When Christine walked down the aisle in her Disney-style Ronald Joyce gown, huband-to-be Rob knew it was a moment he wouldn’t forget. From the princess dress to the fireworks finale in front of a gorgeous castle, Christine and Rob’s day was a fairytale from start to finish. With stunning photography by Adrian Gaynor.
Wedding Date: 25th November 2011
Ceremony location: St Johns the Evangelist RC Church, Bath
Reception: Orchardleigh House, Frome
Photographer: Adrian Gaynor Photography
We met… I was working in my Mum and Dad’s pub in Wendover, when Rob came in to meet an old friend of his. We formed a firm friendship with a group of friends before getting together. On the first Valentine’s Day after we met (Feb 2002), I was working behind the bar when Rob walked in with a bunch of flowers, wine and chocolates. The rest as they say is history!
The proposal… Rob decided to propose on Christmas Day, just after dinner. He had bought the ring sometime ago and could no longer wait. I was stunned because I didn’t suspect he would propose Christmas Day.
The planning… Rob helped with all the DIY bits (stationery, favours etc…) and I researched and found the perfect suppliers for us on Confetti (as he knows how fussy I am), then he helped me choose from the shortlist. Rob designed, built and painted our wishing well for our wedding cards without any involvement from me and it looked amazing. He was very involved, and even though I am a very organised person I couldn’t have planned the wedding to be as great as it was without him.
My dress… My wedding dress was very ‘fairytale’. It was Ronald Joyce, Lola. When I was a little girl I was always telling everyone that my wedding dress would be like the dresses I saw in the Disney movies. They thought I’d grow up and change my mind but I never did. No one was surprised to see my choice of dress! It was a real Cinderella dress, I loved it!
The bridesmaids… I had two Bridesmaids and two Flowergirls. My Flowergirls were my daughters Leah and Isla. My best friend Tracey was my Maid of Honour and my best friend Nuria was my Bridesmaid. I chose hunter green as my colour because I wanted deep winter colours, and green is my favourite colour. They wore full length, off-the-shoulder dresses made by a dressmaker.
The groomsmen… Rob chose his brother Nigel as his Best Man and our son Callum was our Pageboy. Our Ushers were Thomas (Rob’s nephew) and Aaron (my brother). They all had full matching morning suits complete with tails. The Dads, Pageboy, Ushers and Best Man had matching cravats the same colour as the Bridesmaids, and the Groom had ivory to match my dress.
Our theme… Given the fact that my family owned a pub and we met in a pub, we had a pub theme. Our tables were all famous pub names. I researched each pub name and put a brief meaning below each pub sign about the pub itself. The top table was, of course, called The George and Dragon, which was where we met. My Dad used to be a great quiz master in our pub with his regular pub quizzes, so we decided to put a pub quiz on each table for our guests during the meal as an icebreaker. Each table had to choose a team name. My Dad then read out the answers and announced the result between the main meal and dessert. It was great fun.
Any glitches? There is a lot of paperwork to fill out for a Catholic wedding, and you often get sent from place to place. As I am a Catholic and marrying a member of the Church of England, we had to ask for permission from the Bishop so our paperwork was being sent around to different places. It was three weeks before our wedding and we found out the priest marrying us hadn’t received our paperwork, and if wasn’t there and completed there would be no wedding! We were so relieved when, one week before the wedding, we got the call to say it had arrived.
Our flowers… Our tables had candelabras, which I bought myself. The top table had a long and low design. The theme was “winter” with hunter green foliage, but not Christmassy. The bouquets had Avalanche Roses with Hypericum Berries. The foliage was eucalyptus as it has a frosty look to it. All the buttonholes and corsages for the Mums were in theme with this too.
My most memorable moment…
Christine – My most memorable moment of the day was seeing my husband at the altar and thinking how lucky I was to be standing here beside him. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t want to change one thing about this day and everything that happened to get us here.
Rob – Seeing my bride come through the doors and walking up the aisle towards me. Two words: absolutely amazing. Also, I would add, saying my vows and feeling how much I meant them and always will. The fireworks and music was a special moment for us both also. It was well worth the money.
My advice to other brides… We wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding. We would just wish that it didn’t go so fast. Our day was perfect to us and our suppliers were amazing. My advice to other brides would be to make a speech, like I did, if they feel confident enough to do so. It is the only time you will get to personally thank everyone for coming as the day goes so quickly. If I hadn’t made my speech, I think I would have regretted it.
