He pretended we were going to take a picture of a beautiful view, but the ring emerged which he had been bravely carrying in his ski jacket!
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We love where we live, walking our dog Ludo along the canal and visiting local pubs. We both work in London in busy jobs, so we love coming back to the countryside. We love travel and holidays, especially skiing, good food and good wine.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met at work in 2013 and liked the look of each other, but didn’t have much opportunity to work together. Then, a colleague organised a group ski trip, and we got the chance to know each other better.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
When I first walked past Tom’s desk, I thought, ‘I will marry him’, even though we’d never spoken. While skiing, Tom asked whether I’d go on a date with him when we got home (it turned out to be an Eastenders-themed house party…), and we have been together ever since – we moved in together after 9 months.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
As we met skiing and loved it so much, Tom popped the question on the slopes. He pretended we were going to take a picture of a beautiful view, but the ring emerged which he had been bravely carrying in his ski jacket! He’d then booked our favourite lunch spot and planned an amazing dinner that evening.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.
We wanted an elegant and stylish wedding but one that was generally laid back and fun – one of the most important things was having a venue big enough to have everyone we loved there. I had always driven past Ashridge House as I grew up nearby and thought it was an amazing venue; in the end, it was the only one we visited as, luckily, Tom agreed!
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Capturing the day – both photography and also videography, and a photo booth! We had considered not getting a videographer, but friends told us it was really worth it – and it was. We also had a champagne tower instead of a cake, which felt like money well spent as the guests really enjoyed it.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
It poured with rain in mid-July! In the end, it didn’t matter at all as the venue was so beautiful, and we still managed to get some pictures outside in the afternoon, and it was dry for our fireworks.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
I had never had a vision of my dress, so I went into it very open-minded. As soon as Tom proposed, I was looking at dresses, and one of the first ones I saved and tried on was a similar & For Love dress with a slimmer skirt. Once I tried on the wider skirt, I fell totally in love with the long sleeve and full skirt traditional style mixed with the backless and low ‘V’ modern style. I considered wearing my Mum’s wedding outfit, instead I wore it the next day for our brunch. Tom actually had a suit made with our wedding date stitched in…but didn’t end up wearing it!
CEREMONY + RECEPTION Ashridge House, Berkhamsted, UK FLORIST Rebecca Marsala, @rebeccamarsalaflowers PHOTOGRAPHER Modern Vintage Weddings, @modernvintageweddings VIDEOGRAPHER Special Occasion Video Productions, @specialoccasionvideos OFFICIANT Civil Ceremony – Dacorum Council MAKEUP + HAIR Gemma Sutton, @gemsutton BRIDAL DRESS & For Love, @andforlove BRIDESMAID DRESS ASOS, @asos SUIT Suit Supply, @suitsupply EARRINGS Completed Works, @completedworks VEIL Lace & Favour RINGS Van Cleef & Arpels, @vancleefarpels; Bailey & Sons, @baileyandsons SHOES Loeffler Randall, @loefflerrandall; Pini Parma, @pini.parma BRIDAL & GROOM – GETTING READY HQ Ashridge House, @ashridgehouse; Home
