Your Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wedding - December 2020/January 2021 (Issue 86)

N icola and Nick met when they were teenagers and became inseparable. They got engaged years later when Nick proposed to Nicola in Japan. "He had taken me on a business trip which turned out to be a very memorable holiday for us!" Nicola tells us. "Nick had spent all week trying to find a quiet, dry, uncrowded place to propose before settling on a hastily booked Japanese onsen - a traditional bathhouse – that we visited towards the end of our time there. We were wearing full kimonos, right down to the white toe socks! As a couple who had been together for most of our lives, it wasn't a surprise, despite Nick's efforts to keep it a secret, but the setting and timing did come as a bit of a happy shock." SETTING THE SCENE The couple decided to have their wedding in January because they wanted to invite family to join them from around the globe so combining trips with the Christmas holidays was preferable. “We had attended so many summer weddings and wanted to create something different. The idea of a warm, cosy, family orientated atmosphere was exactly what we wanted,” Nicola says. “We needed a venue that would be large enough to accommodate our loved ones while keeping everyone inside, warm and entertained.” The Tythe Barn was the perfect choice for the couple, with interconnecting rooms and open spaces, and real fireplaces providing a romantic ambience. It was already styled with Christmas trees and fairylights offering an atmospheric and seasonal feel, so the couple added festive touches with handmade Christmas crackers filled with Lindt chocolate balls and fairylights displayed in jam jars and glass bottles as centrepieces. "We were fortunate that my sister-in-law is an accomplished wedding florist in Australia with an eye for natural and national flowers," Nicola tells us. "With her help, we were able to create a range of simple and elegant arrangements using gypsophila which we presented at the end of each row of seats during the ceremony, and reused as table centrepieces and arrangements to decorate the venue with." Nicola and Nick seated their guests in groups of loved ones who already knew one another. "Our top table included our bridesmaid and groomsmen and their partners, whilst our parents hosted tables of friends and close family members, leading to plenty of fun and laughter that outshone some of the tables of younger groups! We wanted to create the atmosphere of a family Christmas dinner and we certainly did this," Nicola says. "Our place names were beautifully presented within origami cranes as a nod to our Japanese engagement and my mum made hundreds of mini ones to create a beautiful curtain, and also crane place name holders which were wonderful." "Little did we realise how many of our friend's weddings would be affected by the events of this past year, and that our special day would be one of the few to be unaffected. We were so glad to have gathered so many loved ones together as possible because it was the last time that so many of them have been able to see each other in person this year. For that reason, among others, it will always be a very special day." - Nicola and Nick. 48