Rachel and Jonathan’s Real Life Wedding

 

Rachel and Jonathan

17/09/2005 – St Mary’s Church, Mosterton, Dorset
Cricket St. Thomas Hotel and Safari Park, Somerset

         

How and when did you meet?

Jonathan and I met in 2000, through a friend of mine, whilst I was at college training to be a nurse.

How old are you both?

26 and 29.

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

I was planning to propose on the 29th Feb 2004, then, on the night we came out with it at the same time!

Did you have hen and stag celebrations?

I had a fantastic hen night in Bournemouth. We had a 1920’s murder mystery night in full costume, a complete surprise for me. Brilliant night, even being handcuffed and paraded around a hotel being introduced as a hardened criminal from down south!

Did your groom help you with the wedding planning?

A little with the details but was happy to let me go on my merry way, however he supported me when I got stressed!

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

The girls on the message boards were a big help with everything.

Do you have a confetti web page?

Yes but did not use that much, except to keep an eye on the countdown!

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

EYes, I ordered online – very quick service.

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

I had a beautiful Ian Stuart gown. I bought my dress and veil from an amazing shop called Gorgeous Gowns in Romsey, Hampshire; they were fantastic and the service was brilliant. My shoes were from a chain store and my tiara was from another local dress shop.

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

I had 3 bridesmaids: the matron of honour was my best friend and two girls I used to babysit when I was younger, one whom travelled from Perth, Australia to be my bridesmaid after I promised her when she was eight if I ever got married she could be my bridesmaid. They were initially in chocolate brown Monsoon dresses, until 6 months before the day when the matron of honour announced she would be 6 months pregnant on the day. I went out the next day and very happily exchanged the dresses for dusky pink Monsoon gowns in a flattering shape for a very happy mum-to-be!

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

The best man was his Jonathan’s elder brother Steven who did a fab job. The ushers were his younger brother and my cousin who were great too. We also had two very cute pageboys, Jonathan’s nephew and our God children’s elder brother.

Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?

Religious ceremony.

Where did you hold your ceremony?

St Mary’s Church, Mosterton, Dorset.

Where did you hold your reception?

Cricket St. Thomas Hotel and Safari Park, Somerset.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

An old car!

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

100 during the day and around another 40 in the evening.

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

Ivory and pink and romance.

How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?

We named the tables after a ‘recipe for a good marriage.’ We asked married couples for one word and we named the table after things like romance, laughter, respect, loyalty, trust, friendship, kindness etc. and of course the top table was love!

Did you give your guests favours?

Yes, we used the Confetti boxes in ivory with pink ribbon and gave a charity pin badge to people trying to match up charities which would mean something to that person; if we could not match we bought ones which meant something to us. For the children we bought the clear heart cases and filled them with ‘no additive’ sweets!

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

Cottage flowers in Ilminster Somerset – Angie is a genius! I had a hand-tied bouquet of ivory roses with a quite thin trail of ivy, with sparkly beads threaded through the bouquet; the bridesmaids had hand-tied bouquets of ivory roses with a pink edge. Jonathan had a large ivory rose buttonhole with sparkly beads to match and the rest of the buttonholes were the same as the bridesmaids’ flowers. The table centres were shallow bowls with floating candles, ivory with a pink edge rose with petals scattered on the tables; we had a similar bowl but with beaded wire around the edge of the bowl and over the top.

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

We had the chef at the hotel, who made a starter of duck pate and French bread or soup, a selection of hand carved meat or quiche with side salad and different pasta, rice salad and new potatoes. We had sticky toffee pudding and custard, lemon tart or cheese and biscuits afterwards. The food was great.

What did you choose for your wedding cake?

The cake had 4 tiers: the bottom tier was pink, while the other three were off white. The bottom two were fruit cake, made to the recipe of my last Nan, the next tier was chocolate sponge and the top tier was lemon sponge. It had an explosion of beads on wires coming out of the top and these beaded wires came through at different points in the cascade of pink and white marshmallows that came down the side. Yummy!

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

We had a disco in the evening. We had asked all our guests to return a few of their favourite songs with their RSVPs and this made up the play list. Our first dance was to ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong.

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

Yes, John Lewis.

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

Our first night was spent in the main house at Cricket St. Thomas, where we had a stunning room. We went to Cornwall for a week, post wedding, to chill out and we are off to Florida at the end of October for two weeks; we booked through Virgin.

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

Saying my vows, it felt like there was no one else in the room, just myself, Jonathan and the vicar. Apart from that, the feeling I had during the meal that every single person in the room was there for Jonathan and I and to help us celebrate our marriage. Oh and watching all of my work colleagues get off the adventure playground fort we climbed on to have our photos taken – watching your friends in lovely dresses come down a climbing frame is truly funny!

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

Not really, everything ran pretty much on course, thank goodness.

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

I would ensure that I had given the photographer a list of the pictures I wanted as I did miss some pictures that I would have liked, however we were really pleased with all of our photos. The best advice I could give is to sit back and savour every single minute of the day because it flies by, also to relax about small details as on the day you won’t notice them.

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