the same roses as Leah’s bouquet. “We didn’t want anything too over the top and this tied in with our rustic vibe. Lee has worked for Disney for eight years, so as a nod they had black and white steamboat Minnie and Mickey Lego minifigures as further decoration. LOOKING THE PART Shortly after she became engaged, Leah visited a wedding fair with her mum and friend Ilona. She saw a gown on a mannequin, and it was love at first sight. “This is the dress I want,” she told them. A month later she went to try it on at Wedding World in Folkestone and despite trying on plenty of other dresses, still knew this was the one. She paired the gown with Sophia Webster shoes with “I do” on the soles, but changed into a pair of white Converse with rose gold stitching for the evening. The bride accessorised with mum Karen’s garter and silver earrings, along with a diamond necklace Karen had bought for her daughter to wear on her wedding day and a rose gold and diamante hair piece she’d made for her. Lee was dressed in a three-piece Marc Darcy grey check suit with pink lining. He paired this with Ted Baker brogues with the words “game over” on the soles. The groom accessorised with cufflinks featuring the fingerprints of his grandad and a necklace bearing his mum’s fingerprint. He also wore a pin that Leah bought him featuring a black and white picture of his mum on her wedding day and one of his grandad from his. The groomsmen all wore three-piece grey check suits too, with rose gold tie and pocket square to match the groom’s. The bridesmaids looked beautiful in their rose gold multiway dresses. TIME TO CELEBRATE The couple were bowled over by their live band, who entertained guests throughout the evening. “They were amazing, such great music,” Leah says. They even let one of the couple’s friends take the mic and join them for a song! MEMORABLE MOMENTS Leah says: “I felt very nervous at the start of the day and extremely overwhelmed, but I did enjoy it. It was so special and amazing to see so many people we love all together. Lee seemed to take it all in his stride and he had so much fun too. The newlyweds opted to have smoke bomb pictures taken, which they thoroughly enjoyed, as well as the sparkler photos they did at the end of the night. THE BRIDE’S TOP TIPS “I was adamant I wasn’t going to have anything to do in the few weeks leading up to the wedding and I was going to be all set and ready to go, so that I’d be able to chill. That did turn out to be unrealistic though, so any couple should be prepared to have things to do even the day before. Also, brace yourselves for people to pull out last minute. You hope it doesn’t happen, but it does,” Leah says. The bride continues, “Make sure you have one day that’s just for you and have a pamper. My maid-of-honour took me for a massage the week before and it was lovely.” REAL WEDDINGS 35
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