PARTY ON

REAL WEDDINGS Party on When Bethany and Sam finally managed to tie the knot they were determined to celebrate in style

Images courtesy of Sam Gee Photography

Amatchmaking friend helped bring Bethany and Sam together. “During a girls night in with Kelly, I told her that I’d love to start dating again after being single for about three years. She mentioned Sam and I messaged him there and then, even though it was 2am! He’d just got home from working offshore and was heading off to Ibiza at the time,” reveals Bethany. She didn’t think anything more about it until up popped a friend request a few days later. “We started chatting and that was that,” she adds.

Sam proposed in December 2018 following a lightbulb moment while working away from home for 11 weeks. “One day it just suddenly hit me that I wanted to propose. I always knew that Bethany was the one, but I’d never thought about marriage until that moment,” he recalls. With six weeks left before returning home, he set to work on organising how and where to pop the question. He had the whole moment mapped out in his head and was planning to do it during a trip to Iceland in December, on a romantic tour by private jeep to see the Northern Lights. A storm put pay to that though as the tour was cancelled so he ended up asking her in bed, during an ad break while watching Killer Women with Piers Morgan!

Read on for Bethany’s account of their big day…

Sam, his dad, best man and my son arrived in style in a headturning red Hummer limousine. We chose the Parkhill Hotel because it was close to home and it’s a lovely intimate venue with beautiful grounds and a barn so we could still have the rustic feel we wanted.

I loved my Lunella by Willowby at Watters dress, it was absolutely stunning.

Sam looked smart in a green tux and the groomsmen wore brown tweed three-piece suits with green pocket squares and ties. Our sausage dog Cecil had his own doggie bow tie to go with Sam’s.

Our bouquets were tied with beautiful green velvet ribbon from Little Acorn Silks, which I also used around the middle of my two younger bridesmaids’ dresses to pull the whole look together.

“Charlotte was amazing – not only my florist, but my wedding planner, my stylist, my everything!”

“The wedding theme and colour scheme changed so many times and ended up just being very natural with lashings of green.”

Our two-tiered naked cake was decorated with flowers and a beautiful custom-made topper from my mum. We wanted a laid-back, sociable vibe during the wedding breakfast and the catering fitted the bill perfectly – the food was amazing!

We wanted and needed a party so we had one in our garden. Sam organised it all, he gutted the garage, we had fairylights and Charlotte brought all our flowers back from the venue – the garden looked incredible. We drank, danced and were merry and after the DJ we had a silent disco, which was the funniest thing to watch. “We didn’t stop smiling all day. It was just the most lovely, happiest, best day of our lives. Especially after Covid and being separated from everyone we love for so long.” – Bethany

BETHANY AND SAM’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK Photography, Sam Gee Photography, www.samgeephotography.co.uk | Venue, Parkhill Hotel, www.parkhillhotel.co.uk Bride’s dress, Bud & Boe Bridal Studio, www.instagram.com/budandboe_bridal | Hair, MANE Hair by Kelly Newrick, www.instagram.com/mane_at_glamr | Make-up, Maria Giles, www.facebook.com/glamrmakeupandbeauty | Bridesmaids’ dresses, ASOS and Monsoon | Groom’s suit, Brabion | Groomsmen’s suits, Parkers Formal Wear, www.parkersformalwear.com Flowers, Charlotte Staff Flowers, www.facebook.com/charlottestaffflowers | Transport, Silverline Limousines & Wedding Cars, www.silverlinelimousines.com | Cake, Sarah Paterson, www.instagram.com/sarahp1507 | Catering, Funnells Kitchen, www.funnellskitchen.co.uk | Magician, Sean Goodman, www.simplymagic.co.uk | Silent disco, mySilentDisco, www.mysilentdisco.co.uk Lighting, Emotive Sound & Light, www.emotivesound.co.uk | DJ, Ross Brown, www.facebook.com/rossbrowndj