Your Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Wedding- October/November 2020 (Issue 23)

HAPPY EVER AFTER Clare and John’s elegant wedding at Grittleton House followed a classic, neutral theme Images courtesy of Lydia Stamps Photography Clare and John Baines married on 12 th October 2019 at a church ceremony at St Mary the Virgin, Grittleton followed by a reception at Grittleton House. C lare and John lived around the corner from one another for years and knew of one another but finally met properly when Clare plucked up the courage to send him a message. “After a few glasses of wine one evening, I decided to do it and we ended up arranging to meet up,” she tells us. “John took me to a lovely pub in the New forest for dinner one evening and the rest is history.” The couple became engaged during a surprise trip to Paris that John arranged for their fifth anniversary. “I had no idea where we were going until we reached the check-in area at the airport,” Clare says. “We stayed in a gorgeous boutique hotel and for our first evening there, John had booked us a table for dinner followed by a visit to the Moulin Rouge. After the cabaret, he suggested that we take a walk to admire the Sacré-Coeur, a church perched at the highest point in Paris overlooking the Eiffel Tower which is beautifully lit up at night. I was reluctant because it was late and cold and I was wearing heels but we were only there for a couple of nights so I agreed. It was there that John proposed to me! I thought he was joking because I had no idea that he was going to do it, it was the perfect proposal.” Here, Clare tells us about their elegant wedding at Grittleton House in Wiltshire that followed a classic, neutral theme. REAL WEDDINGS 33 