Sarah and David’s Real Life Wedding

 

Sarah and David

29/08/2005 – St Mary’s Church, Kirkburn
Willerby Manor Hotel, Willerby

   

How and when did you meet?

We originally met about 8 years ago in Beverley, East Yorkshire. We met through a friend, who was in the year above me at my first senior school (my family moved in my 3rd year.) We finally got together (he persevered!) in February 2004 after a night out in Hull where we very rarely go out!

How old are you both?

I am 28 and David is 31.

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

David proposed in my favourite childhood place – the Deer Park at Normanby Hall Country Park. It was raining on Easter Saturday and I had a feeling what was coming! He got down on one knee, got wet and I screamed, "YES!" at the top of my voice, startling all the deer.

Did you have hen and stag celebrations?

For my hen night, my mum and I and 9 of my friends went to Liverpool for the weekend. We did a bit of shopping, had a lovely meal at Est Est Est on the Albert Dock and then hit the bars. It was fantastic and I was so pleased with it all. I have a wide-ranging set of friends (older and younger!) and I was slightly apprehensive about how they’d all get on, but everyone got on fine and had a great time. The only disappointment was that my Chief Bridesmaid couldn’t be there as she had to work. The boys left it far too late (typical of my new hubby!) to organise anything but they had a Chinese meal and some drinks in the town where we live then went go-karting on the Sunday morning. Apparently a great time was had by all!

Did your groom help you with the wedding planning?

He didn’t! I involved him with everything (apart from the colour scheme as that was a foregone conclusion!) and his standard line was, "Whatever you want honey."

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

I used the Café loads in the final run up to the big day and also the shop.

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?

Yes, I purchased goods online. My Dad also had to have a trip over to the Leeds store to pick up some bits for my Mum for the hen weekend, as she’d left it too late to order online! Bless him!

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

My dress was a Ginnis dress, ivory halter-neck with beading and crystals leading into a chapel train. It was the first dress I tried on and I wasn’t sure what sort of dress I wanted at all but fell in love with it straight away. I kept forgetting what it was like but still loved it every time I tried it on! My tiara was a silver crystal one and I had a single-tier veil.

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

I had two bridesmaids: my best friend (Claire) from my second school and my second cousin (Alex) who’s 14. They wore Hilary Morgan dresses, Claire in dusky pink and Alex in pale pink, they looked stunning!

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

– David had two best men – his Dad, Les and his friend of 17 years Howard. His ushers were my two brothers, Stephen and David. They all wore traditional morning suits with pink cravats (David’s was Dusky pink and all the others were pale pink to match the bridesmaids’ dresses).

Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?

We had a lovely religious ceremony in the parish church where my parents live, St. Mary’s. It was a fabulous service although the vicar kept mentioning rugby and we’re both big football fans!

Where did you hold your ceremony?

St Mary’s Church, Kirkburn.

Where did you hold your reception?

Willerby Manor Hotel, Willerby.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

We hired a Humber Pullman Limousine, although a different one turned up to the one we’d chosen on the day! I never did get an explanation why! It was the same as the one we chose though and looked beautiful.

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

We invited 120 people to the whole day and 111 came. There were about 45 extra that came to the evening reception.

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

PINK! I love pink (it’s the only girly thing about me, hence why I had no idea what sort of dress I wanted!) We wanted it to be very relaxed but getting married in church was important to me.

How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?

Everything was pink! My sister-in-law made all the table decorations (a shallow bowl with a dusky pink candle in, surrounded by cream silk roses.) Disposable cameras were on each table.

Did you give your guests favours?

For the ladies, I bought some small gel candles in glass with rose petals and put them in ivory tulle, tied with ribbon that matched my invitations. They also had a bookmark with the same ribbon on and a poem. The gents got top hats filled with chocolate footballs. The top hats had ribbon that matched the colour of the candles.

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

My sister-in-law made all my bouquets, table decorations, buttonholes, pew-ends and corsages with silk flowers. I suffer terribly from hay fever and knew that fresh flowers were a definite no-no from the off! My bouquet had pink and cream roses in a tear-drop style with some ivy and pearls. There was also a small diamante in the centre of each rose which twinkled beautifully and still do! The bridesmaids’ bouquets were posies of cream roses.

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

We had melon to start, followed by chicken supreme and cheesecake for dessert. The venue handled the catering and it was wonderful. For the evening we had pie and peas.

What did you choose for your wedding cake?

My Mum made my wedding cake – a three-tier number, iced by a lady in Driffield. It was very simple with different shades of pink hearts (on wires) all over and coming out of the top.

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

During the day the children guests were the entertainment! In the evening we had a great singer and a disco although looking back the DJ had an easy job as the singer was enjoying himself so much he went way over his allotted time!

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

We had a gift list with Debenhams and they handled everything perfectly.

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

Our first night was spent at the reception venue. For our honeymoon we went to Kuala Lumpur and the Pangkor Laut Resort in Malaysia. We booked it all ourselves on the internet.

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

I have so many! David’s speech was very emotional as he lost his mum 7 years ago. My dad crying all morning was very memorable, as was seeing everyone in church waiting for me. Sitting with David on the way to the reception in the car was lovely and his dad welcoming me into the family was a lovely moment too.

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

Not any that particularly fazed me! Alex’s dress hadn’t arrived a week before, my hairdresser pulled out with 9 days to go and I lost my something old. As I mentioned before, they sent the wrong car although that didn’t bother me as it was exactly the same!

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

Get married at 9am! Everyone tells you it’ll go so fast, and it does. Don’t worry about the slightest detail, it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t nervous at all and couldn’t wait to be Mrs. David Atkin.