We met at a BBQ in July 2003. My friend didn't want to go on her own so I joined her and met Nick. We kept in touch and saw each other at weekends. Nick moved to the USA with work not long after we started seeing each other. We could not bear to be so far apart, I gave up my job and joined him six months later.
I am 27 and Nick is 31.
We went to Rome for five days as my birthday treat in 2006. On my birthday we went to dinner at a cosy little restaurant near Campo dei Fiori, then walked to Piazza Navona where we had ice cream and coffee. On the walk back to the hotel, we passed the Trevi Fountain. Whilst stopping to admire it Nick got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.
I spent my hen day at Epsom Derby with the girls, my mum and mum-in-law. We all got dressed up (as the Queen was there it was rude not to) and we looked great - the bridesmaids had rosettes with titles and names on which everyone loved. I was quite successful with the betting and made a fair profit! Afterwards we went back to our hotel in Kingston where the bridesmaids presented me with a personalised thong saying 'property of Nick Edwards' and several personalised bottles of wine. We went out for Tapas at a local restaurant where the placemats were all a collage of me when I'd been drinking, rather embarassing but fun. Nick went to Devon with the boys for the weekend. They played golf, had surfing lessons and went clay pigeon shooting - they drank alcohol in excess of course, but not during the organised events! When they went out for a meal Nick was made to wear a pair of swimming armbands, a pair of goggles and a rubber ring - needless to say he got plenty of ridiculing from everyone who saw him!
I did the research, got things down to two or three choices then we made the final decisions together. He also organised the suits for the men.
I used the forums which I found totally invaluable. The girls on there were really helpful, supportive and full of ideas - meaning we actually spent more than we initially intended, but it was worth it!
I bought books for Nick (the Groom's wedding) and my Dad (the Father of the Bride's wedding and Speeches).
My dress was Anushka by Augusta Jones and I absolutely adored it. I bought it from A Bride-2-Bee in Warsash near Southampton.
We had two adult bridesmaids who wore dresses from Coast in lavender with lilac sash and diamante brooch. They found them completely by accident but they were just perfect.
The Best Man and Ushers were all Nick's close friends who he has known since secondary school. They all wore Morning Suits with ivory waistcoats and a lilac cravat and they looked so smart!
We had a civil ceremony followed immediately by a blessing which was performed by a friend of Nick's (a vicar) who he played football with for many years.
In the Barn at Oaks Farm in Shirley which is near Croydon. It is set between two golf courses and has beautiful grounds. The drinks following the ceremony were served in the orangery.
The wedding breakfast was in the Pavilion which is a marquee attached to the orangery.
As I was getting ready at the venue I didn't have any special transport. I did arrange for a Rolls Royce Silver Spur to collect Nick and the Best Man as a surprise and he loved it.
We had 65 guests in the end. We didn't have an evening guest list because I'm from Southampton and Nick is from Upminster so most of our guests had quite a way to travel and it wasn't fair to invite them just for the evening.
As we got engaged in Rome we thought it would be nice to have that as the theme.
Our table names were all sights in Rome and our table plan was the hands from the 'Creation of Man' from the Sistine Chapel.
Yes, we gave them chocolates with personalised wrappers with our names and wedding date on.
I had an informal hand-tied bouquet consisting of coolwater roses, dusky pink hydrangeas, purple veronica, lilac sweet peas, and purple lissy. It was tied with lilac ribbon, pinned with pearl headed pins. The bridesmaids had hand-tied bouquets of coolwater roses, purple veronica, and dusky pink hydrangeas. The table centre arrangements were silver coated square glass vases of large white roses, lilac spray roses, purple veronica, purple lissy, lilac scabiosa, and dusky pink hydrangeas. We had the table arrangements in aqua packs so that our guests could take them home. Our flowers were by Stem Florists. Emma was so helpful and patient throughout, she did an amazing job.
Starter: Tricolore Salad of Vine-Ripened Tomato, Avocado and Mozzarella garnished with Fresh Basil and drizzled with Extra Virgin Olive Oil Main: Chargrilled Breast of Chicken, Marinaded in Coriander, Chillies and Lime served with Seasonal Vegetables and Garlic Roasted New Potatoes Dessert: Individual Apple Pie served with Vanilla Ice Cream and Clotted Cream
Our wedding cake was made by Debbie Bone of Debbie's Sweet Art in Walton-on-Thames. It was chocolate cake covered with white chocolate cigarillos and decorated raspberries and strawberries. It all got eaten as our guests loved it!
During the ceremonies and until the wedding breakfast we had a string quartet which our guests enjoyed. In the evening we had a DJ and we had given a list of guest requests which he played.
No, we have lived together for several years so we asked for contributions towards our honeymoon. People were very generous.
The first night was spent at the Bridal Cottage at Oaks Farm. Our honeymoon was one week Safari and one week at the beach. We didn't want to come back.
Seeing Nick for the first time, he had the biggest smile on his face.
Not really. We live in Copenhagen and organised everything from abroad so we had to be quite organised. The worst part was that Nick's dad (who lives in Tbilisi) was told that he was medically unfit to fly so
We would probably start the day a bit earlier as we ran a little behind schedule. Other than that everything was perfect so I wouldn't change a thing. |
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