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      Wedding InspirationBoat Wedding: Hannah And Stephen's Intimate Celebrations

      Wedding Inspiration

      Boat Wedding: Hannah And Stephen's Intimate Celebrations

      When Wedding Shop Couple Hannah and Stephen's wedding plans had to change, they decided to have an intimate boat wedding with a wedding day flotilla - six to a boat!

      5 Min Read

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      boat wedding: bride and groom with bridesmaids and groomsmen

      Wedding Shop's real couple Hannah and Stephen saw their wedding plans change from one day to the next. From the big day they had initially envisioned, they had to reconsider everything, from the number of guests to the venue. Their perfect solution? A beautifully intimate boat wedding.

      They danced to their wedding playlist as they sailed along the river, for the most memorable day. Let their wedding planning words of wisdom inspire you, along with their wedding gift list experience.

      bride and groom boat kiss

      What Made Your Wedding Day Unique?

      We had to cut 160 people from our guest list and couldn’t go to our venue for a reception due to covid restrictions. How do you celebrate when you can’t go to a reception venue? We hired boats and had a boat wedding! We had a little wedding day flotilla with six to a boat and danced to our wedding playlist as we sailed along the river.

      Favourite Wedding Day Memory

      My favourite wedding day memory has to be saying our vows to each other. We had an unbelievably surreal run-up to our wedding. We changed dates and season, we were gutted to have our honeymoon cancelled and it was and still is sad that we didn’t have all our loved ones with us as we got married. However, there was a romantic simplicity to saying our vows in a church with just a handful of family members. It was a good reminder that our love for each other was the reason we wanted to get married. I just about managed to hold back the tears when my husband said his vows to me. It was beautiful. 

      bride and groom saying their vows in the church
      bride and groom share kiss after vows in the church
      married couple exits the church
      beautiful embroidery on back of bride's wedding dress
      bridesmaids in pink dresses
      bride and groom smiling faces after ceremony, on the wedding boat
      bridesmaids and groomsmen in wedding attire

      How Did You Get Engaged?

      I was going away with my family to Cornwall and was very annoyed that Stephen hadn’t booked the week off work to come with us. Early in the morning, he turned up and I thought he was feeling guilty and coming to say goodbye to make me feel better. Then I saw he had bags in his car and realised he was coming with us and had tried to keep it a secret! He drove me to his favourite childhood beach where it started to rain, so we drove to my favourite beach and it was awash with sun. He proposed at a quiet end of the beach and we popped champagne in the sunshine.

      bride's dad and bridesmaids keep wedding dress lifted whilst walking towards the church

      What Does Love Mean To You?

      We had a verse read at our wedding from 1 Corinthians 13:7 which says love “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” That is what love means for us and it’s what we are hoping to aim towards with a healthy pinch of forgiveness for the (many) times we fall short. 

      Boat Wedding Inspiration & Styling

      I am a sucker for a theme, whether it’s for a date night, tablespace, a boat wedding, or home design, having a theme for your wedding helps to set the tone. How do you want your guests to feel? Due to the pandemic, our wedding was already intimate - thank you Covid- but on the plus side, this intimacy felt very romantic. I love modern lace dresses and nude roses – quicksand roses are gorgeous - and so the romantic floral theme was born.

      wedding gift list boxes arriving
      wedding gift list: tea set guest's gifted the couple
      wedding gifts: white ceramic homeware

      Wedding Planning Advice

      Choose your suppliers well, make sure they are people who you could happily call up and talk to and understand you as a couple. We had planned our wedding in 2019 when we thought the biggest disaster could be a rainy day, 2020 had other plans! If we didn’t have such good relationships with our suppliers what was already stressful could well have been disastrous.

      Why Did You Have A Wedding Gift List?

      There are a few reasons why we had a wedding gift list, the main reason being that our friends and family were expecting us to have one! It’s quite traditional to have one and as we were moving into our newlywed home there were lots of things we needed. It was the easiest way to coordinate those people who want to buy a gift for us that they knew we would love.

      bride's rhubarb cake

      Why Did You Choose The Wedding Shop?

      We chose The Wedding Shop because it is the best gift list available. I am a very thorough investigator and like to get the best value possible. You get all a traditional gift list can offer you and more. Every interaction I have had with The Wedding Shop team has been excellent, they are quick to respond and personable. There is an exceptional breadth of brands to choose from including some really cool designers who I have never come across before.

      What Was Your Wedding Shop Experience Like?

      I love that The Wedding Shop has all my favourite places to shop in one place. Rather than having a gift list at one shop and being constrained by that season’s designs, I could choose from any I wanted. Even if they didn’t have something which I really wanted from another shop, I could just copy-paste the link and it would be sourced for me. They also have lots of cool brands that I would never have discovered otherwise. 

      Added to List!
      ​

      Why Is Building A Gift List A Key Part Of Wedding Planning?

      Building a gift list is a key part of wedding planning as it is part of preparing for married life. We didn’t live together before we were married, and my fiancée was typically unbothered by home comforts. I on the other hand, love feeling comfortable and take joy in everyday items. Making sure our home felt special and homely was really important to me. 

      How Did Having A Gift List Help You To Create Or Upgrade Your Newlywed Home?

      Having a wedding gift list meant that we could choose the exact items that we needed as we moved in together. We were able to have all our practical needs met while also curating a beautiful space for us to start our newlywed lives together.

      “Our guests were very pleased we had a gift list. No one wants a gift to go to waste and they were happy to be able to choose items they knew we would love.”

      Hannah & Stephen

      What Was Your Favourite Wedding Gift And Why?

      It is hard to choose which is my favourite gift! Probably the hardest question so far. I love our Neptune wine glasses and cake stand, our The White Company bed linen and frames and, of course, the Magimix makes meal prep so easy. I am going to cheat and say I don’t have a favourite. 

      Start Your Wedding Gift List

      Real Wedding Stories & Inspiration

      From traditional to modern wedding ceremonies, and from classic to unique styles, find all the inspiration you need to plan your own wedding day and wedding gift list experience. Get inspired by our Wedding Shop Real Couples.

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