Jenny and Matt exchanging rings
Jenny and Matt got married on the 1st June 2013 and they kindly let us take a sneaky peek into their special day!
The Engagement
We became engaged on Boxing Day night 2011. We had talked about it for a while so knew it was on the cards but after one lovely Christmas night with family, we came home and our flat was all cosy and warm and homely and Matthew just asked me. I didn't quite believe it but the moment was just right and we wanted to have a lifetime of happiness after a lovely Christmas together. The next day told our families & went shopping to buy a ring together.
We married almost 18 months after that - We knew we didn't want to wait too long but also wanted to enjoy being engaged too. We arranged the date and Church the next day and then it was all systems go with wedding planning from there!! We did every part of planning ourselves - We were very strict with making sure it was "our" day not our parents or anyone else’s - It was what we both wanted and we both went to the fayres and decided on everything together!
The Wedding Venue
We chose Gullivers World in Warrington. We looked at over 40 venues from restaurants, clubs, hotels, castles and barns but nothing seemed quite right. We wanted somewhere which had a sense of magic as we knew we wanted something different. Each venue we saw was a bit too samey samey and that wasn't our idea for our wedding. We were recommended Gullivers World by a friend who knew they have a large function room and from the moment we saw their function area we were totally in love with it & decided that it would our venue. The setting for photos was perfect and we arranged to go on the rides as part of our day. It had that "something special" which so many hotels, castles and venues try to create but this just had it for us.
The Colour Scheme
Purple & Lime Green - My favourite colour is purple and we both like it so that was one of our first choices but the lime was by pure fluke! My Mum had a Christmas present which had a ribbon on it (Purple & Lime) she joked that we should have that and we really liked how they were not obvious wedding colours and worked really well to show warmth and fun (I always thought blue was cold, gold quite elegant, pink too cheap, red too warm and autumnal!) but those two colours were just nice together.
We also didn't want a particular theme e.g. Vintage, Novelty, Tea dance as we didn't want any gimmicks - we just both wanted natural happiness and warmth. Some people felt that as we had a theme park venue it was a theme park "theme" but it wasn't - that was just our venue. The theme was naturally just love and happiness.
The Wedding Dress
I knew I wanted a white dress and something strapless - my dress was the first one I tried on! It had everything I was looking for - elegance and natural with a long train. I wanted some sparkle which my dress had but not too blingy! It had lovely sparkles along the back and on the front corset. I bought it from a lovely shop in Warrington & my mum and sister came with me and we all agreed it was lovely. I wore lovely high heels with it which I bought from Next and went really nice as they were a white/ivory colour and my veil was from a little independent shop in Chester - just plain white with a satin trim - shoulder length to compliment my hair.
The biggest battle I had with my dress was my chest - I planned to wear a strapless bra with it but it just didn't work at all so I had to go natural and hope for the best with the corset fastenings - I spent a lot of the day being hoicked back into it and being re-strapped up. I learnt that girls with larger chests really shouldn't go for strapless - it means you are very conscious of falling out of your dress all day!
The Wedding Cake
IT WAS THE BEST CAKE IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We knew we wanted a quirky cake and saw some ideas online - We were originally going to ask my Mum to do the cake but then our usher asked us could he get us the cake as a gift - A friend of his made cakes professionally and he wanted to do something special for us. We showed our usher the ideas we were thinking of and that was it.......
The next thing we saw was our cake in reality the day before the wedding and WOW! Everyone has complimented it and it really was fab - great attention to detail and it was everything we wanted and more. It was a white three tier cake looking like it had been made out of Lego bricks - We had icing Lego men dressed as chefs rolling the icing and the white icing covered what looked like Lego bricks underneath - To give the impression that it was a cake made of Lego. The bride & groom topper was a Lego version of us in our dress & suit.
The Bridesmaids
I chose my older sister as my maid of honour; she is my best friend so that was a natural choice. I also had my two best friends whom I have known since High School. They are my girls who I tell all my secrets too and just generally the two girls who can see you laugh and cry and in any outfit! Plus they would have never forgiven me if I didn't have them involved! Plus I had my two nieces to be flower girls.
First Song
A lot of our wedding was based on music - We had a brass band in Church and a fantastic Wedding Singer, Wayne Farrow in the evening as well as hand chosen instrumental love songs playing whilst eating. We entered the room to "I'm a believer" by the Monkees as we both felt that we believed in love & happiness and we always knew that one day we would find our soul mate (Whom we have now!) We then had our first dance to "I wanna grow old with you" by Adam Sandler from the movie "The Wedding Singer". It is one of our favourite films and it sums up exactly what we feel towards each other -We just want to be with each other and be there whenever we are needed. We then left at the end of the night to Journey - Don't stop believing - To sum it up really - We will never stop believing in the power of love and being there for each other.
Most memorable moment
We have both struggled to think of one particular moment because our day (as all couples say) was perfect to us in every way. I remember the morning with my cousin in the hotel room, just being so excited and going to Asda at 6am buying Vimto because we were so thirsty and only had wine to drink! We both remember sitting at our table during the meal - We didn't have a top table because we wanted everyone to be part of the day and no hierarchical system or awkward formalities with people sitting next to each other who didn't know each other etc.. Both of us sat back at one point while everyone was eating and looked at each other and just said "Wow - we did it" taking it all in. There was nothing else to do as we pulled it off & it all went perfect - there were 65 people - Family, friends and loved ones in front of us - here, enjoying it and it was our day - perfect. There was so much we can remember such as being on the roller coaster together or our first dance!
We also loved being applauded out at the end - that was totally unexpected. Something which wasn't obligatory, but something which was really touching and special.
Top tips for other brides
Firstly, I would say soak it in - remember to enjoy it. You have spent months or years planning it - It isn't about what other people are doing on the day or who is where - it is totally about you and your husband. Sit back, take a moment to look at what you have achieved and take a deep breath to take in the memories and happiness of the day.
Secondly I would say - Some brides feel the pressure to have what they think they should have - it is your day and you can have whatever you and your husband want. Each couple has priorities in their day, some will have the venue as their priority, others will have the entertainment or the flowers etc. - Other things don't get as much attention/cost/effort and that is ok. It is what you want - our centrepieces I can't even remember. I had so many ideas and plans for them - In the end my cousin lent us some candles and mirror plates and I know my sister & my cousin did them the day before but they didn't make our day at all - the personal quotes on the place cards and the film table names were much more exciting to plan and went down better than that decorations in the middle!
As all couples say, we had an amazing wedding day - for us it was perfect in every way and we wouldn't change a thing about it. It was the happiest day of our lives and would re-live that day over & over if I could.
Tagged in Wedding Dress Bridesmaids Engagement Bride