“If you are looking for a super talented photographer, and all round lovely guy, then you would be a fool not to work with Jonny.”
Hotel Du Vin Brighton Wedding | UK
Cat & Dave are a self-confessed Tinder success story! One drunk evening they both swiped right and haven’t looked back since. Dave proposed to Cat in Lake Como as he knew she had been dying to go. Although, Cat’s fairly sure she’d managed to engineer the proposal as she had already taken him out to pick the ring!
Dave is half Chinese so it was really important for them to have a mix of traditional Chinese and English elements. For the most part the day followed the traditional English set up. Subtle nods to Dave’s heritage included fortune cookies as favours, Red & Gold as the colour scheme, peonies (traditional Chinese flower) and even a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. They opted not to incorporate a number of the traditional English elements (speeches, cake cutting etc.) to reduce the amount of time they had to stand up in front of everyone being the centre of attention!
A Hotel Du Vin Brighton wedding was the perfect venue as most of Dave’s family live in Brighton. (His brother got married last year and had the wedding 40 mins from Brighton and ALL hell broke loose!) Hotel Du Vin Brighton had a perfect mix of style, space and proximity to all things Brighton (especially the sea). The other big tick in the box for them was that their furry child could be there throughout the day and stay in the hotel room. It was a MUST for them to have him there!
Hotel Du Vin Brighton Wedding Photography
It was really important for us when booking suppliers that Dave and I felt comfortable with them. As the photographer is such an integral part of the day we wanted to ensure we connected with them as a person and (at risk of sounding cheesy) their energy. From the minute Jonny responded to our Facebook message we knew he was the one. We immediately felt at ease and didn’t for a second feel like we were fed a sales pitch. Jonny has a relaxed yet professional style, just perfect! Not only does he take some cracking photos, but he makes the process enjoyable and super stress free.
When it came to the day itself, he was so subtle it was almost as if he wasn’t even there. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, a Ninja of the photography world. When not taking pics, Jonny made an effort to chat to guests and get to know everyone and not in an intrusive way. It was almost as if he was one of the family. Everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – wouldn’t stop banging on about how great he was. So, not only is Jonny an all round legend of a guy, the photos he takes are spot on! The more we look at them the more we fall in love. They have perfectly captured the fun, emotion and reality of our big day.
Hotel Du Vin Brighton Wedding Fashion
The dress story is my fav! I’d bought it before we had gotten engage as I *knew* we were about to get engaged. We had already picked and bought the ring so it didn’t take much to suss what was coming next! One Saturday I was having a bottomless brunch with my bestie and partner in crime. After sinking a few bottles of fizz we thought it would be funny to go try on wedding dresses. We marched straight to the nearest dress shop. Wearing my mate’s eternity ring so the ladies in the shop wouldn’t smell a rat. The store owner took one look at me and told me she had the perfect dress. As soon as I’d put the dress on, not only did Helen burst into tears, but I fell in love! So to cut a long story short I got drunk and bought the first dress I tried on. Before I was even engaged!
Dave wanted to feel like the absolute ‘man’ for the day so we got him a suit from Hugo Boss. The gods were on our side that day. We found everything we needed and in the right sizes and in the sale! It was all meant to be!
Bridesmaid’s dresses & shoes I was super relaxed about what they wore, so I left them to pick their own dresses, my only request was the colour. I wanted to ensure that each of my girls felt comfortable and felt like themselves. NOT like they were being dressed up as the same person and paraded around in front of a room of people they barely knew.
Advice for those planning their wedding
If we could do it again we would elope! This is just personal preference. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed our big day. In hindsight I found it madness that we spent very little time celebrating together, or enjoying each others company. If you’re not up for eloping my advice would be 1. Don’t sweat the small stuff (your guests won’t care what favours are or where you place flowers etc. They’re ultimately there to share the love and celebrate with you 2. Do what YOU want, Not what your family want, or what you think they want. It’s your day and a chance to celebrate who you are as individuals coming together 3. Make time for each other. Even if its 30 mins to sneak off somewhere away from the madness of it all 3. Book Jonny as your wedding photographer, you will NOT be disappointed!
Hotel Du Vin Brighton Wedding Suppliers
Make up artists: Lizz Payne | Florists: Florals Forever | Cake: Bunston Bakes | Catering Company: Bangers Pies | Entertainment: Fickle Events
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