Urban Luxe 2 Day Wedding Celebration in The City of Liverpool

April 17, 2022 Melissa Woods

Squad goals! Emma and her gorgeous bridesmaids dressed all in black and holding matching dried floral bouquets. They all look so happy and beautiful!

Photography by Stella Photography

What’s better than a one-day wedding? A two-day wedding of course, cos let’s face it, the party is over too quickly and all the best parties have an after party, right? First things first, this real wedding blog is going to run a little different than usual because it’s like 2 weddings rolled into one but both parts have a completely different vibe. So, here’s how we are gonna roll - the main blog and images is the Friday wedding celebration (part 1) and the gallery at the end is the Saturday wedding celebration (part 2)… got it?

Right then.

This urban luxe two-day wedding extravaganza in Liverpool was the ultimate party, followed by an epic after-party full of fun, fabulousness, and super cool un-wedding vibes. In fact, the lovely Emma has been a die-hard un-wedding fan for a while now - a trusted member of our Facebook group for modern couples during her wedding planning, user of the Book Of Love directory, even reppin’ our iconic Kiss The Bride T shirt for her hen party and on her wedding morning! We love you Emma!

Chris and Emma's modern love story began with an age-old swipe right on Tinder…

“Chris chose the venue for our first meet – a far too brightly lit socialist bar. We hit it off like a house on fire (despite the location). The evening progressed and I took Chris to my favourite haunt, Fredericks… put a pin in that cos it’s important later.”

The beautiful bride on the morning of her wedding (part 1) looking at herself in the mirror.

Gorgeous bride Emma striking a pose in front of a silver sequin wall on the morning of her wedding. Her hair is still in rollers and she is wearing a short black adidas playsuit.

A romantic engagement in the Lake District

The romantic and secluded Lake District was where the proposal happened. On a long weekend away between lockdowns Emma and Chris rented a motorboat for an afternoon on the water.

“Blissfully unaware of Chris’ intentions, I soaked up the sun and assumed the role of Captain on our vessel as we razzed around the open lake. Clearly making the best of a bad situation of the world I was in.

Chris knelt down and rummaged through our bag of provisions and asked me “do you want a beer?”.

As he passed her a warm and well-shaken beer he added “and do you want to be my wife”… casual…but cool AF which we LOVE!

A white fireplace all set up as the backdrop for the wedding ceremony. There are disco balls and candles in the heart and vases of dried flowers on either side.

A beautiful dried flower bouquet with pops of colourful bunny tails.

White heart sunglasses for the bride next to a pair of black shades for the groom.

12 months planning and a £20,000 wedding budget

With a good idea of what they already wanted, they took 12 months to plan their city wedding with a £20,000 budget in tow. Emma, an experienced events manager, used her feedback wisely from other couples she’d planned weddings for.

“I’ve done lots of weddings and the main feedback from couples was always that the day went far too quickly.”

Roll on their two-day wedding full of celebrations and party vibes. It was important for them both that their wedding was an event that was just as much fun for them as it was for their guests. They wanted:

“A day for family, a day for a big party and a day for dancing around Irish bars to carry on the sesh.”

In fact, the couple decided to party with their wedding guests back in the place where it all started - Frederiks!

How cute is that?

Chris and his groomsmen enjoying a pre-wedding pint outside a bar in Liverpool. They are all wearing mismatched suits.

Chris and his groomsmen clowning around outside the Philharmonic Hall whilst looking super-stylish in mismatch suits

Wedding decor inspired by home

With an eclectic mix of inspiration for the two-day wedding, they brought vintage furniture, plants, and flowers from their home as a way of keeping it true to them and bringing a touch of their aesthetic into the celebration.

“We were inspired by rock n roll, disco, romance, parties, neon, velvet and champagne!”

A super cool way to bring a little bit of your home life with you, and a sure-fire way to make it unique to the two of you!

Emma’s first wedding dress, a short white number with ostrich feather sleeves

The lovely Emma all dressed up and ready to rock!

A simple but strong reminder that ‘All you need is love’

Wedding traditions and planning priorities

The wedding photography was a huge part of their planning, and we can see they chose more than wisely with Stella Foto’s.

“They were so important to us that we checked their dates before venues, registrars, or any other vendors. They absolutely made our wedding, just as we knew they would.”

