Holly and Luke trade formalities for fun at rustic vintage wedding

They say “what happens in Cyprus stays in Cyprus,” but this wasn’t the case for Holly Mansell and Luke Copping.

While holidaying on the Mediterranean island with girlfriends, Holly, 31, overheard a group of lads that shared her Essex accent. “It ended up that we all had mutual friends and that we only lived 15 minutes from one another!” she recalls of meeting Luke, 31.

Although their romance didn’t start straight away, the two began dating soon after returning home from their respective trips. “From then on, we have never looked back,” she says.

The Essex pair wed on September 22, 2016 among 180 witnesses at St Clements Church in Leigh on Sea – a church Holly’d had her sights on since childhood.

This however was one of the few “traditional things” the pair chose for their rustic vintage wedding, instead doing away with many of the formalities.

“We wanted the day to be relaxed and have less structure,” Holly says. “We opted for street food, cut out the speeches and the first dance, and went straight on to partying and cocktails!”

“The day was just absolutely perfect.”

Photos courtesy of Jess Soper Photography.

Holly wore a vintage style gown with lace beaded overlay, a scalloped hem, and a low scalloped back. “My mum cried, so I knew it was definitely the one!”

While relaxing on a spa weekend in Kent, the pair took a walk through the deer inhabited grounds. There, by a beautiful lake, Luke proposed to Holly.

“We wanted the flowers to look rustic,” says Holly. “Almost as if they were thrown together rather than carefully placed together.”

Holly’s bridesmaid Alice made four of the bridesmaid dresses herself. While the bottom of each dress matched, the tops were individually chosen by each bridesmaid to suit their tastes.

Groom Luke dressed very on-trend in a grey wool tweed suit by Next Retail.

 

The decor was a mixture of vintage props collected by the couple over the past years.

An incredible party atmosphere was created through a mix of old school garage, hip hop, Motown, and R&B by wedding entertainer Piano DJ.

“We put our absolute all into creating our dream day, and it paid off!”