WEDDINGS A wartime wedding

Making History

Both Josh Hammerton and Charlotte Hammond have been fascinated by the 1940s for a number of years, but the two really made history when they married at The Dower House Hotel in Woodhall Spa recently, inviting their fellow reenactors along to share their day...

Wedding Photographer: Jessy Jones Photography, 07947 514456, www.jessyjonesphotography.co.uk.

IF YOU’RE FASCINATED by the 1940s, there’s really only one place to spend time in Lincolnshire over the summer: Woodhall Spa. Its 1940s weekend in July returned and proved a roaring success, with the whole town getting into the spirit. And for Josh and Charlotte, both of whom are involved in WWII reenactment groups, the village also represented the perfect place to marry among friends and family, especially when they discovered its very beautiful Dower House Hotel.

“We live in Sleaford so Woodhall Spa isn’t too far away, and we’ve always thought it was a really beautiful place to spend time,” says Charlotte. “Josh works in Sleaford and Boston, and I’d just completed a degree in history at the University of Lincoln too. I knew Josh from the reenactment community, but we met properly online and after chatting for a while, we met up in Lincoln for a meal and a look around the Cathedral and Castle, a couple of nice places to enjoy the city’s history, albeit a little bit less recent than the 20th century history we’re usually involved in reenacting.” “Josh tends to specialise more in the accurate portrayal of a C20th allied soldier. My interests are the ATS (auxiliary territorial service), WRNS (women’s royal naval service) and WAAF (women’s auxiliary Air Force). Josh’s interests are the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) and the Lincolnshire Regiment.” “A surprise proposal came one day when we were enjoying another historically-themed day out, at Thorpe Camp Visitors’ Centre near Tattershall with friends. We were all lining up for a photo and suddenly everyone else moved out of the way, leaving just the two of us in the frame. He dropped onto one knee then proposed, and I immediately said yes... I was really thrilled!”

“Josh proposed in May 2021 and we gave ourselves a year to plan the wedding. with the Dower House in Woodhall Spa the first element of the wedding we booked.”

“We wanted to bring our own interests into the day, but not stick just to one theme, so we were deliberately a bit more relaxed about the period, with a 1920s-1950s vintage theme.”

“I found my dress at Treasured Brides which is ran by Zoe Cornwell. Josh’s uniform represented the Lincolnshire Regiment in the 1930s, and his best man represented the Royal Engineers in the same period.”

“The Dower House is a really pretty venue anyway, but what I really loved was the big weeping willow in the garden and the stone folly in the garden. I wanted to see Josh’s reaction when he saw the dress for the first time as I walked towards it.”

“We found our bridesmaids’ dresses online from Pretty Retro, and took advantage of the expertise of Ema Pearson at my usual salon, Hair Boutique in Boston. She works alongside Kizzy of Beautyfy Therapies, who created my wedding makeup. Both are absolutely fantastic, and really lovely people to work with!”

“We used Finishing Touches of Woodhall Spa to supply our chair decorations, and named our tables after WWII vehicles, aircraft and ships. Our wedding transport was a little more recent in history despite its namesake though: it was a 1976 Triumph Spitfire 1500.” >>

WEDDING SUPPLIERS

JOSH & CHARLOTTE

Ceremony & Reception: Dower House Hotel, Woodhall Spa, 01526 352588. Wedding Dress: Treasured Brides, 07753 740057, treasuredbrides.co.uk. Seamstress: Sew it All, Sleaford, 07891 726405. Wedding Flowers: Blossom & Twig, Woodhall Spa, 07539 598165. Hair: Ema Pearson at Hair Boutique, Boston, 07794 485154. Makeup Artist: Kizzy at Beautyfy Therapies, 07460 618805. Chair Decoration: Finishing Touches, Woodhall Spa, 07518 460694. Wedding Car: 1976 Triumph Spitfire 1500 for hire; 07949 274190. n

“We were really lucky with the weather and all of the guests got into the spirit of things by dressing in vintage attire...”

>> “Before we got engaged, my father was diagnosed with an illness which quickly progressed, and we lost him before the wedding took place. He was a keen classic car enthusiast and so Josh restored the Spitfire, which was dad’s first car. We drove it to the wedding in his honour. It’s in the Boston Classic Car Club and we’re now hiring it out for other couples, too.” “We were really lucky with the weather and all of the guests got into the spirit of things by dressing in vintage attire.” “Boston’s Cakes by Charlotte provided our three tier wedding cake, and we worked with Blossom & Twig who helped us to create our wedding flowers.” “The whole day was captured by our photographer, Jessy Jones, who’s based in Boston. She’s great to work with and so creative, we love our images!” “We’ll enjoy a honeymoon to New York next year, and since the wedding we’ve been involved with lots of reenactment events with friends, which has been lovely. We’re a really close community and we can be found on Facebook as 20th Century Soldier LHG, we’re all very friendly!” n

Wedding Photographer: Jessy Jones Photography, 07947 514456, www.jessyjonesphotography.co.uk.

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