Helen and Adrian’s Real Life Wedding
confetti – Helen and Adrian’s real life weddings
Helen and Adrian
Q: How did you meet?
A: On a night out in our own groups of friends, in our local town of Selby, I got a mutual friend to introduce us. We met March 29th 2000, we have daughter Anneli who is 7 (from a previous relationship), and our son Jack is 15 months. They (quite rightfully) stole the show on the day!
Q: Describe the marriage proposal.
A: I was five months pregnant with our son! Adrian proposed after a four-course meal at a local hotel. He gave me a lovely antique sapphire and diamond ring, which we had chosen together some days earlier. He had planned that the proposal would take place on our one-year anniversary, so it was worth waiting a couple of days for the ring. It was very romantic.
Q: How long did you spend preparing for the day and how was it?
A: From booking the wedding to the actual day we had eleven months in total. Not long, but there was enough time, as you do most of it in the last six months. The day itself was electric, it was warm, clear and really bright during the day reception, so we sat outside in the beautiful hotel gardens and felt really relaxed.
Q: What type of wedding ceremony did you have and where?
A: Traditional church wedding, in our lovely local parish church of St. Wilfred’s, Brayton. Idyllic Yorkshire village setting! The vicar was Rev. Reynolds, who was marvellous, and we had a singer, Demelza, who stunned the guests by filling the church with her awesome voice, and two dear friends read tear-jerking readings. Not a dry eye in the house!
Q: Where did you hold your reception and what was it like?
A: The Owl Hotel at Hambleton. It was amazing how they made sure our wishes were carried out, they paid great attention to detail. We had gold and ivory balloons, gold pillar candles in crystal holders, chiffon favour sachets with gold dragees for the ladies and lottery tickets for the boys. We even had gold seashells scattered on the tables, because my wedding dress had tiny gold seashells on it!!
The food was so simple it was a clear winner with the guests, you can’t go wrong with roast beef and Yorkshire puds! We had eighteen children at the day reception, but they weren’t a problem because we provided colouring books and crayons for them, and they looked lovely running around in the beautiful gardens.
Q: Is there anything you’d change, with hindsight?
A: I would change the fact that the DJ organised our first dance a bit late! However, it was still an excellent party. By the way, we are living proof that it can be done if you have kids already; it’s just a bit more tiring!
Q: What advice would you give to couples currently planning their wedding?
A: To all brides, you cannot have enough hair trials!!! Make sure your hairdresser is reliable and will not let you down at the last minute like mine did!!!
Q: Is there any other detail that you would like to share?
A: If you are going to the Caribbean on honeymoon, go five-star with a private beach if you can. We went to Barbados with Virgin holidays on a three-star, it was really nice but perhaps lacking in that extra bit of luxury that you may require for your, ‘once in a lifetime’ honeymoon!
Special mentions to: Creative Icing, Selby; the lovely girls at Caroline Castigliano; Leeds; Romantic Classics Cars; Hirst Courtney; Colin Wallwork, Photography, Lisa’s Florist, Selby. Thank you, all of you, for helping to make our day special in every way.
