Nicola and Gary
08/07/2006
Christ Church in Ossett
Woolley Hall in Wakefield
How and when did you meet?
We met when I was at uni in Leicester. He was the manager of the store I worked in part time. Having attempted several fruitless attempts at flirting I decided a full on flirt attack was what was needed! So, on our Christmas party I wore a hand sewn sequined Gary Robson top. I kept it covered up whilst I gathered together some Dutch courage, everyone telling me I looked warm and should remove my jacket! The moment eventually arrived, I took the jacket off, Gary’s jaw hit the floor and he remained speechless for what seemed forever! When he did eventually get over the shock, he took me to the bar to get a drink, took my number and the rest as they say is history! Girl Power!
How old are you both?
I’m 26 and Gary is 37.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
He proposed on Valentine’s Day 2005. This was long after we had actually booked the wedding but he had always maintained he wanted to propose on Valentine’s. I was unfortunately very poorly on this day which nearly ruined his moment. He had sent me two dozen red roses and a bottle of champagne during the day, when he came home I was still in pjs as I was that ill. Thought it wasn’t going to happen but then when we went to bed, he got down on bended knee and asked me to be his wife. I cried before I said yes, not romantic in the true sense of the word but I thought it was perfect!
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
We did. Gary had a night out in our hometown with all his mates. Fortunately there were no horror stories to be heard of! I went to Leeds with my hens to a fabulous place called The Bird Cage, a drag club that is just so super! Had a brilliant night and got very merry. We had a pink and sparkly theme which went down a treat with the drag queens!
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
He chauffeured me to appointments! Seriously, he was quite happy to leave it to me as he trusted me implicitly. He turned up looking gorgeous on the day and that was all I asked off him!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
I absolutely did! The website gave me great ideas for table centres, attendant outfits, gifts, everything! I would have been at a loss without it, particularly the forums. Whenever I needed advice, feeling down, ideas, the girls (and sometimes boys!) were always there to help and gave me some fantastic inspiration along the way.
Do you have a confetti web page?
Yes, I do.
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
I bought lots of Confetti items and I went to the brilliant Leeds store to buy them.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
My dress was made for me by a fab dress maker in Ossett. It was ivory, full skirt and strapless. The bodice was extremely beaded and flowed into the skirt. The skirt itself was very unusual as it was kind of layered. I don’t really know how to describe it! The skirt was layer upon layer of organza with lots of net worked into the inside so I didn’t need a hoop or anything and because it was organza, it was extremely light and easy to wear. I loved it! My tiara and veil were bought from a bridal shop in Ossett as well. The tiara was pearls and Swarovski crystals and was very super blinging! The veil was ivory, ribbon edged with scattered diamantes on it, not sure of the official length but it was about shoulder length.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had two flowergirls, my two beautiful daughters. They wore gorgeous ivory dresses that were made by my step-mum’s mum. It had a silk bodice with a silk ‘cumberband’ style sash that had a big bow at the back. The skirt was made of really stiff net that was layered to give a really full effect, there were little daisies randomly scattered onto the skirts with pearl buttons at the back, they were stunning! My mini bridesmaid was my 10 year old sister who had a full length ivory dress. It was cut away at the side to show some of the net from the flowergirl dresses which also had the daisies on it. My chief bridesmaid was my best friend and the other bridesmaid was my niece. They wore a two piece from Debenhams, ivory skirts with pink bodices and ivory closed toe shoes.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Slightly breaking from tradition, Gary had both his sister and his eldest son as ‘Best Wo/Man’. Family is very important to both of us and we chose to have mainly our family as attendants rather than friends. The ushers were his youngest son, my brother, my nephew and one of his workmates. My little nephew was page boy. Gary wore a charcoal grey Edward suit with pink waistcoat, cravat and handkerchief. The rest of the male party wore black tails, black trousers with silver accessories and they all looked stunning!
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
We chose a religious ceremony.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
Our marriage ceremony took place at my family Church, Christ Church in Ossett.
Where did you hold your reception?
We held our reception at Woolley Hall in Wakefield. A truly amazing venue with stunning grounds.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
We had a silver baby Bentley limo that was seriously fabulous! I loved it and all the men thought it was fab!
