Frankie + Sam at home in Telford | September 2025
“Yesterday was exactly how I imagined it, ceremony slightly more chaotic than I anticipated but that was foolish of me 😂. It was absolutely perfect in every way, everyone thought you were fantastic and added so so so much to the day. Thank you!!”
I’ve never done a wedding this laidback and I’d be surprised if I ever do again.
From the build up I knew it was going to be relaxed, and I’ll give you two exhibits of evidence.
Exhibit A: Frankie referred to it as their “wedding-type-thing” from the off. I like it, very vague. Very cool. Very anti-establishment.
Exhibit B: for our first two video calls - and I’m sure she won’t mind me saying this haha - Frankie forgot to show up. In fairness she was heavily pregnant and baby brain is real, and it was actually quite endearing. Life be life-ing and organising a wedding (sorry, wedding-type-thing) wasn’t her number one priority with two small kids and one on the way. Takes a forgetful queen to know a forgetful queen; we don’t necessarily remember the interaction, but we like it at the time.
So, yes, I knew this celebration was going to be different. And it was all happening in Frankie and Sam’s back garden.
Photos by my friend (and professional) Amy Elizabeth Photo
I was extremely chuffed when I heard it was my friend Amy booked as photographer (I say “friend”, we met once two years ago and have commented heart emojis on each other’s stories ever since, but that’s the definition of a modern-day friendship). Amy and I met for a Wagamamas beforehand, unsure - but excited - about what the wedding-type-day would hold.
As I arrived at Sam and Frankie’s house, it was a place of industry: peppers were being chopped into salads, the kids were getting dressed, buckets of ice were being filled with cans. Oh and, Frankie was asking if anyone had seen her best friend because she wanted her to pierce her ear. Like I said, a veritable place of industry.
In a very fun feel (and thank goodness for dry weather!), the couple had carried sofas out into the garden to create a comfortable outdoor space for the ceremony. And it really worked, creating such a relaxed family BBQ vibe.
Surrounded by the ones they love
If I didn’t know already from our conversations (I did), I knew immediately on stepping into their home that these two were absolutely lovely parents. Their living room walls were adorned with the boys’ artwork. It was like an art gallery. I’m a little ashamed about how few of my children’s doodles make the cut from recycling-bin-fodder to display-material, so it was inspiring to see a real shrine to their boys’ creativity.
In this “wedding-type-thing”, this joyous celebration of Frankie and Sam, it wasn’t all about Frankie and Sam. Not least of all because they don’t enjoy being the centre of attention. This celebration was more about them as a family, all four of them (soon-to-be five with Frankie’s bump) rather than just a “bride and groom”. It was an unweddingy-wedding.
Although they were probably the two key people, even over their mum and dad, Frankie and Sam’s little boys Elias and Connie were pretty suspicious about the whole event.
“Why is our house filling with people??” you could see they were thinking.
”Who is this strange lady trying to befriend us and get us on-side?”
But then “Oo, ballloons!” as a loved one arrived with novelty animal balloons for decoration and saved the day for a couple of overwhelmed little kids. Now, again, I’ve not seen lion, hedgehog and dinosaur balloons at a wedding before and I doubt I will again, but this wedding-type-thing was truly one-of-a-kind.
Although young Connie was not yet convinced, even with the floating prehistoric and current-day animals. And as we began, as I was welcoming friends and family to the proceedings and setting the tone, he made his feelings known, with a catapult in one hand and a Spice Girls-style Stop hand gesture with the other as he said “Stop! [long pause] …..the wedding!”. It was hilarious and one of my favourite moments.
I included a part where we welcomed up guide parents for the boys, except in this circumstance they were referred to as “guide people” because Elias didn’t want any more parents. Which is very fair kid-theory.
Another favourite moment actually made me cry, right there and then in front of their guests. I discovered literally minutes before the wedding that Frankie and Sam, wanting to write their own vows without my help, were still trying to perfect them. The vows we used in the ceremony were scribbled onto an old gift tag, iridescent red on one side, a promise of a lifetime of love on the other. Something about the realness of that really moved me.
We were meant to cut a cake, have a non-alcohol toast and a FoTB speech to end the ceremony, but I went with the flow. And the flow was their pace.
It was chaotic at times, with the bride and groom both having to pop off to fetch things for their sons (at one point at the same time so I had neither bride or groom with me at the front as I talked about their love story haha!) but that didn’t matter. We were in their back garden with their nearest and dearest for the authentically their-vibe wedding day they wanted and that’s all that matters.