EARLY DAYS Although Karen and Tayler went to the same sixth form college in Norfolk, they didn’t set eyes on each other until the second year when their film studies groups merged. “When Tayler walked into the room for our first lecture of the year, wearing his bright yellow T-shirt and patterned board shorts, as strange as it sounds, I had a gut feeling that something was going to happen between us from the minute I first saw him! His outgoing, funny personality grabbed my attention instantly,” remembers Karen. Turns out, he was thinking the same and set his sights on pursuing her! “We clicked from the start and the fact that we had many of the same friends and interests helped push things along pretty quickly! Tayler achieved his goal in the end and, after various nights out, we eventually got together and have never looked back!” adds Karen. POPPING THE QUESTION Tayler proposed during a two-week holiday of a lifetime touring America. A week into the trip, they set off for Anaheim, California home of the original Disneyland and the first Magic Kingdom. “We had visited it a few years before, and I fell in love with the place,” explains Karen. She noticed Tayler was acting a little odd and kept asking her whether it was definitely her favourite Disney park. “I assured him it was, but had no clue why he was so concerned. When we got in, our first stop was the main castle for a photo and as I got my phone ready, I looked at Tayler and he was down on one knee!” At first she thought he was joking and it wasn’t until he took the ring box out of his pocket that she realised it was for real. “I was a bit of a squeaky mess, but I said ‘yes’, of course!” THE TIME AND THE PLACE They started planning their big day in January 2019 and originally had their hearts set on getting married in Orlanda, Florida, until COVID put pay to that. Everything was booked and ready for them to jet off to the Sunshine State with 35 guests for their dream wedding on November 3rd last year. However, with just six weeks to go, and no news of any let up on travel restrictions to the US, they finally decided to pull the plug. Karen recalls, “When the pandemic first struck we’d just started the planning process and, like many people, we thought that by the time our wedding day arrived it would be well and truly over – how wrong we were! “We had to decide whether to wait it out until the last minute and see if our plans could go ahead, postpone to a future date in 2022, when things would hopefully be more normal, or cancel our destination wedding altogether and bring it home. After much deliberation, we felt we really wanted to get married sooner rather than later. After two years of uncertainty we wanted to be able to feel excited at the thought of getting married and so wedding plan B was born.” After 13 years together, including a six-year engagement, they tied the knot at The Royal Assembly Rooms in Great Yarmouth on 29th October 2021. They had previously booked the venue for a post-wedding celebration on their return from America and luckily were able to get it for their whole day. “We liked the layout of the venue, which is one of the reasons we chose it. It has two bars, a beautiful ceremony room and a bright and spacious banqueting room. We were also able to invite many more of our friends and family who wouldn’t have been able to go if the wedding had been in Florida,” adds Karen. “Our celebrant Francesca Foulsham wrote a beautiful, personalised ceremony filled with memories like the story of how we met and our engagement and she also included a handfasting which was a lovely touch.” LOOKING THE PART Happily, choosing her dream dress went without a hitch. Karen fell for the first one she put on, a Stella York (style 7066) ivory, vintage-inspired gown complete with train. “City Brides in Norwich couldn’t have been more helpful. I was able to try it on in front of the most important people, my mum and bridesmaids, as they allowed me to do it in two groups due to restrictions on numbers inside the boutique at the time,” she explains. “I loved the fit and flare silhouette which complemented my body shape perfectly and really highlighted one of my greatest assets, my behind! I love a bit of glitz too, so the lace and sparkle helped me REAL WEDDING 37
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