When was your wedding?
15 April 2006 (easter Saturday)
How and when did you meet?
We are both Viking re-enactors and met at a show in Amble in 2004. He sat down beside his friend at the camp fire and hardly talked to him as i was sitting on his other side.
How old are you both?
24 and 26
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
He proposed at the society banquet in March 2005. We were sitting beside all our friends and he got down on 1 knee behind me and proposed.None of our friends realised what he had done to begin with
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
He went to the York Viking Festival in Feb 06 with a bunch of friends and his dad for some shopping followed by a pub crawl. I keep saying I didn’t want a hen do but the weekend before our wedding was our society training weekend, where a bunch of us had chocolate cake and pink cocktails through pink straws.
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
He picked the colour scheme! he picked the boys outfits and the music we went out to, the first dance, and had say in a lot of the other stuff as well.
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
Yes, it helped with the wording for our invites as we designed them ourselves
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
I was always in and out the Glasgow store just looking or buying bits and bobs. At the time i was working across the street, so it was so easy to go in
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
I had a handmade dress that my friend made me. It was a simple design of an a-line plain white dress with a full length lace jacket that had a train. We had problems getting the lace, but in the end we got some lovley heavy weight lace from an Indian fabric shop in Glasgow. My final dress fitting was in the ladies toilet at the training weekend the week before the wedding. It was meant to be in a tent but there was so much mud everywhere the only cleanish place was the loos!
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had my cousin who was 18 at the time so was also one of our witnesses, and Damien’s two sisters.They had dresses from Monsoon in the end. I had bought dress patterns as i thought it would be easier to give the girls the pattern and material and get them to go to local dress makers (Damien’s sisters live in Blackpool and my cousin in Glasgow) but I couldn’t find any material I liked. I was then in Monsoon in Glasgow with my mum waiting for my dad and we found a dress I liked in the sale, I then had to search the other Monsoon stores to find enough in the right sizes
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
We had 2 of Damien’s friends from the society, my big brother (the token bride side person) and a junior usher who is also in the society and his mum made my dress. They had frock coat suits with red waistcoats from Moss Bross. Damien and Bunny (best man) had top hats and Damien had a cane as well They got their outfits from Moss Bros.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
Religious – St John’s Church of Scotland in Largs. We also had a handfasting at one of our shows later on in the year to cover both religions and so that all our fiends could be involved.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
St Johns Church of Scotland Largs
Where did you hold your reception?
Brisbane House Hotel
Did you have any special wedding transport?
We had a horse and carriage. From my house to the hotel via the church was less than a mile so we traveled in style. Danny (the driver) took us the long way from the house to the church so we ended up going down the main street. It was really special as everyone was waving and wishing us good luck. It was Easter Saturday so the town was really busy and loads of people saw us.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had about 60 people for the day and then some extra at the night – mainly people I worked with and friends of my mum and dads.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
We had very simple table settings – we had white candles which had gold wire and little red flowers on them with fresh ivy round the bottom. As Damien makes sweets for a living all the tables also had bowls of sweets on them
Did you give your guests favours?
The ladies got a little red bag with 5 mini eggs along with a little viking man The men got little bottles of Mead and many also got plastic swords – which they then played with outside in the car park. The children got Easter Eggs.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
They were all hand tied with Flower of Scotland tartan. I had red roses and thistles with little diamante in the centre of each rose. The girls had white roses. Kennedy’s of Largs did all the flowers
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
The hotel did the menu.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
We had 3 tiers on a cake stand that I bought from Ebay. We had Marks and Spencer cakes with a little white statue on the bottom tier and flowers to match mine on the other two.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
We had a piper outside the church who also piped me in to Highland Cathedral. We had a guy that did some ceilidh, and other stuff in the evening.
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We had a list at Debenhams. Most people did buy us present from our list.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
Our wedding night we spent at the Brisbane House as it was part of the package. We then went to Dublin on honeymoon, we booked the flight and hotel direct on the internet. It was really handy as Ryan air fly to Dublin from Blackpool where we live.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
Walking down the aisle and seeing Damien standing watching me. One of the funniest was – for one of our photos our photographer (Emma Sanderson) got us to run towards her, and I lost one of my shoes.
Did you experience any “nightmare” moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
My final dress fitting was in the ladies toilets at the training weekend the week before the wedding. It was supposed to be in a tent but there was so much mud everywhere the only cleanish place was the loos! My grannie was also in hospital at the time, and we had hoped to be able to get her out for the day but it didn’t happen – however we took the top table flowers and some photos on a laptop up to show her the next day
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
Because so many of our guests weren’t local we had an open house supper at home the night before the wedding. This was really nice as loads of people got to meet and catch up before the wedding and it gave us a chance to speak to people.
