A £19 dress, super sunflowers and afternoon tea – we love this quirky wedding on a budget!
How they met
“I was excited and nervous – we met on a blind date,” remembers Sarah. “On one of our early nights out together we accidentally managed to gate crash a wedding party, but the bride and groom were both so drunk they thought that a) they already knew us, and b) that we’d been invited!”
The proposal
Andy surprised his girl while they were out walking. “He asked me to marry him in July 2010 on a hill in the middle of nowhere,” remembers Sarah. “He pulled a bottle of Champagne out of his rucksack, and I knew something was afoot – given that it was just after 10 o’clock in the morning!”
The bride’s outfit
Our bride dazzled in her simple and chic wedding dress which she bought for a mere £19 (yes, you did read that right!)
“My gown was an ex-display dress, being sold by a bridal shop who were very sadly closing down. I did a web search for an A-line, halterneck wedding dress and up she popped,” beams Sarah. Sarah’s swan feather shrug, which she wore during the evening, was also very special to her. “I found it in an antique shop on the fifth anniversary of my father’s death and I felt compelled to buy it.”
The groom’s outfit
Handsome groom Andy wore a grey, wool mix suit, and a white cotton shirt, both from top groomswear designer Ted Baker. His blue knitted tie was by
TM Lewin and his shoes were from Hudson.
The ceremony
After being walked down the aisle by her brother Peter, Sarah and Andy were married in a traditional, religious service. “Each of our mums gave a reading, and our friend Avelina sang Mozart’s Laudate Dominum while we signed the register,” recalls Sarah.
The transport
The couple hired a 1968 Morris Minor convertible for the big day. “We loved that car so much we have since bought one of our own,” explains Sarah. “We intend to offer it to other couples as wedding transport!”
The reception
Following the ceremony, guests were treated to a welcome ice cream from a vintage ice cream van, and then seated for their afternoon tea wedding breakfast in the Great Hall. “We served sandwiches, cakes and scones, all on antique china that we’d been collecting during our engagement,” explains Sarah. “We had lots of ideas to decorate our reception room – one of them being the Colman’s Mustard theme! As we were so close to the original Colman’s factory we thought we could incorporate it, and the yellow worked perfectly with our flowers.”
The honeymoon
Our newlyweds boarded the sleeper train to Scotland.
Real Wedding Gallery
