A Black & White Wedding at the Holiday Inn, Winchester

After seven years together, Duncan proposed to Donna on a romantic moonlit walk. Two years later, keeping the romance in mind, they were married in a black and white themed wedding in the Holiday Inn, Winchester in front of their loved ones.

Wedding date: 24 September 2011
Wedding Ceremony and Reception: Holiday Inn Winchester

We met… In September 2002, we were introduced by two friends who are brother and sister.

The proposal… After being together for seven years, one evening Duncan took me down to the marina for a walk and he proposed by moonlight.

My dress… It was strapless ivory gown with lots of sparkle across the bodice and back.  I loved wearing it because it was so sparkly!

Our Bridesmaids… I had six Bridesmaids – my sister, three of my friends and my two nieces. My Goddaughter was my Flower Girl. The adults wore black and white knee-length dresses from Debenhams and the girls wore ivory below-the-knee dresses, also from Debenhams.

Our Groomsmen… Duncan had two friends from school as his Best Men and two friends as Ushers. They all wore traditional suits hired from Debenhams.

Our ceremony & reception… We had both the civil ceremony and the reception at the Holiday Inn, Winchester. We invited 80 guests to the day and another 180 to the evening.

Our wedding theme… Was black and white – people weren’t keen on it when they heard about it first, but it worked really well. We had black sashes and white chair covers, black and clear table crystals and black and white tea lights. Our favours were chocolate hearts and activity packs for the children.

Our flowers… We had artificial rose bouquets from Finlows Wedding Flowers and a real flower top table centrepiece from Marie’s Florist, Winchester.  The guest tables all had a fish bowl vase with three calla lilies that stood on a round mirror.

Our menu… We had grilled goat’s cheese salad, roast turkey and honey glazed gammon, followed by profiteroles.  The kids had cheesy garlic bread, chicken nugget and chips followed by a banana split. The evening buffet was sausages, bacon and chips. The catering was all dealt with by the hotel.

Our most memorable moment of the day…  Being given a letter from Harry Redknapp, manager of Spurs, during the Best Man’s speech.

Advice for other brides-to-be… Don’t let things get you uptight and just enjoy every second of the day as it goes by so quickly.