Relaxed DIY wedding at Chichester Village Hall in Godalming – Hattie & Tom

Hattie & Toms DIY Village Hall Wedding was super fun and personal!

Hattie and Tom got married last July at the lovely Chichester Village Hall, which is a beautiful village hall in Godalming. They had their official ceremony a few days before, which meant they could have a personal celebrant led ceremony at the venue. They chose Chichester Hall, because it has so many options and it cut the budget right down for them. It was a DIY wedding, which I really love because you get that strong sense of family and friends helping out. I love shooting weddings at village halls, because it’s always so chilled and there’s no strict schedule. This hall in particular was lovely and light inside and had a cricket pitch outside which meant plenty of open space to take couple photos.

Getting ready

They both got ready at home together, and the atmosphere was so calm. They chose to have their best man and maid of honor with them whilst they got ready and had a first look before they left which was so lovely and I would totally recommend. The group then jumped into a taxi to the ceremony. They chose to ignore traditions and walked into their ceremony together.

The ceremony

The wedding itself was a humanist ceremony in the hall conducted by the stage lined up with beautiful vases of flowers. During the ceremony they had several beautiful readings from friends and family. It was such a personal service. and included a ring warming ceremony where the couples rings are passed among all the guests who then get to silently pass their own wishes or blessings onto the rings. Although there were a lot of laughs when the wind decided to play a little joke and caused some of the vases to fall on the floor and covering their feet in water! But Tom & Hattie totally laughed it off and carried on with their day!

After the ceremony

The reception was at the same venue, they had an outside drinks reception in the afternoon, and a live band in the evening. It was such a lovely day guests took advantage of the opportunity to sit outside and mingle and also have a go on the hula hoops that appeared. They decorated the venue with wildflowers and bunting, because they wanted to keep it simple. I particularly loved the hoop that they had made as a way to display their table plan and the blue gingham table cloths that totally fitted with the village hall theme. For dinner they served pie and mash, which was loved by all the guests. The first dance was scrapped and instead the band played for everyone to start dancing!

The best part of the day was the afternoon reception, because everyone was so happy catching up in the sun and not having too many time restraints to adhere too. They also did their cake cutting outside – it was the first time I’ve seen that at a wedding and so lovely!

The couple

Hattie wore a beautiful dress from Etsy that was classic on the front and had a total colourful party in the back and Tom wore a TKMaxx special suit and they looked so perfect. Hattie’s shoes were red Kurt Geiger and their flowers were beautiful arranged by Toms mum, Mary.

Hattie and Tom’s wedding was so laid back and everything I love about weddings. Here’s their awesome wedding!