Shona and Ed met in Greece in a cocktail bar called The Stone Roses, while holidaying with their respective friends about 6 years ago.  They immediately hit it off and after chatting for a while realised they didn't live very far from each other in Surrey so arranged their first proper date for when they got home.

The Proposal

On Shona’s 29th birthday Ed took her to The Isle of Wight and went to a lot of trouble organising a fantastic day - thankfully for April the sun was shining and it was lovely and warm.  They went for an evening stroll along the beach and as they were walking he suddenly turned round and got down on one knee.  Shona couldn't believe how nervous he was even though he knew she would say yes!  Then it was back to the guest house for champagne, birthday cake and big ear-to-ear smiles.

Wedding Theme

Shona’s favourite colour is yellow and her favourite flowers have always been daffodils, so it was not hard for them to decide on a crisp white and daffodil yellow theme and to have their wedding in the spring.  The bouquets were made solely out of daffodils as were all the table centrepieces, and they used crisp white tablecloths and sprigs of spring greenery to accentuate it.  The whole scene looked truly magical in the evening with lots of fairy lights.

The Bride’s Outfit

The wedding dress Shona chose was the first one she tried on, found in a fantastic small wedding dress shop in Ripley, Surrey.  It was a strapless corseted dress with an A-line sweep and a small train and although it was very simple it just made Shona feel special. She wanted a very simple and flattering dress which would work with a chilly spring wedding, and it had to be a soft white to really bring out the daffodils.

The Groom’s Outfit

Ed hired a very dark grey morning silk with a specially dyed cravat of daffodil yellow.  He looked very much the gentleman!

The Bridal Party

Shona and Ed both wanted to keep their wedding small and simple and involve their families and best friends as much as possible.  Ed's best man was his brother Rob, and Shona chose her best friend Adele and her two sisters as bridesmaids.  Ed's ushers were his two best friends from university, and they had three readers and an opera singer at the wedding who were all very special friends of Shona.

The best man and ushers all wore hired dark grey morning suits, but it was just Ed and his father who wore specially dyed cravats of daffodil yellow.  Shona’s eldest sister Ailsa is a fashion designer so she designed and made three stunning matching dresses for the bridesmaids, with matching shrugs.  The dresses were very simple, in a lovely sage green, and swept down to the floor. Ailsa had accentuated them with accents of vintage beading at the straps and on the back.

Flowers

All of the flowers were daffodils as Shona and Ed wanted to keep the wedding theme really simple and fresh.  They were really grateful to the florists for being so helpful, as due to a very cold winter the daffodils had come so late!  Shona spent a few days beforehand coaxing as many daffodils as she could out to bloom in her house (with the central heating turned to maximum!) for the table centrepieces, and the florists made beautiful bouquets and buttonholes with their specially ordered daffodils.

The Ceremony

Shona and Ed had fallen in love with a very small tin church in Esher so they asked to be married there.  It was a beautiful service with all of their closest friends.  As Shona is from New Zealand unfortunately not everyone she wanted there could make the trip over, but they took a lot of great photos and drank toasts at their reception to all those who had not been able to make it.

The Reception

The  reception was held in a lovely old village hall which was decorated with lots of daffodils and fairy lights.  It was the perfect venue, with a small stage for the band, a little built-in bar, and a lovely warm and cosy feel.  60 guests attended during the day with an extra 20 or so guests arriving for the evening portion of the festivities.

The Rings

Shona chose a thin gold band to match her engagement ring and Ed opted for a very simple ring made out of palladium.  Their rings are both engraved with their names combined.

The Cake

Ed's mother took on organising the wedding cake which was a beautiful three-tiered cake with three different flavours (fruit, chocolate and sponge).  All of the layers had a smooth white fondant icing.  Ed's mother had specially ordered a very cute cake decoration of Shona and Ed with their two cats which made it very unique and special.

The Speeches

Shona’s Dad gave the first speech and made it very special, followed by Ed whose lovely speech brought a tear to everyone’s eye.  Shona gave a bride's speech to thank all of her friends for all of their support and her sister Fiona gave a bridesmaid's speech, which was a rather nice counterbalance to Rob's best man speech.  The guests all commented that it had been really lovely to see such a family flavour to the speeches and that there had really been a lot of love in the room.

The Photographer

Shona had been looking for a good photographer on wedding sites when she came across Chris Geary.  They hit it off immediately and he made Shona and Ed feel so comfortable.

He took them out for a pre-wedding shoot a few weeks before the wedding and they were thrilled with the results. They really felt he took the time to get to know them, and that he had spent some time studying the venues and the angles that worked best.  Their wedding photos were all beautiful and surpassed all of their expectations.

Their favourite picture was one taken outside the church after the ceremony where Shona and Ed are leaning into each other and laughing.  They feel it describes their day and happiness perfectly.

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