An Essex Wedding - Jan/Feb 2018 (Issue 84)

REAL WEDDINGS 51  A shley and Daniel first met on an online dating website. “My profile said not to message just saying ‘hey’, which is what he sent me but with a smiley emoji – I thought the smiley face made all the difference,” shares the bride. “Our first date was at our local Wetherspoons and Daniel spent the whole time watching a football game.” Fast forward three-and-a-half-years and the groom-to-be was planning on asking for his future bride-to-be’s hand in marriage on fireworks night at her mum’s house. “The subject was being brought up at every family occasion, so I thought that would be the perfect setting for it,” shares Daniel. “However, I got very nervous and bottled it, I ended up waking her up in the night and proposed – she wasn’t too pleased at first but she soon forgave me when she saw why.” SETTING THE SCENE The lovebirds decided to get married at St. Andrews Church as it’s where Daniel’s parents tied-the-knot. For the reception, Daniel always dreamt of holding it on their own land and Ashley wanted a relaxed vibe and loved the idea of being able to do whatever they wanted. “The church is beautiful so it really was a very easy decision to make. For the reception, walking across the garden back to the house in the early hours when the dancing finished was my idea of perfection,” shares the bride. The table plan was printed on ivory paper, backed onto Kraft card and had a wooden heart glued to the top, it was nailed to a white-painted pallet. The place names matched and were tied to the drawstrings of the hessian favour bags that included purple boiled sweets, love hearts and a Cancer Research pin badge, which let guests know a donation had been made on their behalf. “As Daniel and his father are tree surgeons our centrepieces were slices of oak, topped with wooden table numbers, vases and jars that held arrangements of flowers to match our colour scheme,” adds Ashley. “Our bridesmaids had posies of gypsophila, with our two flowergirls having smaller versions. My bouquet was a variety of purple blooms, eucalyptus leaves and gypsophila, as I wanted it to have a just-picked feel.” The cake had plain white icing, flowers and a simple bow that matched the bow on the front of the bride’s gown. “My manager and her mum had made an archway with flowers and fairylights, which they used to decorate my desk on my last day at work as a Miss,” says the bride. “It was too beautiful to throw away so we used it in the entrance of our marquee. It stood over a lantern and candle that was in A dreamy DAY Ashley and Daniel set the tone for their rustic nuptials with a purple and grey colour scheme Images courtesy of Charlotte Wood Photography “Daniel played football before our couple photos had been taken and slipped, leaving him with a grass stain from hip to ankle. He actually had to switch trousers with one of the groomsmen for the pictures!” – Ashley