Andrew & Helen

Tell us about your dress?

I only went to one shop! I had done lots of research beforehand and knew which designers I liked so made sure I went to a shop that stocked them all. I had 2 dresses that I had to try on in my head and my one was one of them. I walked out and everyone started crying and I just knew it was perfect. I just loved the Margarita style by Morilee and the ladies at Confetti & Lace were brilliant!

…and your venue?

We knew that we loved Cooling Castle as a venue and had to go and visit. We set aside one day to look at 6 different venues. Cooling was the first one and set the bar very high indeed! None of the venues came close, we didn’t even go inside one of them!

We decided not to have a theme but kept the colours very similar. We decided on blush pinks, ivory and foliage with a hint of silver sparkle. We wanted to keep everyone relaxed and comfortable without letting a theme take over the day.

The bridesmaids had multiway dresses from Debenhams so they could tie them in a way that they felt flattered their bodies and meant they were comfortable all day as well. The shoes came from New look but were a bit of stress as we were in the middle of coronavirus and finding shoes for people in different parts of the country who couldn’t travel.

The flowers were the biggest challenge as our flower knowledge was zero! Luckily Danny was incredible and guided us through the whole process and made everything so easy. We gave him the colours that we liked and went through all lots of photos to combine previous designs he has cone to create something just perfect and unique.

Cake tasting was defiantly a highlight! We visited a few cake makers but we loved the personal approach that Gill gave us, we felt relaxed with her and the cakes were amazing! Even though we ended up with smaller guests numbers we still went for a 3 tier cake. The top tier was a Lemon sponge with lemon buttercream and lemon curd (Andys favourite), Middle tier was Vanilla sponge with white chocolate buttercream and raspberries and the Bottom tier was a chocolate sponge with a chocolate fudge buttercream.

Andy had his suit made and hired the Groomsmen suits from Well Suited. They were fabulous at accommodating lots of appointment times with the COVID restrictions and people travelling.

Waiting for the ceremony was so nerve-racking! We had waited so long to get there and had a postponement once that neither of us could believe what was happening! Walking down the aisle was a surreal experience as all I could think was Andy was at the other end waiting for me, unfortunately, my stepdad did end up standing on my dress a few times but it’s ok! I made it down in one piece and still standing. Due to current restrictions, we were only allowed a short ceremony with no readings but it was still perfect.

The reception was a little different to planned, canapes were served on individual plates to our guests (they were very good!). Louisa and Duncan did an amazing job with the photos and making sure we got all the photos we wanted without people feeling uncomfortable with social distancing, in the large group shots we are actually spaced apart but the angles make the gaps just disappear! I was heartbroken to reduce numbers but everyone was amazing about it.

The wedding breakfast was again smaller than planned but we still had a full sit down meal just fewer people on each table. Andy and I had a sweetheart top table with just us so we were able to relax and spend time together and just enjoy our day.

Advice or top tips for other brides?

Relax and don’t stress about the little things! We are living in an uncertain time right now and everything is constantly changing around us. Just focus on your love for each other and make the day as special as you can, it will be one to remember!