Autumn Wedding Ideas & Tips

12.10.2019 - Our perfect Autumn wedding in the centre of our hometown Manchester. I thought I’d share our day and suppliers and top tips in case you’re drowning in wedmin, newly engaged and not sure where to start, or just like looking at wedding photos like me!

12.10.2019 Autumn Wedding at Great John Street Hotel. Photo by About Today Photography.

First up I would recommend sorting three things first. The Venue, The Photographer and The Florist. Those three big things are a massive step in the right direction and then I found most other things fell into place after I had booked these.

Shout out to our amazing photographers Zoe & Tom from About Today Photography to whom 95% of these photos are theirs. I couldn’t recommend them enough and I am soooo pleased with the way they captured our day. From the big epic shots to the tiny detail, everything is there recorded forever and it’s so difficult not to print all 650 of them! If only I had more walls!

Another thing I would highly recommend is a Videographer if you can afford it. We went for a highlight reel and it is so lovely to be able to watch it back time and time again and share with family and friends. Our Videographer was the incredibly talented Amy Louise who created the perfect highlight reel with all the songs from our wedding. It really is worth the extra money on top of a photographer.

Still from our Wedding highlight reel by Amy Louise Photography.

The Venue

Great John Street Hotel, Manchester.

We knew we wanted a city centre wedding almost immediately. I wanted those industrial gritty photos with a boutique feel. Great John Street Hotel was the first out of only two venues we saw and we pretty much decided it was the one straight away. My top tip would be to decide what works for you - City or Country, Traditional or Quirky and then narrow down the search to a top 5. That way you don’t get overwhelmed by visiting loads of places and you also have a couple of back ups in case one isn’t available. We were flexible on dates - knowing only that we wanted to get married in October which gave us a bit of freedom.

Because we had the whole day there, we decided to use all three spaces that Great John Street offered in order to make it feel like different venues. The ceremony was held on the top floor with drinks and canapés on the rooftop. We were so lucky that it was a beautiful Autumn day but there were plenty of heaters and parasols to fend off the Manchester weather if things had been different.

The wedding breakfast was held in the Oyster bar with it’s fabulous chandelier and mezzanine. It turned into the best dance floor after food too.

Always check for a Plan B in case the weather doesn’t play ball and maybe enquire about different spaces in your venue to get the most out of your day.

The Oyster Bar, Great John Street Hotel, Manchester.

The Dress, Suits & Bridesmaid Dresses

I started out without a clue what kind of dress I wanted. Some girls know exactly what they want, others haven’t even thought about it. I was one of the latter. I took all the advice and booked myself into 4 bridal shops across a few Saturdays. The first shop was where I tried on every single style of dress possible. I took my mum and my bridesmaids and to my surprise I loved the whole experience. Trying on dresses is actually fun and I was shocked at how many I liked. We made a whole day of it with lunch and a few proseccos and it was lovely. I would highly recommend bringing your bridal party and turning it into a special occasion.

Ronald Joyce Jodie Wedding Dress from Cheshire Bridal Wear.

I found my Ronald Joyce dress from the gorgeous Cheshire Bridal Wear in Altrincham, who are sadly closing their doors this year but if you’re quick you might be able to bag a bargain in their closing down sale. I loved the off the shoulder bateau neckline and simple Mikado material - not forgetting the bit of bling on the waist and of course the pockets - which was basically what sold it to me!

The groomsmen suits were hired from Whitfield & Ward where we found the perfect Autumnal colours to fit with our theme. Ben chose a copper tie from Cad & Dandy and Whitfield & Ward sourced groomsmen ties to match the bridesmaids dresses.

Groomsmen suits from Whitfield & Ward, Bridesmaids Dresses from Coast.

Accessories

Leopard Print wedding shoes. Photo by About Today Photography.

Another tip from me is to do your wedding your way. Choose a pair of shoes you love and will wear again, get your nails done exactly as you like to wear them and choose make up artists/hair dressers whom you know and trust. It’s a little known secret that I pretty much wear something leopard print everyday so I didn’t want to let my wedding day be any different. I found these shoes from Lost Ink and I love them! I have worn them at least 10 times since too! I got my nails done in the fab So, West Didsbury and I couldn’t recommend them enough for totally getting it.

My hair was done by Hannah who has been my hairdresser for as long as I can remember and makeup by the gorgeous Amy who I have also known for years. They are also really good friends so it was the ultimate dream team! My hair piece was custom made by Peacock & Pearl who totally got my vision of Autumn leaves, it was perfect for when my veil came off and I still felt like I had some bling in my hair.

