I'VE BEEN PERFORMING FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER
I grew up competing in gymnastics here in the UK and internationally, so performance, discipline and that little hit of adrenaline have been part of my life from a very young age.
As I got older, I found aerial hoop and pretty quickly fell in love with it. It gave me the same sense of challenge I’d always loved, but with far more freedom to be expressive and creative.
What started as something I did for myself soon became a huge part of my life. I trained, performed, competed at instructor level, became a qualified aerial hoop instructor and started teaching others too.
THEN CAME MY WEDDING DAY
In June 2026, I got married. I knew I wanted to bring something into the day that felt personal, unexpected and completely true to me, so I decided to surprise my new husband and more than 100 guests with an aerial hoop performance.
The rig was set up inside the venue, I changed out of my wedding dress and into a white performance leotard, and came back out to perform. It was one of the most memorable moments of the entire day.
The room stopped. People gathered around, watched, took photos, cheered and experienced something they simply weren’t expecting to see at a wedding.
Some of my friends from the aerial studio performed throughout the day while my husband and I were away having photographs, spending time together or moving between different parts of the wedding.
And it worked beautifully.
Our guests were entertained, the atmosphere stayed alive, and we were able to step away for those important moments without worrying about whether everyone else was enjoying themselves.
That was when the idea really started to form.
WEDDINGS ARE INCREDIBLE, BUT THEY'RE ALSO BUSY
There are photographs, speeches, food, drinks, family, timings and a hundred other moving parts. And in the middle of all that, couples are often still thinking about everyone else.
Are people having fun? Are they entertained? Is there too much waiting around? At our wedding, aerial hoop gave our guests something completely different to enjoy during those natural gaps in the day.
It created energy, conversation and a genuine sense of occasion. Most importantly, it gave us the freedom to step away and enjoy our own wedding without feeling as though we had to constantly manage the experience for everyone else.
That’s what inspired me to create Lou in the Hoop.
Now, I get to take something I’ve loved for years and bring it into weddings and events across Somerset and the UK, creating moments that feel exciting, beautiful and a little unexpected.
Outside of hoop, I come from a very serious professional background, so having the chance to travel, perform and bring something joyful to one of the most important days in someone’s life feels incredibly special.
And if I get to spend part of that day upside down making people smile, even better.