ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Always and forever Olga and Dan shared their special day with friends and family at Wotton House

Images courtesy of Juliet Lemon Photography

Olga and Dan met at work. “We bonded over our love of work and music,” says Olga. “Dan proposed when I was pregnant with our second daughter. We went for a babymoon in Brighton, and whilst walking around, he suggested buying an engagement ring and making an honest woman out of me.”

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

We went to an open day at Wotton House a few years ago and fell in love with the ceremony room. It looked stunning decorated with lights and foliage and we loved the historic pillars.

Dan and I really wanted black round vases with white flowers as our centrepieces. We weren’t able to find the vases anywhere, so we ended up buying plain versions and spray painting them. We’re really pleased we did it ourselves. The next morning we gave out the vases and flowers to the guests who stayed overnight. Guests commented weeks later that the flowers lasted for weeks, and they loved having the vases as a reminder of the wedding.

Our place names from ByBlossom Wedding Stationery were black and gold with font that matched our wedding invitations. For our favours, we opted for shot glasses that were engraved with our names and wedding date. Our guests were asked to take shots from these during the wedding speeches, which is a Polish tradition. We also had biscuits with ‘Always & Forever’ written on them. The children were given black velvet bags with their names on which were full of toys to keep them busy.

Shelley’s Cakes made a stunning cake for our daughter’s christening, so we asked her to create a design for our wedding day. The bake was all white with gold petals and a black sash. Dan’s mum, Diane, made a smaller fruit cake which was also white with a black sash and bow around it. Both cakes were a huge success!

I wore a black and white dress by House of Mooshki called Blake. I found it on Instagram whilst scrolling through wedding pages and fell in love with it. I drove over two hours to Maisie Darling Bridal Boutique in Leicestershire to see it. Even though I tried on a few others, I knew it was a dress for me. It had a removable overskirt which I took off after the ceremony. and I accessorised with a tiara, necklace and a bracelet I bought in Poland. Dan opted for a black velvet blazer from Well Suited for Men Ltd to help him stand out, while the groomsmen wore black suits.

Mike Taylor Sax played during the ceremony and drinks reception and he was fantastic. All of our guests loved Mike, and we hope that he will play again at our next big birthday party. He read the crowd perfectly and made a few of us boogie during the drinks reception! My maid-of-honour, Teresa, chose a black off-the-shoulder dress. Our two daughters wore white dresses with black bows for contrast.

Justin Saul Magic entertained our guests during the reception and wedding breakfast with his fun magic tricks. In the evening, we had Motown Gold perform our favourite songs, and once they finished, we had a DJ play Polish wedding songs. Everyone had so much fun dancing. I was very stressed on the morning of the wedding as I had to ensure our daughters were also ready, but luckily, our family helped out. I was worried about our youngest daughter, Sienna, misbehaving during the ceremony and pacing up and down the aisle. However, both girls behaved perfectly, and we couldn’t be more proud.

Sarah read out our favourite poem, Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andrea, and Teresa read out A Vow by Wendy Cope, which we felt perfectly described our relationship and being friends before being a couple.

We were fortunate with the weather. We moved our wedding from May 2021 to March 2022, from an early-summer date to a date in the middle of spring. Thankfully, the sun shone, the air was warm, and everybody spilled outside into the beautiful gardens to enjoy the weather. The following weekend we had snow, so we were very lucky!

Seeing Dan’s face as I walked down the aisle was one of my favourite moments. My dad got his wedding speech out of his pocket and started reading: ‘50 grams of butter, two eggs. Oh sorry, wrong list’. Our guests still comment on how good his speech was! Polish vodka was served during the speeches, and we still laugh at Dan’s auntie, June, who would have a large shot of vodka at the beginning and end of every speech. We were worried we were going to run out! Auntie June still claims she was only following what everyone else was doing.

The best man, Matt, was in charge of the smoke cannons and made us all laugh during the photos.

We haven’t had our honeymoon yet. We want to go with our daughters and have postponed it to 2023 to save up and make sure we go somewhere very special.

OLGA AND DAN’S CONTACTS Venue, Wotton House, www.wottonhouse.co.uk | Photographer, Juliet Lemon Photography, www.julietlemon.com Videographer, Castle Gate Films, www.castlegatefilms.co.uk | Bride’s dress and shoes, Maisie Darling Bridal Boutique, www.maisiedarling.co.uk | Dress alterations, Ginny Tailors, www.facebook.com/ginnytailors | Groom’s suit, Well Suited for Men Ltd, www.suited-well.co.uk | Hair and make up stylist, Hair and Makeup Atelier, www.hairandmakeupatelier.com | Cake, Shelley’s Cakes, www.shelleyscakes.com | Flowers, Flowers by Elaine, www.flowersbyelaine.co.uk | Stationery, ByBlossom Wedding Stationery, www.byblossomweddingstationery.co.uk | Venue styling, Ether Events, www.etherevents.co.uk | Plates and cutlery hire, Couvert Bespoke Event Hire, www.couvert.co.uk | Saxophonist, Mike Taylor Sax, www.miketaylorsax.co.uk | Band, Motown Gold, www.earcandylive.co.uk/acts/motown-gold | Magician, Justin Saul Magic, www.justinsaulmagic.co.uk | Dancefloor, KT Entertainments Ltd, www.ktentertainments.com | Photo booth, Boomerang Booth, www.boomerangbooth.co.uk | Pianist, Lee Mathews Pianist, www.leemathewspianist.co.uk | Toastmaster, The Right Toastmaster, www.righttoastmaster.co.uk