When was your wedding?
9th August 2007
How and when did you meet?
Through mutual friends. Every time we all went out David and I would sit and talk for hours (although I recently found out that he thought I talked too much!) and both really liked each other, but he was in a relationship so it was just friends. One Friday after work I met up with my best friend Bridget for drinks and we were talking about our ideal blokes and I said that I really liked Sharpy. The next week she went clubbing but I couldn’t go as I had an interview the next day, at 2am I received a text from David saying ‘Me and you, Friday night, wink wink, nudge nudge’ He phoned me the next day and we arranged a date on Friday night at Trillions Rock Pub in Newcastle. Bridget had bumped into him in the club and on a napkin wrote my number, and the words ‘She REALLY likes you. She has an interview tomorrow – ask her about it!!!’ He still has that napkin in his wallet. It turns out he’d fancied me for ages, broken up with his girlfriend and been trying for a week to arrange an accidental meet-up (even trying to get tickets to a Reel Big Fish gig – who he hates – because he knew I’d be there!) He turned up late on the Friday night, I was just about to leave, with his bag packed for the weekend! Typical Sharpy! And he’s still insane!
How old are you both?
I’m 28 and David is 25
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
We went to Dublin in February 2006 and David had been carrying the ring round in a sock for 3 days waiting for the perfect moment to ask me! We went to Temple bar for a meal and drinks and he was in such a state he couldn’t eat – but our friends had sent champagne to our room in anticipation of the proposal so time was running out! We got back to the hotel and he still hadn’t asked so he came up with this stupid idea of ‘race you up to the room’ me getting the lift him taking the stairs – when I got to the room he was down on one knee, sweating and shaking!
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
I had 2 hen nights, the first was an Italian meal and drinks around Tynemouth, with the cheesy sashes and hen party nonsense and the second was a Disney Princess Virgin Vie party at home, complete with party games! David had a stag day, going go-karting in the morning (and is gutted he didn’t come first) and a night out at the dogs on the night, with all his friends wearing ginger wigs!!
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
He didn’t! LOL! He tried – then realised he was rubbish! He did organise the band – who were fantastic!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
Of course, with over 9000 posts I’m a confetti regular, I got so much help and advice from the confetti girls, and one of them, Karen 21/09/07, was my best woman and I couldn’t have done it without her!
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
I bought loads of confetti products for my wedding, I visited the Leeds store and bought online! The quality was fab!
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
I wore a Mori Lee dress, a huge white princess dress with a huge train! I bought it from Brides Dream in Walkergate just outside Newcastle! My shoes were the talk of the day – white Doc Martens! They were awesome! I wore a tiara by Warren York and jewellery by Jon Richards!
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had 3 bridesmaids and one flowergirl! My chief bridesmaid was my gorgeous sister Kerry, and my beautiful cousins Erin and Alice were my two bridesmaids! Erin travelled all the way from America to be my bridesmaid! My flowergirl Erin, stole the show when she danced instead of walking down the ailse, but she is only one and absolutely adorable! My bridesmaids wore beautiful sage green chiffon dresses by Forever Yours, they looked stunning!
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
David chose his brother Andrew for his best man and his ushers were Adam, his youngest brother, Cameron and Ryan my cousins. Our pageboy was Alex, who is one year old and made our day, he was so well behaved and looked adorable! They wore black Prince Edward suits, with sage green waistcoats and scrunch ties which matched the bridesmaids dresses, even baby Alex had a matching suit! David wore a silver waistcoat and scrunch tie so he stood out!
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
We had a civil ceremony. We personalised the ceremony with 3 readings, read by my friend Dawn, our friend Kraig and my mam and music which reflected us. I walked down the ailse to Heaven Tonight by Hole, we signed the register to Thin Air by Pearl Jam, and bounced out to Baby I Love You by The Ramones!
Where did you hold your ceremony?
We held the ceremony at our venue, Linden Hall, in the Adamson Suite which has high wooden beams and fairy lights, it was so beautiful!
Where did you hold your reception?
Our reception was in the Bigge Suite at Linden Hall and looked absolutely stunning. We walked in and it took our breath away! Shades of green, dimmed lights and dozens of candles made it look amazing!
Did you have any special wedding transport?
I stayed at the venue, in the bridal suite, the night before the wedding so didn’t need transport. However, I booked a silver Mercedes to pick David and his brothers up and take them to the venue!
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had 69 guests for the ceremony and wedding breakfast and an extra 80 people for the evening reception!
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
We chose a very light sage green, silver and white for our colour scheme, as green is my favourite colour and my engagement ring is emerald. Our rings were engraved with the meaning of the Claddagh, love, loyalty & friendship so we used this as a theme for the day, with the Claddagh on the stationery and favours!
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
We had white chair covers and linen, with sage green sashes around the chairs and napkins. The favour boxes had sage green and personalised white Claddagh ribbon around them to tie it all together. Our menus and placecards matched our stationery and the flowers were white and green!
Did you give your guests favours?
We gave all guests a small white favour box which contained a pewter Claddagh coin and chocolate hearts! Everyone loved them and commented on how personal they were, and they were all taken by guests!
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
My bouquet was hand tied white and green roses, with curled aspidistra leaves around the roses. There were diamontes in the middle of each rose! My bridesmaids bouquets were hand tied white and green roses! The flowers were just stunning and were designed by Nicola at Alexanders Flowers! The table decorations were provided by the venue and were outstanding, we had silver candelabras with white and green flowers and white candles!
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
The catering was done by the venue, Linden Hall, and was delicious. We started a tian of melon and seasonal fruits with strawberry and tarragon compote, followed by supreme of chicken with smoked bacon, sage and roasted shallot sauce and finished with a delicious strawberry roulade with vanilla ice cream and raspberry compote!
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
Our wedding cake was simple but stunning, it was a square 3 tier cake with perspex boxes between each layer. We had fruit on the bottom layer, chocolate in the middle and rainbow cake on the top! It was decorated with sage green ribbon and piping, and my florist made a fresh flower dome for the top to match my bouquet. The cake was a wedding gift from a dear friend, who made it exactly how I wanted it and it was fair trade!
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
Just before the ceremony and during the drinks reception a friend of my uncles played guitar and sang for us, it was fantastic and it really made the day special! My uncle had flown Todd over from America especially to play and be a guest at our wedding! We had the Tony Corcoran Irish Ceilidh band for the evening reception, who were amazing and everyone got up dancing! They were followed by Linden Hall’s DJ who was fantastic and played all our favourite tracks – I even managed to bounce to Come On Eileen in my big dress!
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We had two gift lists, one with our photographer, Reporto Photomedia, and one with Argos. Our guests were so generous and we received so many gifts and had a fantastic mini honeymoon thanks to their kindness!
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We spent our first night at our venue in the bridal suite. We then flew to Dublin the next day and stayed at the stunning Clontarf Castle for 4 nights!
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
There were so many of them! The funniest was when we were saying our vows and I pulled a face at David and went cross-eyed, he fluffed his vows as he was trying not to laugh!
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
I stupidly got my hair trimmed two days before the wedding and HATED it! But thanks to a friend, Niqui, I loved my hair on the day and it looked stunning!
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
Not a thing – we loved every aspect our day! My biggest piece of advice for other brides is to make your day personal, don’t be put off by people telling you it should be traditional. Everyone commented on the individual aspects of our day, especially the wedding ceremony music and said how fantastic it was!
