Becky & Tom's Wedding Story
So tell us about how you met and all about the proposal…
We met in 2013 at work and were friends for about 6 months before we went on our first date, and have been inseparable since.
Tom proposed on 23rd Dec 2015, the day before my birthday. We went out for a meal at one of our favourite restaurants and when we came home there was a big box in the middle of the lounge with some flowers on it. I assumed it was an early birthday present and opened the box to find 4 balloons that said Will You Marry Me? As I turned round, Tom was on one knee with a ring! Plenty of (happy!) tears later and I said yes!
What were your hopes for your big day?
We wanted a relaxed day with our closest friends and family that reflected us and our lives. We also wanted to get married in a church so knew we were looking for two venues.
Why did you choose The Granary as your venue?
We loved the calm of The Granary, you feel relaxed the moment you get there and that suited our vision for the day. The team were brilliant, especially Glenn and Rachel and we felt immediately that they would do everything they could to make our day how we wanted it. Needless to say, the location is just stunning and the lawn was perfect for reception drinks. The main room was just the right size for our wedding and we liked that it was just one room so people wouldn’t disappear off and make the room look empty.
The Bride & her Maids
I brought my Sophia Tolli ball gown dress from Serendipity Brides, with a two-tiered veil. I always thought I would be in a fishtail dress but the moment I tried this dress on, I fell in love with it and didn’t want to take it off. Tom treated me to a pair of stunning Jimmy Choo white and gold shoes which were amazing.
We had 3 bridesmaids – my sister, Tom’s youngest daughter and my best friend who flew over from Australia. Organising dresses across the world wasn’t easy but there all wore dusty pink full length Coast dresses with a white fur bolero jacket as we got married in October!
The Groom and his Groomsmen
Tom wore a custom made two-piece suit made by Samuels The Tailors in Wellingborough. Sam was brilliant in creating exactly what Tom wanted and he got to choose everything that went into the suit.
One of Tom’s brothers was his Best Man, and his other brother and 3 close friends were Ushers. They all wore Navy blue suits, and had a pink tie, as did Tom, to match with the bridesmaids dresses.
Tell us about the theme for the day…
The theme was simple, rustic and elegant to create a relaxed atmosphere. We had ivory in the flowers and all the stationery. Our stationery was done by Dee from Unique Dee-signs and she worked with us from the start to create the same theme throughout all our stationery from Save the Date to the Table Name, Table Plan, Order of Service, Invites etc.
We also just wanted to ensure there were elements of our lives in the day, so we had our motorbikes in the main room which everyone loved! A few of the kids sat on them and got some pictures and we later found out that some of our family had pictures on them after we left!
Flowers
Jack Haddon from Northampton supplied our flowers, and we spent some time with them to go through ideas. We had two main arrangements for the church, which we then used in the main venue, bouquets for bridemaids, a shower bouquet for me, and button holes for Tom and his grooms party.
We chose ivory roses, ivory freesia with plenty of eucalyptus, variegated pitto and other greenery to keep with the countryside location of the venues!
Photography
Our photography was done by the brilliant Ian and Annie from Melbourne Photography. Annie was with me in the morning while Ian was with Tom for some early photos with his car (we had two Jags – one for each of us to get to the ceremony!) and to catch people arriving at the church. They stayed all day until the first dance.
We chose them as firstly there were two of them so we could each see, after the day, how each other’s morning was. We also chose them because they were lovely people who we could chat to. We would often be a hour longer than we thought at appointments as we would just end up chatting to them! They completely understood what we wanted from the day.
The Ceremony
We got married at St Mary’s church in Fawlsey, which was just a stunning location. We had been attending regularly after we were engaged and so knew Sue, our vicar, Cassandra, the organist, and Vivian and Robert, the church wardens really well. We had my godmother and Tom’s middle daughter, Katie, do readings at the church. Katie’s reading especially got a few laughs as it starts with ‘You’re not perfect…’!
The Food
Andy from Creative Events did our food, which was amazing. We had a duck starter, with a roast beef main and then chocolate brownie for dessert. Both Tom and I didn’t manage our mains as we were a bit nervous for our speeches but they both went well so we could enjoy our desserts!
For the evening food, we had a brilliant cheese and biscuits buffet, which we loved!
We also had a sweet cart and were amazed at how much our guests ate of that! As we came in to sit down, there was a massive queue for the sweets – and not just the kids!
Entertainment
For the reception drinks, I booked a couple of donkeys to be there, as a surprise for Tom! Glenn, Rachel and the team did an amazing job of keeping it quiet, despite a couple of close calls, and the donkeys arriving before Tom had left for the church! The kids had a few donkey rides will we were having pictures!
Ace Entertainment did our disco for the evening and we also had music in the background for the meal.
Our main entertainment for our guests was our first dance, as we had had a few lessons and had a dance choreographed especially for us. It was to ‘Still in Love with You’ by Electro Velvet. It’s not a ‘typical’ song for a first dance, and we loved the pictures of everyone’s faces when we started our dance!
What was the highlight of your day?
We loved every part of the day. The ceremony was just perfect, and we wouldn’t have changed a thing about the day. We loved having our closest friends and family around us as we made and celebrated our vows.
We did enjoy surprising people with little touches such as the donkeys, the bikes and the first dance!
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to anyone planning a wedding?
Pick suppliers who you can have a good conversation with (and not just about your wedding). We didn’t worry at all about anything on the day because we had confidence in our suppliers. They knew what we wanted to achieve from the day and made it so special!
Supplier links:
Serendipity Brides – www.serendipitybrides.co.uk
Samuel the Tailor – www.samuelsthetailors.co.uk
Jack Haddon – www.jackhaddon.co.uk
Melbourne Photography – www.melbournephoto.co.uk
Creative Event Services – www.creativeeventservices.co.uk
