These lovebirds first met while at Exeter University in 2018. Their mutual friend Amy, to whom the pair are deeply indebted to, approached Tiago for several drinks at a barbecue armed with a description of a person who would be, in her words, perfect for him. When Amy showed Tiago what Willow looked like, he was met with pictures showing sun-drenched blonde hair framing assorted expressions of gentle, calm joyfulness. He messaged, letting Willow know that a mutual friend was trying to set them up and asked if she’d like to meet up. To his relief, she agreed. Tiago comments, “It’s important to note that Amy pitched me to Willow as ‘tall’. Though I’ll always be grateful for the assistance on Amy’s part, I’m 5 ft 9 on a good day, something Willow quickly noticed when we first met. Height exaggeration aside, nerves quickly made way for a conversation that lasted from when we first entered the bar to be the final two occupants politely asked to leave by bleary-eyed staff as the venue was closing for the evening. For our part, we wished for more hours in the day. We discovered shared values, passions, aspirations, outlooks, interests, and more during that time. We ended the evening with a kiss accompanied by a promise to see each other again, which I am happy to say we kept – the rest is history! “I can’t pinpoint exactly when I made the decision, but I know that long before proposal plans were put in place, it felt like a wonderful ‘when’ rather than a speculative ‘if’. I surprised Willow with the question in the guise of a big family get-together dinner in August of 2022. My parents and I have all our birthdays clustered within one week of each other. As they live abroad, it isn’t often we get the chance to have everyone in one place, so we planned for them to come over and celebrate together that year. We booked a large table at The Jetty Restaurant in Southampton, overlooking the harbour leading out into the ocean. At sunset, between main course and desert, I got down on one knee, removed the phone I’d forgotten to take out ahead of time from my pocket (much to the confusion of the assembled family), found the ring box and popped the question. Luckily, she still said ‘yes’!” SETTING THE SCENE The couple had similar ideas for the big day, knowing it would be a once-in-alifetime event. They wanted a classic, romantic, semi-traditional style of wedding that lived up to everything they’d dreamed of. Their priority was joining families and friends, whether they lived across the street or the ocean. Rhinefield House Hotel was the first venue the couple looked at in person. Living near the New Forest area meant they were undoubtedly spoiled for choice, so Rhinefield was one of three or four venues they planned to visit over the week. They signed up for a wedding fair at the property, hoping to get the lay of the land, as neither had knowledge to draw from regarding weddings. Every image they’d seen of the venue with expansive lush green grounds and a fabulous darkwooden grand hall with high ceilings bathed in light from a large central window had them hopeful. The groom comments, “We were looking for somewhere large enough to accommodate a party of 70 to 80 people, close enough to allow grandparents an easy journey, flexible enough to work for an indoor or outdoor wedding, and which left us feeling that giddy excitement everyone hopes to find. The sunlit drive through the grounds, which slowly revealed Rhinefield’s Tudor-style mansion, left us with just that feeling. Safe to say our choice was made before we reached the front door.” The couple wanted the wedding to have a fresh spring feel, romantic but not extravagant, and traditional without feeling stuffy. They settled on a mixture of natural and pastel colours for the colour scheme. Light blues, creams and blush pinks sprinkled with lilac and fresh green brought everything together. There was never a doubt that they wanted a wedding filled with flowers, with breathtaking floral columns framing the central window, centrepieces in low gold vases at each table, and beautifully arranged bouquets. Florist Nicola from Petals & Posies was patient and attentive regarding the blooms; the lovebirds couldn’t have asked for more perfect arrangments. For the table arrangements, eight round tables were placed alongside a 33 REAL WEDDINGS
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