Harriet + Richie | April 2025
“Sarah—oh my god, just wow! You’re an amazing wordsmith, simply incredible at what you do, and an absolute pleasure to be around.”
Harriet and Richie had booked Shortflatt Tower in the hope of getting married under an ancient tree in the grounds, should the weather be good enough. And theirs was an April wedding. I held my breath. The day dawned and there wasn’t just a happy absence of April showers. It wasn’t just a pleasant day. It was pure blue skies and (at 19°) a positively tropical Northumberland day. I looked out of my window and was over-the-moon for them.
We celebrated their marriage under blue skies and a 1000 year-old tree
We were sat away from the main Tower at Shortflatt, a field to one side, and just before the guests arrived a family of deer leapt across the lawn, just a few metres from where the ceremony was laid out. It was amazing. I was just disappointed it hadn’t happened a short while later and been part of the ceremony itself! Especially given Harriet and Richie are such animal-lovers.
As it was, their three dogs were the only creatures to feature…but that’s still more than any animals I’ve had as part of a wedding to date! First Nellie came down the aisle with the bridesmaids, Ziggy was the ring bearer, and then Aries, who can’t be fully trusted, was just there for a good time. The lovely Cameron from Wagging Tails was there to play chaperone.
Images by Jenny Fozard Photography
But before any of that, before anyone came down the aisle, there was a surprise in store. Harriet had told me, just a few days prior, that she’d commissioned a song about her man Richie. Lyrics written by her, and then - when we heard it sung, with the whisky-warm voices of Nashville-duo Foxrun - there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Well, in the field.
I hadn’t found the right person until I found you
From the moment you stood on my doorstep with flowers for two
For me and my girl
Because that’s how their love story started. A swipe, like many start. But then a man who turned up on their first with not only a bouquet for his Tinder date, but acknowledged her little girl too with a bunch of her own. There was so much emotion in Harriet and Richie’s ceremony, and lots of it hinged around how Richie had stepped in and up as a father for Harriet’s daughter Grace.
A galant groom holding his mother-in-law’s glasses on securely so she could do her reading!
The two best parts of the whole ceremony, hands down, didn’t involve me at all. Harriet’s song floored us all, and had the whole congregation hanging on every word.
And then my favourite part of the whole ceremony - and I’d hazard a guess this was unanimous across the guests - was Grace’s incredible speech. She’s just a young girl but she delivered a self-written speech from the front that not only had the audience laughing and crying, but she projected like a pro. Loud, clear, enunciated and with comic timing. I told her afterwards that I look forward to being able to say “I saw her first monologue!!” when she’s a famous actress.
Grace’s incredible speech had us all in pieces
Coincidentally, as I was writing this blog, while I was looking at photos of Harriet and Richie on the screen in front of me, an email popped up from Harriet herself, asking if I would do another ceremony for her family. Her beloved grandma Shirley had passed away and they wanted me to lead her celebration of life. What a joy that her grandma lived long enough to see this wedding day, witness how happy her granddaughter was with this caring man, and what an honour to be invited back and trusted to - this time - tell Shirley’s story.
“Sarah is talented, patient, gentle, and very funny. She held so much space for us all and treated us like family! She does such justice beyond your expectations to create a memorable experience for everyone.”