Week one of 2013 and we're unbelievably excited about the amazing creativity of the couples whose weddings we're going to be featuring over the coming weeks - the ideas and inspiration will be flowing like a river we promise! We're starting this Monday morning with an amazeballs real wedding in Belfast captured in all its glory by Tim of This Modern Love.
Sarah and Aaron have given us all a serious dose of wedding envy with their phenomenal ceremony and celebration in two of Belfast's most iconic venues - The Ulster Hall and The Belfast Empire Music Hall. This is a wedding with a rich musical theme and a sense of style that is undefinable and frankly awe-inspiring from beginning, with the amazing outfits, to end, with one phenomenal party...
So how did this love story start? Our meeting was entirely engineered by my best friend (and chief bridesmaid) Beth. Beth had been regaling me with tales of a beautiful new boy who had joined her creative agency called Aaron. I paid little heed to her match making plans but determined, she invited him to a party organised by myself and some friends. At the party she insisted I look after her group of work friends and left. Aaron was among them and we chatted and kissed that evening. We thought little more of it but the following weekend I asked Beth (my then flatmate) to join me in watching a friend DJ at a bar in Shoreditch after work.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find Aaron at the bar. Beth never appeared. We chatted and danced all evening and at closing time he thanked me profusely for inviting him out. I was astonished! I explained how delighted I was that he had come but that I hadn’t invited him. It transpired that Beth had accosted Aaron at his desk before he left on Friday to say I had asked him to join me and some friends at a bar, she even drew him a map of how to get there! So I have Beth to thank for knowing me better than I know myself!
The proposal was a genuine surprise (a very happy one!). Aaron has long had an affinity with the number 11. It happens that we met on the 11th of November (11th of the 11th) so last year when we realised the anniversary of our meeting would be 11.11.11 we decided to go for a drink to mark the day. There’s a beautiful, tiny wee pub on the Thames called the Grapes, with a very Dickensian deck out the back which sits right out over the river. It’s incredibly haunting in the dark; you can imagine the pirate ships gliding along the icy waters of the Thames. So we settled on the Grapes. My folks were visiting on that evening so we agreed to have a quick drink before meeting them for dinner. I spent the day with my Mum and Dad in art galleries while Aaron went to work. As I was running late I decided I we should skip the drink and head straight to dinner but my Dad was strangely insistent that I go.
I was half an hour late, running up Narrow Street through the cold night and arrived in a flurry to find Aaron waiting on the tiny deck out the back of the pub with a big glass of wine. Little did I know that he had organised that we would have the deck to ourselves. I was completely overcome when he asked. I really had no idea it was coming but it was the happiest of surprises. He had bought a loose diamond from the famous diamond district in London called Hatton Garden and he used this to propose. I wept, he wept, we called his parents and cuddled in the cold. The barmaid then brought out a bottle of champagne sent by Aaron’s boss Mike who Aaron had told as he left work. It was perfect. We then jumped in a cab and met my folks for dinner. Aaron had asked my Dad’s permission the previous evening so he knew all about it but I was able to tell my Mum. We had dinner and made lots of ecstatic phone calls then skipped home to our East End flat where we drank gallons of red wine and whiskey and danced into the wee hours with my folks to a heady mix of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
We had actually intended to marry in the East end of London where we both live but found that a lot of the venues we liked were very expensive or had tricky rules and regulations that wouldn’t be conducive to a knees up! The more we thought about it the more the idea of getting married where I’m from began to appeal. When my brother suggested the Ulster Hall I thought it was an impossible dream but when I called the Eimear and the team there were so lovely and accommodating I knew immediately it was the right thing to do. Stevie at The Belfast Empire was equally easy going and although The Empire had never hosted a wedding before he was happy to give it a go. The two venues really appealed because I had some brilliant times in each as a teenager.
And so it was that Sarah and Aaron found themselves walking the aisle to one of the most famous stages in the UK as their altar. It was the first wedding to ever take place at the Ulster Hall in fact.
Music was important to us and as both venues had such a rich musical heritage it seemed only right to honour that. I walked up the aisle to Fairport Convention’s version of the old Irish Folk song “She moved through the Fair” which my aunt used to sing for us at family parties. We walked out together to Johnny Cash “I walk the Line” which was lots of fun. Aaron has long loved Johnny Cash and given hat he has played the Ulster Hall it felt very fitting.
