Traditions With A Twist: Alternative Wedding at Trafalgar Warehouse, Sheffield
Photography by Ginger Beard Weddings
What if your New Year's resolutions can actually change your life forever? That’s exactly what happened to bride Anna. Her New Years resolution was to go to more gigs, so off she went to see Little Comets at the student union in Preston, 53 Degrees and it was there she first saw Tom—he was the man who poured a pint on her shoes!
As the band came on, a group of tall lads were stood in front of Anna and her friend (isn’t that always the way at a gig, though?) One of the four blokes was juggling a pint per mate as he made his way back towards Anna, and though it’s safe to assume he was about to spill one of the four pints in his two hands, he had no idea he’d be dousing his future bride. “I was about to have a go at him but I realised how good looking he was so decided to crack a joke instead. The band started playing, I carried on flirting and the rest is history,” Anna says.
And the Bride wore two rings
The rest is history, where they dated through the many lockdowns and restrictions. In August 2020, the world was opening up a bit more, so Anna and Tom took a trip to Anglesey, Wales. The most important decision of the trip: which beach was best to watch the sunset? Tom played along, asking locals where the best spot for a one-of-a-kind evening could be spent, already certain of the place he would propose. With an aperol spritz in one hand and craft beers in the other, the pair made their way to Tom’s pre-selected spot, a beautiful cove where the sky began to turn a rosy pink hue just for them. As the crowd began to thin, leaving only the two of the them nearby, Anna was feeling a bit frustrated—they were in a perfect place and it was a perfect time, but with no ring in sight, Anna angrily text her friend, wondering if not now, when?! She almost withheld her hand when Tom asked her to slow dance with him in the cove. As she rose, prepared for a dance, Tom sank to his knees in the sand, a token ring outstretched between them. Knowing his bride-to-be so well (spoiler, Anna said yes!) Tom left the final choice of ring up to Anna, though she still wore the band he proposed with on their wedding day. “The best thing about getting engaged was bringing some happy news to everyone during the pandemic,” says Anna. Remember the friend she was texting, well she was so shocked and excited to hear the news that she nearly brought down a marquee after running straight into the pole as she heard the happy news through the phone.
Back in their hometown, Anna & Tom began planning immediately with a budget of £10k (though they admit this was raised to about £12-£13k through the steady, organized and exciting process of planning their very own un-wedding!) Anna already knew what photographer she wanted; we must commend her on her choice of photographer Paul aka Ginger Beard Weddings, a Book Of Love directory fave amongst modern couples looking for a cool wedding photographer! He was their first choice for a photographer and the first supplier they booked!
Next up: makeup, which led Anna to makeup artist Steffi at Bridal by Frankie. “ I’m really into my make up so booked her for the Full Day service that they offer. This was mainly so I could cry and sweat my make up off and go for top ups throughout the day, even wedding guests can use the service. It was a splurge but totally worth it,” agreed, Anna, and we’re sure you were pleased to have booked this service after your mum’s wedding speech…but more on that in a mo!
Trafalgar Warehouse: The perfect venue for a warehouse wedding
Ginger Beard Weddings did a fantastic job at making the couple’s choice of Trafalgar Warehouse look even more perfect for their colorful, industrial-chic day. It was a perfect venue for them and for us! Trafalgar Warehouse will be hosting The Un-Wedding Show Sheffield on September 4th! Anna has sung the praises of the team at the venue, saying that Emma was the most wonderful human who offered aid and advice throughout the process and was sure to quietly keep the day rocking and rolling behind the scenes. It was Emma who made a genius suggestion that minded the budget and added to the festivities: a chippy tea! After Anna’s mum had donned her apron to dole out bags of chips from their local (to the tune of £90 for over 100 evening guests!) they were left with only two spare bags by party’s end. What a great way to have your chips and eat them too!
The important things to T&A were music, food, and choosing things THEY liked, instead of pleasing everyone else. What else but Mexican streetfood, served by Laura at El Kantina, who was already familiar with the venue and left the couple and their guests completely satisfied and thoroughly impressed! Remember these wise words from the bride when it comes to choosing your wedding menu, “—if you can’t have your favourite food and music on your wedding day, when can you?” Exactly!
Tom & Anna also decided from the beginning that they didn’t want the typical wedding decor, and wanted to use independent companies wherever they could to create a party that would celebrate their love, family and friendships. Any downsides to prioritizing your needs over tradition? Not a one according to our couple. “The whole event was an up. Most of our friends and family in one room. You’ll probably never get that again until your funeral! The only down is saying bye to everyone the next day. I have friends in Germany and America and it broke my heart to say bye to them but it just means we will have to plan something else now!”
Anna and Tom’s theme was simply “them”. Here at The Un-Wedding we find when couples just choose what they love, it always makes for THE BEST wedding EVER! And it worked, because even though nothing “matched” per say, everything at the wedding went together—just like Tom & Anna!
