Love at first swipe

Posted by Claire Ridley on 4 January 2023

Emily and Will met at Bath Spa University but it wasn't until years later that they came across each other on a dating app and decided to go from a drink. "Will proposed on the evening of 17th September 2020, on a pier at the Liberty Lara resort in Antalya, Turkey," Emily tells us.

"We visited the pier to take some photos and everyone seemed to be leaving so we had it to ourselves. Will told me that he had an accessory to add to our photographs and got down on one knee before presenting me with a stunning solitaire ring that he had designed himself and had made which was a wonderful surprise - I didn't even see the ring for the first few minutes because I was crying happy tears!"

Venue The Manor Estate was the first venue that the couple viewed and they both fell in love with it. "We knew that we wanted to have the ceremony and reception in the same place and this allowed us to do that," Emily says. "It's a 17th-century manor house with beautiful gardens and grounds and the barn itself has exposed brick walls. I could visualize how our wedding would be decorated and the venue coordinator, Pippa, was so helpful - we knew as soon as we met her that she would be able to deliver the perfect day exactly how we wanted."

Emily designed the couple's centrepiece susing artificial flowers which they were able to keep afterwards.

"It was a fun and creative task for me to do in my spare time and it meant that I could have the flower varieties and colours that I wanted," she tells us.

"We also had an archway decorated with artificial flowers and white drapes as well as a flower wall and giant LOVE letters which all looked incredible."

Emily also made the table plan using a template which was then printed by TavernCreative on Etsy.

“All 12 tables were named after cities around the world that we had visited together and each one featured a photograph of us in that place,” Emily says.

“Our place names were made using brown paper tags and our favours were packets of personalised Love Heart sweets.”

Vegan menu The couple chose an all-vegan menu and a three-tier cake with a dark chocolate and raspberry layer, a lemon and elderflower tier and a carrot cake covered with naked buttercream. "We had a cake topper that said 'Mr & Mrs Standen' and we had the names of our cat, Flo, and dog, Teigan, made out of icing decorating the cake," Emily says.

Bride & Bridesmaids "I loved getting ready at the venue with my bridesmaids," Emily tells us. I wore a beautiful fishtail-shaped dress with a long train. I accessorised it with a Cathedral-length veil and a pearl and gemstone belt."

Will and his groomsmen chose blue suits teamed with blush pink ties and pocket squares along with brown shoes. "Will wore a grey chequered waistcoat whilst the others wore navy braces," Emily says.

"Our beautiful bridesmaids wore blush pink dresses featuring sparkly belts. "They chose their shoes and wore their hair in different styles that were created by my friend, Lily."

"I loved the speeches – I felt so proud of my dad, my new husband and his groomsmen for putting so much effort into them and making us all laugh and cry at the same time!" Emily tells us.

"I'm also really grateful to one of the guests who audio recorded the speeches on his phone. We hadn't planned to do this, but I'm so glad that he did because we've been able to listen to them again."

The couple both loved performing their first dance. "We practised it for weeks in the kitchen, so it was incredible to do it in real life with everyone watching and cheering us on!"

Emily says. "We hired a DJ who played Motown and 80s classics which got everyone in the mood for dancing!"

Guests "It was such an amazing occasion to have everyone we love gathered in the same room which included friends who had travelled across the world from New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain and Scotland to celebrate with us. Considering we hadn't seen many of them in recent years due to the pandemic, it felt extra-special to have them there." - Emily and Will