GAY WEDDING BLOG

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Hello there! I’m Kathryn (she/her), I’m a Wedding Celebrant accredited by Humanists UK. My role is to work with couples to create, curate and deliver a unique, bespoke wedding ceremony. Every wedding ceremony I deliver is written entirely from scratch and completely authentic and inclusive to you both! No templates, no delete as appropriate and no crossed fingers during the bits that don’t reflect you!

I’ll make sure that instead of feeling constrained by tradition and expectation, your ceremony is full of warmth, fun and joy. I live in South East London with my hubby David and our gorgeous cat Timba. but happily travel, creating unique wedding ceremonies for modern couples who are getting creative and making meaningful wedding choices that reflect them.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START YOUR BUSINESS?

I became a Humanist wedding celebrant because I love people and I love working with them to make sure they have a wonderful time! I had been to a lot of humanist wedding ceremonies and loved each and every one!

I also love ritual & celebration, humans have been marking milestones by gathering people around them for thousands of years. I’m honoured to be part of that for every couple I create a humanist wedding ceremony for. One of my favourite things is a fabulous day filled with love that makes people feel good! Basically I love people and weddings, and people at weddings.

HOW DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?

Well on a wedding day…I’ll be at your wedding venue at least an hour before the guests to make sure we’re all set. I’ll coordinate with photographers, venue staff, musicians and readers. I’ll also be there to reassure you both! Finally, I’ll conduct your feel-good ceremony, kicking off your fabulous day and your fabulous marriage!

On other days, I’ll usually start my day by checking in and answering new enquiries, then I’ll start writing; either ceremony scripts for upcoming weddings, blogs, Instagram posts. Then, usually in the evenings I’ll have intro calls with potential couples or planning chats (usually in person covid-permitting) with couples whose ceremonies I’m creating.

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB?

Meeting amazing couples and being able to be even just a tiny part of creating a beautiful wedding ceremony for them is just the most incredible feeling! I always raise a toast to every couple when I get home. I’m lucky enough to now be friends with the couples I’ve married.

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Hi I’m Amy, the owner and main driver of Lil & Blue. We provide adorable vintage fiat 500s for weddings, photoshoots and special occasions. We have two fabulous cars, Lily and Bluebell available for chauffeur driven hire. Our little cars are real head-turners attracting attention wherever they go. They bring so much fun and we love sharing their joy with couples on their big day!

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START YOUR BUSINESS?

I have always wanted to own a classic fiat 500. With it’s gorgeous good looks, fabulous retro features and adorable picnic basket what’s not to love?! In May 2019 I finally got my long held wish – off I went to a specialist in South London and I came home with not one but two! It was a a bit like buying a puppy. There were two there – how could I possibly buy one and not the other. The way they looked at me with those big headlight eyes! At first they were just meant as a hobby but like most of the country, the pandemic got me rethinking my priorities. When I was made redundant from my unfulfilling office job in the city, I found myself with a perfect opportunity. Finally I could do something I love (making people happy) with something I love (my wonderful feel-good fiats!). I launched my little business shortly after and haven’t looked back!

HOW DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?

After bundling the kids off to school I usually have a little moment where I reflect on how nice it is to be my own boss (and could watch day time tv for the next 3 hours if I wanted). Then I start panicking about how I am now my own boss and get quickly to work!. So it’s on with the emails, admin, website tweaking, instagramming and car fiddling. The wedding days really are the best days though. I love the excitement of prepping the cars, giving them a really good polish and getting them all decorated in whatever flower garlands or wreaths the couple have chosen. And then of course there’s seeing the look on their faces when you arrive to pick them up. It’s just such a brilliant feeling!

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB?

Driving around in these fabulous little cars with a happy couple in the back and seeing people’s faces absolutely light up with joy as you drive by. The London weddings are really fun, they attract so much attention – tooting, clapping and cheering! It’s such a lovely feeling for my newly wed passengers to be at the centre of. There is something seriously therapeutic about these little cars. They instantly make people feel happy. I have lost count of how many people have said they want to give them a cuddle. I often wonder if I should start cuddle therapy sessions with them as an add-on for couples

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF 

I’m Cat – the spectacular, spectacle-wearing lady person who founded Fin Flükra. We specialise in creating boundary-breaking weddings for modern couples planning to marry or elope in Scotland. How best to describe me? My personality is pretty much a mix of Monica Geller (73%) with a smattering of Phoebe Buffay (27%)… the perfect combination of super organised whilst still having plenty of fun!

