LOOKING THE PART Pam’s wedding dress was from a Lady McAdden pop-up store in Southend. “Lady McAdden is a charity supporting people with breast cancer,” shares Pam. “The store was in Southend for a few months in 2024 and my friend Lauren worked there. I popped in to visit her after work one day and she showed me the wedding dresses. Lauren advised me to pick some I liked the look of, but also to pick something that I wouldn’t usually go for so that I had an idea of what did and didn’t work so she could filter options. The first dress I tried on was a huge ballgown that was not my usual style and I fell in love with it – but I hadn’t gone in with plans to buy a dress and I didn’t have anyone from my bridal party with me! Unfortunately, the store closed shortly after, and I sent Lady McAdden a Facebook message asking if they had the dress in storage. It was one of around half a dozen they had left, so I picked it up with my two nieces shortly afterwards. It wasn’t the traditional bridal party approach to picking a dress, but it was absolutely perfect and Sew Elegant in Caterham made some stunning alterations that ensured it was the perfect fit on the day. My dress was a Christina Rossi design, accessorised with shoes and veil from Lace & Favour and hair pins from Victoria Harper.” The groom looked dapper in a navy suit from Black Tie; he teamed it with a white patterned waistcoat. “We hadn’t planned it, but it was an incredible match with the bodice on my dress (which he hadn’t seen),” adds Pam. The groomsmen were matching in the same suit but had different waistcoats and buttonholes. The bridesmaids chose their own navy dresses and chose their own shoes and clutches in gold according to their own style. MEMORABLE MOMENTS Pam felt surprisingly calm on the day, “All the planning paid off and the expected nerves never really materialised,” she shares. “A lot of what I was told I might feel or expected to feel didn’t really happen – which I was thankful for! Even as we ran a little late for the service (around 20 mins) everyone was very flexible and we moved things around to accommodate the new time. Once we got into the church that was it for me and I forgot about all the logistics and was just excited to marry Nick! Our service was deeply profound, but Rev Trevor also included light-hearted parts of the address which is very us, so it didn’t feel too staged. The balance of serious and fun was exactly right and meant it was a really enjoyable day.” Nick felt like a swan, cool, collected and outwardly calm on the surface, but paddling like anything under the water! He says, “I was glad and thankful we had gotten to our wedding day but was tense, worried that everything would be as we wanted, worried vendors wouldn’t turn up and deliver what they had promised and that no guests misbehaved. As the day went on and as each part of our itinerary was completed, I relaxed a little more each time.” To entertain friends and family, the couple hired a DJ from Expert Entertainment who played a real range of music which got everyone on the dancefloor, “We also booked fireworks from Frontier Fireworks to kick off the reception after dinner, and had softplay to entertain the children and a live illustrator for entertainment and favours!” says Pam. It’s hard to pick one standout moment from the whole day, but Pam shares, “It’s difficult to choose! I’m really thankful that we took the time to have a glass of champage in the taxi after the ceremony because we had been advised by others that the day goes so fast and you don’t get much time to be together just the two of you. For me, this was the moment where we got to celebrate that ‘we’ve done it!’ “Too much to choose from,” adds Nick, “but certainly the speeches delivered by Sarah and Carina who were Pam’s co-maid-of-honours and my best woman respectively. Above all else though, was seeing Pam walk into the church in her dress, it bought a tear to my eye and was an absolutely standout moment from a perfect day for me.” There were plenty of funny stories from the day, “The couple Luke photographed for his first wedding were present as guests, and he informed us that we’re now wedding number 51, which was a full circle moment!” recalls Pam. “We deliberately organised our procession so that my sister (who was also our shortest bridesmaid at five-foot) walked into the church with our tallest groomsman Jim (6’7) so that we could enjoy a light-hearted moment in the midst of a very serious REAL WEDDINGS 27
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