Nicola and Clint met in a hostel in Sydney, Australia when they were both backpacking. “We enjoyed several dates during our time in Sydney including Bondi Beach, Sydney Zoo and The Royal Botanic Garden,” Nicola tells us. “I was 23 and he was 31 (which I thought was too old for me) so I never thought it would amount to anything serious. But when I left Sydney a few months later to continue my travels, we were both heartbroken so he surprised me by turning up on my camping trip to Ayers Rock (even though he hates camping!) A month later, he surprised me again, arriving on a remote Fijian island where I was staying (even though he doesn’t like travelling on boats and the only way to reach this island was by a tiny fishing boat!) We fell in love and returned to the UK some months later; me back to my hometown of Torquay in Devon and Clint back to London. We enjoyed a long-distance relationship for six months before I decided to move to London to be with him.” The couple became engaged on holiday in Italy in June 2018, almost ten years after they had first met. “We visited Polignano a Mare in Puglia and then Syracuse in Sicily,” Nicola tells us. “After spending an afternoon at a vineyard enjoying a private tour and wine tasting, we headed back to our hotel with a bottle of the wine we had purchased at the vineyard to enjoy before dinner. Clint suddenly announced that he needed to go back to our room to get something and came back with a plate covered with a teacup explaining that the chef had made something special. He played the Stevie Wonder song Knocks Me Off My Feet on his phone (which later became the track for our first dance) before getting down on one knee, lifting the teacup to reveal a ring box and asking me to marry him!” SETTING THE SCENE The couple viewed venues near where they live in Windsor and Berkshire but most had a cut-off time of 11 pm, and being partygoers, they wanted their celebrations to go on later than that. “I saw an advert on Facebook for The Ash Barton Estate in Devon which is a DIY farmhouse and barn venue with no curfew,” Nicola explains. “It was perfect so we booked it for four days from Thursday to Sunday to host an entire wedding weekend! We wanted a family dinner on Thursday evening, afternoon tea on Friday, our wedding on Saturday and a barbecue brunch party on Sunday.” Due to the pandemic, Nicola and Clint had to rearrange their original date in March 2020 several times and finally secured 19th February 2022. “There wasn’t much to organise because we postponed everything we had originally planned and moved it to the February date,” Nicola tells us. “The team at the venue and our suppliers were very understanding. When the day finally arrived, we were incredibly excited, not least because we’d be getting married but also because we would be reunited with our friends and family members, most of whom we hadn’t seen for the past two years. Then, a weather warning for Storm Eunice was issued! Around 11 am on Friday as we were setting up the dining room, just four hours before our guests were due to arrive for the afternoon tea, the power went. The venue owners managed to secure an emergency generator and some engineers to fit it and we had the power back on just half an hour before our guests were due to arrive for the ceremony. My Mum’s speech after our wedding breakfast was fantastic, even without a microphone because the power cut out just before we were due to do the speeches! She confidently (and loudly) captured the sentiment of the occasion perfectly, addressing the sombre and emotional element of both my father and Clint’s father’s absence due to their passing and the pandemic. She also included fun and humour and towards the end of her speech, the power came back REAL WEDDINGS 43
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