Your Hampshire and Dorset Wedding - Page number 37 - November/December 2021 (Issue 89)

Simply stylish Relaxed, sophisticated chic was the order of the day for Sarah and Graeme’s New Forest wedding Images courtesy of Rebecca Searle Photography S arah and Graeme met at primary school when they were seven. “He used to walk past my house every day as he only lived at the end of the road,” says Sarah. They didn’t start dating until they were both 18, after bumping into each other at a local nightclub. They were together for 11 years before Graeme finally proposed – at the second attempt! His first ploy to get Sarah to a romantic spot to pop the question had to be scrapped as she’d a bad day at work and wasn’t up for going out. Undeterred, he put plan B into action and woke her up at 4.30 in the morning the following day, asking her to get ready. After downing an espresso to wake herself up, she got in the car but had no idea what was about to happen. “He took me to watch the sunrise at Runnymede in Surrey, where my grandparents used to do their courting, and while we were there he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was a huge surprise after being together for so long,” she recalls. Graeme had also secretly booked her the day off work and they spent it together boating on the Thames with a bottle or two of Champagne. “We continued the celebrations the next day with a barbecue at our new house with close family and friends which was particularly special after not being able to see them during lockdown,” adds Sarah. Read on for her account of their big day… Sarah Lines married Graeme Tew at the Balmer Lawn Hotel in Brockenhurst on 23 rd July, 2021. 37 REAL WEDDINGS