Leah & Elliot’s super stylish wedding at Scale Liverpool was my first full day wedding , albeit with only 30 guests, after the Covid pandemic. And what a way to kick off the 2021 season! My busiest to date (though 2022 looks like it might be even busier!).
These two had postponed their wedding an astonishing 4 times! Every time I spoke to them though they were so chilled even though it must have been stressful and just plain annoying! For those reasons I was really looking forward to this wedding. I really hoped it was the day they had dreamed of, and more! I also got to see one of my past couples, Melanie & James, again which was lovely!
This wedding really did have everything! Super chilled prep with Leah, her bridesmaids and best man, who all picked their own outfits. A stroll to the church for the ceremony with my favourite priest Kip, whose ceremonies are always so personal and so much fun! After the church I got to spend a good amount of time with the couple doing their portraits, stopping off at the first flat they had together before visiting the Peace Doves installation at Liverpool Cathedral which was just WOW!!
The celebrations were held at the very cool event space, Scale, in Liverpool’s fabric district. It’s such a great place for a party! With it’s bare brick walls, wooden floors and natural light streaming in through big windows. It also has a very stylish and relaxed vibe to it which suited Leah & Elliot perfectly. Add to that some gorgeous floral displays by the super talented Mary Mary Florals and amazing food by Fig and the Wild and you’ve got yourself one hell of a party. A photographers dream actually!
A few words from Leah
As with many COVID Couples (or the Nearly-Weds, as the Father of the Bride very poetically put it…) Elliot and I had several tries at getting our big day! Since our June 20 wedding was cancelled, we’d planned for September, December and March. A potential wedding per season, until we finally got back to spring when we tied the knot in May 21. After a pretty wet and windy week, the sun thankfully shone for us on the day! Not that we would have minded either way, we were so pleased for it to finally be here!
Wedding planning on a budget
We had a limited budget for our wedding and knew we didn’t want to bankrupt ourselves before we’d even got started on the marriage bit. So we worked hard to be honest about our priorities and do away with anything that wasn’t necessary for us personally. So, we honed in on the big 4 priorities:
Food
We’re both hospitality veterans and massively into our food. We knew that we wanted to have a big family style sharing banquet featuring all of our fave Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours. The amazing Alison from Fig & the Wild got us completely. Her style of food was just perfect for us and was a huge hit with all of our guests.
Venue
The minute we stepped foot into Scale we knew we wanted to live there, never mind have our wedding there. The restored double height warehouse with its exposed brick walls, original beams and paned windows literally made us weak at the knees. Gemma and the team there were incredible, unshakably cool and reassuringly in control at all times.
Photography
We found Emma, as she’d photographed our good friend’s wedding previously. Needless to say their pictures were unbelievable. What we love most is the light, fun and humour that she captures. Emma’s ethos of big smiles and little moments was the perfect thing we wanted to encapsulate with our friends and family. Nervous as most people are about the thought of a camera in their face all day, Emma’s whole vibe meant we knew we’d forget she was there professionally and would feel like one of the party in no time at all. We weren’t disappointed!
Supporting local independent businesses
This was something we were passionate about doing from the off, and we’re so, so pleased that we did. With all the rearranging and reshuffling we had to do across the best part of a year and a half, using real people who really gave a s*** made an otherwise stressful experience a relative breeze! Everyone; Emma, Gemma at Scale, Alison at Fig & the Wild, Anna at Mary Mary Florals and Elizabeth at Elizabeth Elsie Bridal Makeup were all incredible and we’re proud to have had such a talented, dedicated and understanding team of suppliers.
A few more wedding planning tips….
Focusing in on the things that really mattered to us meant that we were able to be economical with everything else and not have it affect our day. Our dress and suit were high street. We did invites, menu design and table plan ourselves. Had our honeymoon in Wales, opted for shots of Patrón over champagne for the wedding toast. We also forwent a DJ or other entertainment in favour of a killer playlist. If I could give any advice to other couples planning, it would be to choose your deal breakers. Find suppliers that you connect with over big companies and don’t sweat the small stuff.
And lastly….
Hands down our favourite part of the day was looking out during the wedding feast and seeing friends and family that hadn’t been able to be together in so long due to restrictions. Although we were still capped at 30 guests, the feeling in that moment was pure joy, and something we’ll carry with us forever.
If you’re planning a laid back wedding at Scale in Liverpool please get in touch to talk about your day, I would LOVE to capture it for you!
