We got married on Friday 3rd September at the beautiful Rowton Castle in Shrewsbury. We were extremely lucky that we got our first date, and we weren’t affected by Covid. Our stunning castle wedding was a perfect follow up to a gorgeous proposal.
We had met on Tinder and our first date was a breakfast date at The Tavern in Liverpool. Kim fell in love with the ‘American’ breakfast, and it’s been our favourite place ever since.
Fast forward to 2.5 years later, on November 2nd 2019 we were going to Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire to see a firework display. I had invited my family and Kim had invited hers to join us, but none of them could come, so we went just the two of us. When we arrived, Kim told me that a friend of hers had recommended a "cute light room or something" that was set up, so I gladly followed her to see what she was talking about. She led me to a marquee and told me to go inside. There was a walkway created with Mason jars with fairy lights inside and a board on an easel at the end, with lyrics on it:
"And with this love song to you, it's not a momentary phase, you are my life, my love, my only and that's the one thing that won't change... be mine forever."
I read the board, and when I turned around Kim asked me to marry her. As I said yes, all our family walked in to surprise me and to celebrate with us!
We knew early on we wanted a wedding with charm and character, and we were set on Rowton Castle the moment we saw it; it was magical on the outside but warm and cosy inside. We wanted our wedding to be as personal as possible so chose a simple theme and went for natural colours like sage, grey and white.
We planned for an outside wedding ceremony, but on the day the weather was wet and drizzly so we were considering an indoor ceremony. We knew the indoor at Rowton Castle would still be gorgeous, but we had our heart set on outside. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the staff pulled out all the stops and 10 minutes before the ceremony dried the chairs and got the guests outside. We had the ceremony we dreamed of.
We wrote our own perfect vows, the speeches made us laugh and cry, the cake was amazing and we ate our body weight in food at the wedding breakfast. We had the most amazing live band that meant the dance floor was never empty. Kim even surprised me with a video of us, with her singing! The whole day was incredible.
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We planned the wedding together and loved every second of it. We made a lot of the décor ourselves and were so lucky to be surrounded by a fantastic bridal party and our families. Both sets of parents were involved through it all, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Muse Bridal was only the second shop we visited, and the first dress I tried on was the one I chose! I was adamant I wanted sleeves, but boutique-owner Melanie chose the ‘Orleans’ dress (style 17911) for me. It was completely different to the kind of dress I thought I’d have, but my eyes lit up when I saw the elegance and sparkle. I never wanted to take it off!
Our tip for future brides is to take 10 minutes away with your newlywed- listen to the laughter and hustle and bustle and try and take it all in together! We also had our seamstress conceal a pouch on our dresses so we could carry sentimental items from loved ones on the day.
Our photographers were Sarah Jane and Chrissy from Simply Beautiful Photo.
Written by Emily Cook