Kelly and Stuart’s Real Life Wedding

Kelly and Stuart

How did you meet?
I was going out on a hen night and there were spaces available for the evening so my other friend’s fiance decided he would like to come and bring a few friends! Stuart happened to be one of the friends but it took me a year after our first meeting to finally agree to go out with him. In between our first meeting we bumped into each other a couple of times but to begin with I wasn’t looking for a relationship.

Describe the marriage proposal.
Stuart and I had only been together a few months when he proposed. I was upstairs when he came over to my house and he called my son Joshua downstairs, telling him that he had something to show him. Joshua went down and then came back up with Stuart and seemed to be trying to hide something behind his back. I asked Joshua what he was hinding and he turned round with his hand stretched out. In his hand was a box with a beautiful three stone, princess cut diamond ring inside. Joshua said: ‘Mummy, this is for you,’ and Stuart asked: ‘Will you marry me?’ How could I refuse? My two favourite boys asking for my hand!

How long did you spend preparing for the day and how was it?
We started to plan the wedding in January 2003 and set the date for 27 December 2003. Deciding on where to have the wedding and the type of wedding we wanted was the easy part, but when it came to the men’s outfits, it was a different matter. I wanted Joshua to have exactly the same as the other men in the bridal party and Stuart had chosen an unusually coloured blue shirt which was not made in a child’s size. Three weeks before the wedding I couldn’t match the colour anywhere so decided to try and get Joshua a shirt made out of a man’s shirt so that it would be the same colour. I went back to the shop where Stuart’s shirt had been purchased only to find that they has discontinued the colour. Panic-striken and with only three weeks to go I had to change the shirt colour and get the shirt made. Luckily one of my mum’s friends is a dressmaker and she made Joshua a shirt in exactly the same material and colour of Stuart’s (with about a week and a half to spare!)

What type of wedding ceremony did you have and where?
We had a civil ceremony held at Briggens House in Hertfordshire. The ceremony was small and intimate with only 20 guests, which was exactly what we wanted. We made sure we included Joshua in our ceremony: after exchanging our wedding rings, Stuart and I presented one to Joshua too.

Where did you hold the reception and what was it like?
The reception was held at a local sports and social club. The room was still decorated for Christmas so we just added a few ivory and gold balloon bouquets to complete the look. We had a disco and nearly 200 guests arrived for the evening.

Is there anything you’d like to change, with hindsight?
No not at all. Everything went according to plan and was perfect.

What advice would you give to couples currently planning their wedding?
No matter how much advice people try to give you, just remember that’s it’s not their wedding. Do what you want as it’s your day.

Is there any other detail that you would like to share?
Just that it was a really lovely, happy day!