Jill + Krzysztof at The Exchange 1856 | September 2025
“Thank you so much for the ceremony! It was honestly the best ever, you were amazing, and everyone kept telling us they loved it...”
Well the first lovely part of this lovely wedding was the view from the bridal suite in The Grand Hotel Tynemouth. And as Jill, the bride, is a huge fan of being near the coast, regularly up early and down on the shoreline to catch a peachy sunrise, it was a beautifully grounding start to her day to have the waves lapping on Long Sands Beach right under the window.
Gorgeous photography by Sarah Jean
In chatting and planning their day, one of the most special things Jill and Krzysztof wanted to do was come down the aisle together, as a couple. The ceremony room at The Exchange 1856 is up a few flights of stairs and so it was decided that the guests would get settled, Jill would come up, alone, in the lift and Krzysztof would walk out from the ceremony to meet her. It was planned so these lovebirds - these absolutely besotted-with-each-other sweethearts - could have a moment just the two of them before coming back into the room to us all.
So I welcomed the guests, the music began (nice bit of Olivia Dean) and Krzysztof walked down (up? haha) the aisle to the back of the room to go meet his Jill. I thought it was such a wonderful idea (the lift doors opening? The reveal?? The romance!) but I can’t take credit for it; it was all them.
As the doors opened
Coming down the aisle together
In the ceremony we had both mums come forward to read something special of their choosing. The bride’s mum read a piece of ‘Marriage Advice’ from a Jane Wells, that - although it dated back to 1886 - was pretty evergreen in its messaging.
Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger.
Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break.
Believe the best rather than the worst.
Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship.
The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies and kindnesses you bestow on your friends.
Please hand this down to your children and your children's children.
And the groom’s mum, who has Polish heritage, read a poem in both Polish and English. It included the line “I ty właśnie ty będziesz moją damą”, which translates to: “And you, you alone, will be my lady.” A poem of loving commitment.
I find it incredibly special when a ceremony has elements of different faiths or languages or traditions, we all leave the wedding having learnt something new.
Although my grasp of Polish was limited to trying my very hardest to pronounce Krzysztof’s name correctly. I counted in my script and knew I had to say his name 33 times in the ceremony, so I wanted it to sound as he would pronounce it. God love ‘im (as my Grandma would say) cos the kindhearted chap ended up sending me a whatsapp voice note where he said his name, slowly and clearly, and God love me (gulp) because I left the ceremony convinced I’d said 33 subtle variations.
I want to be the sort of celebrant who can say someone’s name right. That really does seem like the bare minimum.
Krzysztof and Jill are both huge nature lovers, spending as much time as they can outdoors. You’ll see shells feature in some of their decor, and since they live near - and were getting married near - the coast, we decided to do a sand vase ceremony within the wedding. Sand ceremonies emerged as a new tradition around 40 years ago, often used in weddings to symbolise two people making up one family. One team.
Jill and Krzysztof both poured a different coloured sand into the vase, their colours chosen to represent a little of who they are. Blue and green represented their love of all-things earth and sea. Hiking adventures, wild swims, happy memories and future plans.
We used blue for Jill, as I explained she is “a fan of the sea, of the coast and underwater adventures…and with her blue eyes”. And green for Krzysztof, “a fan of the wild lands, of trees and mountains…and with his green eyes”.
And in a warm, lovely wedding it was a really warm, lovely moment, as they poured into a glass vase, their sand colours swirling together; a vase that they can keep at home to remind them of their wedding day. I found a vintage glass decanter in a charity shop and I’d love to know its original use and owner, as now - for the decades of their lives - it’ll sit on different shelves in all the different homes that Jill and Krzysztof will share. There when they get home from a hike or a wild swim.
“...some people thought we must have known you for years because it was so personal.”