Photography: Little Box of Memories

The wedding diary of B&G’s Win a Wedding Competition Hannah and Will Lay.

How we met

Will and I first met in December 2006 at Gosbeck Hall Farm where Will works and I was asked to babysit the Turnbull’s grandchildren. Will was carrying out maintenance work in the piggery when I took the children to see the pigs. We chatted for ages and Will offered to give me a lift home that night and that was the beginning of something very special.

The Proposal

It was on the Easter Sunday in 2009. Will and I were on holiday in Cornwall. We had gone there on our six month anniversary so it was a special place for both of us. On this particular day, Will was adamant that we went to my favourite beach for a visit. We relaxed on the sand and messed about splashing each other in the sea. We then strolled round the rocks onto another beach which was completely empty of people and secluded. As we were walking in the sea, Will then went down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. I was over the moon and as I said yes he put the ring on my finger and a wave caught us both and we got soaked. This makes us laugh every time we think of it. We then celebrated on the beach with an Easter egg and a big three course meal for tea.

February

We have finally managed to choose our honeymoon and opted for the Maldives for 10 days on the Meeru island resort. We really can’t wait.

We have been to see Tim the vicar to finalise our order of services and how the service will run, it all now seems very close. Our wedding banns are being read out in each of our own parish churches.

Our second meeting with Mr Bunn from Seckford Hall went very well. We talked about the menu and drinks and how and what would happen on the big day, it is a truly magnificent place and we can’t wait to see how everything comes together.

We had a meeting with Kaye Souter to discuss the final colours for the flowers and the amount that we would be having now that we had a good idea of table numbers. We also chose to have the table flowers in tall martini glasses.

These looked amazing – we just hope nothing happens to them on the day as there will be a lot of children about. Kaye was very helpful and helped us make decisions which we were unsure about.

We had our final meeting with Sally from Cake Flair, which was very exciting. We had already chosen the style of cake we liked, so now it was down to colours and the fine details. Sally was a great help with guidance and ideas as we both wanted the cake to stand out and be unique to us.

Therefore as a surprise to everyone at the wedding we chose to have Will in his John Deere overalls on top of the cake. Over the final weeks of everything coming together, we sent Sally pictures of my dress, hair and make-up trials and of Will in his work gear for the top figures.

When we saw Steve the photographer from Little box of memories, we talked about the style of album we would have and who would be in the main photos.

We had so many good recommendations about Steve and his work and how he captured great shots. We found the meeting very straightforward and Steve was very easy to get on with. The next time we would see Steve would be on the big day so it was nice to get to see him before hand and talk about what style of photos we liked.

With everything else that has gone on this has been a very busy month but we have achieved a lot and everything has gone very well.

March

We had another meeting with Alex Cameron to finalise the songs which would go onto our DVD. He talked us through what and where he would be on the day and where he intended to be in our wedding ceremony and at Seckford Hall. It’s all becoming very clear with what will hopefully be happening on the big day. We are very lucky to have won this in the competition as it will be such a great memory to us.

I have always wanted to give the stationary at our wedding a personal touch so me and my mum spent a lot of time designing and making the invitations, favours, name cards and a poster of the seating plan for Seckford. As time seemed like it was flying past we also had a great hand from my grandmother Sheila and other family members. These all looked fantastic and we were so proud that we made them.

One evening we travelled to Felixstowe to have a drink with John Humphries who was our Master of Ceremonies.

John talked us through the day and how he would be keeping the day in check and making sure everything ran smoothly. He would also be on hand to keep us and the guests informed about when and what would be happening next.

Ann Dickson very kindly did my trial make-up on the Saturday of Easter weekend as we were going to a friend’s wedding that day. She asked what colour and tones of make-up I usually wore, and asked the colours I would be wearing on our friends and our own wedding day to make sure that my make-up complemented my outfit/wedding dress.

My hair trial was done by Charmainne Fletcher from John Olivers hairdressers. She recently started back at work after being on maternity leave and I am so pleased she stepped in to do my hair at the last minute. She did a fantastic job. My wedding dress was purchased from Beautiful Designs on Norwich Road, Ipswich. I can’t thank Gemma enough for all her help in finding me my perfect dream dress. I had explained to her the style of dress I had in mind and as if by magic the first dress she pulled off the rail it was exactly right. It looked amazing and really did have the wow factor with all the sparkles and ruffles. I was so happy as it was exactly what I have dreamed of since I was young. We spent a couple of weekends looking around jewellers to find our wedding bands. After not too long a search we found ideal ones at J F Hinds of Ipswich, the gentleman in there was very helpful. We also liked the idea of having them both engraved with each others names and date of the wedding.

April

April has finally arrived. Although everything seemed to be in place ready for the big day we were still panicking that something was forgotten. Neither of us had any nerves until the actual day and the excitement still over ran them.

Will and all the men looked so smart in their suits from Coes. They fitted them well and looked fantastic. Steve popped round in the morning to take photos of us all getting ready trying to look relaxed. I was getting ready just down the road at my parents’ house with the bridesmaids. The wedding car, which was a Rolls Royce provided by Grand Touring Club turned-up to pick-up me and my dad  to take us to the church.

