Love at FIRST BITE

Jenni and Mike met at a restaurant and have been inseparable ever since Images courtesy of Claret and Blue Photography

Jenni and Mike met in their local fast-food restaurant. “We exchanged numbers, and the rest is history,” says Jenni. “It really was love at first sight, and that was 17 years ago! We were lying in bed when Mike asked me to be his wife. We’re not traditional, so he didn’t get down on one knee and we went shopping for the ring the day after.” Here she shares some of her favourite moments from their big day...

Our reception venue closed down during the pandemic, but we later came across The Lowry. We’re so glad that we did as upon viewing the Compass Room, we were blown away by how stunning it was.

St Luke’s CE Church is a stunning building with a great history. It was the church were Emmeline Pankhurst, a political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote, got married at back in 1879. It was also the church where my children and I were christened. Sadly, it has been put on the at-risk register because it has a leaky roof and there is currently a fundraising effort to help fix it, so it was important for me to support the church.

Our favours were personalised love hearts, bottle openers and activity books and games for the children.

The table plan was a heart that I made from a pallet. We named the tables after our favourite albums from The Script and instead of using names for each person, we used headshots.

The cake was amazing! Jen at Daffodil Kitchen saved the day when we were let down by another business just three weeks before the big day. It was a wedding and birthday cake for Mike as we got married on his birthday. The theme was Leeds United, as that’s the team he supports, and Jen even made us a little referee to represent what Mike does in his spare time.

To keep everyone entertained, we hired surprise singing waiters from Silver Service Singers and a photo booth from S And K Radiant Reflections. We also had caricaturist, Caricature with Attitude, and magician, Andrew Dean Magic, interact with our guests. Everyone loved the entertainment, especially Andrew, who blew people’s minds with his tricks and left our friends and family speechless.

I wore a House of Nicholas gown called 2307 from Bespoke Wedding Boutique. I saw it at a wedding show and knew it was my dress without even trying it on. It was elegant and reminded me of the dress that Princess Eugenie wore, which I loved. I had the bow on the front removed and replaced with a diamanté belt, and the neckline at the back lowered, so that the tattoo in memory of my nan was visible. I accessorised with a two-tier veil and a tiara.

My maid-of-honour and the oldest bridesmaid wore chiffon dresses with shawls, and the younger bridesmaids and flowergirl had matching gowns from Bespoke Wedding Boutique.

Mike and I were relieved to finally get married after postponing twice due to the pandemic. During that time, we had one venue close down, two venue dressers cease trading, a photographer sadly passed away, a cake maker close down, I survived bacterial meningitis while pregnant, and Mike’s mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The run-up to the wedding was very stressful to say the least but we were overwhelmed with happiness knowing we were surrounded by our nearest and dearest.

Seeing

We weren’t sure if Mike’s mum, Mary, was going to be well enough to attend, so having her with us on our big day was wonderful.

After we had our photos taken and were waiting for the transport to arrive, I turned around and noticed a white feather slowly floating down that landed on my train. I believe this was my nan’s way of telling me that she was with me on my big day, and I know she would have loved every minute of it.

We absolutely loved our honeymoon. It was our first holiday without the kids, and we certainly made the most of it.

JENNI AND MIKE’S CONTACTS

Ceremony venue, St Lukes CE Church, www.facebook.com/stlukescechurch | Reception venue and catering, The Lowry, www.thelowry.com

Photographer, Claret and Blue Photography, www.claretandbluephotography.co.uk | Bride’s and bridesmaids’ dresses, Bespoke Wedding Boutique, www.bespokeweddingboutique.co.uk | Groom’s suit, Peter Posh Formal Suit Hire, www.peterposh.co.uk | Hair and make-up artist, Janie Devine MUA, www.instagram.com/janie_devinemua | Cake, Daffodil Kitchen, www.facebook.com/daffodilkitchenrossendale | Chocolate fountain, Candy Buffets, www.candy-buffets.co.uk | Horse-drawn carriage, The Ostler Limited, www.horseandcarriagehire.co.uk | Bus, RM Buses, www.rmbuses.com | Light-up letters and dancefloor, Fantastique Events, www.facebook.com/people/fantastique-events/100063474433636

Venue styling, Atmosphere Venue Dressing, www.atmospherevenuedressing.co.uk | Singers, Silver Service Singers, www.silverservicesingers.com

Magician, Andrew Dean Magic, www.andrewdeanmagic.co.uk | Caricaturist, Caricature with Attitude, www.caricaturewithattitude.com

Photo booth, S And K Radiant Reflections, www.sandkradiantreflections.com