Emma and Chris kept some traditions on their big day. They chose not to see each other on the morning of the wedding, and they had a “boss cake”. Emma’s sentiment meant she wanted to keep something old, new, borrowed, and blue. Her dad walked her down the aisle for their ceremony that was led by their friend Natalie, a celebrant who "performed an incredible and unique service for us including a handfasting and John Cooper Clarke poems.”

They scrapped other traditions including a formal 3-course meal, Chris had multiple best men and the whole of the wedding party wore whatever the hell they wanted to! “It was pretty free-form from start to finish… it worked an absolute treat.”

Emma standing in front of a wooden door looking incredible in her short dress, long veil and red lip. She’s holding a beautiful dried bouquet to complete the look

Wedding outfits

Chris wore an Italian suit and switched it up with different ties whilst Emma wore a multitude of outfits for their two-day wedding, any excuse right! On Friday, “I wore a short Bardot dress with ostrich feather sleeves and a super long veil… it was by far my favourite outfit.” As with many brides shopping during the pandemic was hard and this meant that Emma had to compromise in certain areas, “My Saturday evening dress was actually the original wedding dress that I fell out of love with; I had it cut up, made super short and turned into a real-life disco dress!”

The best men looked stylish AF in mismatched suits, and as for the ‘maids - super-cool black frocks on the Friday and then different colours on Saturday, now that takes some coordination!

The wedding ceremony set up - a white room with perfect light from 2 big windows on either side. The aisle is comprised of patterned rugs with wooden chairs on either side. There is a fireplace at the front with disco balls in the hearth and a giant paper fan above it.

Chris waiting at the front whilst Emma walks up the aisle with her dad who’s wearing a pale blue jacket. There are pretty patterned rugs creating a walkway and wooden chairs on either side. All the guests are standing and applauding.

The happy couple standing hand in hand with their backs to the crowd, about to take their vows.

The happy couple about the walk back down the aisle together

A cute shot of Emma and Chris on the floor in front of the fireplace where they just said ‘we do’

Highlights of the 2-day wedding extravaganza!

Not only did they have the disruption of Covid but they also had to find a new venue with a mere 6 weeks to go until their wedding date. “We were super lucky to find The Baltic Hotel on the week it opened and managed to use their party space for the ceremony and after-party and their disused attic space for the meal.” Everything happens for a reason as they say and this super cool couple took everything in their stride and were determined to have the day they had planned.

The reactions on people’s faces made it all worthwhile and with a few hidden surprises along the way they got their wish of all their guests having as much fun as they did. The couple hired a brass band for the main day and didn’t tell their guests. Hardcore Hornography were an absolute hit and people are still talking about it to this day! We love the idea of holding something back to surprise and delight your wedding guests!

With a jam-packed two-day wedding of disco balls, dancing, and a brass band, there’s not much not to love about this colourfully cool wedding day; they're the perfect advocates for the modern un-wedding couple. They had tunnel vision when it came to planning and getting the wedding they wanted.

Emma and Chris having a cheeky kiss in the stairs before joining their guests

The entire wedding party celebrating as the happy couple share another kiss

Emma and her nanny Audrey, ‘‘The Queen, the legend!’’

Nanny Audrey leading the wedding crew to the next bar!

Emma and Chris and their wedding party casually posing outside The Flute pub in Liverpool

Advice for couples planning their wedding

“Remember why you’re doing this. Keep it personal, bring your own style and flair and don’t fucking listen to anybody else if it’s not what you want.”

We second that.

“Don’t spend too much time worrying about traditions either. Take the ones you want and leave those that you don’t want. It’s your wedding and the two of you are all that matters.

If you’re currently planning your own two-day wedding click below to get in touch with the super cool team behind this real wedding, including The Baltic Hotel and Viva La Booth who you will find in our in the Book Of Love directory.

Scones and clotted cream with fresh strawberries on top to keep the wedding guests going

Emma’s gorgeous Louis Vuitton padlock necklace

Chris and Emma crossing the street, hand in hand outside Papillon

The happy couple canoodling on a pink velvet sofa

Emma and Chris about to attempt their champagne tower

What a way to kick off the celebration!

Mr and Mrs Gerrard dancing the night away in a flurry of confetti!

Here’s the list of suppliers that helped make Chris and Emma’s day wedding extravaganza so amazing:

Photography: Stella Photography

Celebrant: Modern Rituals

Cake: Catherine Braidy

Catering: Fig and the Wild