Nick and Amanda met when they were just 15 and he would turn her head in the school corridor and was the reason for looking forward to English class!
"We dated for a short while but drifted apart when we left school and moved away.
A chance encounter 25 years later helped to bring us back together. We started dating again and after just 6 months Nick surprised me by turning up at my office and whisking me off to a beautiful park with stunning views over the city of Bath for a picnic lunch. I never saw it coming and he completely bowled me over when he pulled out the ring and went down on one knee.
There was really only one choice for our venue, The Larmer Tree Gardens which are set in the beautiful Cranborne Chase, on the Dorset/Wiltshire border. Every year they hold the most amazing music festival and the place held really special memories for us. The 11 acre gardens provided the most unique and perfect informal setting for our wedding. With Pimms on the lawn, deck chairs, croquet, peacocks and the most stunning outdoor music stage we just couldn’t imagine finding anywhere more perfect. Importantly we really wanted to get married in the gardens. We were able to say our vows in the Roman room whilst our guests baked in the sunshine on the lawn, we were incredibly lucky with the weather.
It was important for Nick and I to add as many personal touches as possible. We handmade a meringue tower, thousands of origami paper hearts and roses and created a CD of our favourite tunes which we gave as favours. But undoubtedly the biggest success was the personalised thank-you letters that we wrote to every one of our 50 guests. They were blown away and we even had a few tears! It took a few weeks to write them all but cost nothing and was the one thing that our guests said they would remember for ever.
I used to be a professional singer but hadn’t performed for over 10 years, I surprised Nick by singing the jazz classic L-O-V-E to him, I’ve have never been so nervous but I managed to get through the number without bursting into tears!
Choosing my wedding dress was easy; I’d been in love with the designer Monique L’Huillier since I saw the dress she made for Reese Witherspoon in a magazine and I knew I had to have a Monique dress. I instantly fell in love with 'Candy' and although I tried on lots of other dresses but they just didn’t compare so I compromised on other elements of my wedding wish list and ordered the dress of my dreams.
For my bridesmaids I bought high street dresses and added shoulder corsages in fresh flowers to make the dresses unique, they looked amazing and the girls loved them.
My advice is not to get too distracted by the countless ideas and themes in magazines as it can become overwhelming. Style your wedding around what really matters to you and remember that no matter how well you prepare, things rarely go completely to plan so relax and enjoy your day."
We loved the peak inside Amanda and Nick’s wedding album. Such gorgeous flower girls! Thank you for sharing with us Amanda.
Amanda's favorite websites: WedLuxe for worldwide luxury inspiration The Caketress for the most fantastic cake table ideas and my favourite suppliers include Marianne Taylor Photography and Illustrious for an amazing visual and creative way to remember your day. I also created a website for our wedding using Wix.com at http://amandaandnick.wix.com which is just fantastic; it was free and really easy to use.
By Ingrid Szajer
Lindsey