Luke and Jemima's Wedding in Clacton On Sea, Essex

Luke is Irish, and a lot of his family came over from Ireland for the wedding, so we really wanted our wedding day to feel like the joining of two families and two traditions. There was a wonderful community feel to our day, with our friend making our wedding cake, Jemima's aunt as the celebrant, and our best friends singing during the ceremony. We had a handfasting, which is a celtic tradition, and lots of celtic music. We were aligned in that we wanted to have a big celebration, an Irish ceili, and that we wanted our wedding to be as sustainable as it could possibly be. We had vegan food for this reason, and a lot of the decor was purchased second-hand, such as our table runners and candlesticks. We gave wildflower seeds as our wedding favours. Jemima's dress was made from eco silk by her school friend, Ailsa Munro, who is now a bridal dressmaker. She had a big silk skirt with a big bow fastened over a shorter tulle dress for ceili dancing; and the bridesmaids dresses, flower girl dress, Jemima's shoes and various other pieces of decor were purchased on Vinted! She is especially proud of finding the bridesmaids' dresses in all the right sizes and colours! The groomsmens' suits were rented and the floristry was minimal and local in order to reduce the day's carbon footprint. We also encouraged our guests to rewear clothes they already own so as not to contribute to fast fashion. In terms of the aesthetic we opted for classic simplicity. The venue itself is so beautiful that it needs very little added. Green is Jemima's favourite colour, is the colour of Ireland, and also hints at our love of nature, so it was the perfect theme colour.