We met at University when we were both involved in student politics. We had our first kiss when Natasha was drunk on power- on the night that she won an election.

We got engaged when we were travelling in South America in 2017. Conor proposed to Natasha under the stars in the Atacama desert.

We wanted to spend as much of the wedding day outdoors as possible, we live in a city centre and love escaping into the nature. We got married in the woods, which felt magical. Abbeywood is such a beautiful venue and we wanted to make use of all of the different areas throughout the day. We were really lucky with the weather, so we were able to do that. Our guests really enjoyed getting to experience different areas during the different parts of our wedding day- and so did we.

In terms of style, we wanted to let the venue and it’s stunning gardens speak for itself, so we kept the decoration relatively minimal and complementary. We didn’t want to stick to wedding traditions for the sake of it and wanted our outfits to match our own personal style, so a jumpsuit instead of a dress for Natasha, and an oversized suit with no tie or hat for Conor!

We also made a big effort to reduce the carbon footprint of our wedding as much as possible so all the food was vegan, the only paper we used was plantable seed paper and we tried to upcycle lots of the decor.

The ceremony was the most emotional moment- it really felt magical to walk down the aisle in the woods with our favourite music playing (shout out to Sampha- check him out).

After our formal ceremony, we made time in the schedule to fit in some traditions that spoke to our families’ cultural and religious heritage. We had a civil ceremony so we were unable to include religious elements during the service. And whilst neither of us are religious, we wanted to nod to our families’ heritage, which is a mixture of Catholic and Jewish. We also ‘tied the knot’ with a traditional Celtic handfasting ceremony as a nod to our Scottish and Irish lineage. This made the day feel much more personal to us. Then we had our speeches, which were very emotional too! It worked well to get the speeches (apart from conor’s) done early in the day so that our most important guests could enjoy the wedding day without being overcome by nerves.

After all of the emotion, we wanted to add a bit of humour later on in proceedings… So we got set up for our first dance as if we were going to do a slow dance. And then the DJ cranked up Sandstorm by Darude on full volume and unleashed chaos on the dancefloor. It was great to do something light hearted to start the evening party.

Another funny moment came from conor’s eccentric brother, who inadvertently called the police whilst trying to take a selfie. The police then turned up to the wedding (must have been a quiet day at the office). But at least conor’s nephew got to sit in the driver’s seat of a police van!

We found Jess by looking through the photo albums at Abbeywood – we wanted someone that knew the venue well and knew where to take great shots. The documentary style appealed to us because it captures the moments of the day naturally and Jess’ photos of Abbeywood looked amazing. We’re so glad we did, Jess put us totally at ease and we’re really happy with the photos.

Yes! We’re going island hopping in the Caribbean for three weeks over Christmas and we can’t wait.

REVIEW

“Jess was amazing on the day and totally put us at ease. We were seriously considering not having a photographer because we’d thought it felt staged and a bit awkward at other weddings we’d been to but we’re so glad we did! She made us feel totally relaxed, knew the venue really well so was able to take us to some beautiful spots. The photos are incredible, we’re really happy with them. Jess has really captured the moments well, her documentary style conveys the genuine emotions and expressions of the day meaning you can relive those feelings. Would highly recommend, thanks so much Jess!”