Your North West Wedding- August/September 2020 (Issue 63)

REAL WEDDINGS 35 C harlotte and Jack met at high school. “We were always good friends, but as the years went by we started to get closer,” says Charlotte. “Jack finally plucked up the courage to ask me out, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. He makes me laugh and is my best friend.” Jack popped the question on their 10 th anniversary. “He had lots of little surprises planned for me,” shares the bride. “He created a memory book of our relationship and made little notes of things he’d planned for us to do throughout the day. We went to the cinema, and afterwards, he gave me a note that told me to be ready at 5:30pm for a meal. On the way, he gave me another note that said ‘put this blindfold on’. At this point, I thought he was taking me to a restaurant that I’d never been to before. After feeling disorientated by the journey, the car stopped, and Jack led me on the longest walk ever. Finally, once he removed the blindfold, I saw we were back at our high school in our old classroom. Jack was down on one knee and had decorated the space with rose petals, balloons and candles. We were very emotional, and I was in complete shock. Even though I’d waited so long for the proposal, I still couldn’t believe it! We went for a meal at our favourite restaurant to celebrate.” SETTING THE SCENE “We always wanted a church wedding, and St Wilfrid’s is a stunning venue,” explains Charlotte. “For our reception venue, we wanted something local, and as soon as we saw the Blazer Suite at The Wrightington Hotel, we knew it was the place for us. It’s also where Jack’s parents had their wedding. It has a modern décor with a relaxed atmosphere which was exactly what we wanted.” The lovebirds decided to give their guests chocolate hearts as favours. “Each one was wrapped in pink foil,” shares the bride. “We love sweet treats, so we thought these were a great idea.” For their tables, they decided to go with a holiday theme. “We chose destinations that we’d visited over the years,” explains Charlotte. “The top table was our high school to represent where we met.” The couple’s big-day bake was made by The Black Rod Cake Company. “Being big chocolate lovers, we chose a three-tiered creation made up of Maltesers, Oreos and double chocolate,” shares Charlotte. “The company designed a personalised wooden log slice with a J and C engraved into the bottom tier. As a surprise, Jack ordered a cake topper which replicated an old picture of us holding hands on our last day of school.” Charlotte and Jack decided to have beautiful autumnal flowers. “We selected seasonal blooms and placed them in rustic wooden boxes with fairylights,” says the bride. “We loved the colours, and the finished result looked great.” “We hired lights from Big Wow Events along with rustic letters that we placed on the dancefloor,” reveals Charlotte. “We also had a wishing well for all of our gifts and a countdown calendar which we used to display pictures of us.” To transport the happy couple, they booked a traditional vehicle from Horgans Wedding Cars. 