Hollie and Tom
08/04/2006 – The Manor Gatehouse, Dartford
How and when did you meet?
We met at work five years ago when I was asked to work on his department for a while. He made me do all the jobs that required me to bend over so he could look at my bum! We went to lunch together for a few weeks before he plucked up the courage to ask me out…bless him!
How old are you both?
We are both 21.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
Tom proposed on my 20th Birthday. He bought our daughter who was one year old at the time into bed with me and went downstairs and made me breakfast. Whilst I was just expecting a cuppa and a slice of toast, he brought up champagne and strawberries and I thought, aw bless, making an effort for my birthday. Then he sat next to me on the bed and started fiddling with something in his pocket and before I could ask him what he was doing, he pulled out the box, opened it up and said those magic words ‘Hollie will you marry me?’ I went into floods of tears and said yes over and over again. It was no dinner in Paris but was the best proposal I could have ever asked for!
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
Tom went out for a pub crawl two weeks before the wedding and then to Southend the next day and I went out with my girls around the town one week before and it was brilliant!I wore a Gorgeous Bride t-shirt with horns, a veil, a learner sign and a dare wheel and a wand and my hens all wore personalised badges and pink glittery cow girl hats. My mum and maid of honour also had t-shirts that I bought for them!
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
I pretty much did it all myself. Tom sorted out the suits and booked the hotel suite…which was quite enough for him I think!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
I was constantly on confetti. The cafe forums helped me a lot with all the advice from the other B2Bs.
Do you have a confetti web page?
I did have a confetti webpage and it helped us get a lot of info across to people who had web access!
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
I bought our invites, cameras, table cloths and a few other bits and bobs from confetti through mail order and online.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
My dress was a Forever Yours gown and was my dream dress. It was ivory satin and chiffon. I wore a two tier scattered diamante veil and an Amanda Wyatt tiara and my jewellery was from Jon Richard at Debenhams and I felt like a princess. Oh and my shoes were Pink by Paradox.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had three bridesmaids. My best friend, Emma, was my maid of honour and my cousin, Rebecca, and my daughter, Ellie, were my other two bridesmaids. Emma and Rebecca wore Debut@Debenhams dusky pink ballgowns and Ellie wore a beautiful ivory dress from the George collection at ASDA with a sash I had made to match the others. Emma and Rebecca had matching tiaras from Figures Island and Ellie wore a small crystal tiara also from Figures Island.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Tom chose his best friend, James, as his best man and my brother as his usher. They all wore (along with my dad and my step dad) black jackets and grey striped trouser suits from Youngs Hire and dusky pink cravats that I had made to match the bridesmaids.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
We had a civil ceremony.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
Our ceremony was held at The Manor Gatehouse, Dartford. It is an old Tudor building once owned by Henry the 8th which is now Dartford’s registry office (but you would never know) and their gardens are beautiful!
Where did you hold your reception?
We had our reception at our local sports club.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
I had a Mercedes E class as my transport…very classy!
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had approximately 90 people to our wedding and an extra 10 to the reception.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
My theme was dusky pink and ivory, roses and rose petals.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
My tables were very minimalist. They comprised of an ivory table cloth covered by a pink square cloth with four candles in clear votives on each table along with one camera on each and scattered with pink rose buds and ivory rose petals.
Did you give your guests favours?
We had magnets made up which had pictures of us with “Thank you for sharing our special day with us” and our names and date of wedding on them also. We put them on the cake table which had the champagne and the guest book on also so that when some signed the guest book they could take one.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
My hand tied posy bouquet was made up of ivory roses, with sprigs of eucalyptus leaves and a diamante in each rosebud. My bridesmaids had pink roses with eucalyptus leaves entwined and all were tied with ivory ribbon around the middle of the stalks and secured with pretty pins. A family friend was my florist and she did a fantastic job!
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
My mum catered our wedding and did a fantastic job at catering for 100 people!
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
We got our three tiered ivory wedding cake from Waitrose and was topped off with a personalised cake topper I had specially made.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
We had a disco for the evening.
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We had our gift list with Next.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We spent our first night in The Hilton at Dartford Bridge which was lovely. We couldn’t have a honeymoon due to money but are hoping to have a belated one next year on out first wedding anniversary.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
My most memorable moment of the day was walking down the aisle and seeing Tom in tears at the bottom…we couldn’t stop crying after that!
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
None up to the wedding apart from fear of running out of money but on the day the photographer didn’t show up at my mums house as arranged and I thought I had no photographer but he was at the venue so all was ok. Apart from that, everything turned out better than expected!
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
If I was to go back and do it again, I would definitely have more contact with the photographer before the wedding and would hire caterers so that my mum could have enjoyed the day more as she missed out on a lot. And she was very tired!
