Anneliese and Ashley
15/07/2006 – Broadmead Baptist Church, Woodford Green
How and when did you meet?
We meet at school in year 7, so when we were 11. We knew of each other, but hung around with different groups of friends. We became good friends in 6th form and started dating after going on a school music tour to Prague.
How old are you both?
We were both 19 when we married.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
Ashley proposed to me on a day trip to Canterbury in August 2005. We were having lunch in a beautiful park and he had hidden the ring in my dessert. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
I had two hen nights, one for all my uni friends at a Chinese restaurant and one put on by my Maid of Honour which was at Jail House Rock. Ashley went to Amsterdam for his stag do.
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
Yes, as we were at uni in Canterbury and our parents were at home in London we had to do lots of the wedding plans ourselves. Ashley helped a lot although he did leave most of the decisions to me and just said if he really didn’t like the idea.
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
Yes, I did. I used it as a guide to tell me what I needed to do and it gave me so many ideas of how to do the day, the invites, the decorations, flowers, etc.
Do you have a confetti web page?
Yes.
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
Yes, we bought cameras for the tables, flower petals and some gifts.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
My outfit was a Romantica dress. It was ivory with lots of beaded detailing on the front and back. It had chiffon overlay and a full length veil.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had five bridesmaids and three pageboys. They were my three sisters, Ashley’s sister, my best friend, my twin brothers and Ashley’s little brother. The four eldest bridesmaids wore a dusty pink full length skirt and corset top, bought in Debenhams, the little bridesmaid wore and ivory dress with detailing at the top and a big rose on the waist band. The eldest page boy wore the same as the groom and the little pageboys wore a gold and ivory waistcoat with cravat, white shirt and black trousers.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Ashley chose his best friend from school to be his best man, who was dating my best friend who was a bridesmaid. For his ushers he had my brother and some friends from our different churches.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
Religious ceremony and my dad married us as he’s a pastor.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
Broadmead Baptist Church, Woodford Green.
Where did you hold your reception?
In the church hall.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
Yes, we had a black and white Daimler.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had 300 people to the wedding, followed by a cake buffet and 90 people to the reception which included close family and friends.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
Yes, the theme was pink, ivory and gold.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
Yes, the cloths were ivory and pink. There were pink flowers on all the tables and each guest had a gold party popper. They each had their own candle holder which had their name painted on it and the names were in pink and gold.
Did you give your guests favours?
Yes, each guest’s napkin was rolled up in a candy necklace. The children also had party bags to keep them occupied during the speeches.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
For my flowers I had roses and carnations with foliage, and the bridesmaids had the same. The groom, best man and ushers had roses. The church flowers were lilies, roses, carnations and foliage and the reception flowers were the same. All the flowers were pinks and ivories. Our mothers also had matching corsages.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
We got our food from Waitrose entertaining and friends offered to do the waiter and waitressing. It started with fruit balls, then there was a selection of cold meats and salmon and lovely salads and warm new potatoes and for desert there was lemon tarte with red berries, profiteroles and strawberries and cream with coffee and mints to finish.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
We got our wedding cake from Marks and Spencer and the florist put roses it for us. It was on a swan shaped cake holder.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
Yes, we had a close friend play the piano for us for our first dance and another friend do some DJing for the rest of the evening.
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We had a small gift list with Debenhams, but asked mainly for money to buy larger items.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We spent our wedding night in a hotel in Crawley, “The George Hotel”, which was lovely before flying to Turkey, Alyana for two weeks which was amazing.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
Having my dad marry us was very special, going for a ride in the beautiful car with Ashley was lovely, just for a time to say hello properly. Walking out of the church as man and wife. Seeing all my bridesmaids dressed up…they looked like real bridesmaids! Having our photos taken and the speeches were excellent. Our first dance was very special and then driving off to start our new life together.
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
The only thing I can think of is my sister broke her arm a week or two before the wedding, but the photographer hid it very well in the photos.
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
I wouldn’t have done a thing differently… it was perfect! My advice would be, although you want to do everything yourself allow others to help otherwise you won’t enjoy the planning. Let the experts have their say, they are after all the experts. Make sure you say goodbye to your parents before you go off on your honeymoon and ring them to let them know you got there. Enjoy your day and tell your husband he looks great and you love him.
