I definitely fell into this category – I’m not ‘girly’ bride material and a structured, traditional day was never on the cards for us. There was an informal ceremony (non the less beautiful in a botanical gardens glass house) and then a celebration befitting us and our friends, as well as our lifestyle. At the time I did worry that we would regret it, we never have. Our friends, time and time mention just what a great day it was and the fact that it wasn’t another identikit x, y then z bash.

Alternative luxury

This doesn’t mean skimping on the style, it’s just looking at how your day can reflect you both as a couple and being true to what you really want. If a big budget wedding is not your bag, then spend it on the house, or carefully mix and match the areas that are more important to you and worthy of the higher budget. Alternatively if wall to wall luxury is your (Gucci) bag then the options are endless for creating a day that is awash with carefully picked elements of individual style.

For me luxury is about something unique, something no one else has - it is certainly not a package.

Tastes, traditions and attitudes change, and the contemporary wedding is on the rise. Stunning off the peg gowns such as the stunning collection from Solace London provide beautiful modern shapes and achingly chic designs. – god, I wish I had known about these when I was getting married…. Wear what you look your most fabulous in, get the red Manalo B’s.

Restuarant & fine dining weddings

Alternative venues from Michelin starred restaurants to galleries and even shoot locations can provide stunning and individual backdrops to the day, I’ve delivered a lot of cakes to a lot of places and one stately home can merge into another as beautiful as they are… Chic modern interiors and architecture make for a set of images you will never forget.

Look beyond traditional wedding flowers to modern floral installations and arrangements, mono colours, clashing brights or foliage, to exotic and architectural statements. Keep it loose with wildflowers or seasonal blossom branches.

Gastronomic journeys from THE most delicious, authentic street food to the best in modern fine dining – it’s all about the quality and diversity not constraint and traditional norms. I have delivered cakes to Pollen St Social, The Greenhouse Mayfair and Le Manoir amongst others, all with unique dining experiences worthy of one of the best days of your life.

From my particular point of view, my Room 101’s have to be cake toppers and dessert tables that look like Shirley Temple and her pet unicorn threw them up. I do keep my cakes on the simple elegant and very contemporary side, with onus on the design, not just throwing edible gold paint at them. Desserts should be the same – go for contemporary and excellent quality and know they really, really (really) taste good.

At the end of the day your wedding is about you, your family (blood and otherwise) and about having the best, most memorable and joyous day imaginable.

So, whether it’s intimate, modest or exquisitely curated luxury - just do it your way…