If anyone is planning a 2021 wedding and is looking for some inspiration in how they can adapt their day, Hannah and Pete’s Bohemian Beach wedding may just give you some ideas. Hannah and Pete were one of the amazing couples who decided to take on the huge challenge of having their wedding during the pandemic. I think its really easy to view a gallery and forget about all the challenges and disappointment a couple must endure when they are forced to adapt their wedding celebrations. The restrictions imposed upon couples wanting to tie the knot were often so quick to change, that it meant planning their big day 2,3 and sometimes even 4 times! This is no easy thing to do and I have so much admiration for those couples who found a way to roll with the pandemic punches! And that is exactly what Hannah and Pete did.

From the moment I met Hannah and Pete I was really excited about their wedding plans, it had all the makings to be a corker of a day plus the service was at St Marys Hitchin, my fav church in my fav town! When it became clear that the pandemic wasn’t going to allow them to hold a large celebration, these guys came up with a rather unique plan. Hannah told me how she was thinking about getting married and then heading to a beach. When I saw these words flash up on my screen I got super excited.

This was an example of a wedding day that would normally never happen, but when you are forced to reduce the time you can spend with your guests, it opens up different options, and all of a sudden a trip to the beach after a service in Hitchin suddenly becomes totally do-able! So thats exactly what we did.

Hannah’s bridal prep may have had some covid safety tweaks applied to it, but it still had all the excitement of a typical wedding morning. The minute I arrived Hannah already looked like a rock star. The term bohemian bride was made for Hannah and it was such a pleasure to watch her get ready with such a breezy effortless grace about her. Her coolness is matched only by that of Pete’s, my first groom to bring his guitar along to his wedding and sing during the service.

I have so many special memories of this wedding but one of my favourites was watching Hannah walk to the church, from the market Square in Hitchin. The square was full of people having their lunch outside (another result of the pandemic) and as she walked the short distance everyone started to clap. It really was a pretty special moment. The service was simply beautiful. It’s funny how 30 socially distanced people can easily make the church feel full, even though I know it can hold so many more, its almost impossible to imagine it full now. After the service and snaps, Hannah made sure she had enough time to grab a smoothy at her favourite place in town Chia.

Then came the mad dash from Hitchin to West Wittering. Trying to get to the beach before the sun dipped felt like some crazy car racing challenge, but we made it and we had about 1 hour of perfect daylight left. West Wittering is a large sandy beach in an area of outstanding beauty, well worth the 2.30 hour drive!! We were joined by Lottie, Hannah and Petes gorgeous little pup and I brought along my glamorous assistant/dog walker/driver, my husband who kept Lottie happy while we grabbed the most stunning shots. They ended their day eating soup while the sun went down. You don’t get more Boho than that in my book!

I look back at this wedding with so much love. Life has thrown these guys a hell of a lot this year but what was so special about the day was seeing how they were able to make something beautiful out of such a tricky situation. Here are some very kind words from Hannah and Pete!

“Erica is the best! I thought I’d struck gold when I saw her webpage and then we met her in person and she is also one of the most amazing people you will ever meet! She is so warm, friendly, and shows so much enthusiasm for your day. We had to change our plans a couple of times because of COVID restrictions. Erica was flexible, understanding and I felt like she got excited about our ideas with us!