Lizzie turned around and was shocked – she didn’t see it coming! I presented her with a beautiful aquamarine engagement ring which is her birthstone.” SETTING THE SCENE After visiting a few venues, the couple knew immediately that voco Lythe Hill Hotel & Spa was the venue for them. “We loved the historic Tudor building with its modern interiors,” they tell us. “We knew we wanted an indoor ceremony and The Hazel Suite with its glorious skylight provided the perfect space filled with natural sunlight. It was the ideal size for the number of guests we wanted with rooms available for them to stay over. We loved that we could host a private dinner the night before the wedding with our loved ones which was a highlight. Everyone was excited and we gave gifts to our bridesmaids, ushers and parents then, too.” The ceremony was full of happiness and joy. “Catherine walked down the aisle first with her dad, and then I walked down with my dad,” Lizzie says. “That feeling of seeing each other standing at the end of the aisle was something we’ll both never forget.” The couple chose a spring theme for their April wedding. “One of the first decisions we made after getting engaged was that our table names would follow a cocktail theme,” they tell us. “We love nothing more than trying out new recipes at home. Friends are often treated to our latest cocktail creations and know about our love of a beverage or two! Our friend, Hannah is a brilliant artist so we asked her to draw illustrations of the cocktails, along with the recipe for each, adding a personal touch. We designed our table plan ourselves on Canva, using Hannah’s designs that we’d scanned and uploaded.” The couple ordered their place names from Etsy decorated with a eucalyptus design taken from their floral centrepieces. They also stocked up on their favourite selection of sweets and packaged up small parcels for each guest as favours with personalised stickers, also created on Canva. Michele from Someflower designed Catherine and Lizzie’s beautiful floral centrepieces. “We loved the mix-and-match small jars and vases filled with flowers and the log slices they were presented on surrounded by eucalyptus,” Lizzie tells us. “We knew that we wanted fairylights because I’m obsessed with them! They looked great during the evening as the fairylights twinkled and our guests could take home a jar or two of the flowers as a keepsake.” Michele from Someflower had a consultation with Catherine and Lizzie, guiding them through their options. “Neither of us knew much about flowers so we happily put our trust in Michele to create something wonderful. We knew we wanted ivory, green and blue varieties and we couldn’t have been happier with the result - our guests kept commenting on how beautiful the arrangements were! Our bridal bouquets were similar but different, with a mix of gypsophila, thistle and pretty roses.” The couple decided on their favourite cake flavours to form their main cake. “Catherine’s is carrot cake and mine is banana bread so when Cake Maid by Catherine offered both options, we knew we were on to a winner!” Lizzie says. “After serving us a few other options at our consultation, we chose a third tier of chocolate cake with cherry brandy filling as a nod to Lizzie’s late grandmother who was well-known for making her homemade cherry brandy! The design was simple but sophisticated, decorated with flowers from our florist, fairylights and a personalised cake topper. It stood against a foliage-covered hoop, also provided by our florist.” Catherine and Lizzie hired blossom trees which looked fantastic as their ceremony backdrop. “When we decided on a springtime wedding, one of the first pieces of décor we knew we wanted was blossom trees,” they tell us. “We had two smaller ones positioned outside the main entrance as guests arrived, a wooden welcome sign and table linen. Our large blossom trees were positioned as a “We had two brilliant speeches given by our dads which were heartfelt and funny! We did a joint one to announce our cocktail hour and thank everybody for coming. We also mentioned how we’d have loved to have our cat, Symi there as a fifth bridesmaid or our ring-bearer but that she would not have been well-behaved!” - Catherine and Lizzie REAL WEDDINGS 49
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