Your West Midlands Wedding - Jun/Jul 2019 (Issue 62)

The three-tier cake of chocolate, banana and lemon, was adorned with fresh flowers and sprigs of lavender. Tables were named after chapters of The Secret Garden book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. All of our guests had a shot glass from Abu Dhabi with a colourful shot, and each place setting had a sprig of lavender from my parents’ garden, with a small engraved log slice instead of place cards. The theme of our wedding was The Secret Garden, but we were keen to also make it our own – bringing a little bit of Kent, Newcastle and Abu Dhabi to the Midlands! We live in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, so really wanted an ‘English country wedding’ and fell in love with The Swallows Nest Barn straightaway. It’s a beautiful farm, lovely barns and the courtyard was perfect for the summer evening. The woods reflected our The Secret Garden theme, and it was just a bonus that it was exactly half way between both of our families from Kent and Newcastle. Instead of traditional favours we made a donation to the MS society on behalf of all of our guests. 42