Intimate Wedding at The Bingham Richmond upon Thames

Making an intimate wedding day special and memorable at The Bingham.

The Bingham Riverhouse Hotel nestled in Richmond along the Thames river is the most gorgeous backdrop for a wedding celebration.

I had the honour of being of service to a lovely bride and couple that truly loved their experience and intimate wedding they had at The Bingham in Richmond upon Thames.

I know that most, when day dreaming about their weddings – plan to have an elaborate celebration with load of loved ones and a party to remember. However after the last year intimate weddings (often the only celebrations allowed) have become more ‘in fashion.’

Lucy and Tom shared their love story and wedding journey which I wanted to showcase why and how an intimate celebration can be SO special.

Lucy and Toms intimate wedding in Richmond upon Thames

Tom and I met at work in the Netherlands in 2012. We were good friends and officially made a go of it in 2015 (we thought we were very secretive but it turns out the whole office knew…) He proposed in November 2019 whilst we were down in Dorset for the weekend. We had been out walking for most of the day and both covered in mud having just been jumped on by a spaniel. We went back to the spot on our mini moon, this time covered in mud but from our own spaniel, Indie! Tom designed the ring with my friend who works in the Diamond industry (handy friend to have!).

When we first started thinking about our wedding (pre Covid), we both liked the idea of an intimate ceremony and a party at a later date, but got so caught up in the wedding buzz we ended up with a guest list of 110 people. During 2020 we got the guest list down to 50, then 30, then 15 and ended up with 4 people! We were initially quite happy with 30, it felt like all of the people we really wanted to be there, would be there. As restrictions got tighter, we quickly realised family abroad, siblings across the UK would struggle to join us for the day and it was putting a lot of pressure on them and their logistics. We decided to go ahead with just our parents, with all of our siblings on Zoom. They even said afterwards how included they felt. We waved at them as soon as we came in and had the screen facing us so we could see them and they could see us – I think they got the best view in the house! We then toasted with them afterwards and had a chat before we had some photographs taken. We also made sure the celebrant welcomed them and included them as if they were there.

We had some champagne and canapes with our parents after the ceremony and then dinner just the two of us in the evening. It was so lovely to soak it all in together.

We both felt a lot more relaxed than we would have done if we had a bigger wedding. It really felt like the day was for us and about us and no one else. There was no pressure to make sure we spoke to everyone, we could just spend the day together and not miss out on anything. It felt more personal and without having to think about everyone watching you, we could really focus on the vows we were making.

Due to Covid rules we weren’t able to have the interview with the celebrants separately, and we had to walk into the room together. We still managed to have the special moment of the first time we saw each other on our wedding day as I came down the stairs from getting ready. Having that time together before we went into the ceremony room was really special and walking into the room together felt quite symbolic of what we were about to enter into! I think Tom was also a lot less nervous than he would have been!

Bingham Riverhouse were incredibly accommodating and flexible throughout the planning. Everytime a new announcement was made, or our plans changed, they were able to help us. We always wanted to get married next to the River and the whole place looked so pretty at Christmas time. They were able to provide champagne and canapes for us after the ceremony, booked us in for dinner at their restaurant and we still stayed in their amazing Bridal suite that evening.

We knew we still wanted it to feel like our wedding day so we made sure we had a photographer to capture the day (good job considering the quality of photos from our parents), flowers and I still wanted to feel my best so had my hair and makeup done. We kept the same suppliers we always planned on having. We would have also had a band (Supertenants were our top pick!) if we had a bigger party. We had a lot of interaction with the suppliers due to the changes in restrictions etc so it was lovely to finally meet them on the day. Gayle (Blooming Gayles – florist) went above and beyond with our flowers. She completely transformed the room we had our ceremony in. Kitty was brilliant and so flexible when we kept having to change the number of hours she was booked for. We didn’t have to rush the photographs and got to have a glass of champagne with her too! My morning with Storme was one of the most relaxing mornings I’ve had. There was no rush, it was calm and such a lovely start to the day. I’m so glad I still had my hair and makeup done, wore my wedding dress and had a bouquet, I felt like a real bride even without the big wedding around me!

I think my highlight of the day was actually being able to spend time with Tom. We had a lot of friends telling us on their wedding days they barely spent time with their other half, but it was nice to take it all in together and not feeling any pressure to talk to hundreds of guests. Nothing felt rushed, it was just a really lovely and special day.