LOVE STORY

REAL WEDDINGS Love story Debbie and Becca’s work relationship soon developed into something more Images courtesy of Clare Kentish Photography

Debbie met Becca at work in 2011. “Debbie was opening a brandnew restaurant and I interviewed to be a waitress,” says Becca. “We worked together for a couple of months before we began dating, with our relationship developing quite quickly as we were together all the time. Running a restaurant meant we didn’t have much free time in the beginning to go out, but the dates we did have were amazing – and we quickly fell in love.”

After six years together Debbie and Becca got engaged – by accident! “By this time, we’d made a decision to close the restaurant side of the business and begin our journey as a wedding and events venue. During the week, we’d run networking occasions, where I met a lovely lady called Amanda. She worked with her husband, Michael, at their own bespoke jewellery store. Amanda and I had a long chat about rings, and I booked an appointment – without consulting Debs – just to look at some ideas. To cut a long story short, we came out of the appointment having commissioned two bespoke engagement rings! We kept it all a secret until the rings were ready to collect, and became officially engaged in October 2017.”

Debbie and Becca’s wedding was booked for the 27th August 2021, with the couple choosing a ceremony at Colchester Town Hall and their reception at Peldon Community Hall. Here, Becca tells us more about their amazing day…

Colchester’s Town Hall is a beautiful space to marry in. We decided not to decorate the room, as we knew we’d only be in there for about half an hour.

I bought a non-traditional dress online, as I was only going to be wearing it for about six hours!

The adult bridesmaids wore pastel pink dresses from Chi Chi London, with the younger girls wearing matching colour dresses with tuille skirts and satin bows. We asked Fabricate Décor to hang drapes and lights from the ceiling at Peldon Community Hall, and we also added some LOVE letters along with an LED dancefloor.

Debs doesn’t do dresses, so after much searching found some white trousers along with a flowy top and white see-through cover-up for the day.

I love all flowers, so asked our florist to select seasonal flowers of her choice for the day. It really paid off – the results were incredible.

The flavours of our wedding cake were me and Debs to a tee – chocolate with chocolate buttercream for Debs, and vanilla with white chocolate buttercream for me!

Our wedding was so soon after the lockdowns that our guests loved being out and catching up with each other. We were all so busy chatting that the day flew by!

We decided against a table plan as we wanted the reception to have a party vibe, with guests sitting wherever they felt comfortable.

We opted to feed everyone canapés and a hot and cold buffet. We had messages for days afterwards asking for our caterer’s details!

We knew straight away who we wanted as our photographer and were so pleased Clare was available. It was surreal wandering around Castle Park, having strangers congratulate us as we had our photos taken.

DEBBIE AND BECCA’S CONTACTS Ceremony, Colchester Town Hall, https://colchester-weddings.co.uk/venues/the-town-hall/ | Reception, Peldon Community Hall, https://pwcommunityhall.co.uk | Photography, Clare Kentish Photography, https://clarekentish.com | Becca’s Dress, Needle & Thread, www.needleandthread.com | Debbie’s Outfit, ASOS, www.asos.com | Hair, Claire Francis Hairzone, www.facebook.com/clairefrancishairzone/ | Make-up, Stephanie Farthing Beauty Specialist, www.stephaniefarthing.co.uk | Cake, Buttercups The Cake Shop, www.buttercupsbakery.co.uk | Flowers, Flora & Daisy, https://floraanddaisy.com | Stationery, Infinite Weddings & Events Ltd, www.infiniteweddings.co.uk | Catering, S&K Hospitality, www.sandkhospitality.com | Rings, Michael Frank Fine Jewellers, www.michaelfrankjewellers.co.uk | Mobile Bar, Beyond Bar Hire, https://beyondbarhire.co.uk | DJ and Dancefloor, MDM Entertainment & Events, www.mdmentertainment.co.uk | Outdoor Barrels and Love Letters, Island Inflatables, www.islandinflatables.co.uk | Reception Decorations, Fabricate Décor, www.fabricate-decor.co.uk