Victoria Park Wedding: Stéphanie + Chris

The bride-to-be, Stéphanie, a graphic designer with a beautiful spirit was amazing to work with right from the beginning. She approached me through my Facebook page in April to photograph her July wedding after seeing some of my my wedding pictures pop up in her newsfeed. After briefly communicating via Facebook, I met Stéphanie along with her fiancé, Chris in person to hear in more detail about their idea to create a wedding that gave a gentle nod to the Charlie Chaplin "Silent Movie" era. They explained that they did not want it to be a tribute or themed wedding, but wanted to introduce details from this era to their day. They did this wonderfully right from the styling of Stéphanie's hair and cute vintage shoes through to the font used on their invitations.

One of the things that made Stéphanie and Chris a pleasure to work with was their attention to timing and detail. In advance of the wedding the couple created a timeline including address locations with visual references with a brief note of what was important to them so that I knew ahead of time how they foresaw the day would unfold. They made sure they factored in time for me to photograph details and to do a bride and groom photoshoot. In doing so, the couple could relax and enjoy their day and there was plenty of time to photograph everything.

The couple decided on an aqua/mint and coral colour scheme for their wedding after finding these cool vintage style shoes that went perfectly with their 1920s-esque wedding theme. I LOVE when couples have a strong colour palette in their weddings especially when they use those same colours in their wedding details such as their invitations, table designs and so on as it makes for an overall more stylised look.

A lot of the details in the bride and groom's wedding, were made by the made herself, including this beautiful fascinator veil which she wore...The paper flowers to the left were also hand crafted by Stéphanie. Stunning!

The bride and groom opted for a "first look" so they got to see each other before the wedding ceremony. Chris waited patiently on the steps outside the registry office and Stéphanie sneaked up behind him...Chris turned around to see his bride-to-be for the first time in her wedding dress - it was smiles around :-) A beautiful moment.

Stéphanie and Chris were married in Swinton Town Hall Registry Office watched my a small handful of friends and family.After the ceremony, the couple caught a black cab to Victoria Park.

The bride and groom wore rose gold wedding rings...

This cute Art Deco mirror was hung at the entrance of the park and was the first rose from a path of roses that lead the way to the bandstand that stood pride of place at the centre.

It was in this stunning Grade 2 listed Victorian bandstand with it's ornate ceiling that the bride and groom had celebratory drinks and a first dance surrounded by greenery and handmade bunting.

They hired local musician and singer, John Lowndes from the band Death To The Strange to perform...it couldn't have been more perfect.Chris' paisley print handkerchief was made out of the same print fabric that was used to wrap around the wooden stems of his bride's paper flower bouquet. Nice.

I LOVE the ribbon streamers Stéphanie and Chris made as a backdrop for their bandstand table.A watering can full of champagne and pink lemonade, glass jars filled with lavender and roses, interesting cheeses and chutneys, colourful cakes on top of cute cake stands and an array of interesting nibbles were all present at the bandstand table.

The bride's unique dress was custom-made by local designer and creative, Christine Sherborne.The title cards used throughout the wedding were a gentle nod to the the Charlie Chaplin, Silent Movie era theme.After drinks and nibbles in the bandstand, Stéphanie & Chris and their guests wondered over to the bowling green for a few game of bowls..

The ladies kicked off their shoes and let their hair down...

After a few rounds of bowls, Stéphanie and Chris caught a black cab into Manchester city centre to Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Jamie's Italian for their wedding breakfast. The restaurant is situated in an amazing 1920's Grade II listed building.

The decor complimented the couple's theme perfectly - Check out the blue ceiling and coral lamp shades...Stéphanie & Chris' beautiful vintage gold wedding rings...

I love that Stéphanie not only had a ridiculously cool bouquet made out of paper, but that she extended this theme further by adorning the chairs at Jamie Oliver's restaurant with these huge paper flowers in coral and turquoise - they are BEAUTIFUL!! I think I need some for my house..

The 1920s Grade II listed building was used primarily as a bank before being converted into a restaurant. Stéphanie & Chris chose the old bank manager's office as the setting for their meal.Even though Stéphanie & Chris' wedding was spread over a few different locations..they made sure each venue was personalised and tied in with the overall theme for their day.

At Jamie Oliver's restaurant, they had these cute little artists' easels with wedding placards, they had the same at the bandstand in Victoria Park... I love the attention to detail.Stéphanie was keen to include moon and stars in the theme which she did through little details like this picture frame, the bunting at the bandstand, her wedding cake and the cut out paper stars on the floor at the art gallery reception.

After dining at Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Stephanie & Chris walked over to Manchester Art Gallery to meet with the rest of their wedding guests.

Stéphanie & Chris personalised the space at Manchester Art Gallery to reflect their wedding theme and and the beautiful paintings were the perfect backdrop as guests mingled and chatted with each other. In a nod to her French roots, Stephanie served her guests traditional French wedding cake built from Profiteroles which they had with tea and coffee from cute vintage cups and saucersThe floor of the gallery was littered with paper stars, in keeping with the wedding theme.

Victoria Park Wedding: Stéphanie + Chris

Stéphanie greeted her guests with a warm smile and cake…

Instead of the usual guest book, the bride and groom went for a more creative approach at their wedding reception. They left blank greeting cards on a table with a pot of pencils and invited guests to become artists by designing their own wedding cards for Stephanie and Chris to keep. Great idea, especially since the reception was took place in Manchester Art Gallery surrounded by beautiful paintings.