When Ali met David she was working as the weddings and events manager at Speke Hall. David was doing some volunteer work in the gardens and she roped him in to helping out with her Halloween zombie event. “Not many couples meet making gravestone props out of recycled materials,” Ali laughs. As their relationship grew from there, deciding to get married seemed like a natural progression, and Ali suggested it might be time David bought her a ring. So together they chose her beautiful, Edwardian, four-stone engagement ring. She had to wait for it to be resized and then wait again for the proposal. Ali remembers, “I was like a cat on a hot tin roof! But he eventually proposed in the traditional way, at home, just us. Personal, private and totally him.” There was only one choice of venue when it came to tying the knot: the Great Hall, the oldest part of the sensational Tudor halftimber Speke Hall. “As we’re known to staff there, and were the last couple to marry there before they stopped hosting weddings for conservation reasons, we got a lot of leeway,” Ali explains. They opted to host their reception at Oh Me Oh My due to its chilled, vintage vibe, incredible food and service, plus stunning views of the Three Graces. Join us as the bride tells us all about this super-special day, 18th September, 2022... WE DO At the start of their ceremony, Ali and David elected to have a ring warming, which is an old Irish tradition of passing the wedding bands around the guests as they make a wish or silent prayer for the couple before they’re exchanged with the “I dos.” The ceremony entrances proved particularly memorable as the groom and best man danced in to Happy by Pharell Williams, followed by the ring bearer who came in to Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top. “He plays wheelchair basketball for the Welsh under18s side and did a wheelchair spin at the top of the aisle,” Ali remembers. The junior bridesmaids got everyone clapping along to Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen, then it was time for Ali and her daughters to slow things down a bit with True Love from the musical High Society. The couple had made their own wedding rings with Britt and Andrew at Noctua Jewellery in Liverpool. This meant that Ali’s unusually-shaped Edwardian engagement ring would always have a wedding band to fit neatly alongside it. “We blended sentimental family gold from both families to make them, and David’s featured the birthstones of both of my daughters. Making our rings together in a private day-long workshop was so special. Not only was it the environmentally-friendly thing to do, it symbolised the joining of our two families,” Ali shares SETTING THE SCENE Ali cultivated cuttings of a rose given to her late parents as a wedding present, and gave them to guests as favours. She printed out tags to explain the significance, which left everyone in tears. These also doubled as place names helping to cut down on waste. The table plan was held by a spray-painted multi-frame copper structure, with the tables named after the duo’s shared interests – cats, caravans, crochet, coffee and cake, tea and biscuits, archaeology, and steam trains. Ali and David sourced vintage glass cake stands, candle holders, and crystal vases and bowls, which they filled with candles and placed everything on mirrored plates at the centre of each table to reflect the light. The bride also made 150 metres of bunting using vintage doilies sourced from local charity shops. She also purchased preloved hoops, which she decorated with faux flowers. This along with other garlands and wreaths are now being resold so that other 33 REAL WEDDINGS
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