Flowers

My love of The Flower Lounge is no secret and I knew exactly who I wanted to do my flowers when Ben proposed. Sian and her team are the best in the business and really helped put the whole look together. Sian is an expert in seasonal flowers and we used a mixture of local and European grown. I requested Autumnal with quirky feathers in my bouquet and Sian nailed it.

Wedding details from The Flower Lounge.

The Flower Lounge also hires accessories including lanterns, vases and the fab hexagonal arch which proved really popular for guest photos. Every single person commented on how amazing the flowers were and they truly transformed the rooms from gorgeous to wow!

Hexagonal Arch from The Flower Lounge.

Bridesmaids Bouquets from The Flower Lounge.

Stationary

Frain and Grain do the most beautiful illustrations of North West wedding venues and I had a very clear vision in my mind for our Wedding plan having seen something similar on Pinterest. After an initial first meeting with Mark, we got to work straight away on designing all the stationary for the big day including the wedding invitations.

I love the invitations so much I have had one framed which is a fab way to remember the day. I also want to hang our table plan on the wall too in the new year.

Great John Street Hotel Table Plan by Frain & Grain

Framing wedding invitations - a cheap and easy way to remember your day!

Styling

Wedding table decor from Florence & Vera.

As much as I really really wanted to do the table dressing myself, I am so glad I enlisted the help of Kate from Florence & Vera. If you are able to dress your venue the night before then it could work out cheaper to do it yourself but there was practically no time for me to do it the morning of. It also really takes the stress out of the day knowing everything has been taken care of. I met up with Kate and Sian who helped dress the tables too and we designed the layout together. That way I had lots of creative input with two experts in the field and knew the venue would be dressed to perfection.

We went for an eclectic feel which is very much my style and focused on all the autumnal colours. Teals, oranges and brass and copper all mixed together to bring together a gorgeous scheme. Other little details included Autumn leaf place names made by Lucky Nibs and charger plates from White House Crockery which I won in an Instagram competition - it’s always worth an enter if you feel lucky!

Leaf place names from Lucky Nibs. Photo by About Today Photography.

One last minute decision which totally paid off was to hire vintage festoon lights from local light extraordinaire Love Lights The Way. They finished off the mezzanine railings alongside the Flower Lounge’s spectacular floral banister.

Entertainment

We made our own playlists for the drinks reception and wedding breakfast but hired the brilliant Cassettes as our wedding band for the evening do because nothing beats a live wedding band. The Cassettes recorded a bespoke first dance for us and have an amazing repertoire of songs that kept everyone on the dance floor till the end!

The Finishing Touches

A few bits I brought from home included the “Story of Us” wire clipboard with mini pictures of us over the years printed out and guestbook signage on my trusty letterboard. The cake was from Marks and Spencers with a wedding topper from Etsy. We chose cocktails as our wedding favours which went down a storm. Guests could pick between an Espresso Martini or Negroni which are our favourite go to drinks.

Liumy Guestbook.

Our guestbook was customised by Liumy who makes the most gorgeous books. We hired a Polaroid camera from Snap & Love so our guests could take pictures and sign the guestbook. It made a brilliant momento of the day. And finally I bought two balloons from Balloonsmith for our Flower Girl and Page Boy to walk down the aisle with. It was a genius idea as they were so excited to hold these balloons and walked like a dream with no tantrum in sight!

Balloon from Balloonsmith. Photo by About Today Photography.

So there you have it, a couple of tips for creating the perfect Autumn Wedding. Remember to just do you when it comes to getting married. The day is all about the two of you and should reflect you in every way. Don’t worry about traditions if you don’t like them - make your own. A mix of suppliers that reflect you as a couple is the best way to create that vision. Happy planning!

Manchester City Centre Wedidng. Photo by About Today Photography.

Pushing Myself Out Of My Comfort Zone - Food Styling

Something I have been wanting to do for a while now was enrolling in a course that could challenge me a little bit. Sometimes a project is good to focus the mind and when I saw Catherine Frawley was releasing her Food Styling E Course, I took the plunge and used some of my savings to enrol. I have always admired Catherine’s gorgeous photographs of food and felt this was an area I could definitely do with some improvement.

I thought I would share some pictures I created from the course and the results of me FINALLY shooting with Auto off!

