Sam and Beth met in 2013 while they were both working part-time at Homebase. “I worked on the customer service desk, and Beth was on the shop floor,” says Sam. “I was newly ‘out’ in the LBGT world and noticed Beth during one of our shifts. Beth was quiet and no one knew her name, so I plucked up the courage to go over and invite her on a night out with the girls. Afterwards, Beth asked me on a date to walk her dog, and the rest is history. I loved Beth’s confidence and thought she was really cool; we had fun together from the very beginning.” Beth proposed on a beach on the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides in August 2020. “It was a complete surprise,” shares Sam. “We had just spent the first COVID lockdown converting our van into a DIY camper, so we booked to go away to the Outer Hebrides for two weeks for the van’s first major outing. Beth had been adamant up until this point that marriage wasn’t on the cards yet, but looking back, she had been acting quite strange and suspicious in the lead up to our trip. On the second day, Beth started asking me questions like, ‘What’s your favourite sunrise or sunset?’ and ‘What’s been your favourite beach so far?’ And lo and behold, the following morning, we got up at sunrise and made our way to a beach on Vatersay. It was the windiest day of the entire holiday, and our dog jumped through a barbed wire fence on the way to the beach, but it was still beautiful. Beth originally asked me to be her girlfriend in 2014 using a photo that she’d drawn, so while we were sitting on the sand watching the sunrise, Beth gave me a photo that she’d drawn of her proposing to me. She then pulled a ring out of her pocket and asked me to marry her!” SETTING THE SCENE “We knew we wanted an outdoor wedding but were struggling to find anywhere that felt right,” explains Sam. “We came across Gileston Manor by chance and instantly loved that we could get married outside but have the luxury of the manor house for accommodation. The accommodation was beautifully quirky and each room had a different design. It was also dog-friendly, which was a big must for us, as our golden retriever was our ring bearer! “Beth and I decorated the space with a wooden arch, which we used to hang a neon ‘The Woolleys’ sign,” continues Sam. “We used vintage-style rugs as decoration beneath the table, repurposing them as a dancefloor for the evening. We had one long table with seats on either side and we sat in the centre in peacock chairs from The Roaming Caravan Co surrounded by our family and closest friends. To decorate the table, we used a teal table runner covered in tall black candlesticks, vintage ale and glass beer bottles with dried flowers in them. Above the table, we opted for large macramé lanterns and dried flowers hanging from the ceiling. Jan Lima Flowers provided all the flowers for the day. They were a mixture of fresh and dried flowers with blues, greens, and white daisies; they were perfect and exactly what we wanted.” For their favours, the happy couple gave their guests small bottles of Kin Toffee Vodka, as it’s one of their favourites. Alongside the favours were place names that the couple made themselves. “We cross-stitched each guest name onto an oval frame,” recalls Sam. “Each was unique, and everyone was able to take them home with them. We also handmade napkin holders using a wooden ring and macramé decorations.” For their cake, Sam and Beth opted for a two-tiered, semi-naked drip design from The Vale Cake Boutique. “The top tier was white chocolate and raspberry, and the bottom tier was lemon and blueberry,” reveals Sam. “We had cake toppers of a lion and a giraffe wearing veils and eucalyptus decorating the cake and stand. We also had towers of glazed doughnuts surrounding the cake. Cleverchefs provided the sit-down meal, which was fantastic. We gave our guests the option of beef or chicken for the main course and sticky toffee pudding or lemon posset for dessert.” 35 REAL WEDDINGS
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