Our wedding
On a golden summer’s day in Sheffield (post torrential downpour), surrounded by the lush greenery of the Botanical Gardens and the warmth of family and friends, Mark and I celebrated our wedding. It was a day filled with love, music, and food – but for me, it was also deeply interwoven with my practice as a maker.
I wanted our wedding to feel personal and rooted in the things that mean the most to us: landscape, memory, and craft. Jewellery has always been my way of holding onto moments and places, so naturally, I set about creating a series of special pieces for loved ones to wear on our day.
I got ready at home, whilst Mark and his mates popped up to Crookes for a morning coffee in Cloud, before grabbing a 10 minute taxi ride over to Sheffield Botanical Gardens. We married in the presence of our lovely family & friends in front of the main pavilion, under the big white clock, and the sun came out and we had a fabulous time followed by sarnies from the Rhubarb Shed Cafe & plenty of bubbles.
Groomsmen shots at Cloud Coffee Co, Flowers by Flourish Florists, earrings by Shinta Nakajima
Rings that Hold Home
Designing our rings was perhaps the most meaningful part. Mark’s wedding band was of course, a miniature map – a ring hand engraved with the contours of Rivelin Valley, the landscape of home. It’s the place we walk, run, and return to again and again. It sits next to his red gold contour map engagement ring of Roche de Mio (the mountain in the French Alps where he proposed). I made myself a textured white gold band with an eye catching blue sapphire, complimenting the complex shapes of my Daisy Lee Jewels engagement ring.
Small Details with Big Meaning
For Mark and my Dad, I made silver tie slides, each with engraved messages hidden on the reverse – secret words they’ll carry close whenever they wear them. Mark’s shows the landscape where he grew up, the pousada he called home on the north coast of Brazil - you can see the definition between land and the water, which has a glittering engraved pattern.
Dad’s was also of home; my home from 1999 for 19 years, a place I love going back to. They also both wore contour map cufflinks - Dad his 'home' cufflinks I made for him for Father's Day last year (so he could wear them to my sister's wedding!), and I made Mark a pair with 18ct gold markers on; one showing our home, the other our ceremony venue.
Flowers in Silver
To honour the women closest to me, I created floral-inspired pieces of art jewellery (under my ‘Holly Suzanna Clifford’ brand). Gold vermeil petal necklaces for my bridesmaids, earrings for my Mum, and silver petal pins for Mark’s Mum, and my Granma – who was also the wedding dress maker! The dress decisions started in later March, when I went for a trip down to Wiltshire to go with Granma & my mum to a dress shop there - I didn’t really have a solid idea of what I was after, so thought trying things on to see what stood out was the best first move. I felt much more comfortable and ‘me’ in the simpler, kinda straight-up-and-down style dresses, and thought the idea of a top & skirt combo was a pretty damn good idea, as I liked the idea for switching out the long skirt for some fun culottes come the dancing part of the night! After much to-ing and fro-ing with design ideas (mainly for the top - backless? Cowl neck? Boat neck??) and endless sending off for fabric samples, Granma adapted a couple of patterns to get to the final thing, and it was perfect. Paired with my £5 green velvet platform heels from Vinted & some orange nail varnish (applied mildly frantically at about 10pm the night prior by my sister) and the look was wonderfully Autumn chic.
A Celebration Rooted in Us
Our day was full of joyful quirks – one of our ceremony readings was a snippet from the mouse wedding in Brambly Hedge; a book we adored as kids, and still do because of the incredible illustrations. There was an enormous wedding cake made by my incredible Mum sat on a beautiful wooden stand made by Dad (check out Spun From Wood), Yellow Arch Studios strewn with our homemade fabric bunting, and a jazz-funk band that made the dancefloor wild (thank you Loud Noises!!). Plus a few map themed bits of paraphernalia knocking around. But what I’ll always remember is how making became my way of grounding the day: objects that tell our story, hold our landscapes, and tie family into the celebration.
Epic photos by Becky Payne Photography