Sarah and Sean’s Real Wedding

 

Sarah and Sean

04/09/2004 – St Andrew’s Church, Halstead, Essex
Village Hall, Earls Colne, Essex

How and when did you meet?

We met at a country music club in January 2002.

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

He proposed to me after five months at an Italian restaurant.

Did you have hen and stag celebrations?

Sean went on a shopping trip to London with his brother and then to the pub with my dad, brother and future brother in law.

I went on a shopping trip to Chelmsford with my friends, mum and sister and then we went out for a meal and ten pin bowling.

Did your groom help you with the wedding planning?

Sean helped with lots of things but mainly the hall and the church flowers and the stationery.

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

We got a lot of useful information from confetti.

Do you have a confetti web page?

Yes.

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

We visited the London store and bought balloons.

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

My outfit was a very simple design, princess-style full length strapless dress, with a tulle overlay and a tulle wrap decorated with flowers. I bought it at a shop in Colchester and it was a bargain at £165.

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

I had three adult bridesmaids (my sister Kelly, Kirsty, my best friend, and Emma, a friend from school) and a flower girl. The adult bridesmaids wore simple full length burgundy dresses.

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

Sean had his brother as best man. My brother and one of his friends were ushers. They wore a suit of their own choice as long as it was black.

Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?

We had a church wedding.

Where did you hold your ceremony?

Our ceremony was at St Andrew’s church in Halstead and it was fantastic.

Where did you hold your reception?

We held the reception at the village hall in Earls Colne, three miles away.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

We had a Beauford Tourer and Champagne!

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

We had 86 guests during the day and 125 in the evening.

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

We kept it as simple as possible. Our main flowers were roses and we had horseshoes, bells and hearts as our theme. Our colours were ivory, burgundy and silver.

How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?

We bought lots of table confetti and balloons in our colours.

Did you give your guests favours?

Yes we put chocolates on each place setting. Sean and I offered around the rest of the chocolates in the evening.

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

My bouquet was very simple with ivy, lilies, roses and gypsophila. The table decorations were the same flowers in a rectangle shape. Our florist also produced our stationery and decorated our transport so everything was themed.

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

We had a hot and cold buffet so the guests could help themselves to whatever they wanted. A friend did the catering.

What did you choose for your wedding cake?

An aunt made our very traditional three tier cake as a present.

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

My sister’s friend played the flute and a friend of Sean’s sang. In the evening we had a disco.

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

We were greedy and had two – Debenhams and Argos.

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

We spent our first night at a hotel near Gatwick airport as we had to check in at 5am the next morning! We went to Italy for our honeymoon.

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

Promising to spend our lives together and giving my dad his hat! (my dad is always wearing hats so we brought him one saying ‘father of the bride’ which we gave to him when we said our thank-yous).

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

I wouldn’t do anything differently and I would say to other brides not to rush around the day before!