Your East Anglian Wedding - Page number 39 - August/September 2021 (Issue 50)

REAL WEDDINGS 39 some beautiful sparkly peep toe heels as a gift and I wore a glittery rose gold clip in my hair and Swarovski rose gold Bella earrings. I wanted a simple, elegant look that was floaty, natural and vintage.” The bridemaids wore mink dresses to suit their personal style and Solara-Mai complemented her mum in a pale pink floaty Monsoon dress and rose gold ballet pumps. Max opted for a relaxed Mediterranean-style look with Ralph Lauren plum colour chinos, a white Hugo Boss shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a plum silk bow tie, tan braces and brogues. His son Harry looked dapper in a matching outfit and the groomsmen completed the line up in matching smart casualwear. “Our dog Rudi looked very handsome too in his tan collar and plum silk neckerchief. We had this made form the same fabric as the groomsmen’s face masks and I had the sparkly bling trim from my veil sewn on to it for him. He stole the show!” adds Becky THE ‘I DOS’ “The ceremony was my favourite part of the day. We were both really nervous and very emotional as we had been waiting for what felt like forever to get to this point and there was a lot of tears from everyone,” remembers Becky. “Seeing Max looking so handsome at the end of the aisle and walking in to our song Feels Like This by Maisie Peters was really moving. We couldn’t stop crying then laughing then crying – it was hilarious. “Solara-Mai wrote and read us a wedding poem which was beautiful, our celebrant Lisa was fabulous and my sister also read a piece from my favourite play Les Misérables . Afterwards, we made sure we had some ‘us’ time with the children for a photo shoot with coloured smoke bombs, races, confetti and the dog!” LET THE FUN BE-GIN! Picking the theme for their celebration was a no-brainer. Becky explains, “The first time we got tipsy together we were drinking gin, I used to make Max gin cocktails after work and we had a lot of dates at our local gin bar. We then progressed to collecting special bottles and joining the Craft Gin Club. In lockdown we even made a rainbow display of all our coloured gin bottles on the windowsills downstairs, so it was a given that we would have a gin-themed wedding.” The table plan was made of gin bottles, so were the centrepieces, there were flower-filled bottles dotted everywhere and the tables were named after different brands of their favourite tipple. “We and our friends and family collected the bottles over the year. Everyone was completely dedicated to drinking the contents – all in the name of supporting our wedding!” laughs Becky. “We also had help from our local gin bar The Orange Tree in Wivenhoe who saved loads of empties for me. I believe across the whole wedding we used 96 in the end.” THE PERSONAL TOUCHES The flowers were another important feature of the day. “My mother-in-law took charge of the main bridal party flowers as she runs Lavenham Flower Shed. We wanted a wild, boho, natural vibe and selected carnations in pastel shades of peach, lemon and pink. We also had vintage roses, pale blush peonies and dark green leafy stems mixed with gypsophila.” Other special details included candles as wedding favours for the ladies, mini Alfred Sung aftershaves for the men and everyone was given a little bottle of candyfloss shimmer gin. Their elegant single-tier cake was finished in classic blush pink with ‘Finally!’ etched in rose gold on the side. They made rose gold napkin holders for the tables and had glass jars filled with pastel-coloured sweets. “Max and I and the kids also spent hours 