A stunning real wedding in Winter held at Brooksby Hall, Leicestershire, Emma and Peter got married in December 2007.
How they met
Emma was enjoying a night out with friends when she bumped into Peter quite literally. They got talking and haven’t looked back.
Proposal
Pete proposed to Emma while they were away in Cambridge. While taking a relaxing walk along the Cam they decided to have a rest on a bench. Pete dropped to one knee and popped the question. He had also arranged an evening meal at a riverside restaurant with champagne on ice.
The bride’s real wedding outfit
Emma bought her light gold Maggie Sottero gown from Bradgate Brides in Anstey. The ‘Rosemary Leigh’ design had a much-needed element – sleeves. The heavy satin dress featured a pleated bodice encrusted with pearls, diamante and beads. The sleeves were a fitted sheer sleeve with more twinkles and embroidery. The dress had a chapel length train and a corset style tie back.
Jewellery
Peter sent Emma a diamond and pearl necklace via the best man on the morning of the wedding, which was a lovely surprise. She wore her late Grandmother’s engagement ring on her right hand – which doubled up as her something old. Her shoes were a real bargain from Next.
He wore
Peter’s black suit was teamed with a cream tie and waistcoat; the groomsmen all wore black suits with black ties, hired from Moss Bros.
Bridesmaids
The bridesmaids’ black two-piece outfits for the real wedding, bought from Coast, were accessorized with a light gold sash to echo Emma’s dress. They also had cream cropped cardigans with a single pearl button, these were purchased from Tallinn in Estonia. They also wore 1950’s style faux fur cream wraps.
Flowers
Emma carried three single-stem cream roses studded with diamante and wrapped in light gold organza with pearls on the stem. The bridesmaids had a single cream rose and the men had a single cream buttonhole with seasonal foliage.
Transport
A vintage gold Rolls Royce collected Emma on their big day – it was a surprise organized by the groom.
Reception
For her real wedding, Emma made all of the table centres and decorations for the venue. They had tall black glossy vases with explosions of diamante, pearl and sparkly foliage in among long stemmed white roses. At the top of the vases was a cluster of large white rose heads. Rings of sprinkled fake snow with sparkly snowflakes and table diamonds surrounded the bases of the vases. Hundreds of white votive candles etched with snowflakes were lit and placed on the tables and around the venue.
Cake
The three-layered square real wedding cake was decorated with Christmas and winter in mind. Covered in white icing with glitter dust and pretty snowflakes falling from top to bottom.
Favours
The favours were bags of black and white sweets tied in cellophane snowflake printed bags and secured with white organza ribbon.
Theme
Hollywood Glamour and Rat Pack. Everyone was asked to wear cocktail dresses or black tie and the whole day was along the theme of ‘Christmas with the Rat Pack’. A Sinatra singer greeted the guests in the evening to get everyone in to full swing!
Bride’s tip
“We saved thousands by doing much of the floristry and church decorations ourselves. However, be prepared to give up your own time as the last few days did get a bit hectic with so much to do ourselves.”
Groom’s tip
“Make sure everyone tries everything on in plenty of time – don’t leave it until the day before!”
