Spanish Attraction

We had our ceremony and reception at the amazing Rivervale Barn! We felt very excited when we saw it as we knew we had found ‘our venue’. We did go and see another venue (because we felt we should) but it only confirmed that Rivervale was the venue for us. We really liked the fact that we could have the whole day at one venue to avoid our guests having to travel from one venue to another.

“It is an absolutely stunning venue and has been so well thought out. All of our guests commented on how beautiful it is and how well it works as a wedding venue. We decided to get married in December and the barn was ideal for a winter wedding – there was even Christmas tree!”

Our family made our ceremony special

My Dad walked me down the aisle and his cousin married me as she is a registrar for Buckinghamshire. It made the whole service so personal. An old family friend also sang as I walked down the aisle which was amazing!

“It made it feel very personal and everyone commented on how nice it was to have someone sing live. Just after our first dance, Mum got everyone to dance in a circle around us to bless our marriage, which made it a memorable moment!”

Guests loved our origami hearts

Our wedding theme was burgundy stars and our table names were of Maldivian islands, which was fitting as this was to be our honeymoon destination! We decorated with hurricane vases and church candles from Cherubs for the table centres and made origami hearts out of ivory and burgundy tissue paper that were placed around. Some of the guests also took home a star or two as a memento of our day.

My creative side saved us a small fortune!

I made all of my own stationery, saving a small fortune, but also adding a personal touch to it. I felt very proud of the fact that I had made it all and a lot of the guests commented on it too. My Mum made burgundy sheer chiffon table runners for us which we put along each table. We sprinkled diamante confetti onto them to add a little extra shine.

I felt beautiful!

My wedding dress was a Sophia Tolli A-line, ivory satin dress that cost just over £1,100. As soon as I put the dress on I knew it was ‘the one’ – I felt beautiful! I wore a diamante flower side headband with a two tier, short veil which also had flowers appliquéd onto it – both matched the appliquéd flowers on the lace train and front detail of my dress.

He looked gorgeous!

Craig wore a black morning suit with an ivory waistcoat, cravat and buttonhole to match me. He looked gorgeous!

“He was emotional while I was walking down the aisle as was I and said how beautiful I looked when I got to the front.”

My favourite part…

The whole day was amazing, but if I had to pick one favourite part it would probably be the moment we were pronounced husband and wife and everyone applauded.

Top tips…

I would love to do it all over again. I think the only thing that we would do differently is try and take some time for ourselves on the day. Amazingly, I don’t think there is anything else that we would change.