Some weddings are straightforward. Get ready, get married, have a party. You know the ones. Some are busy, like if you decide to have an entire sports day in the middle of your drinks reception. And some weddings are Jen and Matt’s.

To say that their wedding was busy would be the ultimate understatement. These are the usual moments: getting ready with her family and friends, having a beautiful ceremony, throwing confetti, having a few drinks and some tasty food before pulling some excellent shapes on the dancefloor. When I arrived Jen was just about ready to get into her dress, then we went to a stunning old Cotswold church for the wedding ceremony. After the ceremony Jen and Matt spent a few minutes having their couple portraits on a hill surrounded by autumnal gorgeousness, which looked mega with the dried flower colours in Jen’s hair. Then we made it to their reception.

The reception involved a delicious meal (more on that below), a little quiz with answers hidden within the various speeches given, live music, a dram of whiskey on the dancefloor, an archway exit, and a secret but brilliant song crafted by Jen’s sneaky sister. I think it’s safe to say that every guest had a brilliant time.

Quirky Reception Venues Work

It was important to Jen and Matt to support the local community as much as possible for their wedding, so the decision to have their reception in a local church was absolutely part of that. This was Holy Trinity Minchinhampton’s first ever wedding reception, and they absolutely smashed it! There were some quirks, like a 10.30pm curfew, but J+M embraced them by having me stay until they left, and leaving in style (you’ll have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the photos to see what I mean). Catering was provided by The Long Table, a community mission group to combat loneliness and poor nutrition through the joy of shared meals, regardless of people’s financial and personal backgrounds. Supporting a group like the Long Table is such a brilliant way to give back on your wedding day, and it resonates deeply with me. Weddings have a reputation for wastefulness and unnecessary expense, but you can absolutely exercise your social conscience when making these choices, and I’m really proud of Jen and Matt for doing just that.

It was bloody tasty too.

Other Examples of General Excellence

Jen is a super creative person, with a big dollop of thoughtfulness and emotional intelligence on top. And Matt is an all round good guy, with a huge caring side. It was only fitting that their wedding be filled with personal touches, a good bit of hard graft, and fun filled moments for everyone to enjoy.

Jen designed all the stuff. From the general look of the wedding (those paper lanterns and fairy lights didn’t hang themselves) to actually making their order of service by hand.

The Folks Involved

Reception Venue - Holy Trinity Minchimhampton

Coordination - Sophie from Etiquette

Catering - The Long Table Stroud Bisley Bakehouse

Clothing - Wild Flower Bridal Boutique Sue Gamesby

Flowers - The Sleeping Flower Company

Makeup - Cotswold Beauty

Hair - Blushes Nailsworth

Band - The Deltas

The Photos