An Essex Wedding - Page number 43 - July/August 2021 (Issue 99)

Abbie and Ben pulled out all the stops and planned an elegantly intimate celebration the day before the second national lockdown Images courtesy of Emma Gosling Photography L ike so many wonderful relationships, Abbie and Ben started off as friends. “We lived in the same halls at Loughborough University,” Abbie tells us. “We lived by the rule that you should never be with anyone you live with. It was the summer after we moved out of halls that we made it official. We both believe that year was the best foundation for our relationship.” Abbie’s positivity and Ben’s grounded nature made them the perfect match, so it was no surprise that seven years after meeting, Ben was planning to pop the question. “We visited friends back at Loughborough University,” Abbie says. “Ben proposed at the entrance to the halls where we first met. It was so thoughtful and intimate. Nobody else shared the moment but us.” They planned a summer 2020 wedding, but they had to postpone to November. “Just one week before the wedding, a second national lockdown was announced,” Abbie says. “We couldn’t face postponing again, so we rearranged everything in two days and brought the wedding forward to 4 th November, 2020 – the day before lockdown began.” Abbie continues the story… nick of time IN THE REAL WEDDINGS 43