Your North East Wedding - September/October 2020 (Issue 40)

REAL WEDDINGS 23 A fter meeting at work, Samantha and Andrew both lived a considerable distance from the office and decided it would be an excellent decision to car share together. Little did they know this would be the start of their adventure together. The more they learnt about each other, the more feelings started to develop. Samantha says: “We started spending a lot of time together outside of work and found that we had a lot of shared interests and knew how to make each other laugh!”  It wasn’t until Andrew went away for two weeks on holiday that they realised they shared something extraordinary – absence definitely made the heart grow fonder! On 26 th August, 2016, Andrew popped the question after returning from a work trip as he couldn’t wait any longer. Samantha explains: “When I got home, he had covered the downstairs of our house in candles and rose petals and cooked my favourite meal. He got down on one knee just before dessert!” SETTING THE SCENE “We visited several venues across the North East, but none of them felt quite right, until we visited Seaham Hall,” states Samantha. “As soon as we stepped inside, we immediately knew it was perfect for us! Not just for the day itself, but also a relaxing evening the night prior and a recovery breakfast the morning after.” Whitburn Parish Church was picked for the ceremony as it holds sentimental memories for Samantha. Having grown up in the village and visited the space a lot, it was the perfect spot to say ‘I do.’ The venue styling was kept simple with a few festive touches and colours added, which complemented each other beautifully. To match the winter-theme, the stationery had a neutral colour palette, and for place names, the pair settled on log slices and had guests’ names hand-written on them to add a personal touch. “Keeping things festive, we provided bespoke baubles for favours with our names and wedding date on along with little bottles of sloe gin,” says the bride. “We also provided our centrepieces and table decorations which matched the room colours and added a festive touch.” When it came to finding the perfect wedding flowers, the bride and bridesmaids went for a winter-style bouquet to match the groomsmen’s buttonholes. For the big-day bake, the lovebirds settled on a simple design after speaking with their wedding planner and tasting different flavours. They picked a vanilla sponge cake with blush icing and rose petals, which looked beautiful and went down a treat with guests. On the subject of food, Samantha comments, “One of the best parts of our wedding planning was the menu tasting at Seaham Hall – we went in with a menu in mind and came out with entirely different options!” LOOKING THE PART The bride looked stunning in a Flavia dress by Pronovias, a designer Samantha fell in love with while searching for the one. She says: “I looked at local suppliers and contacted Nicola at Most Desirable Bridal who was in the process of clearing her stock and only had two dresses in-store with the skirt-style that I was looking for. “I popped by on the off-chance she would see me and I fell in love with the first dress I tried on!” To add to the look, the bride-to-be settled on a plain veil, small drop pearl earrings with a matching bracelet and a tiara that was customised using beads from her mum’s headdress that was worn on her special day. The bride continues, “I felt amazing! Everything I’d envisaged including the dress, hair and make-up was exactly how I’d wanted it – the trials and research were certainly worth it!” The groom looked dashing in a three-piece blue Cavani suit with a burgundy tie and pocket square. The groomsmen wore the same except 