Lynsey and Rob
27/05/2006 –
How and when did you meet?
I met Rob for the first time when he was 18 and I was 20. I was home for the weekend from University and went out with some mates. It was boiling hot in the pub so my friends and I went and sat outside to get some fresh air and cool down. One of my lad mates started talking to these two lads who he used to work with – one of them being Rob. We ended up going back to Rob’s mate’s house for more drinks. One by one everyone fell asleep and Rob and I stayed up chatting until 5 am before I decided to go home. When I finished Uni and moved back home, I would see him most weekends out and about and used to bore my mate about how I had seen him and how I had a thing for him. Nothing ever happened, even after spending Christmas Eve together, until New Year’s. After the club closed, we stayed up all night talking…and then we kissed! I was a goner.
How old are you both?
He is my toy boy – I’m 27 and he is 25! Awww.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
When I was 23 I fell pregnant. The baby was due in the January and Rob told me that he was giving me my birthday present in January once the baby was born! My birthday is in July so I thought that was a bit weird and he kept asking me about weddings and trying on my rings to find out my size. Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage in September and we were devastated. Things seemed to be going downhill and I decided to forget about the “present” as I thought he didn’t want to propose anymore. In February, Rob told me to take time off work so we could visit his mum in Jersey. But when we got to the airport, it was clear that he was trying to hide something. He couldn’t hide it any longer when we got to the gates for the flight to Paris. I was so surprised and happy! We spent the first couple days doing touristy things and then we went to Disneyland Paris which was a complete surprise. I love Disney—especially Disney princesses—and Rob told me we were having breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle with Disney princesses. Cinderella appeared and as we were having our picture taken, Rob proposed!
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
I had three hen parties. I had a princess and tiara party and I sent Disney princess invites. The weekend in Newcastle involved salsa dancing lessons, an Ann Summers party, and fire engines picking up all of us (wearing tiaras, pink sashes and t-shirts) at the hotel and taking us into town. The second party was at a Greek restaurant—dancing, plate smashing and belly dancing! Two days before the wedding, we went to a spa and out for lunch for nice, relaxing day. Rob had two stag dos, the first in Amsterdam and the second in town. He came home, very drunk and wearing a dress!
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
Does groaning “Not more wedding planning!” count? The only insight I got from him was not to spend too much money and that he wasn’t wearing pink!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
I read a lot of the real life weddings to get ideas. Rob said the wedding was taking over my life as I was always reading about weddings and on wedding sites in my spare time.
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?
I bought some sweets and disposable cameras.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
I always had the idea of what I wanted since I was little (princess mad again). The top was ivory with tiny diamante pink studs all over it. The skirt was very pale pink netting and full. I didn’t look like a meringue but a princess! I had a matching silver and pink tiara and the most gorgeous pink, strappy shoes that unfortunately I had to take off by the night time as they were hurting.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had nine! I had my best friend and two of my closest friends. also had my four nieces and Rob’s niece. The older four wore pink strapless dresses that were fitted at the top and then a line at the bottom. They had a silver ribbon that went just under their bust line. They had matching pink strappy shoes. My nieces had similar dresses although they had spaghetti straps and Rob’s niece had the same colour in a sleeveless dress, all had silver ribbons around their waists.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Rob chose his twin to be his best man as he is really close to him. He had his other two brothers, his brother-in-law and his best mate as ushers. They all wore – including our dads – grey suits with a pale blue waistcoat and cravat. My two nephews and Rob’s nephew wore the same
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
Neither of us are religious, however we had a religious ceremony.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
We held the ceremony at the local church. It was a lovely day and the setting was amazing as the church is set in a lovely landscape. We had the bells ringing and everything!
Where did you hold your reception?
We held the reception at a country club in the countryside near our town. It is set with a long driveway and lovely gardens and a lake. We had a marquee set up in the day and held the night time party in the house. We hired the house so I stayed there the night before to get ready and lots of the guests stayed there the night which was nice as we could talk about the day during breakfast the next day.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
We had two Rolls Royce cars for the bridesmaids and my mum. I arrived in a horse and carriage and after the service, Rob and I rode off in it.We also hired mini buses to take the guests from the church to the reception.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had 75 at the service as we only wanted family and close friends. We had 140 at the night reception.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
Pink and fairy tale! Of course…
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
Each table was named after a different Disney character. In the middle of each table was a lovely bouquet of pink and white roses. Scattered around the table were also pink and blue flying saucer sweets, jelly beans and love hearts. The place cards were cookies with their names on them in pink writing.
Did you give your guests favours?
They each were given a goody bag.The men’s goody bags were wrapped in blue cellophane with pink ribbon. And held a chocoloate cigar, a mini bottle of vodka or whiskey, a lucky dip lottery ticket and a little bottle of aftershave. The ladies’ were wrapped in pink cellophane with a baby blue ribbon and held a little bottle of perfume, a bath bomb, some love hearts and a lottery ticket. The bags for children included sweets, colouring pens and books, and a Disney book. The girls also got a fairy wand and clips and the boys got a bandana and pirate patch.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
I had a bouquet of bright pink roses which were amazing. My bridesmaids had baby pink and white rose bouquets. The button holes were pink roses.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
The house sorted out the catering. The guests had the choice between melon, pate or smoked salmon and prawns for the starters. Lamb, salmon or mushroom risotto for mains and profiteroles, sticky toffee pudding or fresh fruit salad for dessert. For the night time reception, we had a simple buffet of mini cones of fish and chips, mini pizzas, mini fajitas and mini hot dogs. We had a white chocolate fountain with fruit and sweets which went down a treat.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
We had two wedding cakes. The first one was a pink and white fairytale castle and the other was a four-tiered chocolate cake, with white chocolate icing, covered in pink flowers.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
We had a string quartet in the church. We had a choir who sang some of our favourite songs while we were signing the register.We had a jazz band playing during champagne and canapes and during dinner we had the string quartet playing in the background. We had a magician that went around to entertain the guests.At night we had a band who played a two hour set, a limbo competition, and then a DJ who played our favourite songs
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
Since we had been living together since I was 22 we had everything we really wanted. We asked for vouchers or money towards our honeymoon.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We spent our first night at the hotel which was great as the next morning we stayed to greet our guests and we also ended up staying there with about 30 close friends and family for Sunday lunch. We went to Cornwall and spent three days relaxing together, and we are going on a month long holiday in June. We’re going to Rome, Barcelona, the Greek Islands, and then to the Maldives.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
All of it! Probably when I looked around and realised all that I had planned and I was proud of myself. Also before I left the house, I received a text from Rob saying that he couldn’t wait to marry me which I will always remember!
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
Apart from being a control freak and getting too involved–my husband not helping me did annoy me.
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
Take time to enjoy it. The day was great; however, I think that I was worrying that something would go wrong and I was constantly making sure that everything went well. If I did it again I would definitely enjoy the day more!
