Disclaimer – This website contains affiliate links. We may earn a very small commission if you make a purchase using links on this site, at no extra cost to you. That’s how we can afford to keep this awesome site running!
Charlotte & Aneta had a small intimate wedding in Oxford in July 2024 with Aneta’s family travelling over from Poland to celebrate with them. Their ceremony was held at Harris Manchester college, part of Oxford University and being of Unitarian denomination the chapel at Harris Manchester College is one of few religious venues where same sex couples can have a legal wedding ceremony. Harris Manchester college Oxford is also rare in that it allows people with no formal connecton to the college to marry in it’s chapel. This makes it one of the most welcoming and open venues in Oxford.
After their ceremony they took portraits in the college grounds before they walked with their guests through the streets of Oxford, stopping off for confetti at the Bridge of Sighs before heading to their reception venue for emotional speeches and a beautiful meal.
Why Did the Couple Choose Oxford for Their European Wedding?
Aneta & Charlie: It is the city we live and work in. We met and fell in love in this city also.
What Makes This Wedding Venue in Oxford Special for Intimate Weddings?
Aneta & Charlie: The size of the chapel made it feel intimate, even with just a few people there. Both venues allowed us to personalise it, at Quod we used one of their private dining rooms, which had just enough room for what we needed and wanted. The restaurant went above and beyond to meet all our requirements and personalisations.
Vicki & Helen, the photographers: Oxford is a beautiful and unique city for an elopement. There are so many amazing photogenic spots and such a sense of history. Harris Manchester college is not only beautiful with a stunning Chapel with stained glass windows by William Morris, it is also a unitarian chapel meaning they can offer legal marriage ceremonies to all couples. You can also hire the college for your weddings with no formal connection to the college.
Can You Get Legally Married in Oxford?
Aneta & Charlie: We had a legal religious ceremony at the Harris Manchester College.
What Sustainability Considerations Were Made (if any) For This Wedding in Oxford?
Aneta & Charlie: The confetti – they have to be biodegradable in the city. So we chose dried flower petals.
Did the Couple Incorporate Any Cultural Aspects of Oxford into Their Wedding?
Aneta & Charlie: Yes, we utilised local landmarks, local venues and local suppliers too.
What Was the Couple’s Experience with Getting Married in Oxford During July?
Aneta & Charlie: the weather was perfect and all local landmarks are available to the public at this time also.
Vicki & Helen, the photographers: Oxford is beautiful any time of the year. The beautiful architecture looks just as stunning in winter with the benefit of less crowds. Spring brings out the best of the gardens and greenery. Summer is perfect for an evening elopement, making the most of the quiet evening and softer light.
What Are the Best Tips for Planning a (Destination) Wedding in Oxford?
Aneta & Charlie: Plan ahead, most Oxford locations book well in advance due to their popularity. Definitely engage early on with local suppliers about your ideas and plans to see what is achievable. You also want to try and include/capture the best of Oxford architecture too; after all it is what it’s famous for!
Vicki & Helen, the photographers: Plan the route for your photos out beforehand with your photographers and choose ones that know the city well as there are so many hidden gems as well as the more famous spots. Be prepared for a few shouts of congratulations from members of the public but people will mostly allow you to enjoy your day. Start your day getting ready in one of the beautiful city centre hotels, these can be some of the most special moments of the day and being able to walk to your wedding ceremony through the city makes for the perfect start.
How Did the Couple Personalize Their Wedding in Oxford?
Aneta & Charlie: We spent a lot of time with each supplier, right down to the save the date cards with our entwined fingerprints, to the invites ensuring the colour theme and font carried right the way through to the napkins, flowers and cake. We created a personalised playlist for guests waiting in the chapel, we spent several months listening to songs and narrowing down the time exactly and what we wanted.
The choice of flowers was very important to us, so there was a lot of brainstorming with our florist. We chose to give each guest a little favour with a thank you note capturing our favourite flavours of chocolate. For us, both our cultures needed to be represented somehow, so we spent quite some time together planning how our wedding traditions could be incorporated.
We decided on both an English and Polish reading to represent our cultures and chose to do a vodka shot rather than a champagne toast at the reception. Again, we spent some time with the reception venue planning the little details and timings/ requests we wanted.
What Challenges Did the Couple Face While Planning Their Wedding in Oxford, and How Did They Overcome Them?
Aneta & Charlie: The logistics of having two venues and having to work out the timings of every supplier be at a certain place at a certain time. The chapel did not have a sound system, so we had to hire in a DJ to undertake playing music to guests waiting in the chapel, walking up and down the aisle and also music whilst we had champagne in the college quad. This presented a lot of timing challenges, that we managed to overcome with several meetings between ourselves and the DJ.
What Advice Would the Couple Give to Others Planning a Wedding in Oxford?
Aneta & Charlie: Book ahead, plan at least a year in advance to make things run smooth and ensure you get the venue you want.
Vicki & Helen, the photographers: There are so many beautiful spots for photographs in Oxford it’s worth planning plenty of time into your schedule for a walk around the city centre with your photographers. It’s a very outdoor city so have a back up plan with your photographers in case of rain but be ready to embrace the weather, some of the best photos come from a rainy windy day. If there are any specific colleges or gardens you would like photographs in it’s worth emailing ahead of time for permission, they can be quite accomodating to wedding couples.
What Were the Most Memorable Moments from This Wedding?
Aneta & Charlie: Walking down the aisle and realising our plans! Photos in the college quad, but also our walk through oxford streets to the reception and having our amazing photographers capture us with the landmarks, specifically the confetti shot at the Bridge of Sights – having passersby etc cheering and congratulating us made it truly special. Most of all, we were truly appreciative of having our friends and family from around the world come and share our day with us.
Why Is Oxford One of the Best Places to Get Married in Europe?
Aneta & Charlie: It’s Oxford! Famous in its own right and the architecture is stunning. The city is very open, welcoming and LGBTQ friendly as are the venues and suppliers.
Why did you choose this venue?:
Aneta & Charlie: We chose two venues. One for the ceremony at Harris Manchester College Chapel, and Quod as the reception venue.
We chose The chapel because it welcomes LGBTQ people and all faiths, secondly, the chapel is relatively small and having a micro wedding in there, didn’t feel empty. Thirdly, the stained glass is designed by William Morris, a designer that bares some significance to Charlie. And lastly, the college quad had beautiful grounds to have drinks and take photos immediately after there ceremony before we walked to the reception.
Quod for the main reception was chosen because it is known locally but also we had several dates there and we knew that the food and service is second to none.
