CHILDHOOD sweethearts Chloe and Alex met as teenagers and 11 years later tied the knot at Cheshire’s Colshaw Hall Images courtesy of Charlotte Palazzo Photography Chloe and Alex met doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award at school. “He was two years older, but I was early in completing my bronze and silver awards, so we ended up meeting at a gold award session when we both became part of the same group,” Chloe explains. The pair trekked through North Wales together, climbing Snowdon and slowly fell in love as they went. They obviously shared a love for the great outdoors and being active, but as time went on, they discovered even more similarities and interests. Plus, says Chloe, “I love that he’s a real cheeky chappy and makes me laugh every day!” Alex is a caring and romantic gent and adores surprising Chloe with special trips. On one such occasion he told her to pack an overnight bag and took her to the train station, at which point he passed her an envelope. On it was the number one and he told her this was the first clue of the day. Inside was a poem from which she had to guess their destination – York. The city is special to the couple as they both attended university there, living there for five years. Throughout the day Alex took Chloe to all of their favourite places, including bars, restaurants and gardens, all holding special memories for them. As they went along Chloe was handed more envelopes with more clues until she was given the penultimate one in the Minster gardens, which held a ticket to go up York Minster Towers. Little did she know though that Alex had arranged a private viewing and at the top he handed her the final envelope containing a series of letters, which she was asked to lay out on the floor in front of her. By the time she realised the letters spelled, “Will you marry me?”, Alex was on one knee. Once Chloe had gleefully accepted and they’d come down from the Tower, they headed off for a drink at the hotel bar. When she turned the corner Chloe found both of their families there waiting for them with balloons, flowers and champagne. Alex had arranged for them all the stay the night and help them celebrate. “It was a weekend I’ll never forget,” Chloe says. The couple wasted no time in starting to research wedding venues, and before long, Chloe had compiled a list of no less than 32 she wanted to visit! So, they made a start, but nowhere came close to their shared vision. They decided to visit Colshaw Hall open day as a lastminute thing and from the moment they set foot inside the ceremony room, they knew it was the one. “The staff couldn’t do enough for us and allowed us to create the wedding we wanted, offering everything we could have wished for. We loved the exclusivity, the rooms for our closest family of guests and, of course, the bridal make-up room that dreams are made of !” Chloe explains. Read on as the bride shares her memories of their beautiful April wedding day... 35 REAL WEDDINGS
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