Our secret Brighton wedding. The city made it ours.

A drink first. Then off to get married.

Our first wedding was a secret wedding. It was just Rob and me, our children and three groups of close friends. We kept it small and casual, with a bigger summer celebration for our families and friends to follow.

We met at The Mesmerist for a drink before going to Brighton Town Hall. I love that this is part of our wedding story. A drink with our friends, then our ceremony, right in the heart of Brighton. It felt relaxed from the beginning.

The warmest welcome at Brighton Town Hall.

The ceremony was beautiful. The team at Brighton Town Hall made us feel so welcome, and that is something I remember with so much affection. Our wedding was small, but it felt full of warmth.

My son had his own priorities, of course. He wanted to know if it was over yet so we could go to Bohemia! That little moment is as much a part of the memory as anything else. A beautiful ceremony, and a very practical question about what was happening next.

The beautiful Lanes, part of the celebration.

For me, the lovely thing about a Brighton wedding is that the city becomes part of it. The Town Hall, the beautiful Lanes, places to stop for a drink and somewhere to share a meal: together, they gave our little celebration its shape.

We did not need one big venue to hold the whole day. Brighton gave us different places for different moments, with the Lanes bringing that unmistakable feeling of the city into our wedding story.

Champagne, cocktails and a very good Chinese meal.

After the ceremony, we did exactly what my son had been waiting for: we went to Bohemia. There was champagne, there were cocktails, and there was time to celebrate with our little group.

Then we had an amazing Chinese meal at Gars, before going back to Bohemia for more drinks. That was our wedding celebration. Good food, the people we wanted beside us and a day that felt easy to enjoy.

A walk by the sea to finish.

After our meal at Gars and another visit to Bohemia, we capped the day with a walk along the seafront. From the Town Hall and the Lanes to the sea: such a Brighton way to get married.

That walk was a lovely final part of the day. We had our ceremony, our celebrations and time beside the sea, all without turning it into a late night.

In bed by nine. Happily.

There was no late finish to our first wedding day. We were in bed by nine, after what had been such an amazing celebration.

I would not measure that day by how long it lasted or how many people were there. When I think about it, I remember the welcome at the Town Hall, my son asking about Bohemia, and how much we enjoyed ourselves.

Why I loved getting married in Brighton.

Brighton was so much more than the address on our wedding day. The welcome at the Town Hall, the character of the Lanes, champagne and cocktails at Bohemia, our meal at Gars and that walk along the seafront all belonged to the celebration. The city made keeping it small feel full of possibilities.

As a Brighton wedding photographer, I spend so much time thinking about other people’s wedding days. This is a little of my own. When we talk about yours, I want to hear which parts of Brighton you love and what you would actually enjoy doing together.

You might want a Town Hall ceremony and a meal with your closest people, or time for photographs in the Lanes before heading to the seafront. Your plans will be your own. Ours were casual, personal and full of happiness, with Brighton there for every part of it.