Rebecca and Jamie’s budget-friendly wedding was filled with 1950s vintage charm, splashes of bright pink and a seriously cute wedding cake…
How they met
It was a Saturday night in October when this couple first met. “We met in a bar in Leicester and while I played hard to get, Jamie finally wooed me and took me on a first date to the cinema,” says Rebecca. After a year and a half of dating, Jamie proposed. “I came home to find he had cooked for me and had also bought me a present,” remembers Rebecca. “I was so surprised as he had often spoken of his ‘five- year plan’ and as we’d only been together a year and a half, it was a complete shock!”
The bride’s outfit
Rebecca found her dress when she wasn’t expecting to. “My bridesmaid Jo and I visited the Wedding Dress Factory Outlet in Burbage as she was also getting married,” says Rebecca. “We had only planned to get some ideas but we both found our perfect dresses and had to make some apologetic calls to our mums, who missed it all!” Rebecca decided on a tea-length strapless number with a chiffon overlay and lace detailing. “The dress fitted my personality completely and gave me the freedom to move and have fun throughout the day,” says Rebecca. “It also meant I could showcase some fabulous shoes!” The beautiful bride accessorised with a personalised cardigan embroidered with her new married name, as well as a comb of real flowers and Jenny Packham shoes, which she bought for just £28 in the Debenhams sale.
The groom’s outfit
“We hired the groom’s and groomsmen’s outfits from Debenhams,” says Rebecca. “The suits were grey, with ivory waistcoats and raspberry pink cravats – Jamie wasn’t keen on the pink cravats when we first looked at them, but on the day it suited him perfectly.”
The bridesmaids
Rebecca’s childhood best friend Hannah was her maid of honour, and her cousin Tina and close friend Jo were her lovely bridesmaids. They all looked gorgeous in dresses from Vivien of Holloway. “I wanted the girls to have something they would wear again, so I let them choose the design themselves,” says Rebecca. “Amazingly they all chose the same pink floral style.”
The ceremony
The couple chose a church ceremony with Rebecca’s dad as the minister. “It was such
a wonderful experience to be married by my dad,” smiles Rebecca. “He also walked me down the aisle, and as soon as I saw Jamie I just wanted to get to him. Dad had to pull me back and whisper for me to slow down!”
The reception
The celebrations continued at Badgers Mount Hotel and Restaurant. “The speeches were one of the best parts of the day,” remembers Rebecca. “Jamie told me he was scrapping his prepared speech and spoke from the heart instead – it was amazing and he made us all laugh and cry!”
The details
Pink was the predominant colour in this 1950s vintage wedding. “We really saved money with DIY,” recalls Rebecca. “Everyone helped me collect jam jars, which I decorated with lace and pastel ribbon, and our florist filled these with a mixture of the blooms from my bouquet.” The savvy couple also saved money by using the flower-filled jars at the ceremony first, before transporting them to the reception to be used as the centrepieces.
The honeymoon
These newlyweds weren’t planning to go abroad as they were saving for a family holiday, but Jamie surprised Rebecca by booking a honeymoon trip to Rome as her Christmas present the year before the wedding.