Fall in love

Posted by Melissa Cullen on 24 July 2023

Summer and Samuel met during a night out in a pub.

Their relationship blossomed and in May 2021, Samuel popped the question.

Couple kissing "I was pregnant with our first child, and we had just been to our first scan," says Summer. "Once we got home, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him."

Here the bride shares some of her favourite moments from their big day...

Every time we drove past Ansty Hall, we always said that we wanted to tie the knot there. It's so beautiful and overlooks a lovely view. We decided to stay there one night after we got engaged and knew instantly that it was the place we were going to get married.

For our favours, we gave our guests jam made from the plums in our garden. We also created jars filled with the dry ingredients needed to create apple cinnamon muffins. As the theme was autumnal, we liked the idea of harvesting and giving our guests food.

I created our table plan from a pallet that I painted to look rustic and wrote everyone's names on tags.

Our centrepieces were different coloured pumpkins, which we picked at our local farm. They were placed on log slices along with flowers from The Village Flower Shop.

The Cake Shop Bedworth Ltd provided our three-tiered cake, which was covered in white fondant and autumnal flowers.

Ansty Hall provided our five-course wedding breakfast and evening buffet.

Bride My dress was from The Bridal Gallery in Brinklow. Sarah, who works at the boutique, made a cape that popped on and off my dress. I wanted something extra but was not keen on having a veil, so when Sarah suggested the cape, I fell in love with the idea instantly. She also added some puffy sleeves, and as the whole gown was shimmery it was perfect for Bonfire Night!

Samuel and the groomsman chose teal-coloured suits with neutral waistcoats and burnt orange ties from The Wedding Barn.

The bridesmaids opted for blue dresses with long sleeves, as I knew it would be chilly in November!

Ansty Hall provided a DJ who kept our guests entertained during the reception.

On the morning of the wedding, we were both terrified! I was so scared and just felt sick constantly. Samuel said he was nervous once everyone started to come into the ceremony room.

Dad One of my favourite moments was seeing Samuel well up when I walked down the aisle. I also loved telling my dad that I was pregnant with our second child, just before we walked down the aisle. We told Sam's parents that we were expecting later that day, and the photographer captured the moment and their reactions.

Years before we got engaged, my brother asked if we ever got married, could he be the ring bearer? I responded with a flat-out no, as he has a habit of losing things. Then I picked up two stones from the floor and said, if at any point between now and the moment we get engaged, you can retrieve these stones whenever I ask, we will let you be the ring bearer. Well, he was true to his word and over the years, I would randomly ask if he could go and get the stones, and every single time he was able to get them and show them to me, so he ended up being our ring bearer.

Lucy, the master of ceremonies, was just incredible and made the day run so smoothly.

We were so nervous, but she kept us both calm. She was also amazing at helping keep my pregnancy a secret by filling my glass with nozeco so that no one would notice I wasn't drinking alcohol.

We had a family moon in Yorkshire. We stayed in a converted barn for a week and shut off from the world, which was much needed after a chaotic few months in the run-up to the wedding. It was lovely to spend quality time as a family with our little boy.

Our top tip is whatever happens on the day, just go with it! Take some time together between the end of the wedding breakfast and the start of the evening reception; we had about half-an-hour to go up to our room, kick off our shoes off and lie on the bed. It gave us a bit of time to recharge and also a break from the madness of the day.