Fall in love

Louise and Paul locked eyes at a house party when they were both 21. “I already had plans that evening, so I was going to drop in at the end of my night, say happy birthday to my friend and then go home,” says Louise. “I was persuaded to stay and saw Paul from a distance. I thought he was attractive, but we didn’t speak until we ended up in a nightclub. We had a very brief conversation and I honestly didn’t think he liked me, but early the next morning, I received a message on Facebook from him. After a few weeks of talking, we had our first date at a German market in Birmingham.”

Paul proposed in a small village in Somerset called Dulverton. The couple had visited two years before while they were on holiday with Paul’s family, so he knew the area. “We were away with Louise’s family at the time, so I needed to surgically engineer a day for just the two of us,” shares the groom. “We had a coffee in Dulverto before setting off on the same walk we had done before. I remember feeling mischievous that I knew, and she didn’t whilst we sat. I stopped at a wooden gate which had an impressive view. My excuse was that I needed a drink which allowed me to fumble in my rucksack for longer than I wanted to find the ring. Luckily, she was admiring the view and when she turned around, I was on one knee. My biggest worry was that the dog might somehow get involved at the most inopportune moment, but maybe he knew that he needed to give me a few minutes of peace. She asked me to propose again so she could concentrate and remember it after being in so much shock the first time around. We cried, kissed and hugged and carved our initials in the wooden gate to give us a reason to return.”

Here Louise shares some of her favourite moments from their big day...

Elmbridge Farm allowed us to style the space how we wanted. The setting made our guests feel relaxed, and there were plenty of different spaces. Luckily the weather on our wedding day was beautifully bright and sunny, so our guests could enjoy being outside.

I did all the planning and decorations for our wedding apart from the flowers. As I love autumnal colours, we chose terracotta, amber, rust, greens and cream hues. I collected vases in different shapes and sizes for the flowers and placed them along our tables. I also collected candle holders, which fitted our colour palette to hold tea lights and candlesticks.

For our place names, I wanted something that would be aesthetically pleasing, tie in with our colour theme but also be a bit different. I decided to dry out slices of grapefruit and oranges to create a beautiful background for the name tags. I then looped a sage ribbon through the tag. A perk of these name tags was they made our venue smell beautiful.

We placed balloons on each side of our entrance which we used as a backdrop for two easels, one displaying a personalised welcome sign and the other our table plan. Both of these were purchased from small businesses on Etsy.

As we had long tables and sharing boards of charcuterie, I wanted the tables to be decorative but not overcrowded, and I think we struck the balance. We had terracotta-coloured chiffon running down the centre to soften the wooden tables.

As I enjoyed planning our wedding and the creative elements, I felt motivated to create a business along with my twin sister, Sophie. We are in the early stages but have launched a company called The Edit.

I wore a beautiful Morilee dress from TDR Bridal Birmingham. It was the first gown I tried on at a wedding show, and then by chance at TDR, the stylist bought it out as an option, so we felt it was meant to be. I loved the style as it was a racer neck and fit-and-flare. My nan loved all the lace detailing and the train. I styled it with clustered crystal earrings and dried white flower hairpins with pearl detailing.

Paul and the groomsmen chose the same slim-fit tuxedo design from Dancers, an outfitter based in Halesowen. The suit had a very subtle pattern running through it, and they also wore black bow ties, white pocket squares and black dress shoes.

The bridesmaids opted for different dresses from David’s Bridal in the same colour and fabric. I wanted all my maids to feel their best, so it was important to me that they chose the design they felt most confident in.

Our guests were lively and in high spirits; we had great conversations, lots of laughter and good food and drink.

Surprisingly on the day, I felt very relaxed. I thought I would be a nervous wreck after spending months wondering how I would walk down the aisle in front of so many people. In the end, after all the planning and preparation, I lived in the moment and took it all in my stride and I would do it all over again.

The ceremony stood out for Paul. He said it was potentially the most nerve-racking moment of the day, but any worry evaporated as soon as he saw me walk down the aisle. We wanted our ceremony to be natural, personal and with warmth, emotion and humour. Shelley from SJW Celebrant did such a brilliant job to create a ceremony that was everything we asked for. We wrote our own vows which have become really special to us.

During the speeches, some of our guests were passing an orange around using their necks! This is a game that the Wilson family have played for years at Christmas parties. A groomsman (one from each family) captained a team of three and we played the game at the start of Paul ’s speech, this was a surprise to everybody apart from Paul and the best man. The Wilson family restored family pride by winning (because we’re all playing this game from a very early age) and it kicked off the speeches with lots of laughter and fun.

We loved the fact we could choose the suppliers we wanted and give everything a personal touch.

After the wedding, we went on a mini-moon to the Lake District. We went to a brilliant hotel called Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa. We had a good mix of relaxing, exploring, eating, drinking and paddleboarding! We plan to have a longer honeymoon in the US later this year, visiting Seattle, Portland and maybe Vancouver.

LOUISE AND PAUL’S CONTACTS

Venue, Elmbridge Farm, www.elmbridgefarm.com | Photographer, GingerJam Photography, www.gingerjamphotography.com

Assistant photographer, Lucas Vale Photography, www.lucasvalephotography.co.uk | Bride’s dress, TDR Bridal Birmingham, www.thedressingroomsbridal.co.uk | Groom’s suit, Dancers, www.dancerssuithire.co.uk | Bridesmaids’ dresses, David’s Bridal, www.davidsbridal.co.uk | Hair stylist, Hair by Kimberley, www.facebook.com/bibertybobs | Make-up artists, Clo Rose Faces, www.facebook.com/clorosefaces and Pretty Perfect Beauty, www.instagram.com/prettyperfectbeauty_uk | Cake, Rosie’s Cakes, www.instagram.com/rosiescakesx | Flowers, Ridges Farm Flowers, www.ridgesfarmflowers.co.uk | Catering, The Wild Oven, www.thewildoven.co.uk and Bare Bones Pizza, www.barebonespizza.co.uk | Venue styling, The Edit, www.instagram.com/theedit_designandevents | Celebrant, SJW Celebrant, www.sjwcelebrant.co.uk your obligation discovery call now

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