Your East Anglian Wedding - October/November 2020 (Issue 45)

My bridesmaids wore mismatched dresses in different styles but all in the same colour to match the men’s green ties. “We chose Saxlingham Nethergate Church because Robert was born and grew up in the village and two other generations have got married there, so it was our turn.” Neither of us felt nervous, just really happy and fulfilled. I loved my dress, it was so beautiful I didn’t need any other accessories. “One of my most memorable moments was getting out of the car at the church. I’d never felt true happiness like it.” My hair was a real statement piece; a big fishtail plait right down my back. G race first caught Robert’s eye during a lecture while they were at university together. He added her as a friend on Facebook but she had a boyfriend at the time and it wasn’t until they broke up that the pair started chatting. “We then met up on a night out on St Patrick’s Day and Robert won me a stuffed turtle that now sits on our TV cabinet,” Grace recalls. They went on their first date the following day; walking around Lincoln eating KitKat Chunky bars. At first Grace thought they were just good friends as it wasn’t until three months later that they shared their first kiss. “Ultimately his big blue eyes and gentle kind nature drew me to him,” she reveals. Robert popped the question while they were away for two weeks in Greece. Grace thought he’d been behaving a little oddly because he’d been carrying around a pair of socks in his bag throughout the trip. Six days into the holiday, they rented a car to tour the local area and ended up climbing to the top of a hill to an abandoned church. “He sat on a bench and wanted me to join him but I stayed in the shade because I’m ginger and didn’t want to burn. After about 10 minutes he came over to me, said some lovely words and presented me with the sock! Inside was a ring box and he then asked me to marry him. I said ’yes’ and we tied the knot exactly a year to the day later.” Read on for Grace’s account of their big day... 44