Real Wedding | UKbride

"I first met Phil when we both attended College. A number of my friends knew Phil as they played football with him. We used to see each other most days around college as we were both studying similar A-level subjects. However, it was during a Christmas party where we first talked and then shared a kiss under the mistletoe! Christmas still reminds me of our first kiss, making the season extra special!

"After college I went to Leeds Met University for four years to become a PE teacher. We had been together over seven years when Phil popped the question. Two days before my birthday he took me away for, what I thought was, an innocent birthday weekend. We went to a lovely hotel and upon arrival there was champagne, flowers and chocolates. I didn't suspect a thing... then Phil went down on one knee and proposed!

"The venue was essential for us and Forest Pines was the perfect location having been there many times. After that, we arranged the dress and suits. We wanted a really modern and fun feel for our wedding and both fell in love with the colour referred to for months only as 'Cadbury's chocolate purple'!

"I didn't know what to expect when I went shopping for my wedding dress. I always imagined myself in a large dress but how wrong I was! I took my bridesmaids and my mum wedding dress shopping and tried on so many different dresses. Something made me feel so special as soon as I tried on my dress and everyone agreed it was perfect.

"My dress was a very simple ivory straight design with a huge train. Down one side there was beading detail which was echoed on the train. The back was very low and had a ruche detail with pearlised beads from the top right down to the bottom of my back... I think I fell in love with the back of the dress!

"The church service was fantastic, we had a really fun Vicar and everything went smoothly. The church singer was perfect making it all the more enjoyable. Saying our vows was nothing like the rehearsal the night before, it was terrifying. Neither of us made any mistakes though!

"It was always so important to me to have people present who are going to be part of our lives for a long time. I chose my three best friends, Lauren, Tori and Athanasia to be bridesmaids and Anais (Phil's niece) as our flower girl. I tried to involve all our special friends in either the wedding party, ceremony or speeches.

"We both fell in love with 'Cadbury's chocolate purple."

"After the ceremony we had some pictures taken in Scawby gardens. The Nelthorpe estate was kind enough to allow us to use their gardens for some fantastic pictures.

"Our reception was held at Forest Pines in the Tennyson suite. This was a new suite and so it perfectly suited the modern theme that we sought for our wedding.

"The whole day was absolutely perfect. The 'best women' speeches by my uni friends were amazing and it hit home how really lucky we are to have such great friends."

Even Phil says "It was obvious that everyone had had a wonderful time, which made us feel very happy indeed. The best men's speeches were unbelievable and must have been rehearsed for weeks! Jen looked beautiful all day long and reading my speech made everything hit home, giving even me a lump in my throat!"

"For the honeymoon we went to the five-star all inclusive Excellence Riveira resort in Mexico," explained Jennie. "Words can't describe how perfect the place was; the climate and the cuisine were unbelievable.

"We'd love to thank our parents, for being who they are and giving us both a day that we couldn't have dreamed of. Anais, our flower girl was an angel all day long. Generally just everyone who made the effort to travel from all over the country and share our amazing day with us especially Phil's usher Paul Horner who flew in from America just for the weekend.

"Thank you also to Heather White, our wedding singer - we don't think there was a dry eye in the church when she started singing!

And how's life going now? "Married life is wonderful... it really is perfect... we couldn't be happier!"