I met Jason in a pub in south London in 2012. Three years later, we moved in together! Then in early 2021, which was during lockdown, Jason proposed to me at my favourite walking spot Oxleas Woodland which is in southeast London. It was very romantic and of course I said yes!
To begin with, the planning went fine, but then we had an opportunity to relocate to Singapore in early 2022 so we took it, which made things a little more complicated, as we still wanted to have the wedding in England. It all got a little stressful from six months until the big day because of not being in the UK, so things were a little harder like communication and ordering things online hoping they’d be OK.
When it came to planning our wedding, we didn’t really have a theme in mind. We just earthy colours in a beautiful venue. We had also decided that we didn’t want the venue to be a church as neither of us were religious. So, a barn became the obvious choice for us. We just wanted a venue everyone could eat, drink and dance in without feeling trapped and that fitting our natural colour scheme. Luckily for us the Stone Barn in the Cotswolds fitted our rustic colour theme perfectly.
Before I got married, I always pictured myself in a fitted wedding dress. I wanted something which was timeless and chic, opposed to the more princess ballgowns that many brides go for. I wanted a plain simple skirt but also wanted some sparkle and beaded detail on the top, for a little contrast. Luckily my dress ticked all these boxes.
I would like to say my dress was the first one I tried. In reality I visit four shops ands tried on 20 dresses before I found ‘the one’, which was at TDR Dressing Rooms in Halesowen. Denny (69563) was a classic plain backless fit and flare wedding dress with beautiful ivory beading on its plunging illusion sweetheart neckline. It was also detailed with bridal button and laced beading on the illusion panels on the back of the gown. It really had everything I wanted and had imagined. I felt like a bride when I put the dress on!
TDR were fabulous from the moment I walked in the store and made the whole buying experience perfect. They made me feel at ease and calmed me down after I ordered my dress and panicked it wasn’t the right one. All the girls were lovely, but I had my initial appointment with Chloe, who was a superstar.
Our wedding day was perfect, without a cloud in sight but it was during the UK’s heatwave! 33 degrees! This mean that the cake couldn’t be put out unfortunately and we couldn’t have all the BBQ pits lit for obvious reasons, but that didn’t take away from our day.
My favourite part of our wedding would have to be the ceremony. It was magical walking down the aisle to Jason, surrounded by our friends and family. It was really special is when we were saying our vows to each other, as they were so similar, and we didn’t even know! Just made the moment that much more special and meaningful.
My extra bit of advice that I would give to future brides would have to enjoy every second because the day just whizzes by. It can be so overwhelming, making lots of decisions but do what makes you and your partner happy. That’s all that matters. With regards to your dress, as TDR says, ‘accept nothing less than perfection’.
Special thanks to our photographer Elle, Winnington & Coe
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