Lindsay and Carl's Real Life Wedding Ideas
Early Days
They had been together for 5 years and Carl, being a keen traveller, had decided on the spur of the moment to go off on his own for a month, touring America. "I met up with him in LA for the last week of his travels. He proposed on Santa Monica beach on the second day of our holiday with a gorgeous platinum solitaire diamond ring that he had bought on his way to LA in San Diego. It was a massive surprise."
The Wedding and Reception Venue
"We chose Clock Barn as we wanted a relaxed day with close family and friends and had attended another wedding there two years earlier. It had been a perfect summer's day and the venue was absolutely stunning. After searching for something similar, we decided it just couldn't be beaten so booked it for 1st August 2009." Clock Barn was booked just over a year in advance.
The Outfits
It took Lindsay ages to find her dress as she wanted something individual and a little bit unusual. "I was keen to go for a classic dress that I would not cringe at in 50 years' time! In the end, after trying on 50 dresses, I found a stunning Maggie Sottero dress in ivory." It was an A-line princess cut strapless dress with a corset back and crystal effect embellishment on the top of the bodice, with a long bow just under the bust line on the left hand side. The dress was accessorised with a very simple full length veil, which had a satin trim on the outside, and pearl jewellery.
Lindsay's bridesmaids wore champagne, knee-length dresses from Next. One of the bridesmaids made some chocolate brown sashes which were tied into a bow under the bust to match Lindsay's dress. Their shoes were chocolate brown peep-toe with a rose on each side. They also had matching bags and pearl jewellery. All the bouquets were made of old-fashioned, scented, English roses.
Carl and his groomsmen wore chocolate brown tails with champagne waistcoats and cravats. They all wore English rose buttonholes.
The Transport
Lindsay's Grandad, who is no longer with them, used to build Rolls Royces and vintage cars as a profession. He had his own workshop in Goring on Thames and had built cars for the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones back in the 1970's. "After much searching we managed to track down a white Rolls Royce built by my Grandad which had been bought by an old family friend and sold on. I was driven to the venue by the new owner in this car which really made the day extra special."
The Decorative Touches
Their florist decorated the beams in the barn with hibiscus and fairy lights and Lindsay had found some cream lanterns which were hung from the overhead beams with gold ribbon. They also had chair covers in cream with gold sashes. The table decorations were tall candlesticks with a round flower display of lilies, roses and berries. "We wanted to do something different for our table numbers and, as we had been together for seven years, we decided to name the tables after the years we'd been together, with a holiday snap from each year, from 2003 to 2009."
Favours and The Cake
Lindsay found some pretty little ivory boxes with bows on and filled them with Thornton's chocolates for the favours. Their cake was made by Lindsay's friend's Aunt and it consisted of 4 round tiers; fruit on the top and bottom and chocolate and Victoria sponge in the middle. It was iced with light coffee coloured frosting with lots of handmade roses, to match Lindsay's bouquet, running up one side.
Comments
We asked Lindsay what the best part of her day was. "The best part of the day was getting into my Grandad's car with my Dad and the feeling of anticipation of 18 months of hard work and stress finally coming together, marrying my best friend and having all the people we are closest to all together."
We also asked Lindsay if she had any tips for future wedding couples. "Make sure you ask somebody to send around the guest book, as ours hardly had any messages in it by the end of the day and spent most of the day on a table! Most of all just enjoy every second of the build up to the wedding as the day goes so quickly. I would give anything to have my day again!"
