WEDDINGS Summer nuptials with John and Laura in Southrey.

A Country Wedding

It’s unusual to hear a farmer expressing satisfaction with the weather, but when John and Laura tied the knot in Southrey not even the Great British climate could prevent the day from being absolutely perfect!

Wedding Photographer: Gary Anderson, 01507 351639, www.gjaphotography.com.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU SAY “I Do!” Hopefully once in a lifetime, which by sheer coincidence is the same number of times I’ve heard a farmer say ‘the weather was perfect.’ Nonetheless, the Great British climate was just one of many aspects of John and Laura’s wedding that the couple declared were spot on. “I’m from Market Rasen and I work on the Dyson farming estate as a property coordinator,” says Laura. John, meanwhile, is a farmer, mostly arable, but he keeps a few suckler cattle to look after, as well. The couple have lived in Southrey near Wragby since 2014, and notwithstanding John’s career, adore spending time living as well as working in the countryside. “We were introduced by a friend and soon started chatting, online at first, but then in person,” says Laura. “We absolutely love living here, and throughout the year we see the place evolving with the seasons.” “I was half-expecting a proposal at some point but in spring 2020 John and I went for a walk around our favourite area of local woodland. To my absolutely surprise he dropped down on one knee and proposed right there. It was so romantic and with all of the spring flowers out, there was a real sense of new beginnings. On our wedding day we returned to the very same place he proposed to have some of our photos taken there too.” “For the same reason we wanted to marry in Southrey Church, a building that we would walk past and see all the time. St John the Divine is a New England-looking building, really distinctive and small, which we thought would suit a lockdown wedding because as restrictions continued we soon realised that our guest list of 120 people would be cut down to just 15.” “The plan for our reception was to have a marquee on the lawn, but with a reduced number of guests we needed to rethink our plans. We were really lucky as Woodhall Spa’s Dower House had availability for a private dining function that would serve as a wedding reception, and we could also use the background of the hotel for some of our wedding photos too.” “Having a smaller wedding than we were originally planning wasn’t a bad thing. It meant that our time wasn’t diluted among too many people and we had a simpler, less stressful reception to plan as a result.” “That being said we have decided that for our first anniversary we will host a garden party that will serve as a sort of belated wedding reception.” “In line with the simpler wedding reception I was looking for an elegant wedding dress and I came across a Signature Collection column dress on Wed2Be which had thin straps and a large jacket to wear over.” “We didn’t want to create a colour scheme that was too restrictive so we kept to neutral off-white tones and added a few blue highlights like the bridesmaids’ dresses in a soft blue-grey and a few soft pinks in the hand-tied posey.” “Our family all helped to grow the flowers we used for our wedding flowers, and we arranged them ourselves. Our wedding cake, too, was baked by John’s mum. There was very much a sense of us all working together to create a really enjoyable day, which made everything seem extra special.” >>

WEDDING SUPPLIERS

JOHN & LAURA TOMLINSON

Wedding Ceremony: St John the Divine, Southrey; 01526 399803. Wedding Reception: The Dower House, Woodhall Spa, 01526 352588, www.dowerhousehotel.co.uk. Wedding Hair: David at Cabello Hair, Lincoln, 01522 692641. Makeup: Thea Elizabeth, Tattershall. Photographer: GJA Photography, Louth, 01507 351639 or see www.gjaphotography.com. n

“Marriage registers are now going digital, and we were the final couple to sign as a physical document...”

>> “Even with fewer people permitted at the wedding we were able to have four bridesmaids; my two friends from school, my sister and John’s sister. John meanwhile had two groomsmen.” “One of the happiest parts of the day is that even though the number of guests we wanted wasn’t permitted in the church, we had a few of our friends and family joining us outside, socially distanced, for a glass of Champagne to toast the day. It was lovely to see them and to have them as part of our day!” “Marriage registers are now going digital, and we were the final couple to sign the parish register as a physical document. Perhaps in years to come a historian will look back and research the last couples to sign, and reflect on the brides and grooms hosting a wedding during the pandemic!” “As for us, the day was perfect, and even with restrictions in place, we really couldn’t have planned a more perfect day!” n