WINTER ROMANCE

WINTERromance

Merewen and Leona were friends for a long time before their friendship slowly grew into something more

Images courtesy of David K H Photography

Merewen and Leona were good friends until their relationship grew into something more. “We’ve always been able to have a laugh and never taken life too seriously,” says Merewen. “Leona proposed to me in the Lake District. I was given a book about our past, and on the last page it said ‘will you marry me?’ Of course, the answer was ‘yes’! Our daughter then gave me a handmade wooden box with a beautiful ring inside.”

Here Merewen shares some of their favourite moments from the big day...

We chose to get married at Broadoakes Country House as it was the perfect mixture of theatrical and musical, both of which are very important to us. The grounds and house are beautiful, and we fell in love with the place. Our centrepieces were flowers and rum bottles. We had our guests fill in a scroll with a message and put it in the bottle on their table. On our first anniversary, we smashed them and read all the lovely notes.

We didn’t give our guests specific seats so that they could mingle.

As it was close to December, we requested that festive lights were put up for our wedding. We also had log fires burning when our guests arrived.

Leona and I chose a hog roast and buffetstyle service to keep the atmosphere relaxed.

Leona chose a white beaded dress from Debenhams and accessorised with a tiara.

I opted for a suit from Slater Menswear but with a different waistcoat to my dad and brother. The maid-of-honour wore a blue dress while the bridesmaids chose white gowns.

Just before the ceremony, I went outside as the weather was lovely and was bowled over by all the guests. After the service, when we walked out and saw everyone in the sunshine, it felt magical.

The wedding organiser, Jo, and all the staff were fantastic! Our gift from Alicia of a song played at our wedding breakfast recorded especially for us was incredible.

For our honeymoon, we stayed in a cabin in the Lake District for a week. We then went to Poland in January, which was a surprise organised by Leona.

LEONA AND MEREWEN’S CONTACTS

Venue and catering, Broadoakes Country House, www.broadoakscountryhouse.co.uk | Photographer, David K H Photography, www.davidkhphotography.com | Bride’s dress, accessories and bridesmaids’ dresses, Debenhams, www.debenhams.co.uk | Hair stylist, Jo’s Mobile Hairdressing and Wedding Stylist, www.facebook.com/jomobilehairdressing Suits, Slater Menswear, www.slaters.co.uk | Entertainment, Dancing in the Dark, www.dancinginthedark.co.uk | Venue styling, Purple Swan, www.purpleswanhire.co.uk