What are your first names?
Sam
& Kirsty
Where and when did you get engaged?
We
got engaged on the 20th May in Paris. Sam was going to propose to me on the
balcony of our hotel whilst watching the light show on the Eiffel Tower but I
was tired and because I thought we had missed it (its hourly, I think) I wanted
to go to bed and wouldn’t go out onto the balcony :/ So I ruined his lovely
surprise so he asked me the next morning when I had just woken up so very nice
surprise!!
What was your wedding date?
1st
September 2012
Where did you get married?
Langley
Castle for Civil Ceremony followed by a Blessing in The Chapel
Why did you choose your venue?
Because
it was absolutely amazing!! And I always wanted to get married in a ‘princess
castle’ and this most certainly was one of those!! Felt like a princess for the
day! I remember the first time going to have a look around it, I got that
excited, bouncing around like a little girl, that when I went to look in the
window seat in the Drawing Room, I slipped and banged my knee ha ha!! I
instantly knew when I drove up the drive and saw the Castle that it was ‘the
one’ !
Did you have a “theme”?
I
had a few themes I mixed together! From the very beginning I wanted Taupe, but
initially wanted it with a hint of pink and vintage! When it came to looking
for the Bridesmaid dresses I instantly knew the one I wanted, in fact I even
tried it on when I was looking at wedding dresses. Initially I wanted in Taupe
but when I saw it on my bridesmaids in the Teal colour I decided I loved it
that much and it would be more striking to have. Plus no-one would expect me to
go for this colour!! So my theme became Taupe and Teal. During one of my visits
to Langley Castle I saw the peacocks which is where my ‘hint of peacock’ inspiration
came from! I then decided to add a splash of purple into the evening reception
colour scheme with peacock feathers in the centrepieces!! The flowers were made
by Tricia Irving from Wigton and she did an amazing job of the centrepieces,
bouquets, flower arches, pedestals etc. Also I had a bit of a diamond theme
going on too! Basically ‘bling and sparkles’!
What was your wedding colour scheme?
Taupe
& Teal with a hint of Peacock!
Why did you choose Simply Bows and Chair Covers and what were
they like to work with?
Kristywas sooo friendly and excitable, after our initial appointment I knew I wanted
to choose to work with her. She was fantastic the whole time, even with flaky
me changing my mind on colours and bows. I eventually opted for simple white
bows tied to one side for the ceremony room for a fairytale look, and chose
Silver organza bows tied with pearl bands and sparkly sequined organza tablecloths
for my evening reception.
What sort of dress did you choose and where from?
I
chose a princess dress from Kokoa Bride in Penrith. I initially was after a
fitted lace and sparkle dress but came across the one I chose and fell in love!
And it came with a Taupe belt with flower design on which matched my theme
perfectly and I decided, that as I was only going to do this once, I should
just go for the dress of my dreams which I knew all along would be a big
princess dress. My dress was a Mori Lee by Madeline Gardner dress. It has an
embellished and very sparkly fitted bodice which I got altered so that it had a
sweetheart neckline rather than the straight neckline it was before hand, with
a taupe and cream and taupe flower sash, and the bottom is layers of tulle with
lace and sparkly detailing on the bottom! The veil was a chapel length one
covered in diamantes, again from Kokoa Bride. My shoes were stunning lace and
pearl courts with diamante heels from Kokoa Bride too. The groom party all wore
Grey Silk suits from Kokoa Bride, the groom wore a Taupe cravat while the rest
wore Teal cravats to match the bridesmaid dresses perfectly. The two pageboys
wore beige trousers and waistcoats from monsoon with taupe cravats.
What did your bridesmaids wear?
My
bridesmaids wore Teal green satin dresses by Pheonix Gowns. These were long, v
necked style with off the shoulder straps and looked stunning on the girls.
They all wore pearl and diamante headbands and silver strappy sandals. My
friend’s daughter was flower girl and wore a white and taupe dress from BHS
with butterflies on and my 9 week daughter wore a lovely oranza ivory dress
with butterflies on too, and an ivory headband that I customised myself with
pearls and diamantes.
Who was your photographer?
Julie Winspear, and she was absolutely fantastic!
What “special touches” did you add to your day?
I put
such a lot of detail into the smaller aspects of the wedding. I made my wedding
invites myself, and wanted to carry on the rest of the stationary in a similar
way. The wedding invites had a Taupe, pearl and diamond theme. The name cards
were handmade using teal ribbon, taupe card and diamantes. The table plan was
my pride and joy and was made using shimmer card, teal ribbon, diamante
embellishments and teal and silver diamantes.
The
table names were named after attraction in Paris (as we got engaged there). The
favours were 3 chocolate roses in teal or purple organza bags. I wanted to use
the pink, purple and green sweets out of the roses selection (from the Cadbury
shop) but as Cadbury had stopped the green one, I bought individual fudge and
wrapped each one in teal green tissue paper to keep with the colour scheme! The
cakes were decorated with teal and taupe ribbon, the cupcakes were made in
purple and teal cupcake cases and decorated with silver and teal decorations.
The
centrepieces all had peacock feathers displayed in with the flowers. I even had
a peacock feather pen for the guest book. I also made a wedding post box using
teal and taupe ribbon, pearl and diamante embellishments and of course a couple
of peacock feathers!
We
hired in a chocolate fountain with strawberries, fudge, marshmallows,
profiteroles and Turkish delight!!
During
the ceremony we had a ‘candle ceremony’ where the mothers of each family lit 2
small candles and me and Sam then lit a ‘unity’ candle with the 2 small candles
to represent our two families coming together.
Another
special touch was that the lads (groom, best man, ushers, fathers of the bride
and groom, and brides uncles and brother in law) all changed into their
‘shiteshirts’ after the first dance, and came onto the dance floor together
dancing to cheeky girls and you can leave your hat on which was very funny and
a good surprise for all the guests! This was all planned out on the stag do!!
The disco was supplied by Majestic Nights disco.
What was your favourite part of the day?
All of it! Being with my family and friends;
seeing how everything all came together;
the décor; the dressing up and getting ready; the weather; everything,
and of course the wedding itself
Where did you go on honeymoon?
We
are going to Dubai with our daughter and mother-in-law and meeting the
father-in-law over there (he works in Saudi) so I call it a ‘familymoon’. Sam
and I are hoping to have our ‘just us’ honeymoon with a renewal of vows next
September in Mexico when Sophia is older and hopefully won’t feel as bad leaving
her with grandparents!
What would be your top tip for another bride to be?
Just
relax and enjoy the whole day. Everyone said to me it flies by so just chill
and relax and they were right, it really does!!