Will was amazed that I was early. The service, conducted by Reverend Tim Hall, ran very smoothly. As the church was very small it was bursting with friends and family who were there to share our special day with us.

Kim Corcoran and Pam Turnbull did such a lovely job with the church flowers and we are very grateful to them. We had a few photos outside with family. I then had the job of getting into the JCB tractor with my dress on. This was a struggle and with a little help I managed to get in.

On arrival at Seckford we were greeted by Sonia Colchester and John Humphries. We had some gorgeous photos taken with each other and were so excited to see them properly. The gardens looked magnificent with all the daffodils out and the weather being sunny. It was the hottest day of the year so far which finished everything off perfectly. Steve continued to make full use of the fine weather and the fine surroundings of Seckford and our guests continued to enjoy chatting and drinking the Winter Pimms. Alex also carried on filming people, catching out a few conversations. We look forward to seeing this when he arrives home from his own honeymoon.

John announced the wedding line-up and we greeted everybody before they all took their seats. We were then welcomed by everybody into our own seats with a huge round of applause. The marquee looked amazing and the chair covers and sashes provided by Miranda from ExtravOrganza finished it off beautifully. The flowers, table layout and our wedding cake were unbelievable and we were so pleased.

The food was perfect at Seckford Hall, the roast was just how it should be and the service was excellent. There was no delay from when the first plate came out to the last one and bringing out the children’s first was a very good idea in keeping them happy.

John Humphries did a great job in announcing the speeches and then the cutting of the cake which tasted as good as it looked.

When the evening guests arrived, the party began. The disco was all set and the bar was doing a grand job in keeping everybody happy. We hired a chocolate fountain which everyone seemed to enjoy, especially me. The evening buffet came out and looked great. The guests tucked in and it was delicious.

Come the end of the night and we waved and said our goodbyes to everyone. We headed to our honeymoon suite which was truly fabulous, especially the four poster bed and the bath which had a television built into the wall. We slept very well after a perfect day.

The following morning, Mr Bunn brought us the local paper which had a picture of us both on arrival at Seckford hall. We headed down to the breakfast room where we enjoyed a full English breakfast. We enjoyed the gardens a bit more before collecting all our wedding gifts and heading home. We then had the honeymoon to look forward to on Monday.

We left on the Monday after the wedding for 10 days in the Maldives. It was paradise with a sparkling blue sea and white sand surrounding us and no volcanic ash in sight. We particularly enjoyed snorkelling the coral reefs seeing the many colourful fish and sharks. The food was out of this world- especially the desserts. The weather was extremely hot and humid so we spent a lot of time in our amazing water villa with an outdoor bathroom with a jacuzzi. It was a once in a life time experience, which we will never forget.

We both found the whole day a very memorable experience. Will says he will especially never forget when he first saw me walk down the aisle with my father. His face when he saw me said everything, it lit up and his smile was very happy.

We would like to thank everybody who helped make our day so perfect. A special thank you to Bride and Groom magazine and East Anglian Daily Times newspaper for arranging the whole competition and giving us the chance in this fantastic event.

Also to my grandmother Sheila for winning this truly magnificent prize. Thanks to Seckford Hall which was an amazing place set in beautiful surroundings. The staff were all brilliant, very efficient and helpful.

The food was great and all brought out very well. The marquee provided by Anglia Coastal Marquees just looked excellent and was just as we imagined, it was all very well set-up. The chair covers and sashes gave that finishing touch to marquee and were very pretty.

The flowers provided by Kaye were amazing. The colours were exactly what we wanted and all set out perfectly. Everything we had asked for was spot on to what we wanted. The wedding car was beautiful – all very well presented and was all on time to what we had asked with the driver being very helpful and courteous. Steve Tarling from Little Box of Memories was great. We found him very easy to work with and he helped us in the order of photos for the day. The photos themselves are stunning and making it very difficult to choose from. A thankyou to our toastmaster John Humphries who helped in making our day run very smoothly and keeping to the time lines. Also thanks for announcing the speeches and help Will in keeping his nerves. The cake made by Sally Mills and her team was absolutely fabulous. It was a masterpiece and tasted great, the attention to detail was fabulous. The wedding figures were just spot on. The detail in both my dress and Will’s overalls was unbelievable. Thanks to Alex Cameron for filming our special day in what will be something we can treasure and watch back in many years to come. Thankyou to Coes for the suit hire in making the men look very smart. We found the ladies in the suit department very helpful and patient when doing the fittings. Once again a huge thank you from us both for everybody’s help and making it one of the best days of our lives. We will never forget it.

Plans for the Future

We are now enjoying married life together. After having a perfect build up to the wedding and honeymoon itself, Will is now back hard at work and I am finishing my second year as a student of Children’s Nursing. Our plans for the future are for myself to finish and qualify my course of nursing. Once when I am settled into a job we will start thinking of beginning our own family together. We look forward to spending the rest of our lives together and enjoying each other’s company.