Sara and Luke met in 2012 on Twitter. “Following our online friendship, we started writing letters to each other, and one day, we decided to meet up,” says Sara. “We didn’t live near each other, so we never thought anything of our relationship other than a friendship. However, once we met, we were inseparable, and Luke asked me to be his girlfriend. From 2012 until 2018, we had a longdistance relationship whilst we completed our studies. We would travel by train to see each other, spending our weekends and school holidays together. Once we started our careers, we moved in with my parents while we saved for our house, which we bought in 2019. Over the years, we have grown together as a couple and become a team. A lot has changed in the past 10 years, but our friendship and love for each other has been consistent and grown stronger.” Luke proposed in April 2020. “It was a spontaneous moment,” shares the bride. “He said that he had been thinking about it for a while, and one day he just went for it. He proposed during the first national lockdown at home. We were in bed, and he just randomly asked me. I was shocked, and it was a complete surprise! We had a Zoom party that evening with our family, and we shared the news with them and celebrated virtually. Because of COVID-19, we were reluctant to start wedding plans, however, in May 2021, we started the search and booked our wedding for later in the year.” SETTING THE SCENE “The Lake District has always been Luke’s favourite place to visit,” explains Sara. “We wanted a venue where we could celebrate with our closest family and friends. We came across Broadoaks Country House and saw that we could hire the space exclusively. We travelled up to Cumbria to visit and booked it immediately after the viewing. It was the only place we saw, and we instantly fell in love with it. It has a private and intimate atmosphere, and they were able to accommodate the whole wedding party overnight, which was important to us.” Sara and Luke made their favours which doubled up as place names. “I filled small mason jars with chocolates and stuck personalised vinyl stickers on them,” recalls the bride. “We handtied ribbon to each one to tie in with our colour scheme.” “We wanted a more casual seating arrangement and weren’t keen on a top table, so we decided to have a U-shaped table, which meant we could see everyone and chat throughout the wedding breakfast,” adds Sara. “For the centrepieces, we had a mixture of candles and lanterns. I added lantern toppers which I made from greenery and red berries.” Moss and Bloom provided the couple’s flowers. “I wanted something which I could keep and was sustainable,” reveals the bride. “They used a mixture of dried and faux blooms, and to create a rustic look, we incorporated cabernet colours.” The happy couple chose a semi-naked cake with gold leaf printing and flowers from Love At First Bite by Amber. DRESSED TO IMPRESS “I wore a Stella York gown called 7169 from Burr Bridal,” says Sara. REAL WEDDINGS 35
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