As couples go, Rebecca and Jon are most certainly not afraid to be themselves on any normal day of the year, let alone on their wedding day, and their ceremony was a true reflection of this. They made sure that their personalities were as much a part of their day as they were themselves, and decorated the ceremony area with a collection of trinkets, photos and paintings that they had brought with them from home to celebrate their life together.
Also not ones to follow tradition, they wore wedding outfits that complimented their personal style. Rebecca’s dress was a pale gold princess-style number, with bold coloured flowers sewn on to the bodice and skirt to compliment her bright red her. The bride wore a crown – and she owned it! Such style! Jon wore a traditional kilt in green and navy tartan, the colours of his Scottish-name clan, in honour of his Celtic heritage.
Both Rebecca and Jon have creative backgrounds and this was very much echoed in their ceremony choices. The order of the day was to bring bright colour to every corner, and to have plenty of fun from start to finish (plus a little romance, to keep things sweet!)
Rebecca and Jon had chosen to hold their wedding in the same venue where they had first decided to get married. It was in this same space just two years earlier that Jon and spontaneously asked Rebecca to be his wife. So spontaneous was the asking, in fact, that Rebecca even fashioned herself a ring out of the tin foil from a chewing gum packet, to seal the deal and make real. How gorgeous that they were now able to return to the same place once again, this time with family and friends, to make that moment even more meaningful and magical too.
Camp Katur is a very cool little glamping village based in the middle of nowhere in the North Yorkshire countryside. Guests were all invited to come and stay as part of the celebration, with a range of slumbering options from geopods to hobbit huts, yurts and tipis.
The ceremony itself took place in a woodland clearing, just a few long paces away from a large open meadow. It was a very hot day and the sun shone bright above us – we were grateful to have the trees to give us some shade for the service!
I met with Jon and Rebecca at their home in Derby about two months before the ceremony. We went out for coffee (a hot chocolate for Jon) and got to know each other better by gossiping about our ‘other’ lives in entertainment, before we came to talk about their day. Rebecca and I both work in similar lines of entertainment away from our primary jobs, so it was easy to connect and feel relaxed in their company.
When it came to talking about their ceremony, Rebecca and Jon admitted that to start with they didn’t have a clue about their wants for their day, other than that they didn’t want it to be too traditional. However, after only an hour of creative talk and some planning, we had the full service ready – it was easy once we got going and they realised they had so much freedom of choice to make it their own. So they did!
First looks are a growing trend in British weddings, following in the footsteps of our American cousins who now regularly feature this element in their day.
Rebecca and Jon wanted to enter the ceremony together, so before they did that we made plans for them to meet alone in the meadow.
Seeing Rebecca run towards her groom – his back turned and waiting – is one of my favourite wedding moments to date. The picture that their photographer caught of Rebecca running so perfectly captured the energy of the moment; the photo is so wonderfully captivating. You can almost feel the overwhelming sense of anticipation, excitement, and childlike nervousness that oozes from the frame. It makes me giddy every time I see it!
Rebecca and Jon’s wedding ceremony was the perfect blend of tradition, modernism, spirituality, and personality.
We told their love story to much giggles and laughter, and an appropriate amount of gushiness to complete the tale. They involved their friends in the service by asking one to share a reading she had written especially for them, whilst another sang out loud to Etta James.
They exchanged personally written vows, their ‘I dos,’ and their wedding rings (both uniquely designed and hand made to suit their tastes) before finishing with a sand blending ceremony too. We even gave mention to absent friends and absent cats – Rebecca’s cat Choo Choo Modigliana (to give her full title) was pictured on the altar with her portrait pride of place.
At the end of the service everyone gathered as we handed out confetti and showered the couple as they made their way back down the aisle towards drinks in the meadow.
Rebecca and Jon chose to include a sand blending ceremony, using blue and orange sands to represent themselves as colourful individuals. These were combined in an hour glass, to be turned once every year on the anniversary of their wedding.
After the service, we all headed to the barn where afternoon tea was being served before speeches. I was very honoured to be asked to stay for the reception, and the father of the bride even conducted a personal toast to the ceremony in my honour. I was incredibly moved to be so gratefully acknowledged!
What a wonderful day, and what a pleasure to be a part of it!
Venue – Camp Katur www.campkatur.co.uk
Photographers – Gary Phillips of One Love Photography (https://www.nottingham-wedding-photographer.com/)
Samantha Kelsie is a professional marriage and family celebrant who prides herself in creating bespoke ceremonies and symbolic unions to suit couples of all different styles and personalities in the UK and abroad.
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