Here is their story……
Tell me a little bit about yourselves, for example, where did you meet?
I’m a Yorkshire girl born and bred (originally from Hull) and George is from Devon. I work for Mars Chocolate and George a small mobile tech firm called Mobsta.
George and I met 3 years ago on 4th January. We were both invited to a mutual friend’s birthday party in Surrey (our friend’s Lucy and Chris, it’s was Lucy’s 30th birthday and their son George’s 1st birthday, George used to work with Chris and I lived with Lucy years ago). We both turned up at the birthday shindig and were the only single people there, I think we just gravitated to each other! George got my number and we had our first date a week later……. the rest is history as they say.
Can you tell me about the proposal?
The proposal was wonderful. George caught me completely by surprise. It was a Wednesday night in August, I had popped out to get my nails done (we were flying to California for a road trip holiday a couple of days later) I got home and George had decorated the whole flat with candles and our favourite song was playing (UB40 Can’t help falling in love with you – this song was then our first dance song at the wedding) George was standing outside in our garden (which he had covered in fairy lights) dressed in a suit (so cute!) and got down on one knee and popped the question. He then took to me the Michelin starred restaurant La Trompette in Chiswick for a celebration meal. We flew to California a couple of days later and had an incredible trip celebrating the engagement! Was lush!
Can you tell me about your venues and why you chose them?
The moment we visited Gate Street Barn we knew it was the venue for our wedding – it was everything we were looking for. Rustic and cosy, but sophisticated too, lots of space for mingling and dancing and with beautiful, natural surroundings, and gorgeous smelling hops hanging from the beams. It was exactly what we wanted and we knew it would be perfect for a winter wedding.
We joined the local parish church Holy Trinity Bramley and became really connected to the church and the lovely new Vicar there Vicki Burrows.
During the year of our engagement we actually moved out of London and bought our first home in Godalming – 10 mins from the church and venue, which made the now local venues feel all the more special.
Were you going for a certain style or theme for your wedding?
Christmas is our favourite time of year – we’re very lucky and so thankful that it is full of love and joy and lots of quality time with our family and friends. We were in no doubt we wanted a winter wedding to be held as close to Christmas as possible. We wanted a theme that was natural, rustic and cosy, personalised to us, and with a flash of Christmas thrown in to celebrate the season. We were really happy with how all our finishing touches came together on the day.
What is your most memorable moment from the day?
It was truly the best day of our lives and we have so many highlights of the day……the ceremony and speeches were definite stand out moments for us, and perhaps the most memorable one was our first dance. We had a little help from a dancing friend who put together a cute routine and we practiced for months. It was such a magical moment performing the dance and having all our friends and family singing along to our favourite song and cheering us along. We listen to the UB40 song now and it takes us right back to that moment!
Why did you choose Stewart Girvan Photography?
Stewart is such a talented photographer and his natural style and love of candid shots was exactly what we wanted from the day with lasting memories of such a happy and memorable day for us captured.
How did you feel about having your photos taken and were pleased with your final images?
Stewart was a true professional and such a gentleman. He was so supportive and relaxed on the day, he captured some great moments – raw laughter, loving glances and so much more. We were delighted with our photos and would recommend him to anyone getting married wanting natural photos capturing the day exactly how it unfolds.
Can you tell me about any other suppliers that contributed and played an important part to your wedding? For example, florist, makeup artist, transport, entertainment
Tandem Catering provided all of our food, including tasty, generous canopies, fabulously cooked delicious steak and an amazing hog roast at the end of the evening.
My hair and makeup was done by the very talented Kaz Fernando and our beautiful flowers by Carrie Macey from the Topiary Tree. The band were called The Flow who we found through Gigz Management.
Do you have any advice for future couples planning their wedding?
The day goes so fast – try to savour it as much as possible by being mindful of each moment. Take a little time out together at some point in the day so you can have a special moment together to soak it all in.
