"I was in my final year of college, Andrew had finished university and had moved down to London. He returned home only to visit every now & again so he had that air of mystery about him. We had known each other on and off for a year or so when, during a night out, we spent the whole evening talking to each other. We were both quite shy but fortunately my friend knew that we were perfect for each other and decided to play matchmaker!

"We had been together for over six years and living together for four and a half. We love skiing and went on holiday to Breckenridge, Colorado for a couple of weeks. Andy spent the first two days acting extremely guardedly around his bag and unknown to me was scoping out different locations on the mountains upon which to propose. He found a small secluded glade at the top of one of the mountains, the sun was shining and the snow was sparkling and we sat there for a couple of minutes taking in the view before, 13,000 feet up on the snowy mountain glade. Andy unexpectedly sank down onto one knee and asked me to marry him. I couldn't have pictured a more romantic and perfect proposal. Afterwards we skied halfway down the mountain to the restaurant and had a hot chocolate to celebrate!

I couldn't have pictured a more romantic and perfect proposal

"We hadn't been to very many weddings... so we didn't really know where to start. I think not knowing exactly what we wanted was the most stressful part. One of the hardest things was choosing a style because there are so many great ideas out there. Its fair to say that I did the leg-work to find ideas in magazines, wedding fairs, websites etc. I decided on the options but the final decision was always a joint one. It was important that we both felt comfortable with what we had chosen on the day. Making the decisions could be quite stressful because we wanted everything to be perfect but its important not to let it overtake the fun you can have while you're doing it... you're only going to do it once!

We'd been together for eight years so I didn't think I would be nervous but when it came to the night before and I didn't have anything left to organise, plan or distract me, that's when the nerves kicked in. Luckily, the night before the wedding I was staying over at my parents with my sister and the other bridesmaids. I was really nervous but we had a couple of drinks and spent the rest of the evening chatting and laughing, it was exactly what I needed! The morning of the wedding was so hectic I didn't really have time for nerves until I left for the church.

This was the moment I had been most looking forward to. I had always wanted to walk down the aisle to Pachelbel's Cannon in D, and we had arranged for a string quartet to play as I walked down the aisle. The anticipation of waiting for my music to play was an intense mixture of excitement and nerves, it was an amazing feeling knowing that Andy was down the other end waiting for me along with everyone else I loved. I think the nerves must have got to Andy a bit as well as he was facing the front of the church rather that watching me walk down as he had originally said. I think I shook all the way down the aisle, luckily I had my Dad to hold on to.

We had our reception at Kenwick Park Hotel in Louth. We looked around many venues but this had beautiful grounds, a simple room that we could dress the way we wanted and a wedding co-ordinator that we liked and who made suggestions to help us with the style which we wanted to achieve. Kenwick were really flexible with the food and drink we wanted and extra little touches like the ice-cream van we wanted for the drinks reception.

I had always wanted to walk down the aisle to Pachelbel's Cannon in D

Bride's View: We were waiting for the taxi to arrive in the morning to take us all to the hairdressers but it didn't turn up, so I decided to drive us. As I was backing out of the driveway I managed to crash into my Dad's car. My Dad was fine with it and just waved me on to get moving. Strangely that incident relaxed me and calmed my nerves no end!

Groom's View: The day was full of so many memorable moments but two things stand out for me, how amazingly beautiful Lisa looked all day and how my best man destroyed the years of good impressions my family and friends had of me before the speeches.

My mum Teresa did so much to help me in the lead up to the wedding. It would have been much more stressful if my mum hadn't been there to make the odd call and take charge of certain things like arranging the limo for the bridesmaids and updating the church on changes with the flowers...! But all our family and friends were amazingly supportive and the fact that everyone made themselves available for fittings etc was really appreciated.

As Andrew says, "married life really has strengthened the bond between myself and Lisa and I truly know she will always be there for me and being married shows the commitment we both have to each other. Being able to plan our future together and feel comfortable in making these plans is a big step forward for us both.