Your North East Wedding - March/April 2021 (Issue 43)

REAL WEDDINGS 23 K amron and Ami first met in 2011 during a placement working for Xerox in Greater London. She says, “I was attracted to Kam’s cool hair, his wit and intelligence. We just clicked as soon as we met and I think we’ve always known we’d found the one.” In September 2019 at Dancing Ledge in Swanage, Dorset, Kamron asked Ami to marry him. She says, “I came back from a half-day at work and Kam had made us a fancy picnic to take down to the coast – I should have guessed something was up at that point! During the picnic, he asked me to look over the cliff ’s edge (slightly concerning) and took the ring out of his backpack and popped the question!” Kamron knew the exact ring he wanted for Ami, one the couple had picked out as a ‘joke’ eight years previously. His plans were thwarted when he finally came to buy it and found it had been discontinued. After searching numerous retailers for it, Ernest Jones came to the rescue and had its factory in Germany make one especially – how romantic! SETTING THE SCENE When it came to planning the wedding, the couple wanted to make sure that everyone enjoyed themselves and that it was a weekend to remember. What venue would be better to hold such a special day than Ellingham Hall? The bride says, “Walking into the venue for the first time felt like a warm hug on a dark, rainy afternoon. The roaring fires, ambient lighting and the amazing staff did not compare to any other venue we had visited.” Everything about the hall just felt so right for their day; even the red leaves outside would be perfect for their autumn wedding. One week before the wedding day, the government announced that the country was going into another lockdown. Ami says, “We were gutted that the day couldn’t go ahead after already replanning our wedding three times to meet the various restrictions. But then we thought to ourselves, could we move the entire wedding to take place in just three days times before the lockdown started?” The couple raced against time to call guests, suppliers, the venue and registrars and managed to bring the whole wedding forward just in time. She adds, “All of our suppliers were so flexible, every single one wanted to make the day happen. We’re so grateful to everyone involved for rallying together and giving us the best day of our lives.” The decorations on the day looked marvellous! A massive floral arrangement consisting of white hydrangea, roses and a mix of foliage looked perfect in front of the fireplace in The Chapel. The couple also placed a similar arrangement at the bottom of the hall’s main stairwell. The table plan changed last minute to one long banquet table because of the dramatically reduced guest list. This set up was more appropriate for the intimate day and represented two families coming together. The centrepieces consisted of three tall gold stands with fresh white flowers and foliage plus an assortment of pillar candles beneath. Each guest was given two favours; the first was Iranian-style sugared almonds paired with pale blue English ones to represent the couple’s cultures. These were placed in boxes with wrap-around labels to double up as place names. The second favour was also given to all the guests who were unable to attend the wedding; this was a golden bee pin badge purchased from Macmillan Cancer Support – a cause very close to Kamron and Ami’s hearts. The bride opted for a natural loose hand-tied bouquet with white roses, lisianthus, hydrangea and eucalyptus. She also wore a flower crown of foliage and spray roses. As the couple are both vegetarians, they picked mushroom and shallot skewers with pineapple salsa to start, a Thai green curry for main and a vegan saffron cheesecake for dessert. A Spanish grazing board-style buffet with cheeses, nuts, olives, bread and crackers was served in the evening and guests could help themselves to sweets, chocolates, popcorn and not forgetting the cake! Ami says, “Our cakes had triple chocolate, lemon and raspberry ripple layers with the most divine white chocolate flavoured 