When was your wedding?
18.04.09
How and when did you meet?
We were childhood sweethearts, I was 14 and Liam was 16, we met through friends and the first time we met each other was at my trampolining lesson!
How old are you both?
I am 21, Liam is 23
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
Liam propsed to me for my 18th birthday at a stunning hotel we had gone to, he got down on one knee before dinner in our room and had sneaked in a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
I had two hen do’s, one at an Italian restaurant with a big bunch of girls then went out for drinks and dancing afterwards. We all wore pink diamante t-shirts. My second hen do was a week before the wedding and a few of my friends, family and I went to a spa hotel for the night, we all had treatments and relaxed which was perfect to calm me down, I would definitely recommend it! Liam had a fantastic stag do organised by his best man, they went clay pigeon shooting, off road go-karting and then for a curry.
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
Liam wasn’t very fussed by the planning, as a lot of brides may find! He came to all the meetings and wedding shows though and always gave his opinion. He helped me out making some of the invites and post box but soon got bored!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
Yes! The Bride and Groom forum was a god send. All the lovely ladies there always helped out when I was trying to find websites and companies, thank you girls! I also used the budget planner which really helped us work out our budget.
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
I bought some material rose petals in ivory from the Birmingham store to scatter on the tables, they looked lovely with scattered crystals too.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
I had a Maggie Sottero dress called Victoriana in ivory, her dresses are beautiful and have amazing boning in the bodices, I was well sucked in all day. I loved my dress so much, I wanted a princess type dress and this was perfect, very sparkly, it has crystals and pearls on the bodice and skirt which I matched my tiara, shoes and jewellery with. My tiara was from a website called Aye do, my veil was from a website called the wedding company, my shoes were from a website called Perditas wedding shoes and my jewellery came from Debenhams.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had 4 adult bridesmaids who were my sister and 3 of my oldest best friends and two little bridesmaids who are my cousins. The older bridesmaids wore Alfred Angelo dresses in a lovely butter/pale yellow colour called sunshine and the younger bridesmaids wore pretty ivory dresses.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Liam’s best man is one of his best friends and the ushers were our brothers and another friend. The best man, our Dads and brothers wore hired suits from Formal Affair which were dark blue mohair with pale yellow cravats. our other usher wore his Army uniform and Liam wore his RAF uniform.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
Civil ceremony
Where did you hold your ceremony?
Highbury Hall, Moseley, Birmingham
Where did you hold your reception?
The same place as the ceremony, Highbury Hall, Moseley, Birmingham
Did you have any special wedding transport?
No as we both got ready at the venue, but a friend did drive his gorgeous old white jag round for photos!
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had around 80 to the wedding and an extra 50-60 in the evening
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
Our colour theme was pale yellow and pearl and our theme was daisies/spring.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
The flowers, the scattered petals and crystals, the place cards and the favours.
Did you give your guests favours?
Yes they had mini white buckets filled with mini eggs as the wedding was a week after Easter.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
Our flowers were yellow and white mainly compromising of roses, gerberas, orchids, lisianthus and lots more I can’t remember! My bouquet also had diamantes in, the bridesmaids had mini versions of my bouquet. We had a flower arrangement with a big candle in the middle which was lit in memory of absent friends which was special to us and our guests. Our florist was a relative of our neighbours.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
We gave our guests a choice of smoked salmon, duck pate or grilled Mediterranean vegetables with salad and pesto for starters, chicken viscount, rack of lamb or plum tomato, vegetable and goats cheese gratin for mains and chocolate profiteroles, rhubarb crumble or sticky toffee pudding for desserts. All went down very well and was handled by our venue’s catering.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
We had a four tier cake made including fruit cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake and lemon drizzle cake. It had daisies cascading down the front and the icing was shimmery. It looked amazing and tasted so yummy, my aunty made the fruit cake and Sarah Edwards Cakes made the rest and decorated it. A lot of people commented on how pretty it looked.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
We set up a sweetie buffet in the bar for the kids and big kids which went down a storm! We had a magician (Stephen Seabourne) for two hours doing close up card tricks and mind tricks, everyone loved him! We had an amazing DJ (Daniel Essex from Revolution Discos) in the evening which had everyone dancing!
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We asked out guests for Thomas Cook vouchers or money to help pay for our honeymoon.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
Our first night was spent at Hotel Du Vin in Birmingham, it was lovely to finally be alone and reflect on the day and the hotel had left as a nice bottle of bubbly. The next weekend my parents paid for us to stay at New Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield which was also lovely. We can’t go on honeymoon till later in the year but hope to go to Bali and Singapore.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
There were too many! Probably walking into the ceremony room and also being pronounced husband and wife, also our first dance was special.
Did you experience any “nightmare” moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
Yes, the week before the wedding my hair was dyed way too dark so it wasn’t until the day before the wedding I could get it fixed so was very stressed and upset by that. On the Thursday I was sick most of the day and one of my bridesmaids discovered her dress was too tight and had to rush back to the shop to alter it. Friday I found I hadn’t enough favours so my Mum and best friend had to go out looking for more buckets and eggs! However everything worked out well in the end and all were resolved so don’t worry if things go wrong in the lead up to the day, it can be fixed.
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
Make sure I had some cake on the day, make sure I had some of the buffet too as we were so busy talking and dancing we forgot. Also leave plenty of time for photos, we ran over out timings for the day by an hour as the photos took a long time. Also make sure you really shop around for prices on everything as they can vary greatly and ask the confetti girls to help you out!