Kirsty and Carl
08/10/2005 – St Marks Church, Bilton, Rugby, Warwickshire
Dunchurch Park Hotel
How and when did you meet?
Carl & I met on October 7th 1995 at an October Fest in Germany. We’ve been together ever since!
How old are you both?
I am 30 and Carl is 35.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
I asked Carl to marry me in March 2004. He had asked me years ago and said that when I was ready, I should let him know. So I did!
Did you have hen and stag celebrations?
I had 2 hen nights: the first was with a large group of friends and family. We went to a Tapas bar to start and then went clubbing, and 3 close friends and I had a night out dressed as cowgirls complete with hobby horses nearer the big day! A bit more wild than the one with my mum!
Did your groom help you with the wedding planning?
I did try and get Carl involved with the big decisions but he really wasn’t interested with little details. As long as we both turned up on the day he didn’t mind what else went on!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
I used the table planner as it saved messing about with little name tags!
Do you have a confetti web page?
No.
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 cameras and some party cannons online.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it.
My dress was a 3-piece with a bodice, full-length pencil skirt and a full-length over skirt. The skirts were a blush/champagne colour and the bodice was ivory with blush and copper detail. I got it for a bargain from a shop that was moving and selling off its old stock.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I choose our daughter Ellie Rose to be flower girl and my best friend Tammy Roberts to be bridesmaid. My mum made Tammy’s dress and Carl’s mum made Ellie’s dress. Tammy had a coffee colour strapless dress with an ivory bolero and Ellie had an ivory dress and coffee jacket.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
Carl choose his brother Ivan to be best man and my brother Richard and his friend Adie to be ushers. Carl and Ivan wore black Prince Edward jackets, stripped trousers and the ushers and dads wore black lounge suits. They all wore ivory waistcoats with a swirl pattern and pale gold cravats and hankies. We used Moss Bros and they were great as Carl and his brother are very tall and normally have a problem getting stuff to fit!
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
We had a Church of England service in our local church.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
St Marks Church, Bilton, Rugby, Warwickshire.
Where did you hold your reception?
Dunchurch Park Hotel.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
We choose a Daimler limo for my mum and bridesmaids and a Rolls for me and dad. I stayed at my mum & dad’s house the night before with the maids so we had a 40 minute journey to get to the church.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
There were about 80 people at the church although not all of them came to the sit down meal. I have endless cousins and would have loved for them all to attend the whole day but I had to draw a line on numbers somewhere! There were 43 guests at the sit down meal and we had the hotel lay on food in the bar for all the other guests that would be going onto the evening do. About 110 people came in the evening.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
I wanted everything to be very traditional and chose to have ivory, gold and coffee as the main colours.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
My mum and I made all the invitations and kept the colours the same throughout. The same ribbon was used on the invitations, orders of service, place cards etc.
Did you give your guests favours?
I made up traditional net favours and gave them to all the female guests in a coloured champagne glass.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
I had dark red foliage and berries along with pale pink and ivory roses. I had a shower bouquet and the bridesmaids had posies with the same flowers and collars made from left over dress fabric.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
We had prawn cocktail to start as its Carl’s all time favourite, roast pork with apricot stuffing to follow and apple tart with crème anglais and cinnamon ice cream – Yum!
What did you choose for your wedding cake?
My aunt Freda made our cake for us and it was stunning – very plain but just what I wanted. The bottom tier was fruit and the top 2 were sponge.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
We had a Mix disco at the evening do and he did a great job!
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We didn’t have a gift list, if people asked us for ideas we suggested B&Q vouchers towards a new bathroom.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We stayed at Dunchurch Park as the room was complimentary. We didn’t go away anywhere, we just chilled out at home for a week.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
There are too many to put down! Getting ready with my mum and best friend; the drive to church with my dad; the actual service was lovely and we had a power cut half way through; the first dance was brilliant, we had ‘The time of my life’ from Dirty Dancing and hadn’t told anyone what it was going to be so that went down well. The whole day!
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
Our photographer was pants! Apart from that, everything was fine!
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
On the day, let go of all responsibility. I know that sounds daft but you end up worrying about things like flowers and Bucks Fizz when you should be enjoying the best day of your life! I was still making sure everyone was alright and happy until about 11.30pm and there was no need for me to, I just felt I had to after all that planning and preparation! But it is not your job on the day!
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