Hayley and Paul’s Real Wedding

 

Hayley and Paul

19/05/2006 – St Pauls, Nuneaton
Royal Court Hotel, Coventry

     

How and when did you meet?

I worked in a local pub in Chepstow and my colleague was going out with a local lad. She introduced me to her boyfriend’s mate and it was instant attraction… or not! He used to teach at play scheme and come bouncing into the pub afterwards in his shorts, playscheme t-shirt (which had been drawn on by all the kids) and sun glasses (even though he was inside). He was so full of energy he used to run up the stairs. Us girls in the pub used to laugh about it. I broke up with my ex and he found out. We soon got chatting but he was quite shy so didn’t seem to be looking likely to make a move so (in his words) I pounced on him as we were leaving the pub one night.

How old are you both?

I’m 23 and he’s 27.

Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?

In Plymouth on 27th March 2004. We’d gone there for a romantic weekend. I had my suspicions as I knew he loved Plymouth as it was where he went to university but we had a discussion whilst away that put me right off track making me a little down hearted thinking it wasn’t going to happen. We got ready to go out and Paul asked me to do a twirl. By the time I was facing him again he was on one knee with the ring ready, with Ribena in some Champagne glasses as we’d drunk the Champagne the night before!

Did you have hen and stag celebrations?

I had a relaxing weekend at a cottage in Dursley which entailed a bridal shower and a dinner party with a three-course meal cooked by our own personal chef. Paul went quad biking in Chester. The guys also dressed him up as a gay stripper!

Did your groom help you with the wedding planning?

He was a star! With the wedding, I wanted to be in control and know that everything was done exactly how I wanted it. If at any point he could see I was getting stressed he would say ‘Tell me what I can do to help?’ and would do it as soon as possible for me so that it would be one less thing on my plate. But the rest of the time he left me to my own devices, which was exactly how I wanted it.

Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?

Yes, it helped me get inspiration and ideas for the whole day, from hymns at the church to table decorations for the reception.

Do you have a confetti web page?

No, not really. I did set one up but never used it.

Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?

I ordered loads of stuff online as it was useful having everything on the one site and delivered all at the same time.

Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it.

I bought it in a little shop in Newport, South Wales. It is by a welsh designer Benjamin Roberts. I fell in love with two of his dresses and found it really hard to decide between them. A friend then told me to think of all the possible things that may get on your nerves with the dress, for instance the one was button-up and the other was lace up, and that helped me make up my mind.

Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?

They wore some fabulous dresses. We were only able to pay fifty percent of the cost for them so I wanted the girls to have some thing that they would love and wear again. The dresses were black and very elegant, more evening dress than bridesmaid dress style.

Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?

He had two best men, both have been friends for a long time. The men all wore black suits apart form Paul who had a fabulous ivory jacket which was embroidered in a gold design. The best men and the fathers had gold cravats and ivory waistcoats with gold embroidery and the ushers had ivory cravats with ivory waistcoats with silver embroidery.

Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?

Religious.

Where did you hold your ceremony?

Ebenezer Baptist Chapel, Magor, South Wales. It was the church that I grew up in when I was a kid and in the village where my parents used to live.

Where did you hold your reception?

The Cwrt Bleddyn Hotel which was fabulous and the service given by the hotel during the wedding was incredible.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

Paul and I had a 1938 Rolls Royce and the bridesmaids had an old Daimler Limousine which were both in matching in black and ivory.

How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?

We invited 102 to the reception but only 77 people were able to make it due to the wedding being on a Friday. There were also about 100 people who arrived for the evening reception.

Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?

The colour scheme, as previously mentioned, was ivory and black. We used ivory rose petals and black feathers for the table decorations. We also had a wedding ring design incorporated into the wedding stationary including the place cards, table name cards and women’s favour boxes. This design was also made into an ice scuplture.

Did you give your guests favours?

Yes, all were given five Cadbury’s mini eggs (my husband’s favourite chocolate). The women’s were in cream boxes with the ring design on them and the men’s were in black boxes which looked like a man’s suit. We also had a sliver bucket in the centre of each table with party poppers, rocket balloons and a disposable camera inside.

Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?

We used a local florist. My bouquet was made of ivory roses along with ivory mini gerbera and black feathers. My sister had just ivory gerbera with gold reed weaved over the top and the other bridesmaids had ivory roses with silver reeds. For the reception we just had tall vases with gerberas in them.

What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?

We used the venue. We had carrot and orange soup to start, turkey roast dinner and then a chocolate dessert. For the evening we had bacon butties!

What did you choose for your wedding cake?

Our cake was quite simple. It was a 3-tier hexagonal shape in ivory with just some white and black flowers on the top of each tier.

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

We had a friend who was our DJ for the evening and I sang a song to my husband after the buffet. We also put on a slide show of pictures of us both from when we were kids to present date.

Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?

We used John Lewis and thevouchershop.co.uk. The only thing with John Lewis is that you can only have the presents delivered on certain days and to change the day you have to pay £50. The voucher shop also charge £5 for delivery but you can pick from numerous stores where you have the vouchers from and can split the vouchers in any way you want.

Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?

We spent our first and second night at the venue, we then travelled to Heathrow and stayed at an airport hotel. For the official honeymoon we went to Miami and Mexico. Our honeymoon was booked through Virgin and in Mexico we stayed at the Moon Palace golf resort which was out of this world!

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

The end of the night I was sat on a chair saying to Paul’s brother how tired I was and that I wanted to go to bed. Paul’s brother spoke to Paul and within seconds he came over to take me to bed. He was really sweet as he hadn’t realised how tired I was. It sounds daft but that was the first time I actually felt married!

Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?

There were a couple of family ‘hoohas’ but not too many. The worst point for us was the day before the wedding as we were still sticking stuff at five o’clock when we had to take everything to the venue and pack for the honeymoon and my sister was coming to pick me up to take me to hers for the evening at six o’clock!

Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?

I wouldn’t change a thing. Everybody says to make sure you take it all in but it is so hard as when the day finally arrives it just feels extremely serial. The best thing we did was gave our digital camera to some friends to take pictures with throughout the day. It then meant that we had some photos to look at whilst we were on honeymoon as it’s amazing how much you forget.