From this day forward...
nenjen
Posts: 1,524
As many of you now know, I’m finally married! We had the most incredible day that we'll treasure for always - we both haven't stopped smiling 
For anyone who wants to read my detailed planning report, here's a link: http://www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/forum/planning/20-april-2013---finally-got-round-to-starting-my-planning-thread/383537.html
We’ve finally received our professional photographs, so here’s my wedding report. Enjoy!
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A little bit about us…
Anthony and I met in July 2010 and it was a bit of a whirlwind romance. I knew from our very first date that he was going to be the man that I spent the rest of my life with, and according to his wedding speech, he felt exactly the same. Until I met Anthony, I didn’t believe that relationships like ours existed, except for in books and films!
By October 2010 Anthony had moved into my flat and we were blissfully happy. We had our first holiday together in November 2010...
I had been receiving regular hospital treatment for a few months before I met Anthony and whilst we were dating he was so incredibly supportive. He took the day off work to take me to an appointment in May 2011, and it was at this appointment that I was finally discharged after 4 years of treatment. I felt like the biggest weight had been lifted and I was over the moon. Anthony decided that we should go out for a celebratory lunch, and told me that he was taking me to a gorgeous old manor house that I used to go to with my parents when I was a little girl. I’d told him early on in our relationship that this is where I’d always dreamed of getting married, so I was pretty excited to be going there.
Unfortunately we hadn’t booked a table and they were fully booked so we couldn’t have lunch. I was a bit gutted, but we decided we’d head off somewhere else to eat. Before we got in the car, Anthony suggested we went for a quick walk around the grounds. It was cold, wet and I was moaning about being chased by giant geese – not the most romantic setting, and I stomped on ahead wanting to get back to the car. Anthony called my name, and I turned round to find him on one knee with the most perfect, beautiful ring in his hand. I can’t remember what exactly he said to me, but it had me in tears. Obviously I said yes, and we were engaged!!!
I adore my ring. It’s a gorgeous 1.14 carat princess cut diamond set in platinum. Anthony had it made for me and he couldn’t have picked anything more perfect. He sourced my diamond from Brussels, and my setting is from Hatton Garden. He had it put together by a jeweller in Liverpool and it’s just stunning.
Hurray! Your report! I LOVE reports, and I'm loving yours already
I'm another whirlwind romance bride - agreed to move in on our first date, which duly happened 4 months later, and then engaged less than a month after that
. I still can't quite believe that it happened to me, and I love hearing of other people that have experienced the same thing.
And your ring is GORGEOUS!
Anyway, to the wedding!
Venue
We chose to get married in the church in the village where I grew up and where my parents still live. It’s tiny – only seats 90 people – but it’s beautiful and I wouldn’t have considered getting married any where else.
Here's a little sneak preview of us on the day...
We had our reception at Ruthin Castle in North Wales. One of my best friends had her wedding there in 2009 and it was the most fantastic wedding. It’s a stunning venue and has so much character.
Thank you lovely! I'm really looking forward to writing my report now that the photos are finally here. Unfortunately, they're all showing up tiny!
Bridesmaids
I had three bridesmaids – my younger sister, my cousin and my cousin’s daughter. I let them choose their bridesmaid dresses as I wanted them to feel completely comfortable on the day. They both have quite different figures so we decided early on that we would get them from a bridal shop rather than the high street so that they could try on lots of different styles and colours.
They chose a Dessy dress in firecracker. Here’s a picture from the website…
and here are my gorgeous girls in their dresses on the day
My little bridesmaid is 9. Her dress was handmade by a lady who lives nearby – sourced via my bridal shop. She didn’t like any of the flower girl dresses on the high street so I’m glad that we had one made. It cost £120 which I didn’t think was bad for a custom made dress.
Aw love it so far. I'm grinning like an idiot reading it.
The men’s suits
I let my husband pick out his suit. I knew he’d pick something lovely as he wears a suit to work every day and I knew that he wanted something a bit special.
He chose navy blue tails with ivory waistcoats and ivory cravattes for the best men and our dads, and he decided on a champagne coloured cravatte so that he stood out. The suits came from Slaters - I would definitely recommend them. They couldn't have been more friendly and helpful, and the suits were really good quality.
Here they all are on the day…
And here's our very smiley, happy dads
THE Dress
I found it pretty easy picking out a dress. I’d been engaged before back in 2007 (complete disaster – see my planning thread if you want the details!) so I had some idea of what suited me. I did feel a bit deflated at first when the beautiful lacy dresses that I’d imagined wearing didn’t actually suit me. Lace wasn’t very popular in 2007 so I hadn’t tried it before. At the suggestion of the shop assistant, I tried my dress on and fell in love with it. It’s D’Zage D31159.
I tried on a two tier cathedral length veil with very fine satin edging and covered in Swarovski crystals. I loved it, but definitely did not love the price tag of £325! I desperately wanted a super long veil but I couldn’t justify spending that much money. However, as I got changed out of my dress, my lovely mum bought it for me. I realise now that I could have got something cheaper, but it looked stunning on the day and was beautiful quality. Everyone commented on how it sparkled the whole way through the ceremony.
And here's a couple of me in the dress
Love this nenjen! You look absoloutley beautiful! I just wish the pictures were bigger... *Stupid forum*
Aw lovely so far Jen...what a lovely smiley pic of you and your dad, he looks so proud
x
aw how beautiful I'm looking forward to this
Jen, your tiara is stunning - where is it from?
It's only from Debenhams! They've got a sale on at the moment and it's reduced to £48 - it was so sparkly on the day and went really well with the detail on my dress. Link here: http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10701_10001_37484+JRTA019490_-1
Thanks cherrydrop! I'm getting so fed up with this forum, I have no idea why the pictures are so small
yeah I was wondering why the pictures were so small!
Was waiting for this one for ages, Congrats again nenjen
I also notice you have the stairs picture before you went to the ceremony ;D
All so lovely! xx
Ah your look beautiful and so so happy! Really glad I found your thread...looking forward to reading more
Congratulations Jen! Loving the report already! You looked beautiful and your bouquet was gorgeous x
Wow I've been really bad at updating this report haven't I?!! More to come very soon....
The Cake
I decided early on that I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a cake. I’ve never really noticed anyone else’s wedding cake as a guest at a wedding so we asked family and friends for recommendations for somewhere to get a reasonably priced cake from. We ended up getting our cake from a lovely local lady who charged us just £125 for a three tier cake and it was absolutely delicious. Here’s a picture of the cake on the day…
and one of us cutting the cake (I hate cutting the cake photos by the way - super cringy!)
We also bought a cake of cheese from the Liverpool Cheese Company to serve to our guests in the evening. It was gorgeous and much more cost effective than serving cheese and biscuits to everyone. It cost just £120 and was all gone by the evening!