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We met in January 2004 in hospital! He was in a car accident in Oct 2003 when he broke his back - he is now paralysed and in a wheelchair, but is definitely by no means disabled! I was doing my final training as an Occupational Therapist and was working with him, helping him learn his wheelchair skills etc.
We are both 25.
He proposed in Feb 2005 on the Isle of Man (where he's from) on the front looking out at the sea, under the moonlight. We were listening to the radio and he'd called the station to have it broadcasted. The presenter said they had a special question someone wanted to ask, "Lynn, will you marry Rob?" Then he pulled a ring out of his pocket and, after dropping it on the floor, proposed to me.
We had them the week before the wedding. He went out bowling and then for a meal with his friends, who were all dressed up in full ‘70s gear and he had a 'groom' poster on the back of his wheelchair!
I also went out bowling (different night), then we went to a Chinese restaurant. The theme was pink so we all had to wear something pink. They put lots of pink make up on me and a sash and everything; it was great fun!
He helped a lot, helped to make decisions and to keep me sane through it all. He left the organising to me though because I'm a champion organiser!
Yes, the message boards helped, talking with other brides-to-be, I also used the guest list which was helpful.
I bought some confetti, table cameras, chocolates (yummy!) and Table Trivia online from Confetti.
I bought my outfit from the local bridal shop; it was by Amanda Wyatt in a style called Erin. On all the pictures and on the internet it shows it in gold, but mine was cream. It had a bodice at the top, (great for holding you in!) the skirt had two layers and the material was 'paper taffeta,' which made it really light and easy to wear.
I had my sister-in-law and my friend, who are 20 and 27. They wore beautiful purple dresses from Debut at Debenhams.
He has four brothers and he chose one for his best man and one other brother and a friend for his ushers. They all wore their own black suits, white shirts and a burgundy tie. Rob wore a gold waistcoat with diamonds and a flack of the burgundy, while the others wore Champagne coloured waistcoats -very snazzy!
Religious, my granddad is a pastor so he married us. My brother lead the music, our pastor spoke, and our friends have an African Gospel Choir who sang while we signed the register!
It was at a local church, which was really beautiful.
The reception was at Goosnargh Village Hall.
We hired a BMW from the BMW showroom and my dad chauffeured! (It gave him something to do!)
We had about 100 people at the service, and they all stayed around for refreshments afterwards. Then we had about 80 for the reception and evening do plus another 15 more people came for the evening.
Our whole wedding was in the theme of purples and raspberries.
My mum made raspberry coloured tablecloths and the centrepieces we made had silver, purple and raspberry coloured chocolates in them. We put up the same coloured balloons around the venue and a friend made some flower arrangements for the hall.
No, but there were chocolates in the table centrepiece they could eat.
My bouquet had purple calla lilies, tied and held with one hand at the side. My bridesmaids had white calla lilies and roses with a few of the purple ones in to match mine. The guys had white roses, and Rob had a while calla lily.
Our florist was Wilkinson's of Ribbleton, a local florist who was excellent and very cheap!
We employed a company called The Hot Pot Supper Company, strange caterers for a wedding I know, but they put on an excellent spread and we had a cold buffet. We then bought desserts from supermarkets, gateaux, flans etc. We asked two couples we know to organise the food and drinks for us and it went down really well.
My grandma made the cake as a present - she used to be a confectioner. We had 3 tiers, in keeping with the colour scheme. For a cake topper we had one made to look like us, including Rob's wheelchair!
In the evening, we had 2 bands. The first part of the evening was with Sandrigg, a barn dance band, then during the second half of the evening we had my granddad's jazz band, the Jazz Aces.
We had our main gift list with Argos, but also had one at Debenhams.
Our first night we spent in our new house. We didn't live together before we were married so it was really special for us.
For our honeymoon we went to the Dominican Republic and booked it with Thomas Cook.
The whole day went so fast it feels like a moment all at once! I remember walking around the corner and seeing my husband waiting at the front of the church and him saying 'Wow!' to me! We also did a choreographed salsa dance as our first dance, which was fantastic, especially considering Rob is in a wheelchair - that touched a few people.
On our wedding day, our photographers ran off! They were meant to stay for 7 hours, but just after the service they left because they said we broke the terms and conditions - a reporter from the local paper came to take a few shots as they were writing up our story for the paper. They left without a word, they just disappeared!
Fortunately my brother and a friend of ours have very good cameras and even better eyes and saved the day. They took photos for the rest of the day and we still have a wonderful photo album thanks to them.
At the end of the day, it is the most magical, special day in your life. Don't worry about anything because even if things do go wrong, like they did with us, it doesn't matter because you're marrying someone you love more than anything and are now starting the first day of the rest of your lives, the day is wonderful no matter what happens!
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