Emily and Martin met in 2018 when Martin stopped by the pub where Emily was working. “Martin has always said he was attracted to me as soon as he saw me, so much so that when he came to order his drink, he wanted to say ‘hi’ and ‘how are you?’ but instead, he fumbled his words, and all that he said was ‘how?’,” laughs Emily. “This made me laugh, so we started to chat, and things grew from there. Martin proposed in June 2021 whilst we were having cocktails at The Shard in London. We’ve always loved weekends away in London, but this was a complete surprise. It was a really hot day, and Martin was wearing a suit and sweating a lot which I thought was because of the high temperature, but it turned out it was actually down to nerves.” SETTING THE SCENE “We wanted a venue that was local and felt like us,” says Emily. “We browsed several properties which were beautiful but didn’t feel right. As a couple, we have always enjoyed walks around the grounds at Keele Hall, and it’s somewhere that we knew we would visit plenty of times in the future. We were shown around the venue and instantly fell in love with it; it was large and grand but also somehow still felt cosy and welcoming. The wedding packages that they offered were brilliant in terms of cost and choice, and it was also expressed many times that no request was too big or small. “We didn’t want a specific theme exactly, however autumnal and earthy tones felt suited to the décor of Keele Hall, so we were drawn to these colours,” adds the bride. “We focussed a lot on having a day that included the guests and made it memorable for them as much as it would be for us. Martin and I love reading books of any kind, so Keele Hall having an old library was perfect. We made our table numbers by framing pages from an old book. Each table was a different chapter and we decorated these with dried flowers from our garden. Our table plan was a board created to look like a large open book with the different chapters as the table numbers and the name cards were handmade resin bookmarks with dried flowers and foliage.” The happy couple gave their guests heart-shaped lollies with a small tag attached thanking them for sharing their first meal as husband and wife. “We also added disposable cameras to the table for guests to enjoy getting their own shots,” shares Emily. “The centrepieces matched the autumnal theme with different sized vases with flowers and foliage mixed in. My mum helped create a lot of the flower arrangements as she is friends with our florist, LET Designs, so arriving at the venue in the morning and taking in everything that they had created was a lovely surprise.” Martin’s mum created the couple’s cake which was a lovely surprise for them on the day. “Martin’s side of the family is Ukrainian, so we wanted to add Ukrainian traditions into our wedding day; during the ceremony, we stood on a Rushnyk (an embroidered cloth), the first person to step on the cloth symbolises who would make all the important decisions and lead the marriage, so we stepped on this together to symbolise being a team through life and marriage,” explains Emily. “The Ukrainian touches also carried on to our wedding breakfast as the chef at Keele Hall created a three-course Ukrainian meal based on old family recipes which we had provided. We also changed into traditional Ukrainian dress for the evening, Martin in a Vyshyvanka (embroidered shirt) and myself in a Vinok (floral headdress handmade by my mum).“ Anthony James Wedding Cars provided the transport on the day. “The package we chose offered a car for me and also for Martin, and as the ceremony and reception were at the same venue, they suggested a short private car journey with fizz after the ceremony to allow everything to sink in,” recalls Emily. “We thought this was a wonderful touch, and our guests were too busy enjoying the games and ice cream to even notice we had gone!” DRESSED TO IMPRESS Emily chose a beautiful wedding dress called Bianca from Roberta’s Bridal. “I originally wanted it to be cut down to above the knee and have a short wedding dress, but I completely changed my mind the second I tried it on,” says Emily. “It was satin, corseted at the top, which was very flattering, and it had pockets! I finished my look by adding a crystal belt and a choppy veil. ” REAL WEDDINGS 29
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