When was your wedding?
9th May 2009
.
How and when did you meet?
Antony and I first met around 10 years ago on a basketball referee course – I was 12 and Antony was 18. As he said in his speech, talk of love at first sight would have been a bit inappropriate at that time. However, we both played basketball, and bumped into each other from time to time, until several years later our paths crossed again when Antony would ref our university basketball games. Three years ago we were seated at the same table at a mutual friend’s wedding and our first date was the week after that.
How old are you both?
Antony is 31, I am 24
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
Antony proposed to me at home, in the middle of a game of scrabble.
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
Antony had his Stag Do in Bristol, involving paint balling, a night in a casino and lots of alcohol. My Hen Do was a Grease Pink Ladies dance lesson, followed by dinner and dancing in town.
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
He helped pick the venue and the colour scheme, and helped out making the order of services and favours.
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
I read some of the real life stories and looked through the catalogues for ideas.
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
Yes, I bought lots of things online!! My favourites were the top hat favours for the men and handbag favours which I personalised for the ladies.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
My outfit was from Berketex Bride in Nottingham. It was actually one the lady in the shop picked out for me after I’d tried all of the dresses I liked. I was a bit dubious before I tried it on; it was fancier than the ones I thought I liked, but I once I’d seen it in the mirror, I knew I wouldn’t find one I liked better. It was so comfortable on the day; actually it’s a top and skirt combination, so the majority of the weight of the dress sat on my waist rather than pulling down on the top.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
Yes I had my two cousins. They both wore sage green dresses from Coast, with ivory shawls, bags and shoes.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Antony had his best friend Dervan for his best man. His ushers were another of his close friends and my younger brother. They wore tail coats, ivory waist coats and sage green cravats to match the colours of the bridesmaids.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
Religious
Where did you hold your ceremony?
We got married in the church that my Mum and Dad got married in.
Where did you hold your reception?
Bestwood Lodge Hotel in Arnold.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
We hired an Ivory Beauford Tourer.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had 70 people to the wedding breakfast, and an additional 50 people in the evening.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
Our colours were sage green and ivory
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
I bought the sage green table numbers from Confetti. I added some green flowers to the handbags that I’d bought for the ladies and also made name places with sage green ribbon.
Did you give your guests favours?
Yes. The men got ivory top hats and the ladies got handbag favours. I also grew sunflowers that guests took home after the reception, and are hopefully growing in their gardens now!
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
My bouquet was a hand tied bouquet made with ivory roses and fresias. I also had some fuschia pink gerberas in for some colour. The bridesmaids carried ivory bouquets. Table decorations were goldfish bowls with three large gerbera heads floating and bear grass swirled in the bottom.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
Our wedding cake was made by Cakes Etc in Long Eaton. It looked stunning on the day and tasted absolutely delicious!! It was made up of 50 individual square cakes made of vanilla sponge, and decorated with sage green ribbons. The top tier was very tasty chocolate cake. On the top of the cake we had a bride and groom, accompanied by a black cat made from icing – our cat Colin.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We stayed over night at Bestwood Lodge on the first night. We still have our honeymoon in Kenya and Mauritius to look forward to – we’re going away in November.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
It was all absolutely perfect.
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
Enjoy every second of it!
