Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding - Page number 31 - August/September 2021 (Issue 84)

T om and Elsa met in the mid-noughties’ coolest way: on MySpace. “We spent two weeks ‘dating’ by going to the local bakery on our school lunch break!” Elsa remembers. She was attracted to Tom’s honesty and happy energy, while Tom was drawn in by the mystery of the new girl at school. After discovering a strong connection and easy-flowing conversation, the pair made it official when Tom asked Elsa to be his girlfriend. It was eleven years down the line when the time was right for Tom to pop the question. The pair were finally settled in their new home after years of a long-distance relationship while Elsa was studying to become a vet. “The proposal was a long time coming, so I was in anticipation of it,” Elsa tells us. “To get around this, Tom had to work out a way to surprise me.” He did this by arriving home early on a random Thursday evening so she wouldn’t suspect a thing. “One moment I was watching TV, the next the lights were off and Tom was on one knee! It certainly was a surprise.” The pair soon set the date for 9 th May, 2020 – but for obvious reasons that couldn’t go ahead – so after an agonising wait they finally tied the knot on 17 th April, 2021. We caught up with Elsa to find out how they did it… THE PERFECT SETTING The whole wedding day was planned around the stunning Orangery at Goldney House. “Before we were engaged, I fell in love with the venue when we saw it on the BBC’s Sherlock, when Dr Watson got married there,” Elsa explains. “The rest of our wedding plans snowballed from this beautiful building and gardens.” Leigh Court is just a stone’s throw away, so the couple chose it for their ceremony venue. “It was perfect with its grand staircase, glass roof and sandstone pillars,” the bride says. “The two venues together gave us everything we could ever want.” The pandemic meant that the couple’s original date had to be postponed almost a year to April 2021. “Throughout the planning it felt like we had to change everything,” Elsa says. “When it came down to it, the main thing that changed was the number of guests – going from 90 people to 13. To fit with restrictions, we had to hire a marquee to eat outside at the Orangery, and we weren’t allowed to stay there all evening, which is where our third venue, Clifton Observatory, came in.” PUTTING THEIR STAMP ON The pair chose a beautiful springtime palette of blue and yellow, with the florals centred around Elsa’s favourite flower: forget-me-nots. They wanted to add a gorgeous scent to the day, so they had garden roses and freesias woven into the design. “The only thing that didn’t match was the arrangement for the top table,” Elsa says. “We chose a red poppy, pink REAL WEDDINGS 31