Your North East Wedding - November/December 2020 (Issue 41)

REAL WEDDINGS 27 D ean and Victoria’s love story began after spotting each other at a nightclub on Boxing Day back in 2015. Victoria says, “I was attracted to Dean instantly; I loved how kind and light-hearted he was. I knew he was the one during a surprise trip to Edinburgh for our first Valentine's Day, we had so many special moments and it felt 100 per cent right.” Fast forward to Friday 29 th March 2019, Dean booked a spa day in Northumberland where the pair went for a walk around Bamburgh Castle – where he proposed to Victoria. She says, “He was insistent on going up steep sand dunes to look at the castle, I refused but eventually sulked up the steep slope. Looking at the castle was breathtaking and I turned to find Dean on one knee – of course I said yes!” SETTING THE SCENE The wedding was scheduled for April initially, but COVID-19 caused the wedding to be pushed to a later date. Once the government announced weddings of up to 30 could go ahead, the pair managed to get a date for August and had three weeks to reduce and reorganise everything. “The relief we felt from retaking control of the situation was indescribable – we felt so incredibly lucky,” shares Victoria. When it came to finding the perfect space to exchange vows, the couple went with South Causey Inn as they loved the romantic and relaxing atmosphere. The venue provided home-brewed beers and gin favours for guests, while the couple provided succulents with a note saying ‘let love grow’ relfecting Dean’s love of gardening and Victoria’s profession as a florist.  The bride says, “I created the flowers using a colour palette that would pop against the teal bridesmaid dresses. I used pink and coral- coloured roses and dahlias as well as lots of foliage.”  Delicious raspberry and passionfruit favours were used for the semi-naked cake and the dessert bar included cupcakes, meringue kisses and shortbread hearts.  Everyone at the wedding was required to wear a mask and the couple created ones saying ‘I do crew’ which looked great in photos. The lovebirds decided on a VW Campervan for their transport as the bride loves classic cars, this allowed for beautiful moments with her dad before the ceremony and Dean afterwards.  LOOKING THE PART Victoria picked a strapless ballgown from Ronald Joyce called Trudy for the special day. She says, “I tried around seven dresses on, but went with my first pick as I felt truly special wearing it. I added a belt, earrings, tiara and a fingertip-veil to finish off the look.” She adds, “I was shaking so much while putting on the dress on the day, I just felt 