Real Life Wedding: Faye Grant and John Findlay 25/5/2014

by Lucy Moore | 19 June 2014

Faye and John

John and I met four years ago through a mutual friend. For our first date we had drinks and tapas and despite him wearing scruffy white trainers, it went well. Three years, and numerous holidays later, he surprised me with a proposal at our home through a treasure hunt. I honestly had no idea as we quite often do silly, random things for each other so it wasn’t out of the ordinary. Altogether, there were four clues and behind each was a small gift and then I found the 'will you marry me' in the name disc on one of my cats' collars. Just Purrrrfect although, my initial reaction was somewhat shocking and too rude to repeat *****

John had been to London and bought my stunning Platinum band, diamond ring and we would later buy matching wedding bands from the same place. We decided straight away on the date (making as near to our anniversary as possible). To celebrate our engagement, we asked all of our friends and relatives to sponsor us both to do a tandem skydive to raise money for a local hospice that had looked after my mum in her final few weeks.

Being a (slight) control freak (but NOT a bridezilla) I actually organised EVERYTHING myself from day one. My dress was an off the shelf, sale piece from a bridal shop in Ilminster. It was calf length with a beaded bodice and a total of NINE skirts, all of different fabrics to give it a "princessy" feel. My best friend's sister bought me a lovely bird cage fascinator and my shoes were a pair I’d worn as a bridesmaid previously. As my mum had passed away from cancer seven years ago, I really wanted to wear something of hers on the day but struggled to find anything until I found her childhood charm bracelet. There was a lovely charm of three mini rings (engagement/wedding/eternity). So I sewed them into my garter which I bought for a couple of pounds online. My two bridesmaids were my best friend and John’s sister and I bought their navy dresses from a department store and their shoes were a pair of simple cream lace ballet pumps- a bargain from the supermarket. John and his groomsmen were all dressed in Mod style, fitted grey suits purchased in the January sales. To keep costs down, we only bought the jacket for John and my dad and the other four were in the matching waistcoat but to bring out the fun, casual side, they all wore navy converse - EVEN my dad!!!

On the morning of the wedding, myself and the two bridesmaids had our hair and make-up done in a handy little salon in Chard where I had been staying at my friends the night before. I felt a warm glow inside when I saw their pretty hairstyles were complemented by a large single head flower bought from a bargain shop no less!! We didn’t waste money hiring any transport for my bridal party, instead we used our MPV which fitted the colour theme perfectly and got good old dad to be chauffeur. We found a local photographer, Tim Hollings, who really captured the moments of the day and we've got some great memories thanks to him. We got married at The Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary because when on an Experience Day for my 30th I had seen that they were trying to get a marriage licence so it was the one and only venue for me. We wanted a venue that was unique and fun with the added benefit of helping another charity we love. We had a late afternoon ceremony with almost 100 guests so our plan involved hiring a local farmer who produced a fabulous hog roast at a fraction of the cost of a sit down meal. Our reception was held in a pretty village hall in Branscombe which I decorated myself and instead of having expensive white tablecloths I used hessian covered buffet tables with a central lace runner adorned with shells, glass beads, artificial petals and jam jars Id made into candle holders. As I am a creative person, I made the bouquets because it meant I could finish them way in advance. We fell in love with a live band that played a mix of covers in a 'retro rocky' and modern way and we were so pleased that they travelled all the way to Devon for their first wedding gig.

For me, the wedding cake is usually such a big expense and it's difficult to please everyone: sponge/fruit/gluten free etc. so my brainwave was to get a supermarket white, iced fruit cake costing £10. This was the 'show cake' that we put on a pedestal and cut BUT out the back, and cut the day before, were a variety of cake slabs bought from the same supermarket for £1 each and doing 6-8 portions per slab, were by far, the simplest, cheapest and most effective way to offer a range of cakes to 100 guests for a grand total of £30.

The most memorable and funny moment was when we were saying our vows and the honorary donkey chose that exact time to do a little 'doo doo' which was quickly swept up by the fantastic Sanctuary crew. It really broke the ice.