Anna chose a white dress with a hi-lo hem from Rock the Frock Cheshire, perfect for showing off her statement shoes: leopard print heels found at Zara. Her crown was bought as a gift by her manager and Anna’s veil was a labour of love from her mum. She sourced fabric from a local mill and hand sewed 49 crystals onto it (the 50th, she’ll have you know, was faulty) before applying glitter hairspray to set free its sparkle! Though she tried more tradition looks on before her friend found The One, wearing them made Anna feel like she was playing dress-up, rather than dressing as herself for her own wedding day! Brava, Anna, that’s what we love to see—brides wearing what makes them feel like a bride.
Bridal Speech: “There is no way I was going to let men do all the talking!”
There are some traditions you just have to repackage to have a day that’s authentically you and the speeches was one of them for Anna and Tom! Along with speeches from the groom and best man, Anna and her maid of honor said their piece, along with Anna’s mum who caused tons of guests to excuse themselves as soon as the speech was over! Why’s that? Well, some left to discreetly powder their noses, others to find out who the hell was cutting onions and others were open about the need to have a sniffle and call their mums! After sharing a poem by Lemn Sissay there wasn’t a dry-eye in the house and this special speech wouldn’t have been possible without tying a new bow around the gift of a traditional, heart-felt speech by the bride’s parents.
Make New traditions
Having the speeches open to all wasn't the only way the pair found ways to honor tradition. When it came time to walk the bride down the aisle, Anna’s mum confessed that she didn’t like the thought of “giving away” her daughter—Anna wasn’t her property to surrender and this walk was leading right to Tom, the man Anna had chosen to love and intended to marry! They found a fantastic solution you might want to adopt: Anna’s mum walked her halfway down and the bride finished her journey on her own two feet, arriving at the end of the aisle in style with a huge smile on her face. “I guess it was sort of symbolic that she had got me so far in life and I did the rest myself,” Anna realizes now. What a wonderful way to honor the relationship between parent and child while acknowledging that some steps we take on our own, even down to the most important ones. For those final steps to Tom, it was all Anna, holding her beautiful bouquet crafted by Hannah at Hannah Elizabeth Flowers, a sustainable florist who was given total creative control to create something colorful and rustic—she nailed the very brief brief, but the couple and their family’s expected nothing less as Hannah was trained by Tom’s own father! What a full circle moment—we love the inspo and the final designs.
Tom chose to keep his and his groomsmen’s suits secret, so Anna didn't see his finished look until the moment they saw each other at the ceremony! We LOVE this—that’s such a special moment, when the couple see one another for the first time. Whether you attend one another’s style appointments, have a first look, or refuse all glimpses before you’re face to face on your wedding aisle, it’s such a thrill to see your beloved looking the best version of them. Tom sported bespoke cufflinks, a gift from his bride on the day of their wedding, which she originally worried was a bit too cheesy, but the lyrics to their song—Learning Alive by DMA’s—were the perfect touch on this just-cheesy-enough gift for her groom.
The Party Don’t Stop
The goal of the wedding party was to keep everyone on the dance floor—easy enough with DJ, Adam Carr, who fulfilled the couple’s unique wish, to be terrified to leave the dance floor for fear they might miss what came next; guests are still singing his praises and cursing him for the blisters that night put on their feet! Worth it though! Rather than interrupt the party atmosphere, Anna & Tom decided against a cake cutting, no bouquet toss (in Anna’s own words, “Do you know how much those things cost?!”), no children and also no guest book! Instead of hitting every traditional mark, the couple now have fantastic photos of their bridesmaids (in black animal print and their own shoes and accessories) having the time of their lives, Anna’s bouquet is being dried and preserved, they had their guests sign jenga blocks, rather than a “—book no one reads—,” and the simple cake cutting turned into a cake table sampling for all, which looked as good as it smelled! With eighteen flavors of cake, blondies, brownies and even Christmas Cake—including some prepared for vegans and gluten-free friends—Anna answered her own wish to bake the wedding cakes, having been taught by her beloved mum and grandmother. Now she shares her cakes and bakes on Instagram under @thebakingboosh! Baking her own wedding cake wasn’t the only way Anna’s late nan was honored on the day: to complete the rhyme—c’mon, you know the one—Anna’s friends bestowed her with a robin pin to attach to her bouquet. Dotting robins about the venue reminded Anna of her nan wherever she spotted them within Trafalgar Warehouse.
You Do You!
Anna and Tom’s day is a true reflection of just doing whatever the hell you want, whatever the hell makes you happy, and proving how that is the perfect combo for a perfect day. We at Un-Wedding are obsessed with T&A’s attitude toward wedding planning, choosing details, and how things should flow - it’s a total textbook example of the Un-Wedding way! If you’re a bride like Anna you know what’s most important: big knickers (the only dress code she enforced for her bridesmaids), a bigger party and big, big love shared with family and friends.
Come and check out Tom & Anna’s wedding venue, Trafalgar Warehouse, at our next Un-Wedding show! 🖤
