Rebekka the Bride: I ended only going into 3 bridal boutiques but when I went into Brides Dress Revisited there was no need to go anywhere else. The shop sells once worn dresses. My dress happened to be a sample dress from Jenny Packham I had no clear picture of what I wanted in my mind, I just knew I wanted something that wasn’t too big. The dress was perfect, and it was the only dress that my mum shed a few tears when I tried it on.
As I had tried so few dresses I decided to sleep on it overnight, had to make up my mind very quickly as there was only one! The next day (my birthday) I had made up my mind and we went and collected the dress, it was a bit strange taking it home with us on the day as was not expecting to get it back for a few months! The dress was perfect and only needed the inner hem lining taking up which was carefully done by Ruth.
My shoes were from Emmy in London the shoes were super comfortable and Emmy provided the most exceptional service. I am particularly thankful to them as I was practising dancing in them the week before the wedding I managed to scuff them all up with black marks from Johns shoes. We called them they took them in and managed to get them looking like new!
My 4 bridesmaids were my two sisters and my two best friends They are all different heights shapes and sizes so initially, I thought they would wear different dresses, but I found the perfect one in Victoria’s Bridal Boutique and they all looked amazing.
Makeup was done by Maddie Rogers. She was absolutely amazing and made us all look incredible and the makeup lasted all day. Our hair was done by Richard and Emily from Sage Hair I even changed my mind of what I wanted on the day, but Emily managed to create exactly what I wanted.
The groomsmen and groom wore morning suits hired from Buckleigh of London and white shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt with black shoes.
We hired a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II from Justrolls. We didn’t quite factor in how slowly they drive and therefore I was 20 minutes late to the wedding, but it was a lovely feeling driving to the church with my Dad and coming back to the venue with my husband.
John had been to an incredible wedding at one of the exclusive hotel groups, so we went to look around the sister hotel Lainston House in Winchester and fell in love immediately, everything from the Dawley Barn to the views and the long sweeping drive was just what we wanted. It was also the perfect compromise as I wanted a barn setting and John was keen to have the wedding in a hotel so that all our family could stay in one place, so this combined both in the most perfect way. The staff could not have been more helpful and made the day run like clockwork, special thanks to Emily and the team on the day who were truly brilliant.
The ceremony was held at St Peters Church in Winchester. Rev Cannon Paul Townsend, made the ceremony special and was really welcoming to us even though we don’t live in the area.
Catering was all provided by Lainston House. Canapés were served when we arrived back from the church. The wedding breakfast was delicious and consisted of a sweet onion, tomato and feta cheese tart to start, a topside beef with red cabbage and dauphin potatoes, they even made a special off the menu choice for dessert which was a deconstructed chocolate crumble with ice-cream. In the evening we served sausage and bacon baps and a cheese board which went down very well.
The cake was made by Bronya and the Daisy Cake Company I had already seen a picture on Pinterest and Bronya recreated it exactly as the picture that I had shown her. We had two different flavours Victoria sponge and chocolate cake, I didn’t eat it on the night as I was so overwhelmed but made sure to have plenty the next day and it was worth the wait.
Arcade Flowers came recommended by Lainston House. I am not an expert on flowers so just showed them some Pinterest ideas that I came across, I wanted loose bouquets with pale pinks and creams, the results were a masterpiece and really set the reception space off.
I was really set on having an element of rose-gold in the wedding but found that foiling was incredibly expensive so after extensive searching, we stumbled across Amanda Michelle. She had the most amazing designs and was so friendly and approachable, we started off only with ordering the invites but were so pleased we ordered all our on the day stationary from her too.
I am half Norwegian, so speeches are an important thing there, normally ten or more people will speak, but we decided to only have the traditional speeches. The father of the bride speech was delivered with humour and love, Martin the best man did a great speech making it funny but so that everyone at the wedding felt involved and finally Johns which finished off all the speeches perfectly. We had held a gathering in the Corner House Pub on the Friday night, as a lot of family and friends came from far and wide and my two sisters gave the most amazing speech then.
We were so lucky with our band and DJs, we hadn’t been to see our band, The Roxy, but on the night, they were fantastic, the dance floor didn’t ever empty and we just wanted them to keep playing all night long.
When they did stop our DJs Eambrooke Events (Mike) took over and didn’t disappoint and kept the party going with the right balance of requests and genres of music.
Our photographers were Jason Mark Harris, my friend Cate was getting married and showed me his work which was simply breathtaking so without even waiting to see what hers turned out I contacted Jason to see if he was available and luckily for us he was. The pictures speak for themselves and Jason was attentive and helpful on the day. We were incredibly pleased with the results and could not recommend him highly enough.
We were really toying with this one. As it wasn’t in our budget we decided not to go ahead with one. John, being a true romantic knew how much I wanted one so on the Friday before the wedding as a present surprised me and told me that in fact, he had booked one. Dan and Hannah, from Dan Dolan Films, were incredibly professional, friendly and blended seamlessly in with the guests. We loved our wedding highlights video and our parents have watched the film at least 100 times each, it is one of the best presents I could have ever received and one I will always treasure.
We are so grateful to everyone who helped us create our special day, we loved having all our friends and family in one place. It was more than we ever could have hoped for and more. It was simply our perfect day.