WEDDINGS No drama, just joy for this month’s happy couple!

NO DRAMA, JUST JOY...!

Hat’s off to this month’s couple, but only when mum says so! Lauren and Adam first met at the University of Lincoln, and recently married at the beautiful Harlaxton Manor near Grantham...

Wedding Photographer: ParkRey Photography, www.parkreyphotography.co.uk.

AN ACTRESS AND A PSYCHOLOGIST walk into a bar... it may sounds like the first line of a joke, but when they did, the punchline is that Lauren & Adam fell in love, having met whilst studying at the University of Lincoln, and are now living happily ever after. Having studied drama in Lincoln, Lauren is currently working at the charity Bransby Horses which, by sheer coincidence, we’ve also featured earlier in this edition of Pride, whilst Adam is working as an assistant psychologist across the county for the NHS. The couple are regulars in Edinburgh and made their Hogmanay go with a real ‘hoots mon’ back in 2018 when Adam booked a private dining room in their favourite hotel, the five-star Prestonfield country house hotel. He proposed over a romantic dinner à deux leading the couple to begin planning their special day for their preferred initial date in July 2020. Twice the couple were scuppered by the nefarious Covid, but in a case of third time lucky, they managed to secure a date just after restrictions of the numbers of guests at a wedding were lifted. Happily, that meant the couple could invite 78 day guests and an additional 70 to the evening do. “My parents live near Grantham and we’ve often driven past Harlaxton Manor and thought what a lovely building it is,” says Lauren. “We didn’t even look at any other venues, because having looked inside and imagined our Harlaxton wedding there was simply nowhere else that would have compared.” “Having such a lovely venue also dictated the style of the wedding, so we opted for a theme of lustrous gold colours and greens and pinks.” “I’m quite a fan of history and so there was another reference to Harlaxton as we named each of our tables after the stately home’s previous owners.” “The next element of our wedding that we arranged was the wedding dress. I went to Love & Lace in Sleaford and though it sounds like a cliché, I really wanted a fairytale dress commensurate with the look and drama of Harlaxton itself.”

“The ladies showed me a beautiful blush dress by Martin Thornberg dress and I fell in love with it straight away... even the really long veil which I was adamant I didn’t want!” Next was suits for the groomsmen, specifically navy tails, found at Moss in Lincoln, for Adam, his two best men and three ushers. Sartorial consideration of just one person remained; mother of the bride Julie, who was delighted to find the perfect hat and insisted that despite beautiful weather on the day, it would remain in place... and nobody could take off their hats until she decided to do so!

“She was quite the stickler for that rule, but we were all happy to abide because she looked fantastic and both she and my dad were amazing throughout the whole day!” “I think dad had been nervous about the day ever since we first looked around Harlaxton at which point he realised exactly what day I was planning... given the role that the father of the bride usually has in writing the cheques, I think he was relieved that I’m his one and only daughter!” “The day proved absolutely amazing, of course. Not only was the weather – and the backdrop – stunning but all of our guests were smiling the whole time, it really was great fun.” >>

WEDDING SUPPLIERS

LAUREN & ADAM

Wedding Venue: Harlaxton Manor, 01476 403013, harlaxton.co.uk. Wedding Dress: Love and Lace, Sleaford, 01529 414343, loveandlacebridal.co.uk. Groomsmen’s Suits: Moss, Lincoln, 01522 542651, www.moss.co.uk. Flowers: Bennington Blooms, Newark 07391 924118, benningtonblooms.com. Wedding Photography: ParkRey Photography, 0798 060 8410, www.parkreyphotography.co.uk. Wedding Video: George Hughes Films, 07943 127117, gwjhughesfilms.com, DJ: QL Discos, Lincoln 01522 857353, www.qldiscos.co.uk. Wedding Singer: Stacey Wood, 07889 925 579, trulyromantic.co.uk. n

>> “We were really lucky to have found Bennington Blooms who created floral displays to really complement the venue, and we managed to find a stunning wedding singer, Stacey Wood, who specialises in performing lovely songs in a 1940s style.” “We challenged her to create a slower, more acoustic version of Avicii’s Wake Me Up. She did just that and it sounded absolutely sublime. It was the song Adam and I listened to at University, so it’s one of our favourites!” “Our photographers were Rob and Graeme of ParkRey, who really captured some fantastic images, and we commissioned George Hughes to create a video of the day too which was a really good idea.” “The team at Harlaxton were really fantastic, especially Bethan, the Events & Wedding Coordinator and Will, the stately home,’s General Manager. We had a fantastic day and enjoyed a wonderful party in the evening with music from Lincoln’s QL Disco.” “It really was an amazing day and we enjoyed every second of it. We’ve deferred our honeymoon until next year but we did have a minimoon to Edinburgh – where else – and it was lovely to have just those couple of days to reflect on what a joy it was to be with our family and friends, sharing the best day of our lives together!” n