Amanda and Steve met at Amanda’s best friend Kate’s wedding in May 2008.  Amanda was chief bridesmaid and Steve was a guest of Kate’s brother Mark.  Mark introduced them and they spent time talking, although Steve was quite drunk so can’t remember what they talked about!

In the August they were both invited to go to Portugal on holiday by Kate, Mark and their father.  Amanda and Steve hit it off again whilst on holiday and have never looked back.

The Proposal

Amanda and Steve got engaged in April 2010.  Amanda thought she was going out on a girl’s night out with her friend Kate so got all dressed up.  Kate took Amanda to a restaurant, saying that she had to book a table for her friends for the next week.  Steve was standing in the doorway waiting with two glasses of Prosecco and, as her work was done, Kate made a quick exit.  Steve led Amanda to a table in the corner by the window and immediately got down on one knee and proposed.

Steve had chosen to propose in this particular restaurant as it was where he had taken Amanda on their first date.  On that first date Steve had bought Amanda a gift that he gave to the waiter to bring to the table during the dessert.  The staff at the restaurant thought Steve was proposing so offered them a bottle of Champagne on the house!

Hen and Stag Parties

Amanda went to Bristol for the weekend with her hens.  On the Saturday they had a 1.5 hour Bollywood dancing session, and then they all got dressed up as school girls and went for a 3 course dinner followed by drinks down White Ladies Road and Clifton Triangle.  On the Sunday they had a 2 hour spa session at Bath Spa.

Steve had 2 stag parties.  The first was a day at Sandown Racecourse in Esher followed by drinks in a local pub. Steve was made to dress as a jockey for the day and got so drunk at the pub he was in bed by 9.30pm!

His second stag do was a weekend at Celtic Manor, where Steve and his stags spent 2 days playing golf.

The Bride and Groom’s Outfits

Amanda wore 1239 by Mikaella, a classic satin fit and flare dress with a sweetheart neckline.  The dress has a silver and pearl brooch attached to the hip and a puddle train at the back.  Amanda bought her dress from Viva Bridal in West Byfleet, Surrey, the first shop she went to.  The owner of the shop made Amanda try on all the different styles of dress they had in order to find the one that suited her.  Although Amanda didn’t initially like the dress when she saw it hanging up, as soon as she tried it on she didn’t want to take it off and knew it was the one.

Steve wore a classic wedding suit with a long black jacket and grey pinstripe trousers, teamed with an ivory waistcoat and cravat.  Steve hired his suit from Dapper in Surbiton, and got a 50% discount as he booked more than 10 months in advance of the wedding.

The Bridal Party

Amanda had 4 bridesmaids, 2 adults who wore dark green dresses from Coast (half price in the summer sale) and 2 younger bridesmaids who wore black satin dresses from Monsoon (75% off in the summer sale).

Steve had 8 groomsmen who all wore the same suits as Steve, but wore dark green cravats.  Again the suits were hired from Dapper with a 50% discount for booking in advance.

Flowers

The flowers were provided by Dorking Flowers.  Amanda wanted the flowers to compliment the colour scheme of dark forest green, cream and black, and be very simple and classic, so chose calla lilies for the buttonholes, bouquets and each of the tables, with a variety of white flowers used for the top table arrangement.

Sadly both Amanda and Steve’s fathers have passed away, so the day after the wedding they laid the top table arrangement on Steve’s father’s grave, and placed Amanda’s bouquet in the chapel at Kingston Crematorium in memory of her father.

The Ceremony and Reception

Amanda had originally wanted to get married in her local church in Kingston, but as the church would not allow photos inside they decided to have a civil ceremony at Burford Bridge Hotel where the reception was being held. To Amanda’s surprise the ceremony only lasted 20 minutes, even though they had 3 readings.

Amanda and Steve chose Burford Bridge as Amanda’s mum and dad used to regularly walk in the area and had always said that if they had a daughter they wanted her to get married there.

The Speeches

Amanda’s brother gave a speech, which Amanda was particularly nervous about as he knows lots of embarrassing stories about her. However he was very nice about Amanda to her surprise!

