Samantha and Craig met at a pub. “I was working there and Craig would regularly visit,” says Samantha. “I was attracted to Craig from the moment I saw him, especially his dazzling blue eyes and his gleaming white-toothed smile. Later, I realised he also had a great sense of humour and personality. He always made me laugh; there was never a dull shift at the pub when he was there. We got chatting quite often and after a few months, we went out on our first date.” Craig proposed in Edinburgh in spring 2021. “We travelled there for the weekend and I had no idea he was going to propose,” shares the bride. “The day before we were leaving, Craig said he had work to do, but really he was asking my mum, Cath, for her permission to ask me to marry him! We spent the first day there together and on the second day, we were walking around, almost in circles, before he decided to pull a box out of his inside jacket pocket and open it to show a ring! I was in shock and replied, ‘Are you joking?’ Then he got down on one knee and asked me again, to which of course I replied, ‘Yes’ and then we hugged and kissed and shared the news with our friends and family.” SETTING THE SCENE “During our engagement, we went into lockdown, so it was very difficult to see venues in person,” explains Samantha. “A video of The Orangery stood out to us and it looked amazing, so once we were out of lockdown, we had a look around, and we just fell in love. Everything about it was beautiful: the grounds, the ceremony spaces, the interior – just everything gripped us straight away and even better, they had a Saturday in July available, and we just couldn’t say no. It’s an absolutely stunning venue.” The couple’s favours were love hearts with their names and wedding date on. “On each table, we also had a glossy photo book of our holiday snaps with space at the back for guests to share comments and their memories from the day,” recalls Samantha. “We also had a delicious sweet cart provided by Floral Explosion.” Tomarty Wedding Stationery provided the couple’s table plan. “They created a world map with the tables and guest names underneath all of the places we had travelled together,” remembers the bride. “They had made the world shades of pink to match our colour scheme and used fancy fonts for the table names. It looked phenomenal.” Baked with Love by Amie created Samantha and Craig’s wedding cake. “It was a two-tier design made up of a vanilla flavour,” says Samantha. “It was decorated with blush flowers from Floral Explosion.” DRESSED TO IMPRESS “I chose a wedding dress from Christina K Bridal Boutique in Maidstone, whom I highly recommend,” shares Samantha. “It was a style of dress I never thought I’d wear. It was a V-neckline, which came quite low and had a beautiful sparkle to it, but the best thing about my wedding dress was that it was one of a kind, so no one else would ever wear it and the trail was just stunning.” Craig opted for a three-piece suit with a grey waistcoat instead of blue to help him stand out from the groomsmen. “The bridesmaids wore lovely pink dresses that fell to the floor and had a ruched upper part from Victoria’s Bridal Boutique,” explains the bride. “They were also brilliant hosts and I highly recommend them!” TIME TO CELEBRATE “During the ceremony and photos, we had the spectacular Holly Lowe Harpist perform,” recalls Samantha. “It suited our personalities and we wanted 41 REAL WEDDINGS
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