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had 65 day guests and our evening reception was for 150.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
I wanted a very girly, traditional theme and so our colours were pink, ivory and silver with the main flowers being pink roses that I absolutely love.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
Our table centres were rectangular displays of pink roses, pink gerberas, lots of greenery, pink freesias and other pink fillers with three silver candles in the centres of them. We also had a few cluster of five balloons, two pink, two ivory and one silver, tied with ivory ribbon and silver weights behind the cake table and at either side of a beautiful staircase in the lounge area.
Did you give your guests favours?
Yes, we did. The females had a stack of pink and ivory round bottomed candles, the males had chocolate liquors, the older kids had personalised push pops and we gave little party bags to the younger kids.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
My bouquet was even more beautiful than what I had pictured. It was a hand tied bouquet of aqua roses, akito roses, white freesias, white bouvardia and hooped bear grass. The roses had crystal pins down the heads and was tied with ivory ribbon. The bridesmaids had smaller versions of mine, the flower girl had silver wands with a pink ribbon tied to them. Table decorations were as already described. The female button hole were akito roses with gyp and ivory ribbon, the males had akito roses with a curled stem. Gary’s was an aqua rose with a curled stem. My mum had an akito rose, white freesia and gyp corsage. My wonderful florist was Debbie Braidley of Bumble Bee Florists. She is freelance based in Barnsley.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
We used the venue’s catering and had tomato and basil soup, prawn cocktail or melon for starters. A carvery for main with lamb, beef or oven baked ham for the meat with all the trimmings and the best Yorkshire puddings we have ever had! The dessert was individually baked vanilla cheesecake with a summer fruit coulis and raspberry compote, chocolate tulip with three fillings or ice cream. The kid either had half portions of the above or chicken goujons with the carvery veg. Had no veggies!
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
I designed our wedding cake myself and was very proud of it! It was three tiered, the bottom being a love heart fruit cake, the middle was a round sponge cake and the top a square chocolate cake. It was ivory iced with ivory swags in icing around each layer. The tiers were separated by glass vases that were filled with pink rose petals and there was a pink rose topper. It looked brill and tasted delicious! It was made by a local baker, Karen at Kelly’s Bakery in Monk Bretton, Barnsley.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
No entertainment during the day, although we did have our friend sing “Heaven,” the candlelight mix by DJ Sammy during the signing of the register. We had a fabulous DJ for the evening who had everyone dancing. I did not stop!
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
Yes, we chose to have a gift list and held ours with Debenhams.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We stayed at the Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield for our first night and it was lovely. We had a suite, massive bed, spa bath and they left us chilled Champagne, strawberries and a box of Belgian chocs on the table for us! We went to St Lucia for our honeymoon and that was just incredible. We stayed at The Almond Morgan Bay Hotel. Gary booked it through Thomas Cook.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
When we came out of the church and all our family and friends were waiting for us, seeing their happy faces and then hearing the big cheer and round of applause followed by confetti was brilliant. Then at that moment Gary turned to me and said ‘I love you so much, Mrs. Robson.Thank you’ and I started crying! It was just perfect and I can remember it so clearly.
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
The week before was horrendous. It was my birthday on the Monday but instead of relaxing and having a good time I was up until midnight with my chief bridesmaid doing the table plan! Only for the next day for me to receive a letter saying a family of four couldn’t make it! I was gutted. Gary’s sister was flying in from New Zealand that day so was really busy and couldn’t change it. On the Wednesday we were all supposed to be going out for a meal, close family and the attendants, but I had a call just as we were leaving to say my grandad had fallen and broken his hip so he wouldn’t be able to come to the wedding. I was so upset that he wasn’t there but he had to have a hip replacement on the Friday before our wedding. Thankfully my Grandma did still come but she had to leave after the speeches to go see him. Did not get the table plan finished until 3pm on the Friday, had to be at the venue before 4pm to drop everything off so this was a mad dash! Thankfully nothing went wrong on the day! Well, the car did have orange ribbons on but I didn’t care!
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
The only thing would be to spend more time with my hubby at the evening reception. We had so many guests and wanted to make sure we spoke to them all that even though we were together, because we were speaking to others it didn’t feel like it was alone time. We did go upstairs to have half an hour to ourselves. That was so lovely and we could see everyone below us having a wonderful time on our day and that was special. Other than that, don’t worry about little things. Remember everyone is there to celebrate your marriage and little things like favours and everything matching isn’t the be all and end all. Have a wonderful day and be happy. I didn’t stop smiling all day!
