Pregnancy and wedding planning leads to Esme and Dan’s traditional wedding

Dan Craggs first laid eyes on Esme Lawrence when she was teaching a class at his gym.

“If he asked me out with no makeup on and in gym clothes, at least it could only get better!” laughs Esme, now 25.

After buying their first house together in 2015 they discovered that they were expecting their daughter, Lily. To avoid contracting the Zika virus Esme and Dan changed their original plans of a holiday to Jamaica .

Instead, the pair headed to Turkey. “Dan hired an amazing rooftop restaurant just for us,” Esme says of Dan’s incredibly romantic proposal. “The proposal was complete with candles, rose petals, and a guitarist.”

Dan, now 37, already planned the proposal to take place in Jamaica and had to change it when their holiday moved to Turkey. “He did a fantastic job – it was lovely to know he always planned to propose with or without the pregnancy.”

From there, Esme and Dan raced to get all the main wedding plans sorted before Lily’s arrival in December. By September, the pair had booked their venue, photographer, florist, DJ, and found Esme’s wedding dress. “The wedding then went on hold and baby organisation got into full swing. For those who haven’t had a baby, everything takes so much longer! It took us about three weeks to get our invites sent!”

On July 29, 2017 Esme and Dan wed before 45 day and 80 evening-guests at their traditional wedding at Trunkwell House, Reading.

“It wasn’t easy juggling a baby and planning a wedding but we succeeded and had a fabulous day complete with everything I ever hoped and dreamed for,” says Esme.

Photos courtesy of Masha Unwerth Photography.

Esme purchased her gorgeous wedding dress when she was 21 weeks pregnant! “I had to order it hoping it would look the same once I no longer had a baby bump,” she says. Esme completed her bridal look with a veil made by Dan’s mother and a hair clip from Ivory & Co.

Due to rain, Esme and Dan’s ceremony had to be moved from the garden to indoors at last minute. Despite this, Esme advises other couples against checking the weather forecast every hour of every day in the run up to the wedding. “You can’t change it – whatever happens it will be perfect,” she says.

Photographer Masha Unwerth says that the nature of Esme and Dan’s intimate wedding meant the pair had more time to enjoy their guests and as a photographer, Masha could reflect this relationship through her  vision.

As the pair already lived together, they asked guests to contribute to a honeymoon fund in lieu of gifts.

Esme’s bridesmaids wore cobalt blue multiway dresses.

 

Esme and Dan used cobalt blue as their primary wedding colour, adding bright pink and orange floral arrangements to add further depth and make the decor within their mostly white marquee pop.