Steve was so nervous about his speech that he couldn’t eat his dinner, but after a pep talk from the Toastmaster he plucked up the courage to do it and was brilliant.  Although Amanda loved Steve’s speech she did find out that Steve had a run-in with the police when he was 15!

The two best men did a fantastically funny speech, using a selection of embarrassing pictures of Steve when he was younger for a slide show and to produce a booklet that they gave copies of to the guests.  Again a few details of Steve’s past were revealed to Amanda that prompted some discussion on the honeymoon!

The Cake

Amanda and Steve wanted something fun rather than a traditional cake, so had a wedding cake iced as a golf course, made by Lue Dudman.  The cake was incredibly detailed with trees, different lengths of grass for different areas of the course, a bunker full of sand and it even had a pond with a duck in it!  They also had a tower of 60 cupcakes which were all made on the morning of the wedding.

The Photographer

Amanda and Steve chose Paul Talbot Photography as their wedding photographer.  After meeting Paul they loved his easy manner and were impressed by his portfolio.  His package also included an engagement shoot which they found really helped them get used to his style and decide on the sort of pictures they wanted on the day.  On the day of the wedding the weather was really unpredictable which meant that Paul needed to take charge, which he did without being rude or bossy.

Amanda and Steve’s favourite picture is of them walking back down the aisle after their ceremony.

“We are holding hands, smiling and feeling on top of the world which really comes across in this picture.”

Wedding Details

As Amanda and Steve had a modest budget they didn't decorate the wedding venue or give wedding favours.  The chairs at the venue were green and white striped so worked with their colour scheme, and the tithe barn had fairy lights around the pillars which looked beautiful in the evening, so they really didn't feel that they needed to add anything more.  As there was lots of cake they also didn't feel that favours were needed, however they did give the children a magazine each to keep them occupied during the meal and speeches.

The Honeymoon

Amanda and Steve went to Hammamet in Tunisia for 10 days, where they stayed at a brilliant hotel called Hotel Phenicia.  It was very hot every day, and as they had an all-inclusive package they could eat and drink all day.  The hotel was also near 2 golf courses, one of which was a professional 18-hole course Steve managed to sneak off to for round as Amanda was left to do some peaceful sunbathing.

Memories

“We both enjoyed the wedding and we have so many good memories.  Steve's best memory is seeing me walk down the aisle.  My best memory is seeing everybody enjoy themselves and laugh at the speeches as everybody I loved was in the room and everybody seemed really happy.”

The Wedding Community

“The Wedding Budget Planner and Table Planner were the most helpful tools, and I also found the ‘Moody Monday’ wedding mood boards really useful.”

Tips and Ideas

“The weather in England is unpredictable so make sure when choosing your venue that it will be great indoors if it does decide to pour down with rain!”

Bride’s Top Tip

“Get things early!  We bought the bridesmaid outfits and the wedding rings 12-8 months before the wedding so that we didn't have so much to pay at the end.  By buying early and in the sales we saved money as the VAT went up at the beginning of the year.”

Groom’s Top Tip

“Just agree with your fiancée in order to have an easy life and be willing to do what she wants.”

Best Buy

“The wedding video - John Harris Wedding Films.  The day went so fast I can't remember much of it, so i really treasure our video as it captures the whole mood and focuses on the details that we spent so many months deciding upon, such as the menus, table planner, the flowers and the first dance.”

Money Saving Ideas

“See Bride’s top tips.  We also scrapped favours and chair covers.  We got married on a Thursday for a cheaper price and I slept at the hotel before to save on transport costs.  Also, we had a cd for the ceremony music as opposed to a live musician and we opted for a DJ instead of band.”

Bride’s Beauty Tips

“I used Bare Minerals (Bare Essentials) for a really natural look and it was really easy to apply.  I also applied Shu Umera fake lashes (from Convent Garden).  I didn't go for a fake tan as i didn't want the tan rubbing off on my dress.”

Photography: Paul Talbot Photography

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