Erin & James: A Wedding in the City at The Bodleian Libraries

We met at Oxford University and thought it would be fitting to get married there too! However, that aside, the venue is incredibly beautiful and historic, not to mention completely unique.

The fashion theme of the day was a combination of Art Deco and ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’, so I went for a timeless beaded Pronovias dress straight out of that era. James wore a tailored morning suit by Peter Posh to continue the timeless theme.

Continuing the Art Deco and Old Hollywood theme, we opted for three long tables for dinner, reminiscent of the dining halls at Oxford Colleges (and Hogwarts!). We added extra lighting to accentuate the beautiful architecture of the Divinity School. We chose warm autumnal colours to bring out the natural warm tones of the surrounding stone.

We chose Fabulous Wedding Flowers and wanted tall statement pieces for each table, given the high ceilings in the Divinity School. We pulled the autumnal colour scheme into our flowers, as we felt this complemented the warm tones and arches of the venue. We also love autumn and find the colours incredibly romantic.

The Pretty Cake Company made our cake. We chose a three-tiered cake, with each layer including some of our favourite flavours: chocolate, cherry bakewell, and sticky toffee pudding. The bottom tier of the cake matched the warm, burnt orange colour palette of the flowers, and the entire cake was encircled by a golden ring, decked with autumnal flowers.

The catering was provided by Oxford Fine Dining, who looked after us wonderfully. We had a three-course meal, including wedding cake for pudding.

Our photographer was Suzy Elizabeth, and we couldn’t have been happier with her. She captured the heart and soul of the day – from making the most of formal photos in front of iconic Oxford landmarks, to snapping candid shots of us partying on the dance floor.

Of course, the best part of the day was finally marrying each other! Other than that, though, it was amazing to see so many of our friends and family here in Oxford. Most of our guests travelled from different countries, and they were so blown away by the venue. Having everyone together in one place made the whole day incredibly special.

Start preparations early! Make a plan of everything that needs to be done and start work on each task as early as you can – you can even make tedious, repetitive work fun by making it a date night with a bottle of wine and a takeaway. You really don’t want to leave everything to the last minute and completely exhaust yourself before your big day.