Blog – Filipa & Pedro Winter Wedding
The happy couple, Filipa & Pedro had a great start to 2020 with their winter wedding at our Hospituim.
So how did it happen? Tell us your engagement story
It happened on our 5th anniversary together. We decided to go for a walk before an afternoon tea and ended up going to the gardens behind the York Minster and he decided that we should take a selfie (which Pedro doesn’t take initiative to do, so I should’ve noticed something was off) with the Minster behind. His intentions were that I would catch the proposal on camera but I was so surprised that the selfie ended up being a blurred picture of the sky.
Why did you choose the Hospitium for your special day?
We have been living in york for a couple of years and have always seen weddings happening in the Hospitium. I’ve always wondered how it looked from the inside and always made a little joke saying that we would get married there (this was way before the proposal). A few weeks after we got engaged there was an open viewing of the Hospitium and as soon as I walked in I knew it was meant to be, and on top of that the surroundings of the venue just makes it even more perfect.
Did you pick a theme or have a vision for your day?
We wanted our day to be very simple and bohemian.
Onto the flowers! Who did your flowers and what style did you go for?
Fiona Hogg was our florist ad she was the perfect choice! 1st of all, she already knows the venue very well and she has a special way of giving form to your vision. We wanted tulips (my favourite flower) and orchids (my grandma’s favourite flower – she passed away many years ago and it was our way of sharing our day with her) with lots of greenery.
Tell us about the dress!
The dress was a complete surprise to me – its very true when people say you end up picking something different from what you wanted initially. I knew exactly the shape I wanted to go for but I thought I was going to pick a top to bottom lace dress and ended up going for a 1920’s beaded dress, with the shape that I wanted, from Eliza Jane Howell.
Did you have favours on the day? If so, what did you go for?
We decided to do something different from the traditional favours. We did “the wedding shoe game” the three people who got more answers correctly we gave them a bottle of Madeira Wine (it’s a fortified wine from Madeira Island, where we’re both from).
Who was your photographer and why did you choose them?
We chose Ben Jenkins. We were looking for a good mix of group photos and natural photos and after looking at his previous jobs we could tell that it was exactly what we wanted. When we met him for the 1st time he was really interested to know us and our history and we knew that he was going to capture our day perfectly.
How was the run-up to the big day? Any nerves?
We were both really nervous the previous two day, both our families were arriving and we just wanted to make sure there were no problems with the flights and that everyone would be there for the day. On the night before the wedding I realised there was nothing else I could physically do so I was completely relaxed after that. I can’t say the same for the groom, since he hadn’t finished his speech and he was still going to take some decorations to the venue.
Tell us about the ceremony and reception décor…
We had the pillars in the downstairs room wrapped with green foliage, flowers and fairy lights and the bottom of each pillar we had some candles and scattered flower petals. We also had a centrepiece on the registrars’ table, which was used on the top table after the ceremony.
Who can forget the food, tell us what you went for?
We went for a ricotta and parma ham with roasted fig as started and beef wellington for main, we provided vegetarian options if the guests preferred that option. For dessert, we had a vanilla cheesecake with berry coulis and ice cream. The food was absolutely divine!!
Did you have a standout moment?
For me personally, the groom’s speech was amazing (but I guess I’m suspicious since I’m his wife). I think the whole day was just absolutely amazing, it surpassed our expectations and what/how we thought it would be.
Suppliers
Brides Dress – Eliza Jane Howell
Brides shoes – Rockport
Grooms formal wear – Hugo Boss
Makeup done by the bride
Florist – Fiona Hogg
Cake – Florian Poirot
Entertainment – NightOwls