Your Devon and Cornwall Wedding - Page number 33 - July/August 2021 (Issue 32)

L auren and Sam met in a local nightclub and became a couple one year later. “I was head over heels in love with him and liked the fact that he was six years older than me, very attractive and successful - he just wooed me!” Lauren tells us. The couple became engaged on their fifth anniversary in 2017 during a holiday in the Maldives. “The best time for us to go away due to work commitments is always at Christmas,” Lauren tells us. “The resort was just paradise! We stayed in an over-water bungalow and before we went, friends had said he might pop the question, but it wasn’t on my radar because I do all the packing so knew that he wouldn’t have been able to take a ring without me seeing it! Also, knowing Sam, he wouldn’t want to do it when anyone expected it, he’d want it to be a complete surprise. After a few days into the holiday, on the 17th December, we were getting ready for dinner when Sam kept popping into the bathroom asking me what I was doing which made sense later that evening. There was a tropical storm that day so after finishing dinner, we drove back to our villa on a golf buggy. Sam sat on the sofa that was positioned over a glass floor showing the seabed below, and called me over, pointing to the view and asking me what I could see. He then lent behind the sofa, pulled out a box holding a stunning platinum diamond ring and got down on one knee to ask me to marry him! He also gave a lovely speech that made me cry - of course, I said yes!” “Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding now, the intimacy was just magical.” - Lauren SETTING THE SCENE The couple enjoyed an intimate ceremony at Larkbeare House with Lauren’s brother Matt and his girlfriend Georgie as witnesses after planning a much larger celebration that the lockdown restrictions prevented from happening. After the disappointment of two potential wedding dates having to be postponed, they decided against having a big do, for now, realising it was about their love for one another that they wanted to celebrate, so they opted for a small register office ceremony. “We’re close to Matt and Georgie and they have supported us through so much,” Lauren tells us. “Our parents have split up meaning that we have four families between us so the fairest way was to keep it simple and minimal and we’ve decided to have a larger blessing ceremony with everyone invited in the future. We didn’t have our two-year-old son, Fred, with us during the ceremony but he was dropped off in his little suit for the photographs afterwards and looked adorable.” The ceremony was followed by an afternoon tea, just the four of them, at the elegant Lympstone Manor. “It’s a local venue that I love and the team there were so helpful,” Lauren tells us. “We were impressed by the exterior design and architecture so we didn’t want any professional photos taken inside the building. My friend recommended Margo R Photography and her work looked so beautiful so it was great to find out that she was available on our date to take some shots of us outside with Fred.” “We flew to the Seychelles the morning after our wedding for a familymoon which was a great opportunity to relax and reflect. Making memories with our little boy, Fred, was priceless.” - Lauren MICRO WEDDING SPECIAL 33