Disclaimer: Sophie & Will's wedding was shot by the talented @jacobsmith_photography. The header image is from a couples shoot we did with them in 2019. We do not own the images below but permission was kindly given to use it for the purpose of this interview. Thanks Jacob!!
Sophie said to me she was initially unsure about opening up, as the wedding planning situation for them has been rough, but eventually she said it felt like therapy to share her experience, which I thought was so nice. She talks about, zoom date nights & being kind to yourself when your original date comes around!
Wedding Location: Huddersfield Town Hall
Tell us how you met or your proposal story!
We met at a rounders game a mutual friend had organised. We became friends almost straight away and after a bit of uming and ahing decided to give a relationship a go. We got engaged on the 9th of December 2019, the same day we had an offer accepted for a house we’d fallen in love with and near one of our favourite places to walk on the moors.
When were you originally supposed to get married and did your date change?
We were supposed to get married on the 29th of May 2020. In March when the lockdown came in we rescheduled the reception to the 31st of July, but were unable to rebook our ceremony. The reception was moved again to summer 2021. We eventually got married on the 4th of August 2020.
Tell us a little bit about what you initially imagined your wedding day to be like:
The most important thing to us was to celebrate our special day surrounded by those we love. We had a gorgeous venue booked, an old mill set in beautiful surroundings. It had a huge space for a dance floor, a separate room for those who wanted to rest their feet and a really pretty outside space which we planned to use for an ice cream van. And apart from the big princess dress I bought, we made every decision together, from the flower girl dresses to the invitations. We were really enjoying starting to see our big day come together exactly how we wanted it.
How did the covid restrictions change that? How did you feel initially about the changes?
When we initially found out weddings were cancelled, we tried to stay positive. We kept thinking this will be over in a couple of months and we won’t be affected, we’ll be ok. I never imagined that we wouldn’t be able to see each other and for so long. Having months and months of not knowing when we would be able to get married, or even see eachother was really hard. It almost felt like a break up. We were engaged but had no wedding to plan and nothing to get excited for. Everything was on hold.
Were there any moments in particular that were particulary emotional or stressful? How did you overcome those periods?
The whole time we were apart was really difficult – 93 days in total. I probably cried more days than didn’t. The week leading up to the original wedding day was particularly difficult. I kept trying to ignore it and carry on as normal. Mum tried to persuade me to take the day off so we could do something nice together but I was stubborn and wanted to pretend it was just a normal day. Eventually I gave in and took the day off last minute. I had a nice long lie-in. Mum made me a cooked breakfast, opened a bottle of bubbly and we sat in the garden ‘celebrating’ my not wedding day. She kept me distracted all day and I had lots of nice messages and a few surprise deliveries. It really didn’t end up being the day I was dreading after all. In the evening, I had a zoom date with Will, something we made a weekly thing.
The other difficult times were when the government made announcements about the restrictions. I would desperately try and not get my hopes up about being able to see Will but I was never successful and those days always ended up in a lot of tears. When they announced the rule that those living alone could form a support bubble with another household, we rushed to get all we needed to make our house liveable. I moved in on the 20th of June and on the 23rd of June after 93 days apart, we finally got to have a long awaited cuddle. From then on we just kept checking the news and as soon as weddings were back on Will was on the phone to the registry office trying to get us a ceremony.
On the big day itself, how were you feeling?
In one word – relieved. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. It was nothing like we had originally planned but I was just so excited to finally be able to start out lives together.
In the end, what was your day like?
A few days before our wedding Huddersfield went into local lockdown meaning we had to cancel the small tea party/reception we had planned to have in my parent’s garden afterwards. The night before, I watched my big fat Greek wedding and painted my nails with mum whilst dad recorded a talk that we weren’t going to be able to have at our ceremony. Our wedding was at the town hall. We were allowed 6 people and I have a video of the entire ceremony which is 9 minutes long. So that was it – married in 9 minutes with 6 guests. I wore a skirt I’d had sitting in my wardrobe for a couple of years. Treated myself to a new top, shoes and flower crown.
When we came out of the town hall, a few friends who lived locally had turned up outside to see us from a distance. We had few photos taken and then walked back to Wilkos car park whilst being shouted at by drunk people. Everything I ever wanted for my big day.
Here's a few images shot by @jacobsmith_photography of Sophie & Will's wedding.