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START YOUR BUSINESS? 

My boyfriend (now husband) turned to me whilst walking along the beach in Nairn, Scotland when we were discussing our future career paths and said to me… ‘what about wedding planning?’. The seed was planted and I never looked back!

HOW DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE? 

Currently, due to the current situation, A LOT of my time over the past year has been supporting my couples through postponing their plans, working with their venues and suppliers to find an alternative that suits everyone as much as possible. As well as discussing scaling down their guest list and helping them reimagine their day for those choosing to go ahead. It’s been a real rollercoaster for everyone this year and it’s a privilege to be trusted by my couples to support them throughout these challenges.

Prior to the pandemic, my days varied… I start the day off with a cup of tea and some custard cream biscuits, emails, seating plans, researching suppliers/venues, site visits, emails, updating social media, meetings with couples or suppliers, more tea and custard cream biscuits, timelines, design briefs, calls and so on… there’s no such thing as a typical day in my job and I love the variety it brings!

Plus on a wedding day itself, I can easily cover at least the distance of a half marathon over a 10-12 hour day ensuring everything is exactly as planned. As one of my brides called me – a wedding ninja! I’ll take that thank you very much :)

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? 

My couples – simple. I ADORE my couples and getting to work closely with them for on average 18 months to plan their wedding is a really intimate and unique experience (although with COVID some will be stuck with me for nearly 3 years by the time their wedding comes round!). Seeing them say their vows to one another on their wedding day is always a sucker punch for me and I can usually be found hidden at the back having a good sob cause I’m so happy for them… the best part of the job 100%!

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF 

My name is Dean I am a florist and am the owner and founder of The Terrace London.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START YOUR BUSINESS? 

I have been a florist for over 16 years now, and many of those years I worked as a Mayfair florist, working with some incredible clients and stunning venues and events. I love the simplicity and beauty of flowers and I wanted to create something for myself so I can showcase my style and my passion.

HOW DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE? 

It varies quite often, anything from meeting new clients to an event or a couple planning a wedding, to walking around the flower market and seeing which flowers are in season and organising what I need. So much of this job is in the planning, the ordering and making sure the flowers look the absolute best they can on the day.

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? 

I love meeting new clients. It’s the excitement of an upcoming event, how we connect and the discussions of what they are looking for and how I can bring that vision to life.

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF 

Hello from The Tow Bar! Our mobile wedding and events bar business is owned and operated by Keith Emslie. With years of experience in the drinks industry running a mobile bar has always been a dream. I LOVE weddings and seeing how much of an individual stamp our couples put on their special day. We are best suited to creative, design focused couples looking for something special. Our range of drinks is an unrivalled selection of craft beer, hand made gin and some beautiful champagne, prosecco and cocktails. We can serve welcome drinks from The Tow Bar and have a couple of indoor bars to keep the drinks flowing all night!

Our small team is supported by Robin Burns who designed and built The Tow Bar. Our digital marketing is taken care of by Rod Richmond and Cameron Mitchell make lots of magic happen behind the scenes on the operations side of things! Together we make a dedicated team focused on creating the very best weddings in Scotland.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START YOUR BUSINESS?

As things slowed down during the various lockdowns we found ourselves desperate for a creative outlet. We had always dreamed of building out own wedding bar but never found the time to do it. With more time on our hands than we’d had for years it all made perfect sense!

HOW DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?

Every wedding we take care of is as different as the couples themselves! We spend a huge amount of time customising each individual wedding booking we receive. Creating different options for our couples is great fun. This side of things takes up a lot of our time as we trawl through various suppliers’ wine lists and work on customised cocktail options. 

The rest of our time is focused on planning alongside venues to make everything focused on creating the very best wedding possible. A lot of work goes on which our couples don’t ever realise to make their wedding day seamless and relaxed. The best venues we work with combine their rustic charm with a can do attitude to make everything flow without a hitch!

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB?

Our video calls to plan with our couples. It is so fun to hear what each couple has in mind for their special day and to create a drinks package which ticks all of their boxes. Being able to point out things they might not have thought about yet is great too! This relationship we form with each couple is definitely the best part of our job!