Your West Midlands Wedding - Apr/May 2019 (Issue 61)

REAL WEDDINGS 51  look clean we avoided clutter using our napkins as place names with each guests’ name printed on – it worked a dream and the guests loved them.” The cake was arranged by the pastry chef at the venue and was a cake of cheese with all the trimmings of fruit, chutney and crackers, laid out in a fantastic display. LOOKING THE PART Sandra wore a dress by Justin Alexander the bride’s favourite designer, Style 88025 . “I loved its classic, simple design the shaping on the bodice, buttons down the front and pockets – I love pockets!” Sandra completed her look with minimal accessories, just long silver sparkly earrings and a complementing hair comb. James looked dapper in a three-piece bespoke wool suit tailor- made in Dublin. It was a light navy/blue with a gold box check. He looked very handsome and definitely stood out. “My sister Laura was James’ best man as the three of us have an incredibly close relationship, we are the three amigos,” shares Sandra. “She wore a long navy dress from House of Fraser to complement James’s suit.” TIME TO CELEBRATE A magician, Paul Ray, entertained guests during the drink reception and performed magic at the tables in between courses at dinner. “Everyone remarked that he was amazing. His close-up magic is remarkable and has you wondering how on earth did he do that?” recalls Sandra. After dinner an old jazz-style band called The Gershwin Gang, played live music for a couple of hours before a DJ took over for the last few hours of the evening. “The jazzy-vibe was lovely after dinner and I think the guests enjoyed how different it was,” shares Sandra. “It was great to have our first dance to live music, a rendition of Moondance by Van Morrison – it was what we first danced to when we started going out in an underground jazz club in Dublin.” MEMORABLE MOMENTS On the day, the happy pair were giddy, excited and had sore faces from smiling all day. “It was amazing having everyone together; our closest family and friends throughout the years with us in Shrewsbury to celebrate our day. We were both very chilled in the morning beforehand. James got ready at home and I got ready in the Lion Hotel. We both had relaxed mornings without too much fuss. As it got closer to 12.30 (ceremony time) we started to get a bit nervous. We didn’t see each other before the ceremony and I was just so excited to walk down the aisle and meet James at the top.” They both loved the ceremony after putting lots of thought into the music and readings, choosing mainly Irish pieces. “Our niece, Mali, even wrote us a beautiful poem which made us a bit tearful,” shares Sandra. “Then heading back up to the roof of The Market Hall to where James proposed was brilliant. Mairi and Wynne, our photographers, got some amazing shots and it was lovely to be somewhere peaceful and have a few quiet moments alone before heading back to the guests. They make a great team, and were hilarious to work with, they were so relaxed and helped us create some lovely memories.” In the evening, the couple performed a surprise Tango which they had learned over previous weeks. “I did a quick change into a different dress and some tango music started up. Everyone thought I just got changed for the evening but then we broke into an Argentine Tango. It was a bit of fun for us and I think the guests enjoyed the surprise.”