Pictures: BUSHFIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

How we met: We met on New Years Eve 2004 at Edwards in Ipswich where we were both out with friends. I saw Tim across the bar and remembered him from Sainsburys when I worked there part time a few years beforehand whilst studying. I decided (with a fair bit of dutch courage) to go and speak to him, unsure if he would remember me or not and we ended up exchanging numbers. A few days later Tim texted me asking me out for a drink but because he was 12 years older than me, I was worried about what my parents might say so ignored his message. However I found myself wondering ‘what if?’ so decided I would contact him again. Luckily for me he replied and we went on our first date to The Beagle on 19th January 2005 and have been together ever since.

The Proposal:
Tim proposed on Christmas Day 2007. We had exchanged presents in bed, as we usually do, when Tim went downstairs to make a cup of tea. He was gone for ages and I began to wonder what he was up to. When he came back upstairs he was carrying our cat Luna in his arms and she had a small box tied with Christmas ribbon around her neck. Tim untied it and presented me with a ring and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes and promptly burst into tears. He then told me that he had spent several minutes chasing Luna around the living room as she had run off with the ring tied around her neck and hid behind the TV. His plan almost failed.

The Ceremony: We were married on Saturday, July 18, 2009 at St Peter’s church in Freston. The church had special meaning for us as it is in the village where Tim’s dad grew up and was in fact a choir boy, it is where his sister also got married and is now where Tim’s mum’s grave is. Unfortunately she died in August 2008 but getting married at Freston meant that she was with us on our special day.  I had six bridesmaids – my best friend Vicky, my cousins Rachel, Jemma and Rosie and Tim’s nieces Megan and Rebekah. They all entered church ahead of me as I walked down the aisle to the traditional Bridal March, with my extremely proud dad (I’m not sure who was smiling more – me or dad). As Freston does not have a choir, we had hired The Orwell Singers and they were superb. Before the ceremony they sang modern love songs such as Love Is All Around and kept our guests entertained. During the signing of the register they sang Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus. After the ceremony Tim and I walked back up the aisle to them singing Wonderful World.

The Venue:
The reception was held at Fynn Valley Golf Club, Witnesham.
We decided not to have a formal receiving line and instead Tim and I greeted our guests alone to save time. For the wedding breakfast, we opted for a barbecue as this way our guests could eat as much or as little as they wanted and could have a bit of everything rather than us deciding on one dish for everyone. It was perfect – the weather was great (which was a massive relief given the heavy rain we had on the Friday evening) and there was enough food for people to have second helpings.
After the meal came the speeches which were a real rollercoaster of emotions and thankfully finished with a real high as Tim’s best men (being unable to choose between them he had two instead – Mark and Phil) really entertained us all with a fantastic speech using U2 song titles (Tim’s favourite band) which fitted in great with our table names which were also U2 song titles.

The Dress:
I wore ‘Michelle’ by Maggie Sottero in diamond white, which I bought from Grace & Lace in Ipswich. It was a strapless dress with a sparkly, ruched bodice and a long train which I absolutely loved. I tried on loads of dresses before this one but this was the only one which made my mum cry so I knew it was the dress. I also bought my veil from Grace & Lace which was bought with money given to me by Tim’s mum before she died so it had extra special meaning.
We also got the bridesmaids dresses from Grace & Lace – I chose strapless hot pink floor length dresses with a baby pink sash for the oldest four girls and the younger two had the same dresses but with straps and in baby pink with hot pink sashes – they were stunning and such summery colours.

The Groom’s Outfit:
Tim, the dads and the best men wore grey ‘Kempton’ suits with ivory patterned waistcoats and pale pink cravats, all hired from Coes in Ipswich.

The Rings:
My ring is a simple platinum wedding band which compliments my engagement ring which is also platinum in an eternity ring style with five diamonds set in it (which Tim picked himself and did a brilliant job)
Tim’s ring is a brushed white gold wedding band with one small diamond set in it.

The Photography:
We had Bushfire Photography in Felixstowe and can not praise them highly enough, both Carl and Dibbs were fantastic. I picked their details up from a work event and decided to give them a call and when we met them in early 2008, we both felt so comfortable with them that we booked them there and then although they were very much unknown to us. We met with them again a couple of times during the run-up to the wedding to discuss must-have pictures and we must say that they delivered everything we asked for and more. On the wedding day both Dibbs and Carl came to my parents’ house for a few of the artistic detail shots then Carl went off to the Freston Boot to meet Tim and the boys. Dibbs stayed with me getting all the ‘getting ready’ photos. After the ceremony we stopped at a small run down old barn just along the River Orwell and had some photos taken. Carl had paid a visit to Freston prior to the wedding and had noticed this barn and got to the trouble of asking the owners if he could use it for the wedding photos. The result was stunning. We are thrilled with all of our photos as we have so many different locations from throughout the day and having two photographers meant that nothing was missed. The after wedding service was also superb – we feel like we have made friends and that we are not just another couple.

The Cake: We had a three tier cake from Cake Flair in Capel St Mary. We had one layer of vanilla sponge, one lemon and one chocolate. It was simply decorated with lace icing around the sides and fresh flowers which matched the bouquets.

The Flowers:
The flowers were done by Naomi Hall of Romance & Rose – a self employed florist from Needham Market. I was given her details by a friend and met with Naomi a couple of times before the wedding to talk about ideas. I knew I wanted aqua roses in my bouquet and gave her a photo of one I liked and Naomi delivered exactly that. It was decorated with diamantes in each of the 28 roses and looked stunning (although also weighed a tonne)
The bridesmaids’ bouquets were a mixture of freesias – my mum’s favourite flower and gerberas – Tim’s mum’s favourites, with lime green foliage.
Tim had an aqua rose buttonhole and the rest of the wedding party had pink carnations.

The Entertainment: We had a disco from the Joe Elliott Roadshow which is the regular disco at Fynn Valley. The DJ was excellent and refused to play any cheesy or rude tunes that were requested as we were adamant we did not want the YMCA being played.
We had our first dance to U2 All I Want Is You and a second dance to Happy by Surface. Tim had chosen both songs and right up until the music started, I had no idea what our first dance was going to be to. I had guessed it might be U2 and was relieved when I heard the song.

Most Memorable Moment: We both have so many fantastic memories but for me I think it has to be walking down the aisle with my dad, seeing Tim waiting for me at the altar. I remember all our family and friends turning round to look at us and I was smiling from ear to ear. It was such a special moment.

The Honeymoon: We didn’t have wedding list but our guests made donations to our honeymoon and due to their generosity, we were able to go on an all inclusive holiday to Varadero in Cuba. We had never been anywhere long haul so to be able to thanks to our family and friends was amazing. Amongst the eating, drinking and sunbathing, we went swimming with dolphins and hired a speedboat – it really was a dream holiday and a perfect end to our perfect day.

Plans for the future:
We still have some work to do on our house but hopefully we can look forward to starting a family in the next couple of years.