Your Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Wedding- August/September 2020 (Issue 22)

REAL WEDDINGS 27  R achel and Patrick met at the University of Chichester. "We were in different years studying seperate courses but were both heavily involved in the music department," Rachel tells us. "What started as a simple student flirtation turned into a nine-year relationship before we even became engaged." A surprise proposal took place on 1 st February 2019. "Patrick hadn't chosen the date because he was waiting for the first snowy day of the new year. When we first started our relationship, it was during heavy snowfall," Rachel says. "We ventured out to our local woods with our puppy for what I thought was her first experience of snow, but it turns out that I had a bigger surprise waiting for me! What made it even more special was that Patrick had already asked for my dad's permission on Christmas Day." SETTING THE SCENE The couple decided to have a church ceremony followed by a marquee reception in the grounds of Rachel's family home where her parents, auntie and brother had all held theirs. “It has become a bit of a family tradition so I couldn’t have imagined having our reception anywhere else,” she explains. Rachel and Patrick wanted the decorations to be an extension of the garden. "Because my mum is a keen gardener, we already had the benefit of manicured rose beds and colourful flowers displayed in pots dotted around," Rachel tells us. "My auntie and uncle gave us some beautiful bunting which they made based on all the colours found in the garden. My auntie also handmade crochet butterflies and flowers to scatter around." The couple also chose to have homegrown blooms including sweet peas from the vegetable patch in their floral table displays. "These were all arranged by my mum on the morning of the wedding who did a wonderful job. We also had log slices, mini watering cans and a succulent plant which worked well with our theme."