Elizabeth and Sean
12/02/2006
The Orangery, Whittlebury Park, near Towcester 
How and when did you meet?
It was a sort of blind date. Sean was a customer of the company I worked for and we had spoken every day on the phone for five years. One day, out of the blue, he asked me if I’d like to meet him for a lunchtime drink. I agreed and we eventually got together three months later – that was six years ago!
How old are you both?
I’m 30 and Sean is 36.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
I ‘proposed’ after three weeks! We had both agreed that our relationship was already completely different to any we had previously had and one day I just said “Let’s get married” and he said “Ok” so that was that!
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
I went to Bistro Live in Milton Keynes with some friends and our mums but Sean didn’t have a Stag do!
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
Sean was involved with every aspect of the planning! He chose the cake and the pig roast for the evening and helped me make all the invitations, menus and the table plan. He was amazing but a bit of a ‘bridezilla’ at times!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
We used the budget planner, table plan, and the guest list and I was glued to the Cafe!
Do you have a confetti web page?
No.
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
We bought dried rose petals, chocolate trivia, a guest book, metallic confetti and a few gifts online.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
My dress was by Angel Bride from Bride and Joy in Bletchley. I loved it the second I put it on!
you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had three adult bridesmsaids: Michelle, Melissa and Lindsey who wore black Debut dresses from Debenhams with stoles and our 22 month old daughter, Amelia, played flower girl in a cream Mothercare dress!
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Sean chose his brother Vince for his best man and his dad John as our usher. Vince is in the army so dressed appropriately and John wore a black Edward suit with a burgundy and black waistcoat and burgundy cravat which matched my dad; the suits were from Suitors in Buckingham.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
It was a civil ceremony.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
The Orangery, Whittlebury Park, near Towcester.
Where did you hold your reception?
The Orangery.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
No.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had 43 people (including 10 children) to the ceremony and an overall 86 in the evening.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
There was no real theme, we just wanted elegance and warmth. I hope we achieved it!
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
question We had hurricane lamps with a church candle inside which we partly filled with dried rose petals. We set these on round mirrors and then sprinkled a handful of petals over the table with some gold metallic hearts and tea lights in glass dishes. It looked amazing when it started to get dark.
Did you give your guests favours?
No, but we did place one chocolate trivia at each place.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
I decided not to have flowers and instead had a bouquet made of ivory feathers and Swarovski crystals and pearls. The girls had iIvory and burgundy feather posies and my daughter carried a feather wand with little bells on. All the men had feather button holes and our mums had feather corsages. All these were made by Rachel at YR Design in Halifax.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
We had smoked salmon and asparagus with warm Hollandaise, pink Champagne sorbet, beef wellington and four miniature desserts. We served our Malteser cake with coffee and in the evening after the fireworks, we had a pig roast.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
We had a devil’s food cake which was completely covered in Maltesers – it tasted amazing! Sean saw a similar one in a magazine and had his heart set on it! Teresa at Creative Cakes in Stony Stratford made it and counted every Malteser by hand so that we could run a competition for our guests to guess how many were on the cake!
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
During the meal we had a harpist play, which I loved, and in the evening we had a disco.
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
No.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We spent our first night in the Whittlebury Hall hotel which was lovely. Our honeymoon was two nights in London. We booked a private capsule on the London Eye which I hated but overall we had a great time!
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
Saying our vows, the fireworks and we spent the last half an hour on our own – dancing and chatting about the day – I’d recommend anyone to do that – it was a fab end to the day.
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
We had a couple of things which we easily sorted out on the day, a whole table’s menu choice went missing, but luckily they had extra portions to make this up!
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?I wouldn’t have done anything differently but I would have hired a creche service as some people couldn’t be relied on to supervise their children and they were messing about with the lights while we were trying to eat and generally running amok!
