Katy and Oliver met as students working in the local social club bar. They soon became friends and two years later their relationship blossomed into a beautiful romance! While on holiday in Placa De Catalunya, Barcelona, on one knee pretending to snap a photo of Katy, Oliver pulled the engagement ring out of his bag. “Hold on I just need to ask you something,” he said to a completely taken aback Katy. He asked her to marry him, and she was so shocked she didn’t answer at first! It took a repeat of the question for her to accept. “Our 10year anniversary was later in the year, so Katy was expecting me to propose then,” Oliver explains. As a child, Oliver was a chorister at Liverpool Cathedral and believed it would be the perfect place to marry. “We both wanted a religious ceremony and an iconic Liverpool landmark, so the Cathedral really was our dream venue,” Oliver shares. For their ensuing celebrations, the couple chose The Racquet Club since they were looking for a central location. “We loved the size of the venue, and the fact it was also a hotel, so our bridal party could stay the night of the wedding,” Oliver explains. “It was lovely to wake up the next day and all have a breakfast together and reflect on our wedding the day before.” Join us as the groom, Oliver, shares his happy memories of the big day... SETTING THE SCENE With three sets of parents between them, Katy and Oliver opted to have all six plus themselves seated at the top table to ensure everyone was included. They then had further tables set up for family and friends so that everyone was sitting with people they knew. “Luckily, as we’ve been together for 10 years, most people during the daytime knew each other already,” Oliver says. The venue offered candelabras as centrepieces, so the couple used a selection of these alongside their short table dressings, and taller flower arrangements on stands for the other tables. Vases containing candles were placed along the windowsills. One of Oliver’s mum’s close friends is a florist, and the couple knew her well, so they gave her creative control over the flowers. She visited the venue with them a few times before the big day and they also went to her studio together to work on their vision. “She knew the colour palette and that we wanted dried flowers to keep,” Oliver says. “Other than that, she worked her magic and made the bouquets and venue styling look amazing!” The couple chose dried flowers with burnt orange and dark forest green to complement their theme and give the day an autumnal vibe. Originally, the couple decided to forego a wedding cake. “I don’t really have a sweet tooth, and we didn’t want the fuss of a traditional cake cutting with everyone gathered around us,” Oliver explains. However, their florist suggested getting a simple two-tiered naked cake that she could decorate with dried flowers to match the room. “We went with this idea as we thought it would be nice to have one in the end, but it was a last-minute decision,” Oliver shares. They bought a personalised Mr and Mrs Hayden cake topper from Etsy, which they held onto as a keepsake. Since the groom is a big film fan and studied media at university, as soon as they started planning the wedding, he said he’d like a movie theme for their tablescapes. So, they chose some of their silver-screen favourites for the place names, which were displayed on old cinema style stands. For example, Screen One – A Princess Bride. Each guest’s place name was then an old-fashioned cinema ticket bearing their names. “As our venue had a historical gentlemen’s club style, we thought this all fitted REAL WEDDINGS 19
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