Jade and Paul met through mutual friends. “I think it’s fair to say I was persistent,” laughs Jade. “Over time our relationship blossomed, and in November 2018, Paul proposed. It was a total surprise!
We were visiting Bermuda for my 30th birthday and were playing miniature golf and having a few cocktails when Paul popped the question. Following this, we went onto New York for a four-day stay before returning home for my birthday.”
"We liked that The Old Vicarage Hotel was a small family-run business," says the bride. "It was also a blank canvas with lots of natural light. We didn't want people travelling too far, so the fact the hotel was just 30 minutes away from our home was ideal. It felt like a good compromise and offered a mixture of traditional and modern décor. We knew we didn't want to be planning a wedding for years, so when the pandemic happened, it allowed us to organise our perfect day within our budget. The venue provided the food which was tailored to suit our needs and tasted amazing."
For their favours, the couple gave their guests goodies from Hotel Chocolat. "On our first holiday together, we stayed at the Rabot Restaurant by Hotel Chocolat in St Lucia, so we wanted to reference that in our day," shares Jade. "Our big-day bake was a rustic three-tier creation from Cheryl's Cake Boutique. It was made up of chocolate orange, lemon and raspberry and decorated with blush pink flowers. You can never have too much cake, so we also purchased some chocolate cake pops!"
"Evelyn & Elliot provided our table plan," explains the bride. "Paul is a huge Spurs fan, so we knew we wanted to include this somehow. We ended up naming each table after a player and featured a picture of them in the middle of a flower wreath or as part of a candle display.
It was the perfect compromise, flowers for me and Spurs for Paul. The blooms were made by Hello Petal and they tied in with our day perfectly. Evelyn & Elliot also created small tickets for the place names to tie in with the football theme and a large timeline board in a ticket style."
To decorate the space, Jade and Paul chose chair covers from Timeless Chair Cover with a diamanté broach that matched the bridesmaids' dresses.
"My dress was from Heavenly Wedding Belles," recalls Jade. "It was a simple ivory satin gown. Our family friend is a retired seamstress, and she lowered the Bardot sleeves and added buttons down the back as I felt it needed some additional details. On the day, I had Pastels by Natalie and GirlCode do my hair and make-up."
Peter Posh Formal Suit Hire provided the groomsmen's outfits. "They chose navy suits, and Paul stood out with a floral tie and a grey waistcoat," Jade adds. "The groomsmen opted for navy waistcoats and blush ties."
"My bridesmaids wore blush and sequin dresses from ASOS," says the bride. "One of my maids had recently had a baby, so that style gave us plenty of options and ensured she felt comfortable on the day."
"To keep everyone entertained, we had a Polaroid camera station and photo frame," shares Jade. "We also had a live singer called Alex Norman and Colin Dorning MBE Resident Magician.
They were lifesavers as my dad sadly ended up in hospital, so we took an hour out to go visit him in between the day and evening party, and they worked the room and entertained everyone."
"On the morning of the wedding, we felt excited and overwhelmed, but we both loved our day," explains the bride.
"We were in our own bubble, and it was the best feeling having all our friends and family with us to celebrate. My favourite moment was walking down the aisle. You spend all your life practicing that walk, having it all planned and I ended up feeling like I sprinted down it.
I'm renowned for being late, so when I got there I stood and turned to Paul and said I'm early for once. He looked at his watch and told me his watch battery had died, typical!"
The bride's uncle, Nigel, stepped in to walk Jade down the aisle. "He even had a speech prepared," Jade adds. "It was comical yet serious and was exactly what my dad would have wanted to say."
"For our honeymoon, we went to Mauritius for seven days," says the bride. "This was originally meant to be our minimoon with us then planning to travel to Australia to watch the cricket, but due to COVID-19, we had to cancel our trip three times! We will be delaying it again as I'm currently pregnant."
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