Hazel & Dave

Our wedding took place at Battersea Art's Centre in London. We loved the quirky and fun feel of the place and the fact it was a charitable organisation and a working theatre.

The building is just beautiful, particularly the Council Chamber, where our wedding reception took place.

It is a very "us" kind of place; relaxed, informal and a bit different and it lent itself to the rustic and inclusive feel that we wanted for our day.

Our wedding was very DIY – I made all of the decorations myself (with some help from family and friends) and had a real vision for the Council Chamber!

We made it look so pretty, sparkling with fairy lights and full of pretty garden flowers and personal touches – all of which really make it feel like our day.

We wanted it to be an event that was welcoming, friendly, full of laughter and love and like a big family gathering where everyone felt included and relaxed.

Funky Mojito delivered a musical, upbeat and top-quality performance that was exactly what we had hoped for!

We chose to ignore a lot of the traditions and formalities usually found in wedding days and instead went with what we liked, with what made us smile and with things that mattered to us.

We wanted to create a really informal, fun and relaxed setting.

We researched online for Latin party bands as we both enjoy that kind of music and felt like it would suit the mood we were trying to achieve as well as being a little different!

After watching Funky Mojito's YouTube videos and hearing their energetic and happy music on-line, we knew they were the band for us!

Funky Mojito completed a silent set-up after our speeches and were very quick to be ready to go. We were impressed by how professional and talented they were!

We had agreed with the band that the first song would be Stevie Wonder's 'For Once in My Life', and it was such a special moment when they kicked in with that and everyone joined us on the dance floor!

Funky Mojito delivered a musical, upbeat and top-quality performance that was exactly what we had hoped for... what a talented bunch of musicians!

We were only sorry that we a) didn't get the chance to thank them in person on the day and b) weren't able to dance more, as we had so many guests to speak to!

But it was wonderful to see all our friends and family having a blast dancing throughout the evening.

The highlights of the day included getting ready in the morning – what a delicious sense of anticipation!

The wedding ceremony was amazing - finally seeing each other at either end of that aisle was so special and it was such a joy to be surrounded by so many wonderful people supporting us as we start our married life together.

We had waited a long time to get married and making our vows was a moment we cherish.

Seeing the BAC all decorated for the first time and knowing it was exactly what we had hoped for was incredible. The speeches were so special – excellent work by all involved!

And of course our first dance and everyone joining in to Stevie Wonder as Funky Mojito began to play. It was so fun to dance!

My advice to brides and grooms would be – ABSORB every minute of your wedding day. Make yourself stop during the day and look around and really commit it to memory. It flies by too fast and it's so special!