Jody & Matthew's Wedding Story
We took a weekend trip to Rome for my birthday in November 2018. After a couple of days site seeing we then had a lovely meal in a back street Italian restaurant. On the way back to the hotel Matthew suggested we take a walk to the Coliseum to see it in the dark. Matthew then asked a passer-by if they’d take a photo of us and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Matthew and I have always lived in North Norfolk so we wanted to get married locally. We chose Caley Hall for its peaceful location near the beach, unique layout and relaxed friendly atmosphere. After looking around the hotel we liked the country, rustic décor and knew that’s what we wanted for our wedding theme.
The ceremony took place at St. Nicholas church Dersingham. I had always wanted to get married in a church with the bells ringing and the organist playing. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it was a perfect January day! As I walked done the aisle with my boys in front of me it was so special and emotional, I was trying to hold back the tears. When I saw Matthew was crying, it was a moment I will never forget.
After the ceremony we enjoyed arrival drinks in the lounge at Caley Hall. There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere with the fire roaring, and all our family and friends together. Behind the hotel is a lovely long grassed field, which offered the perfect backdrop for some photos whilst the sun was setting in the distance.
We had a delicious three course wedding breakfast at Caley Hall. The room was decorated just how we wanted it with our guest’s photos as name cards which added a really personal touch. During Matthews’ speech he had also written a speech for our children which made it extra special.
Our photographer was fantastic and it was lovely to have him with us all day so he could capture images from us getting ready to a sparkler shot in the evening.
My dress was a fishtail design by Anna Sorrano and was the first dress i tried on, i automatically fell in love with it. The bridesmaid’s dresses were a dove grey colour from Dorothy Perkins. They fitted all four bridesmaids perfectly and they all felt really comfortable in them. The groomsmen’s suits were navy blue with a grey tartan waistcoat and pale grey tie.
Our flowers were so beautiful and exactly what I wanted with white roses, gypsophila and green foliage.
We have some close friends that live in Leicester who recommended this little farm shop that makes the best cakes so we popped in to try some and fell in love! We chose a 3 tier semi-naked cake, the top and bottom layers were raspberry flavoured Victoria sponge and the middle layer was lemon sponge. It was absolutely delicious and looked stunning.
In the evening we had a disco, the music was perfect and the dance floor was always full. The photobooth was a real hit with all our guests too.
Our first dance was to ‘A thousand years’ by Christina Perri. This song is really special to us and our family as it was used for a World downs syndrome day video and our son who has downs syndrome was able to sign along to it. We danced the first half and then our two sons and the bridesmaids came onto the dance floor and we all signed the rest of the song, it was a truly magical moment that I’ll never forget.
We are looking forward to our honeymoon to the Dominican Republic later in the year.
