Fire starter

Posted by Claire Muffett-Reece on 25 April 2023

Sarah met Andrew after her best friend, Alison, suggested she sign upto dating site Plenty of Fish. "I'd been on a couple of rubbish dates, before a message from Andrew popped up," says Sarah.

"I checked out his profile and saw him standing in front of a fire engine, so that got my attention pretty much straight away! We had our first date in Corbridge back in 2012, sitting for a couple of hours in a coffee shop chatting away. We then went for lunch in a local pub and spent the afternoon getting to know each other more. To be totally honest, the minute I saw him I was smitten!"

Bride and groom kiss outside Langley Castle with their black dog Andrew proposed to Sarah on Christmas Day, 2018. "Andrew placed a large box under the tree four weeks earlier, and when I opened it on Christmas morning there was a smaller box, followed by an even smaller one," continues the bride. "When I eventually opened the smallest box and saw an engagement ring it was a huge but amazing surprise!

I was actually hoping it would be a pair of binoculars, as I love watching the birds! We'd even had a conversation the week before, where Andrew had said he didn't want to get married!"

The couple set the date of 16th June, 2022, choosing Langley Castle as their venue. Here, Sarah tells us more about their big day...

Langley Castle gave us everything we wanted and more. We went for exclusive use, meaning we had the castle to ourselves on the day of the wedding, until the following lunchtime.

The morning of our wedding was really relaxed, with everyone getting ready and drinking Champagne. My best friend Alison and I got our hair and make-up done together, which was really special.

The minute I saw my Ronald Joyce Celestina dress I knew it was the one. I used to sell wedding dresses as a Saturday job when I was younger, and always knew I wanted something different.

I didn't want to wear a lot of accessorises, as I didn't want to take anything away from my dress. I did, however, have bright pink sequins shoes!

We got married outside, as the weather turned out to be amazing. I literally felt like a Princess all day long!

Our dog Amber was with us the whole day. Andrew was nervous, so making sure she was OK gave him something to focus on. She even had her own dickie bow tie!

Fire Engine As Andrew works for the fire service, the Allendale fire crew made an appearance in their fire engine! It was timed to perfection just after the vows, and was a hit with all our guests.

Andrew wore a navy blue check suit with matching waistcoat, along with a gold tie and pocket square.

I'm originally from Kendal, so our wedding favours were miniature bottles of Kendal Mint Cake Liqueur.

My flowers were a mix of pale pink astilbe, burgundy, black barra rose, spray rose nude, dark blue thistle and burgundy Astrantia; which went really well against my dress.

Covid meant we had to rearrange our big day four times! It was frustrating, as whenever we moved the wedding, I had to ensure all our suppliers could still make the date. Luckily, everyone was really accommodating, and everything turned out well.

My friend Carla made our wedding cake, which was designed with white icing on the top tier, followed by a middle blue marble effect, and navy on the bottom.

Alison was my bridesmaid, and made an amazing speech. There literally wasn't a dry eye in the house! I've known Alison since primary school, and we've done everything together ever since.

Bride laughing Try and get around to see as many people as possible. I was very aware that since we rearranged four times, I wanted to thank our guests.