Rebecca and Nathan met at medical school. “We were in the same year studying to be doctors,” says Rebecca. “We began our relationship as friends, and I loved how funny and incredibly intelligent he was. We attended regular events together and got to know each other throughout our studies. Nathan was the one to make the first move. He took up running, even though he hates it, to spend more time with me and with a little Dutch courage, he told me how he felt. We subsequently had our first date after one of our exams in a coffee shop.” Nathan popped the question on the couple’s third anniversary. “We had just begun working as doctors and were celebrating with a holiday to Lanzarote,” shares the bride. “I was oblivious that he was going to propose! We went out for dinner and Nathan had intended on popping the question on the beach afterwards, however it was a wet and cloudy evening, so we decided to go back to our apartment and pop some fizz on our balcony. I was impatient as Nathan was faffing in the apartment and popped the bubbly without him; I then turned around and he was down on one knee. Safe to say I cried!” SETTING THE SCENE “When we first starting dating, we went to Oxwich Beach to stargaze, so the area held great importance to us and it felt right to get married there,” explains Rebecca. “The Oxwich Bay Hotel was competitively priced with packages for winter weddings and a friendly team that were passionate about helping us have the day we wanted. Nathan’s family are from the Midlands, so we had lots of people travelling for the wedding, so the fact that Oxwich Bay Hotel had plenty of accommodation was perfect. We also fell in love with the stunning ceremony room and views across the bay from the marquee, it was so incredible that we just couldn’t say no. “We decided to have a few different favours,” adds Rebecca. “Nathan loves craft beer, so we chose to give our guests bottles from Dog’s Window Brewery, we also included homemade Welsh cakes and pots of sweets for those who didn’t like Welsh cakes.” For their table plan, the couple used a homemade wooden frame decorated with string and fairylights. “I’m a creative person, so I wanted to make items where possible,” reveals the bride. “The place names were brown cards with the person’s name and a definition of their name on the back as a talking point. Nathan and I had a date evening where we painted small canvases, which we used as our place names; his was Doctor Who themed and mine was Disney.” For their centrepieces, Rebecca and Nathan opted for tablescapes created by their florist, Wild Meadow Floral. “She placed small posies of flowers around the tables,” recalls Rebecca. “Nathan’s dad grew pumpkins that we also used; this helped create an autumnal feel and the orange colour complemented the bridesmaids’ dresses and overall feel of the day. We also had a moongate which we moved to the dancefloor for the evening festivities, which looked great.” Rebecca’s mum made their wedding cake. “It was decorated with sugarcraft flowers and pumpkins,” says the bride. “One tier was carrot, and the base was vanilla. Nathan and I had a running joke that he would have his own individual carrot cake for the wedding, so I didn’t tell him that I had asked my mum to make a carrot cake for the day. Our topper was a wire stethoscope with our initials on to reflect how we met. “All of the food was supplied by Oxwich Bay Hotel,” continues Rebecca. “We had canapés, a three-course meal and a buffet in the evening.” 41 REAL WEDDINGS
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