The Wedding of Will & Louise | UKbride

Will and Louise first met in September 2004; "I was working in offices above a local men’s club. Most evenings, Will would come in for a drink after work, just as I would be leaving, so we would literally pass on the stairs! Will used to smile at me and go bright red… it took him until November to finally ask me out for a drink; I said yes of course… and the rest, as they say, is history!"

The pair were going out three years until one night, "we were just sat at home on the sofa, when he popped out a beautiful diamond platinum ring." On that day, 22nd June 2007, the whole family celebrated, "we rang our friends and family and they immediately came round for an impromptu party. Much fizz was consumed; it was a great night!"

Soon, the celebrations over, the time came for decisions. Louise explains "We had always claimed that when we became engaged, we wanted to get married the following year, so we had to start planning rather quickly!" With most weddings taking 18 months to organise, there were some decisions to make.

"We knew we wanted a marquee reception and the perfect setting for that was the grounds of Will’s parents’ home. We quickly decided on the date and booked our local church as Will’s parents were married there nearly thirty years before."

Louise says, "It was quite hard work planning the wedding, as you just want everything to be right. Luckily though, we had great support from both sides of our family to make things that bit easier."

"You know when you have found 'the one'" although Louise wasn't talking about Will, no. "I  loved my dress as soon as I saw it in a magazine; it was by Pronovias. I had been looking for a while before I found it, but I think that the saying is true - you know when you have found ‘the one’. It was ivory with a lovely lace overlay and had little capped sleeves - the back of the dress was cut away."

James whispered in my ear that he felt very faint! I told him that was my line!

Some say that choosing the ushers and bridesmaids can be a rather stressful balancing act, but not for Louise and Will. "We are a close family so I knew I wanted to have Wills sister Sophie and our sister-in-law Rebecca as our bridesmaids. I chose Amy to be my maid of honour as she has been my best friend since school." Choosing the ushers were equally easy as Will explains, "My ushers were Katie’s two brothers, Mark and Simon and Chris Dring, who is a family friend. Best man was my brother James… I knew James would be the man to keep me calm!"

But things didn'nt go quite to plan, although Louise was as calm as a cucumber, "I just couldn't wait to get down the aisle", but down the aisle brother James wasn't 100%, as Will explained. "As the music started playing in the church for Katie to walk down the aisle to, James and I were supposed to stand up and step forward, but just as I was standing up, James whispered in my ear that he felt very faint! I told him that was my line! Luckily he managed to last the whole ceremony without collapsing on me"!

Will was a tad anxious on the morning of the 'big day', "we were still putting the finishing touches to the marquee in the morning so I was very nervous but a couple of beers soon calmed me down!"

With the vows over with the party headed to the reception for the speeches, "All of the speeches were great!" said Louise, "although I have to say my Dad’s was the best! He is normally rather a quiet man, so we could not believe some of the things that he said! He had all of the guests in hysterics; it was fantastic."

The couple jetted off to Antigua, spending two weeks in the Sandals Grande Resort. " It was an amazing holiday, we could not fault a thing, we just wish that we could have stayed there longer."

"We would like to thank our parents for giving us the wedding of our dreams, we could not have done it without them! With a big thank you to our friend Carol Dring who had such a calming influence on the day and helped set up the marquee the morning of the wedding. An extra mention for Sophie, Will’s sister, as the day before the wedding she was laying out all of the tables in the marquee to perfection!

"It felt really special, to be walking into a church full of your family and friends and saying your vows. Looking back it does seem like a bit of a dream, I wish it could have lasted longer, because it really was the best day of our lives."

On asking the pair how they're finding married life, "It comes highly recommended! It really is a great feeling to be married to the man you love!" To which Will replies, "I have to agree with my wife" he smiles, "it's the best thing I've ever done!"

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