Lynsey & Rick get married at Altrincham Town Hall

We ave been so focused on our brides wedding dates over the last couple of years that we’ve missed catching up on how everything went on the day, and sharing a glimpse with you guys. We recently put a shout out to see if any of our brides fancied sharing their day with and it’s been amazing catching up with everyone!

First up I wanted to share Lynsey & Rick’s wedding, which while they chose to forgo many traditions was still a beautiful and amazing celebration of their commitment to each other. And that is EVERYTHING!

Tell us your love story:

We met at University but Rick had already finished his degree and came back for a night out in the Student Union – we kept in touch on Facebook Chat and Pay As You Go texts (old school) for about 2 years before meeting again on a New Years night out. We made it “Facebook official” in Feb 2010, and got married in Feb 2020.

Rick proposed on Halloween (I think by accident, but I loved it!) in our living room and I was wearing a Batman print onesie! We carved pumpkins with “Mr” and “Mrs” as part of our engagement announcement.

Where did you get married? Did you have an aim for a vibe?

We had our ceremony at Altrincham Town Hall. We were looking for a registry office that had a bit more to it – I googled locations in the NW and pictures of the stained glass windows in Altrincham came up. We looked at several wedding package venues but didn’t see anything that suited what we wanted – we basically made a list of everything that is “supposed to happen” at a wedding and crossed off the things we weren’t interested in. We knew we wanted a chilled ceremony, followed by a meal and drinks. We ended up having a private dining room at Albert’s Worsley with 35 people, a custom menu and our own playlist. The theme of our table decorations was a sailor-tattoos (roses, swallows etc) so tied this in with red bridesmaids dresses, ties and flowers. We then kept everything else black, white and grey.

Tell us about your dress?

When I started looking at dresses, I knew what style I wanted and what might suit me – I had the day out to several local bridal shops with my bridesmaids and tried on some stunning dresses, but wasn’t 100% sold on any. I had seen Legend do an alternative catwalk at a Wedding Show not long after we got engaged and their black dresses stuck in my mind. I booked an appointment out of curiosity to go and see the black dresses (and get it out of my mind I suppose…). At the first appointment I explained the type of dress style I was looking for and had a few examples, and Rachel drew a quick sketch, and it was exactly what I had in mind. To get my gown custom made was the same price as some I’d tried on in Bridal shops but mine was one of a kind and I picked every detail! I was able to make big and small tweaks throughout the appointments and loved the finished look on the day. The dress turned out the perfect mix of my style, while still being bridal with some glitz. Everyone complimented me all day (and after!) – a lot of guests didn’t have a clue what I’d wear but as soon as they saw the dress, it was the one!

Was the day how you imagined it?

It was better! We weren’t looking forward to being the centre of attention, and people can be very critical of weddings (especially one that doesn’t have a lot of traditions) but because we kept it close friends and family, it was so much more fun then we expected.

We had everything planned in terms of timings, getting from A to B, table plans etc, but we hadn’t put much thought into the ceremony itself and how it would “feel” to be up there doing it!. We got married at 3pm,but the morning went so quickly, one minute I was getting my hair done, then I was at the end of the aisle so I think the adrenaline hit me (so I ended up crying through the whole thing and said “I do” too early!).

Plus my niece Ruby not wanting to come near me in my wedding dress so the pic with them (attached) is one of my favourites!

Do you have any advice for other couples?

Do what you want to do - you’ll remember it no matter how big or small the day is! We didn’t include a lot of the main elements of a traditional wedding but it was still an amazing celebration and exactly what we wanted. It was only afterwards that some of our guests realised there weren’t any speeches or a cake!

Are there any businesses you particularly want to shout out as having done an amazing job?

Rae Henry designs for our wedding stationary – we had swallow and rose tattoo prints

Also Rick’s brother Alastair has experience doing some wedding photography so he took some amazing pictures whilst being the best man! His instagram is @aecclesphoto