Week 1

Story: Prepping for an Italian Feast

I wanted to bring an authentic feel to the image, rather than it be polished hence the flour. The pan in the top right on hindsight is probably too black and also probably a bit too modern for the shot but I love the vibrancy of the tomatoes even if they did just come from Tesco!

Prepping for an Italian Feast Flatlay

Week 2

Story: Breakfast Flat lay

There are lots of props to convey an authentic breakfast story - jam jars, milk jugs, granola, croissants, coffee makes the perfect Sunday morning shot. Looking back at this image now I would probably lose the teaspoon as it’s a bit too straight and random looking.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Flatlay

Week 3

Story: Stacked Doughnuts

This was probably my favourite challenge of the 4 weeks. I thought long and hard about what I could stack and make look delicious. Pinterest brought doughnuts to my attention and after quick trip to Sainsburys, 12 doughnuts later, I had created these set of images.

Stacked doughnuts and milk

Zebra doughnut flatlay

Stacked doughnuts and mug

Week 4

Story: Sunday Afternoon Banana Bread

So this is where I really pushed myself and actually baked! I’m not much of a baker, cook or domestic queen but everyone reassured me Banana bread was really easy to do. Turns out it was! And it actually tasted nice! A bit of mascarpone dolloped on top and my favourite Mind over Matter mug (a percentage of the sale goes to Mind Charity) filled to the brim with a homemade mocha, the perfect Sunday afternoon was created!

Freshly baked banana bread with mascarpone and mocha

Freshly baked banana bread - Sunday afternoon treat

I have just seen that Catherine is releasing her last course of the year and if you were considering it, I would thoroughly recommend. I loved having challenges to get creative with, we all need to push ourselves sometimes!

After completing this course, a couple of friends of mine started their own Taco side hustle so it was my pleasure to help them out. Manchester folks make sure you check out No Manches Tacos for upcoming gigs. Here are some of the images I created, really hoping to do more of this. Thanks Catherine - you really got my creativity ignited again!

60k & What I learned Along The Way

Celebrating 60k followers on Instagram. Bought myself some ridiculous balloons to celebrate!

This week I reached 60,000 followers on Instagram. That is massive for me - I started my styling account on Instagram in 2016 and never dreamed I could get it to where it is now. To celebrate I bought myself some ridiculous balloons and decided to shout about it. People say numbers don’t matter and of course they don’t in real life but I am proud of what I’ve managed to achieve working full time in a “proper job” and running this little side hustle on evenings and weekends.

So whether you have ambitions for 100 followers or 100,000 followers, I thought I’d share some of my journey and some tips I’ve learnt along the way.

Inappropriate Balloons are a must for the gram! ;)

1. Hashtags - Are they important?

I would say yes, they still are important. Here was my first ever Instagram post - I used a total of 6 hashtags. I achieved 11 likes. Granted it’s not the greatest post ever produced but when you are just starting out, hashtags are the best way to get your page seen. And it still works even if you have lots of followers - one of my latest posts this week reached over 20,000 people from hashtags alone. This doesn’t convert to likes or followers but it means people are still finding my page and searching via hashtags.

My very first Instagram post for Northern Styling - 11 likes, 6 hashtags

You are allowed to use 30 hashtags per post on Instagram and I cannot stress enough how important it is to USE THEM ALL. Also make sure they are relevant to your post. Don’t use interior hashtags if you are posting a picture of the beach, for example. Have a look at people who have similar successful accounts to what you have or would like. See what hashtags they are using and use them too.

Another top tip would be to mix it up, constantly be on the search for new hashtags to make sure you don’t use the same ones for every post. This means you won’t just be seen by the same people but by more and more new people who have the potential to become followers if they like what they see.

Insights from a latest post and the reach from hashtags.

2. Planning

I have always been an advocate of planning my grid for a number of reasons. Firstly, working full time during the week means I only have the weekends to create content. Once I have taken the photos, I load them into an app called Mosaico to place them in a grid like format which is linked to my Instagram account. This allows me to move and swap images depending on well they sit together.

Think about the images in terms of how they fill the frame. Some images are fit to burst in the square as they are close up, some have a bit of space as they were taken further away. Some have clean negative space to allow the image to breathe. Thinking about this will allow to balance out the images so visually the grid works together.

Using Mosaico for a consistent grid.

Other reason I love this app is because it allows you to save and store hashtags in categories so there’s no need to type 30 hashtags every time you post. They are all saved here, in categories relating to different topics and I mix them up whenever it is necessary.