The team really went above and beyond the call of duty there to make it really special for us. The lighting designer surprised us by borrowing some special kit to illuminate the organ at the front of the hall so seeing the interior look so beautiful when we walked in was pretty breathtaking!
The Ulster Hall interior feels very monumental and we liked the idea of saying our vows somewhere that had that gravity.
After the ceremony, the couple were able to escape with Tim from This Modern Love for a little wander around Belfast for portraits with a difference. This cool couple opted for an urban romantic feel for their images, in keeping with their unconventional venues - well, you weren't expecting studio shots of them gazing into each others eyes under a veil were you?!
A special word must be said about Sarah's bridal style - how epic is her Jenny Packham gown paired with the vintage veil and the swirling crystal beaded hairband laid over it?
These two are far too cool!
The Empire is just incredibly beautiful, like an old Music Hall and intimate enough to feel full with our 110 wedding guests. I really can’t say enough how brilliant the teams were at each of the venues, they made our wedding planning completely stress free and in fact both venues worked out even better than we could have hoped. Yellow Door were our caterers and they worked in a really challenging space (basically a little corridor) to create a really incredible menu. They managed to be a great fusion of very creative and laid back and impeccably professional.
The Empire was decorated by a creative team of friends on the morning of the wedding, led by stylist Camilla Bracewell as Creative Director in Chief. Sarah's best friend Beth collected little jars and vases from charity shops to dress onto tables. Her Mum and Dad were tasked with collecting wine bottles to be used as candle holders, while Aaron designed and made all the wedding invited, table plans and table imagery. So it really was a group effort.
Any favourite moments? So many! My Mum making me boiled eggs that I couldn’t eat in the morning. Getting ready with my lovely bridesmaids. Seeing everyone when I walked into The Ulster Hall was amazing, having everyone you care about in one room is very special, I thought my heart might burst! I loved seeing my team from Selfridges post pictures of themselves on Facebook arriving at George Best Airport. The red vintage bus between venues was great craic, lots of singing and whooping to the Irish songs the driver played. Walking into The Empire and seeing how amazing it looked. A few stolen moments Aaron and I had to marvel at the day. The first dance to Born to Run was very drunken and wild! We had lots of fun with the photographer Tim, racing through the streets of Belfast finding beautifully weathered walls to be a backdrop. My Dad belting out Nirvana while dancing like an eejit. All the London gang dancing arm in arm with the Belfast folks. The whole weekend made me feel very proud of where I’m from, all the friends and family from England waxed lyrical about the friendliness of the city and some even ended up staying on for the rest of the week to keep the party going!
What advice would you give to brides and grooms planning their day? "Relax and enjoy it. You don’t need to plan too hard, everything will fall into place. Let friends and family help you. Choose to work with suppliers/people you have a connection with and feel you can trust, it means you can really enjoy the process. Definitely get a good photographer! We weren’t even sure that we’d get a professional photographer; we were worried about ending up with a set of very conventional, stilted wedding shots. We changed our minds when we saw Tim of This Modern Love’s work, which has a sort of beautiful honesty about it. I’ve since realised how important it is to have that document of the day. So much love and preparation goes into making it happen. Tim really captured the spirit of the day for us and we’ve ended up with a set of images that are irreplaceable.
Thank you so much to Sarah and Aaron for sharing their phenomenal day with us - what a treat! Congrats guys!! And of course to Tim and Claire from This Modern Love for sharing their work with us all - such a delight to feature a TML wedding - something really special...
All the Wedding Details
- Ceremony: The Ulster Hall
- Reception: Belfast Empire
- Photography: This Modern Love
- Dress: Jenny Packham
- Bridesmaids dresses: Monsoon
- Shoes: Anya Hindmarch
- Flowers: Pauline McKee
- Groomsmen suits: The Kooples/Mr Start/ Prada
- Accessories: Vintage Veil from Annie’s Antiques
- Jewellery: Etsy.com
- Cake: Yellow Door
- Cars: Black Belfast Taxis
- Stationery: Aaron the Groom
- Wedding Favours: ebay
- Hair: Emma McCullough of Vintage Rocks
- Make-up: Laura Rust
- Wedding Bands: Jason @ Hatton Garden Jewellery District
- Ceremony: DJ Mick Macaughan and The Farriers
