Your North East Wedding - July/August 2020 (Issue 39)

REAL WEDDINGS 21  L aura and Matthew first met each other in sixth form 14 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2016 that they started dating. From that moment, the couple embarked on a journey together where they discovered more about one another and created everlasting memories. Laura says: “Matt proposed when we were on holiday in Cyprus. He didn’t know when he was going to do it but knew I had always loved my nana’s engagement ring, so several months earlier he had gone to see my mum to ask her permission to give it to me. He wrapped the ring in a pair of shorts and put them in the beach bag that I carried around for days! On the last evening, we went for a walk after a meal to our favourite spot, sat on a rock and he popped the question on the 25 th September, 2018, and just shy of a year later we got married!” SETTING THE SCENE The first step on the couple’s list was finding the perfect venue in which to say ‘I do’. Laura says, “I’d always wanted to get married in a church in the village of Acklington where both of them had grown up. Not long after returning from Cyprus, we arranged to go and have a look with my auntie and uncle and fell in love with it.” The couple held their reception in Acklington Village Hall. Laura adds, “We didn’t want to scrimp on our big day, but as we had plans to buy our first house together the same year, we wanted to be careful with our money and with the help of our family and friends, we knew we would be able to create something wonderful and personal.” The decoration and little touches were beautiful and went perfectly together. The main hall had been repainted a few weeks before the wedding and luckily matched the theme well – the ceiling had fairylights on which created the perfect atmosphere as well as ribbons and tassel bunting. Laura comments: “The festoon lighting around the garden and the fairylights in the marquee looked magical at night. The Gyzance room in the village hall was made into our bar, and chill-out area with a whiskey barrel bar ran by my auntie’s best friends with sofas and chairs for our guest to relax in. Nautical lanterns rugs, the hull of an antique boat, ships wheels and flowers were used throughout the space.” For favours, the lovebirds had keyrings with everyone’s names on a wooden key fob with reef knots on which doubled up as place names. Children had gift bags full of treats and fun activities to keep their little minds occupied during the speeches. Two sets of old oars, a fishing net, lobster boxes and brass portholes, rope and lanterns made up the table plan which made the couple’s theme come to life. Each table was named after different parts of a navy ship. For example, the children’s table was called the Powder Monkeys with the top table being the Bridge. Each one had beautiful calligraphy writing in a brass frame from The Crafthood. In the middle of each table were navy fabric runners, brass lanterns and rope covered beer bottles filled with white flowers all arranged by the bride’s mum. For flowers, the couple worked with Moira J Florist, which created a stunning bouquet with roses and thistles – a link to Laura’s nan’s heritage – a small photo, sixpence and her nan’s wedding ring was added. The bridesmaids, Laura’s sister and best friend Nicky, had bouquets of gypsophila while the flowergirls had lovely hoops with rope and gyp to tie into the theme. The company also created all the buttonholes for the groom and groomsmen. When it came to catering, Laura says: “My auntie and family cooked all the food we ate during the day. Our guests were treated to a delicious homemade afternoon tea with pies, sandwiches, scones and cakes galore before then tucking into homemade vegetable soup. We has a grazing table and seven different flavoured jam jar