Nicola and Adam’s Real Life Wedding

 

Nicola and Adam

17/06/2005 – St Philips, Alderley Edge, Cheshire
The Deanwater Hotel, Woodford, Cheshire

 

  Nicola and Adam's wedding photo's slideshow  

How and when did you meet?

It was a student night at a bar called Berlin in Manchester, in April 2002. I was a student and Adam was off work ill! We spent all night eyeing each other up, and eventually another guy came over trying to chat me up. This guy wouldn’t take no for an answer, so Adam came to my rescue by pretending to be my boyfriend! We swapped numbers and the next day I text him to ask if he’d changed his mind now he’d sobered up – to which he replied that he hadn’t been drinking because he was ill!

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

August Bank Holiday weekend, 2003. We’d just got back from a holiday in the Dominican Republic (and I’d been secretly hoping he’d propose while we were there but it never happened). We were spending the weekend at my mum’s house and we had a massive arguement and told each other we wanted to split up, so he left. I was sitting on my childhood bed, sobbing my heart out, wearing yesterday’s makeup and my mum’s dressing gown, when he reappeared. He said the thought of losing me made him realise he never wanted to be without me. We went and bought a ring together later that day.

Did you have hen and stag celebrations?

Adam’s brother arranged for 13 of them to go to Bournemouth for the weekend. The plan was to get there on the Friday, go paintballing during the day on Saturday, go for a meal and then to Spearmint Rhino on the Saturday night. What actually happened was they all go so drunk on the Friday night that they couldn’t get out of bed for the paintball and had spent all their money and couldn’t afford to go to Spearmint Rhino. I went to Dublin with 11 friends (including my mum) for the weekend. We shopped and drank and danced the entire time, and all bought silly leprechaun hats for the journey home. The look on everyone’s faces at the airport was brilliant!

Did your groom help you with the wedding planning?

Only when I asked him to! I’m a perfectionist, so I had to do pretty much everything myself or it wouldn’t have been right!

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

I spent day after day in the ‘For Her’ forum. I found it so helpful, getting opinions from other brides, putting things into perspective in Bridezilla moments, and getting recommendations of services and websites.

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

Yes, I bought my mum a personalised bag from the online shop.

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

I wore Maggie Sottero’s ‘Avril’ in diamond white, my shoes were from Gabrielle & Lucido and I got them both from Lucy Briars in Southport. I got my underwear from Jasper Conran at Debenhams, and I wore Singapore orchids in my hair with crystals in them.

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

Yes – five! I didn’t want to have to choose between my friends and offend anyone. Adam’s got four nieces and I’m really close to two of them but I couldn’t leave the other two out, so I ended up having all four nieces and my brother’s fiance Kerry. Kerry and the two older nieces (aged 15 and 11) wore dusky pink dresses from Veromia, and the two younger ones (aged five and four) wore ivory dresses from Debenhams.

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

Adam has two brothers so he had both as his best men. The ushers were my brother and Adam’s brother-in-law. They wore black morning suits with ivory waistcoats and ruches.

Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?

We had a religious ceremony. We’re both Catholic, and originally we booked a Catholic church. Then we cancelled it and arranged to have a civil ceremony at the hotel. Then we cancelled that and booked a C of E church!

Where did you hold your ceremony?

St Philips, Alderley Edge.

Where did you hold your reception?

The Deanwater Hotel, Woodford.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

We had a seven seater Daimler to take Adam and the best men and ushers to the church. It then came and got my mum, nan, and bridesmaids. We had a vintage Bentley to take me and my stepdad there, and it then took me and Adam to the hotel.

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

We had about 90 in the day and an extra 70 at night. As we got married in Manchester and I grew up in Liverpool, my mum put a coach on to bring the evening guests and take them back again. Most of the day guests stayed over at the hotel.

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

The tables were named after icons – Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Frank Sinatra etc. The colour theme from the day continued (pink).

How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?

We had pink gerbera heads floating in glass bowls, and pink bows on the top table, and pink flower petals scattered on all the tables.

Did you give your guests favours?

Yes we gave the adults lottery tickets and the children sweets.

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

The florist was a family friend. My bouquet was pink and ivory with gerberas, freesias, alstromeria and roses. The three older bridesmaids had mini versions of my bouquet without the gerbera, and the two little ones had baskets containing pink petals.

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

The hotel did the catering, we had melon to start, then chicken in Champagne sauce, and then chocolate mousse. It was perfect because it was a really hot day.

What did you choose for your wedding cake?

My mum’s friend Pauline made it. I told her the colour scheme and left her to it!

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

In the evening we got a friend of a friend to DJ. In hindsight we should really have asked a professional.

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

Yes it was with John Lewis.

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

We spent our first night at the Deanwater and went down for breakfast with everyone the following morning. The next day we flew to Tunisia.

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

Standing on the patio looking in on the dancefloor to see all mine and Adam’s friends having a ‘dance-off’ to Run DMC!! It was hilarious, they all tried to out-dance each other and it was great to see everyone having a laugh and enjoying the day.

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

Yes – that morning. The dress shop hadn’t told us there were two modesty panels in the back of the dress, so when Kerry laced me in, my bum was on view! Half an hour of panicking, unlacing and lacing and my Nan telling me "just to wear big white knickers"!! ensued. Eventually we rang the shop and the told us about the 2nd panel that had managed to sneak its way around the front of the dress!

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

Nothing. The day was perfect. I stressed out so much in the run-up, worrying over silly little things that on the day simply didn’t matter at all. I know it’s easy enough for me to say now, but I’d tell all the B2B’s to stay calm and not to worry – the day all falls into place and all those little things go by totally unnoticed.

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