Inside: Lucy Spraggan & Emilia Spraggan‑Smith’s Chic Ceremony At Saltmarsh Hall

From a Play-doh ring proposal to their Yorkshire wedding. Lucy Spraggan and Emilia Spraggan-Smith give us an inside look at their Chic Monochrome Wedding In Yorkshire.

The story so far

We actually met more than a decade ago. She was going out with someone I knew and we just became friends. We got really close over the last five or six years – I got sober in 2019 and that’s when we started being more aligned. For the engagement, we realised quite early on that we wanted to get married to each other, so I organised a games night with all her family (family’s very important to her). I made a Play-Doh ring and pretended to propose to her with that. She went “Get down on your knee then!” and when I did, I actually had a proper ring.

Venue

Saltmarsh Hall in Howden, East Yorkshire. Emelia is a wedding photographer and shoots weddings all the time – she never thought she’d get married, but when it came about, she knew exactly where she wanted to get married. It’s very old timey and calm there.

The day before was chilled – we stayed in the same room because being separate is based on “weird patriarchal gross ownership stuff.” We had a sound bath at 7pm in the same room we were getting married in with all our friends for a little spiritual vibe, plus a big meal with everyone who came early. The day after, we felt emotionally hungover despite not drinking, drove home and got Chinese food because we were so tired.

Fashion

My suit was from King & Allen. I felt amazing in it. I had it made – me and Carl designed it together in Knutsford. It was cropped, wide leg style with alterations to the base design. I just felt so good in it, it fit so well and the shape is exactly what I wanted. I’d never feel comfortable in a dress – the idea of being in a wedding dress just gives me the willies. The suit really captures me as a non-binary person, you feel quite fluid in it because it covers all bases. Emilia’s dress was from Chosen by Kaya and she just looked beautiful – she looked like a mermaid. It was ivory white.

For something blue, my mum’s best friend passed away and she’d given her a blue Hermes bracelet, and then my mum gave me that for the wedding.

Jewellery

I don’t think I wore any jewellery apart from little star earrings from Astrid and Miyu. I had new tattoos on my ear – a little moon tattoo on my ear, so rather than jewellery, I kind of had ink jewellery. Emilia wore my grandma’s necklace as something old, which my mum gave her.

Our wedding bands have tiny little stars engraved all the way along them, handmade by Stephen Stone in Manchester. She has a Marquise-shaped diamond. I don’t have an engagement ring because in a sensory way, I literally can’t wear anything that’s not just very, very simple or plain. I can’t have something like a gem sticking out on my hands – I can’t even wear nail varnish because I can feel it. So mine is just like a band.

Bridal party

I had my best friend Josh as best man, and my sister was a bridesmaid as well. And our dog Steve just sort of followed us around all day, it was really nice. Steve fitted well because he’s black and white, so it’s like we planned it with our monochrome theme. We just did cards to each other as gifts – we planned our wedding in about three months so they’d have been lucky if they got anything.

Transportation

We were already there, so it was all pretty much in-house. I went for a run in the morning – that was my transportation.

Tablescape

We had candles everywhere, Belle Bijoux style. It was personalised table stationery made by Oh Pretty Ray, and again, following monochrome vibes. All the flowers were white.

Food & drinks

We had a combination of personalized cocktails, non-alcoholic and alcoholic for people. We had alcohol-free beers on the tables too, and obviously there was alcohol for people that drink. We had canapes because part of it was outside – between the ceremony and the food, we had some ice baths outside from the ice bath company, so we had an extended bit of time there. And then when we went back in, we had fillet steak. Then some dessert but I don’t remember what it was – there was probably too much going on.

Entertainment

Entertainment: Our first dance was “Slow Dance” by AJ Mitchell. We had a band and there were quite a lot of musicians, so there was quite a bit of swapping. The Dunwells, who are a couple of pals of mine in a band, they did a bit of singing. There were quite a lot of musicians getting up, it was good.

Beauty regime & wellness

We both had makeup artists and hairstylists. I had Amy Harfield who did my hair and makeup. Emilia had Rachel Helen for makeup and Amy Grant for hair.

Favourite Wedding Gifts

Our juicer! Simon Cowell gave us a Vitamix blender – it’s so good.

Honeymoon

We’re going to Marbella for our friend’s wedding, which is on the same day as our wedding anniversary. We’re going in two weeks and I guess that counts as our honeymoon because we haven’t been on holiday since – we bought a house instead! It’s our friend’s wedding for seven days out in Marbella.