickelfield Hall wedding photography quite by accident. The awesome wedding photographer they had booked ended up with gastroenteritis and I stepped in the day before the wedding.
It’s the first time I’ve ever taken over from an unwell colleague. As wedding photographers we take our responsibility to our clients exceptionally seriously, so I knew just how their photographer must have felt when finding cover and I was really happy that I was able to help out. From my own perspective I wondered what it would be like turning up to shoot a wedding for clients I’d never met. Luckily Yvonne and Craig were lovely, Micklefield Hall was beautiful and Pete and I were really looked after by Liz Linketer and her team, so we had a brilliant day.
Oh and the fact that Yvonne and Craig’s was a Jewish wedding meant there was loads of energetic dancing to capture, which is one of my favourite parts of the wedding day.
Here’s what Yvonne and Craig had to say about their Mickelfield Hall wedding photography:
Laura was absolutely fantastic and really captured the day exactly as we remembered it. When we received the final pics from Laura she suggested we sit down together the first time we view, crack open a bottle of bubbly and listen to our fav music while watching as a slide show. This was such a fun idea to do and really brought back so many memories from the day. Laura came with her husband who was also a photographer and between them captured managed to capture every moment of the day – even the bits we may have missed!
The Beginning
Craig and I met in a pub in Islington after Craig walked over to me and announced that he ‘had to introduce himself’! Craig played it very cool after that and waited another 3 weeks until he asked me out on our first date. We have been together for 6 years now and have made some incredible memories together. I decided to convert to Judaism a couple of years ago and although it was extremely hard work it really was the most incredible experience and really brought Craig and I even closer together. Craig was a great support and spent hours helping me to revise and learn all the Jewish customs he was familiar with.
The Venue
We got married in front of the stunning Ornamental pond at Micklefield Hall in Hertfordshire followed by dinner and dancing in The Great Barn. We had originally booked a huge club in East London for a big wedding party/ rave but had a change of heart about half way through our planning. We decided that we wanted our wedding to be something a little more classic and timeless that would be appreciated by all of our guests – including Granny!
The Outfits
My dress was from Morgan Davies Bridal in Angel and the designer was Annasul Y. I went to try dresses on with two of my best friends and I knew the dress was “the one” when I saw the look on their faces as I walked out of the fitting room.
I didn’t wear any jewellery as felt that the full lace dress was beautiful enough on it’s own. I did wear a gorgeous flower crown though, made by the fabulous florist Pip Lowe.
Craig wore a beautiful dark navy suit with an Ivory tie and blush coloured pocket square, with a new pair of Grenson brogues (he has 15 pairs of Grenson shoes – he is obsessed!). As a gift for Craig on the wedding day I had a gold tie clip made for him with the date of our wedding engraved on the back which one of my bridesmaid took over to his hotel room on the morning of the wedding, so seeing him wearing that on the day was lovely.
The Ceremony
I wanted our Chuppah to be unique and meaningful to us so decided I would make it myself- with the help of my father (who is not Jewish). I loved that my father was involved in something that is so special and important within the Jewish ceremony. The Chuppah was made of 4 Birch poles given to us by someone in the villiage I grew up in, and the canopy was a Tallis that Craig’s Grandmother had bought for us in Jerusalem.
Our Chuppah was held up by each of our brothers and 2 of Craig’s best friends which was really lovely as it meant they could be close to us during the ceremony.
We also decided that it would be a great start to the ceremony for the boys to walk down the aisle holding the Chuppah up before we made our entrance.
The Flowers and Styling
It was important to us that our wedding reflected our own personal style and was unique to us. As I work in design I was able to design and produce a lot of the wedding stationary and decor myself – including the table plan and place cards, which was my absolute favourite part of the wedding theme! Craig and I are both self-confessed Box Set bingers and -as sad as it may sound- spend many a night snuggled up on the sofa watching endless episodes House of Cards or Game of Thrones. It has become one of our favourite things to do together. I therefore designed our table plan to feature some of our all-time favourite Box Set titles, and used colours and styles that would suit our wedding theme. We were so pleased with how it turned out and received some lovely compliments on the day.
We had THE most fantastic Wedding Planner – Liz Linkleter. I think hiring a wedding planner was the best decision we made in the lead up to our wedding. Liz helped us in so many ways, not just with the practical side of things but also the more emotional issues that inevitably crop up during the lead up to a wedding. It can be quite a stressful time so having someone involved who is impartial and highly experienced is invaluable. Having Liz took away a great deal of stress and worry which meant that we could really enjoy the build up to the wedding which I feel is such a fun time.
I wanted our flowers to reflect the lovely soft blush colour of the bridesmaids dresses, so the Florist – Pip Lowe – did a fantastic job in finding the perfect match of flowers and mixing them with white to create a stunning overall look. As the bridesmaids all had different styles of dress they also wore matching gypsophilia flower crowns made by the florist which really pulled together their look.
The Music and Entertainment
We were unsure whether or not to have a Cantor singing for our wedding ceremony, but after meeting Cantor Jason Green we were so blown away by his amazing voice we knew straight away that we had to have him there on the day! He sang Erev Shel Shoshanim as I walked down the aisle, and I can honestly say it is the most beautiful song I have ever heard. Many a tear was shed!
We were both a little apprehensive about our first dance and wanted to do a little more than just sway along to our favourite song on the big day, so decided it would be a good idea to have a couple of lessons beforehand. We were lucky enough to find the most amazing Argentinian Tango dancer called Alexandra Wood (who has worked on Strictly Come Dancing no less!) to help us put something together. I must say that, not only did this make our first dance a lot less daunting, it also gave us some really special and fun times together in the lead up to the wedding learning the moves and practicing together.
Music was definitely one the most important elements of the day, as we really wanted to have a really fun party vibe on the day.
We used Creation DJ Live and they definitely got the party started! The dance floor wasn’t empty for a single moment thanks to their incredible performances. They are a seriously talented bunch of musicians and performers and even sang our first dance song live which was Hey Ho by the Lumineers.
The Words of Wisdom
My main piece of advice for future brides would be to ask for help when you need it! People actually love be given a task or role within your wedding as it makes them feel a real part of the day and makes it more enjoyable for everyone, including you.
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