glassware and crockery seemed to follow naturally.” Being a December wedding, the couple had a slight nod to Christmas with a scattering of old-fashioned mercury glass baubles on the tables. To add to the Day of the Dead theme, the pair found small ‘crystal’ skulls, which were a massive hit with guests, several of whom tried to collect a complete set! The Hannah and Sean asked Laura at LulaBee to create the table plan, place names and order-of-service while keeping the theme and look consistent with the invitations. Laura said that the dark colours and theme were not her usual style, “but she had a lot of fun creating them and completely knocked them out of the park!” shares Sean. Flamingo Bakes created sugar skull cookie favours and the couple told Kay to go crazy with the colours! Throughout the engagement, Sean was adamant that the car would surprise Hannah, who was adamant that she didn’t want your traditional ivory wedding car as she would instead turn up in a taxi. There’s no way Sean was having any of that and spent many hours trying to find the right car. Unfortunately, because it was a December wedding, most of the ‘enthusiasts’ that do the odd wedding in their pride and joy wouldn’t take the booking as the cars are now garaged until the weather improves. Eventually, Sean found the perfect car a week before the wedding, which a good friend drove. The couple love going out for a good meal, and Sean maintains that the two things that every guest remembers about weddings are food and entertainment, so catering is essential. Being December, they didn’t know what the weather would be like, so they arranged a mince pie and mulled cider or apple juice on arrival to take the chill off! They added a Christmassy cocktail with the canapés after the ceremony. When the wedding breakfast rolled around, they wanted the feeling of a good meal out. Something else that didn’t change throughout the long engagement was the cake. The couple met Gemma at Tartufi Cakes during a fayre in 2015 and fell in love with her bakes. Despite having tried numerous samples and seen many different styles over the years, nothing ever compared. LOOKING THE PART Hannah went to David Western for a bespoke gown, armed with a few inspirational pics and a love of vintage Hollywood glam! David’s team sketched up a design, and Hannah just went with it! She couldn’t visualise the finished look at all, and it was still in five pieces at the final fitting as David had been poorly. Having known him for a few years, and by a reputation a lot longer, she trusted him implicitly and he did not disappoint! David also created Hannah’s hairpiece to match the beading on her gown. Knowing the theme, the bride needed a fab pair of shoes, and a day out in London ended with a gorgeous pair of Manolos. The first time Hannah saw herself was when guests posted pictures the day after the wedding – she was blown away! As mentioned, she had not been able to imagine the finished design, so it was unlike anything that she could have envisaged. Sean’s worn a kilt since he started at boarding school at nine, and Hannah’s condition of agreeing to the proposal (she still doesn’t know why she said it) was that he had to wear his kilt! The day needed to be something other than ‘work’, so Sean sourced fabrics to have his jacket and waistcoat made in keeping with the themes. His shoes were a real find, they’d never seen the ghillie brogues with the tartan inlay before and it matched his kilt! The pair then had Sean’s best man’s suit made in the same fabrics but the opposite way round. The ties came from Etsy but brought in the Day of the Dead theme to pay tribute to lost loved ones. When first seeing Hannah, Sean’s reaction was that he couldn’t trust himself to speak and managed to croak out a ‘wow’. Hannah had seen Sean try on his outfit several days earlier and was moved to tears. She can’t describe how she felt that day – it was all a bit much! 48
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0NTE=