Couple celebrate postponed wedding with a mini wedding at home

When Sarah Pritchard and James Wright made the final decision to postpone their wedding in Portugal due to Covid-19, they decided to celebrate the day on the family farmhouse in Alne, North Yorkshire. Bride-to-be Sarah tells us all about it 

Photography: Nick Georgiou Photography    

The inspiration 
Our wedding, like many was sadly postponed due to the worldwide pandemic. Due to take place in sunny Portugal on August 18, 2020, friends and family from the UK, Thailand, Berlin, and Australia were all set to join us until the world was turned upside down. An emotional rollercoaster of unknowns started in mid-March and continued for many months, frantically contacting suppliers to see if we could hold another date. Our suppliers have been and continue to be very supportive of the situation which of course makes any anxious couple a little more at ease. When mid-July saw the peak of the pandemic it became very clear we sadly did need to postpone our wedding. But, we still wanted to mark the day in our own way so we created a 'mini wedding'. Restrictions were still in place so with only our two families allowed, we hung bunting, dressed up, picked up some catering and even bought a mini wedding cake. And why not capture the day by supporting a local business, so we hired a photographer for an hour to capture the special moments we can cherish forever. The day was perfect in every way. 

What was the theme for the day? 
James and I are not a lavish couple, we like nature and being outdoors, and therefore, the original wedding venue we chose was in Portugal near the small fishing village of Ericeira. They are all about sustainability and produce their own organic wines… perfect! So, we kept the same feeling for our garden party, which had a relaxed, easy going vibe. We ordered a case of wine from our venue to enjoy on the day as a special treat - we only wish we’d ordered more. In the farmhouse we created a little rustic garden party with some paper bunting, wooden garden games, a mini wedding cake etc and as the farm next door is now unused, we thought it would be great to show it in all its rustic and derelict glory by having some photos taken there. 

The photographs 
James and I never take photos of ourselves, as we feel super awkward and false. My sister on the other hand, runs a dance school and is married to an actor so they snap away at every opportunity. We see how many lovely photos they have and how nice it must be to look back at the memories and it hit us that living through this pandemic will be something that is spoken about for years to come – imagine telling your kids how we all had to stay home and not see anyone for months. It's a very unique time that no doubt will go down in the history books. We therefore starting to take pictures of our lockdown life just so we could look back on this weird time. So that's really where having a mini wedding party and booking a photographer came from. Initially we wanted to capture our families meeting for the first time as we can rarely all get together, but then we had the idea of dressing up to make the day feel more special. As nearly newlyweds, we of course follow lots of Instagram accounts and had seen many quirky bride and groom pictures and soon saw how awesome the juxtaposition of us and the old farm could be. We knew as soon as we'd seen Nick's photography and style he could more than pull this off, and he did just that. The pictures are epic, some friends even thought we'd gone ahead and got married. He captured the vibe perfectly and we are so glad that we decided to make the day special, rather than let it roll by and now we feel more excited than ever to have our big day next year. 

Tell us about the dress 
As well as my wedding dress, I had also been looking for a white dress for either the night before the wedding or my hen do. I finally found the perfect dress by Silk Fred / Finders Keepers and ended up wearing it on our postponed wedding date. Paired with my mum's veil from her wedding day in 1980 it was the perfect dress and felt so special to be in my mum's veil.  

What was your most memorable moment?  
Seeing my mum's face as I put on her veil. She looked so happy and it must have really bought back memories for her.  

What was the most important investment for you?  
We are both big foodies and this will always be important to us. Coincidentally our local cafe buys in Pasteis de Natas (Portuguese custard tarts) that they bake fresh on the day, so we could not have our garden party without enjoying these custard tarts pretending we were right there in Portugal all along.  

Tell us about your cake 
Everyone loves cake so we decided to try and find a mini wedding cake and used our original cake topper for the final look.  

Do you have any advice for couples in the planning stages? 
Our advice to couples who had to postpone their big day, is not to lose the love for planning your wedding. We did a few months back and it's certainly easy to think it's too much effort or the moment has passed, but persevere and make the postponed day special in your own way by making memories in the extra year you have as an engaged couple. At one point we were just going to go for a meal, but we are so glad we created a mini party as it's something we will definitely remember for years to come.  

Steal their style 
Photography: Nick Georgiou Photography   
Dress: Silk Fred   
Cake: LS Cakery 
Flowers: The Botanical Bunch