Your East Anglian Wedding - Jun/Jul 2019 (Issue 37)

REAL WEDDINGS 49  A brief encounter at a Christmas cocktail party blossomed into romance for Michaela and Ollie. They hit it off and got to know each other over texts and online messaging while Ollie was away at university in Wales. They became good friends and met up during the holidays but didn’t get together as a couple until Ollie graduated and moved back to Cambridgeshire. POPPING THE QUESTION After being together for nine years, Ollie proposed in November 2017 while they were travelling in Australia. “In all honesty, at this point, I’d given up hope that he was ever going to ask me to marry him, so it was a massive surprise,” says Michaela. “We were staying at a tiny vineyard with two of our friends and, as the sun was setting he asked me to go for a walk. I wasn’t keen, but I relented and just as a kangaroo hopped past, he dropped to one knee. I was completely shocked; especially as the night before I’d packed his bag at the previous hotel and there was no ring in sight! The setting was spectacular and it couldn’t have been more perfect.” LOOKING THE PART Michaela wasted no time in hitting the shops. A month after getting engaged, while her sister was home for Christmas, she grabbed the chance to browse the rails at Burr Bridal in Cambridge. “I wanted to go and look while I had my mum and sister together, but had no intention of buying anything!” She thought she knew what she was after – something boho and lacy, suitable for a casual outdoor farm wedding. However, as soon as she tried on her stunning Arleigh by Sottero and Midgley gown, her head was turned. “It made me feel special and was so different to anything I’d ever seen that I knew it was the one ! It was the only dress I tried on that instantly made my mum well up and, although it didn’t really go with our country theme, it was so amazing I couldn’t not have it.” A hairpiece made by Rachel Sokhal and diamond earrings, which Ollie gave her as a wedding present, completed the look. Her bridesmaids wore long, flowing dresses in different shades to complement the pastel colour scheme. “I didn’t want them to all wear the same, as they have different personalities and body shapes, so there wasn’t a one-style-fits-all solution,” explains Michaela. The bouquets included a mix of roses, corn, wheat and barley. Ollie looked every inch the country gent in a three-piece brown tweed suit, with a paisley tie and pocket square, while his groomsmen wore the same style suits in dark blue. The buttonholes were made of roses, gypsophila and foliage with a spring of wheat for Ollie’s to make it stand out. FAMILY CONNECTIONS They tied the knot in their local church, just a 10-minute walk away from their house. “Ollie and his family have lived in the village for generations and have been a big part of the community. His parents married at the church, his mum sings in the choir and Ollie and his dad help look after the churchyard,” explains Michaela. “It was really important to us for the whole day to be very personal and to reflect us as a couple as well as our families; so the church was the perfect place to have the ceremony.” Milk churns were placed in and outside the building and the pew ends were decorated with flower-filled wellie boots alternating with bundles of wheat. In keeping with their theme, they laid on a tractor and trailer, decked with bunting and flowers, to transport guests. “I think the ride was possibly one of the favourite parts of the day for some people,” laughs Michaela. She made her grand entrance in style in her dream car, a Triumph Stag, while Ollie arrived in his pride and joy, a 1966 Series 2A Land Rover he’d lovingly restored with the help of Michaela’s dad. “It was