on and everyone cheered which was magical!” For their wedding breakfast, Nicola and Clint chose familystyle sharing dishes consisting of large plates of food placed down the centre of their three rectangular tables for guests to help themselves. “For starters, we had king prawn and mango salad with fresh lime and coriander, deep-fried brie wedges served with freshly baked figs, caramelised onion and pine nut salad and vine tomato and basil pesto bruschetta with olive oil ciabatta,” Nicola tells us. “For the main course, our guests had a choice of the low-roast leg of lamb with Caribbean spices; salmon with mustard, dill and orange slices served with baby roast potatoes and roasted summer vegetables; roasted sweet potato salad with crumbled feta, beetroot pine nuts and toasted seeds with cucumber shavings; Tabbouleh salad with fresh mint, parsley, spring onion, cucumber and cherry tomatoes finished with a fresh citrus dressing and green salad with baby leaves, tender stem broccoli and sugar snap peas with basil oil dressing topped with parmesan shavings. The delicious mini desserts included double chocolate brownies, strawberry pavlova and tart au citron.” The couple’s cake was made by a friend who is a chef and the owner of a London restaurant. “It was a three-tier naked cake with a chocolate sponge layer, a vanilla cream one and a red velvet tier decorated with peach roses and eucalyptus,” Nicola describes. “Our favours were key-shaped bottle openers to represent a great party!” The couple’s mint and sage-green colour theme was shown in the relaxed, unstructured floral displays of white, green and soft peach varieties including spray roses, peach roses, white gypsophila and eucalyptus. “My Mum cut ivy from her garden which we wrapped around the hand-painted signs that my grandad painted for us, down the tables and on the chairs,” Nicola says. LOOKING THE PART Nicola had originally wanted to buy her dress in Devon and had a clear vision of what she wanted. “I was looking for a fishtail dress with a lace overlay,” she tells us. “After trying on a selection of dresses in his style, I realised it wasn’t me so we visited a store in London where each of my bridesmaids, and my bridesman Freddy, picked a style for me to try. Freddy chose a different style to what I’d tried before with long sleeves and I loved it! It just needed a little something extra so the shop assistant handed me a style called Athens which was perfect - I’d been drawn to Grecian-style dresses previously and had enjoyed my hen do in Greece! I didn’t need any accessories because the dress was beautiful as it was.” Clint and his groomsmen wore navy suits with silver-grey waistcoats and ties and mint-green pocket squares to match the bridesmaids’ dresses. “Our two bridesmaids wore bespoke mint dresses and chose their styles to suit their shapes,” Nicola says. “My bridesman wore a green suit and looked fantastic!” TIME TO CELEBRATE Nicola and Clint had a Caribbean steel drum band playing outside in the courtyard after the ceremony. “This was a nod to Clint’s family heritage with his mum being from Dominica and his dad from Belize,” Nicola tells us. “After the wedding breakfast, we had a Motown band perform on stage who played our first dance song and plenty of Motown classics including Love Train by The O’Jays and Upside Down by Diana Ross - they were an absolute hit! We chose Motown because we love that genre of music but also thought it would suit all age groups. Afterwards, we had a house and garage DJ playing until the early hours who announced a dance-off between the men and women, playing a track and giving everyone 30 seconds each to perform their best moves which were brilliant!” “Give your phone to your bridesmaid or a trusted friend for the day – you don’t need to be looking at it on your wedding day!” – Nicola REAL WEDDINGS 45
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