Almost a year to the day after the proposal in New York, the stately redwoods of the John Muir Grove provided a majestic setting for Tom and Hannah’s very moving ceremony.

The joining of two individuals in marriage is a truly magical moment, and as I told their guests, we were all privileged to witness it. I also thanked them, not just for their presence, but also for the love, support, and guidance that had helped shape Hannah and Tom into the remarkable people they are today.

Both lawyers, they bonded over espresso martinis at their firm’s Christmas party – even though Tom dropped his in the middle of the floor… Then, finding him on the same team at a work quiz, Hannah learned more about Tom’s competitive side, his love of sport, and his extensive knowledge of the London underground but then, all of a sudden, he disappeared!

it was only later that evening that Hannah learned he’d had just handed in his resignation. Realising she needed to make a move, she sent him a text that kicked off a couple of months of messages, and as Tom said, “My heart fluttered every time I received one”.

They discovered a shared love of reading and Hannah lent Tom on of her favourite novels, “All the Light We Cannot See”, by Anthony Doer. Their sharp-eyed colleague Lydia noticed that something was going on, saying “it was like watching a real-life rom-com where you know the characters.”

December the following year found them back at the that same office Christmas party, with Hannah knowing that Tom was about to leave forever…

Is that enough of a cliffhanger? I think so. I suspect you’ve already worked out how this story ends…

As I said, it was a very moving ceremony!

Through living with Tom, Hannah also became a cat mum to Bertie, also known as Professor Christmas, Captain Rum Whiskers amongst other sobriquets. Tom said “When Hannah met Bertie for the first time, she seemed very coy around him and I was a bit worried she wasn’t much of a cat person. But she was actually just allergic.” Hannah said, “Telling Tom I was allergic to cats was one of the most nerve-wracking moments but I am now Bertie’s second favourite human and I love our little family together”.

They shared many of their reasons for loving one another.

Tom loves it when Hannah tells a joke. A little nose scrunch and a mischievous grin appears when she is about to tell you something she thinks is really funny.

Hannah loves Tom’s love of maps, spreadsheets, and planning. She loves his enjoyment of the small moments, like having a coffee together, completing the daily Wordle and dancing in the kitchen to his made-up songs.


They asked Bridesmaid, Kelly, to read the poem ‘All I know about love’, by Neil Gaiman

And before they shared their vows, they paid tribute to their parents and grandparents and thanked them for teaching them some of life’s values and virtues through their relationships.

If you’ve been enjoying these photos, it’s probably time to give a shout out to Adam Luto who took them. I love what he says on his site – “Epic photos for people that don’t like having their pictures taken!” and I really like his fly-on-the-wall documentary approach.

when he sent me these shots, Adam said, “it was a real pleasure to be part of Hannah + Tom’s wedding day. Your ceremony was superb by the way, very personal, thoughtful and from my point of view brilliant, as you were great at stepping aside for those key moments and considering the photos too!”

The vows are always the climax of every ceremony and I thought Hannah and Tom’s decision to make joint promises together was a great confirmation of everything they’d said about the nature of their relationship.



After the exchange of rings and legal declaration, they invited their mums, Valerie and Carole, to witness the signing of the Marriage Schedule.

if you’ve been to any weddings in Scotland recently, you may well be familiar with the ritual of the Passing of the Quaich, and I loved Tom and Hannah’s twists on that. In the first place, they had a wooden one, made by their good friends Georgie and Calum.


and in the second, they chose to drink champagne from it, rather than whisky.

I think that’s a very sensible thing to do – not least because the first thing you’ll be given after the ceremony is a glass of champagne! I’ve conducted lots of quaich ceremonies, and you’ll see some more inspiring and original variations on the ritual here.


To bring the ceremony to a close, Hannah and Tom chose a poem by Rupi Kaur which I’d never heard before, and it’s lovely.
I want you to wipe away everything you know about love
And start with one word
Kindness
Give it to them
Let them give it you
Be two pillars
Equal in your love
And you’ll carry empires on your backs.
How do you follow that?

With love, that’s how!


I was very touched and surprised to get an alert from Google the other day to say that Hannah had left a review on my profile there. It’s not where most people look (including me) so it was all the lovelier because it came out of the blue.

Tim was the celebrant at our wedding. We loved his approach to create a personal and memorable ceremony that we will never forget. He is lovely, approachable and had some excellent ideas for the contents and length of our ceremony. We are so grateful that he was there to lead the ceremony on the day and our guests commented on how fantastic he was. Highly recommend! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love it when couples embrace the possibilities that a humanist ceremony offers, and Tom and Hannah’s ceremony had all the imagination, empowerment and engagement I could ever hope for. Thank you, Hannah and Tom, for choosing me as your celebrant, and thank you Adam Luto, for capturing the magic of the moment!
Absolutely magical, beautiful and stunning wedding day and a brilliant ceremony that you created that really captured their story and their relationship perfectly.
Thank you for sharing my photographs as part of your blog, it was absolutely great to work with you Tim and I hope our path’s cross again soon!
Cheers,
Adam
(Adam Luto Photography)