3. Finding Your Style

Your social media account should represent you and what you like. People invest in people so it always helps if there is a personality behind the account. Instagram is a visual platform which means pretty pictures are always welcome but over the years we have seen stories, behind the scenes, posting what matters and being honest rise in popularity. There is still very much a community on this little app so find your people and reach out to them.

The early days of my grid. It was a bit of mismatch of things but that doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up occasionally.

Getting a bit more consistent with the grid, you can see the theme and style coming through here.

This is what I would say is my favourite part of the grid at the moment. Colours are balanced and there’s a good mixture of images.

4. Editing & The Magic Healing Tool

Disclaimer Alert - I am not a professional photographer. I take most images on my iPhone and my Olympus Pen camera. Although I have a basic knowledge for composition and a probably a “good eye” picked up along the way from practise and my day job, my skill lies mainly in editing.

The power of technology these days means you don’t need a fancy Mac and a load of expensive software to edit pictures for social media. You can simply download a couple of apps and voila! Instant editing software with a few go to tools that will help enhance your image.

Before & After Editing in VSCO.

The first app I use is VSCO. This is preset/editing tool which helps to create consistent images for your grid. There are hundreds of presets to choose from and I mainly stick to A5. This is my favourite because it gives me a bit of contrast (huge fan of contrast) and a mood which I can’t really explain - it just feels like me! I would suggest trying out this app, have fun with it. Try things you would never try and find the preset that speaks to you the most. Once you have found “the one”, you can edit every photo with it and create a unique style for yourself. VSCO also has useful tools like exposure, contrast, straighten. As you can see above, a wonky picture became straight by using the tools available on this app.

I have recorded a quick and dirty video which you can see here of how I edited this particular image.

Using the Healing tools on Photoshop. Ugly satellite dish - now you see, now you don’t.

Another favourite app of mine is the Photoshop Fix app. The healing tools have been my lifesaver over the years. Editing out little imperfections such as a wire or like the satellite dish that was ruining the shot above, I don’t know how it does it but it is magic! And is done all on your phone using your finger and a gentle touch - perfect for on the go editing.

5. Working with Brands

And finally, the last thing I want to talk about is working with brands. As your Instagram grows, it may be an ambition of yours to work with brands and style up some product. When first starting out I would always recommend collaborating on a gifting basis which is where the brand will gift you an item in exchange for you photographing and posting it on your grid. This could be a cushion or a candle, a dress or some food - just make sure it is relevant to your style and ethos. In the early days, it was all about learning and gaining experience. My first ever collaboration was a cushion that was very kindly gifted by Happy & Co.

Very first brand collaboration with Happy & Co.

I spent hours on this photo, trying the cushion in all different positions, bringing in props and trying to coax the cat to pose perfectly alongside it! The final image is pretty ropey but it gained me so much knowledge. How to communicate with brands, how to slot the #ad into my grid, how to sound genuine and not sales pitchy. Over the years I’ve done many gifting collaborations and the one piece of advice everyone always says is “only do it if you like the brand, like the item and feel like it represents you.” It is 100% true. Remember what I said about people invest in people? Well if you’re trying to preach about a loo roll holder when your account is all about travel, you are not only confusing your following, you are being untrue to your page. And people can spot non genuine posts a mile off.

Flower Lounge Collaboration

As you get bigger and grow, it might be time to consider your worth for working with brands. Especially bigger brands. Shots like this Flower Lounge image above took a full day to set up and plan. This is precious time for me especially working full time. I know I have to allocate hours to this project, hours I could be spending relaxing or spending time with friends. Luckily I love doing it but it doesn’t mean my time is free. Knowing your worth is really important and don’t be afraid to agree a payment if you want. There is a lot of negativity around Influencers and Instagram but it is a highly valuable tool for brands. If there were advertising in a magazine they would pay a fortune for ad space. This is exactly the same on Instagram - it’s ad space and it shouldn’t be something to be mocked.

Tile Giant Flat lay Collaboration

6. Over To You

If you have made it through to the end of this post then well done you! And thank you! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my blog, follow my Instagram, comment on my posts and likes the images. It really means a lot! And I wish you all the luck if you are trying to grow and find your niche in the Instagram community! Give me a hello on there and I will be sure to follow and support!

My most liked post ever - 17.6k likes, 129 comments, 337 shares & 4.5k saves.