Castle glamour

Traditional combined with modern was the perfect look for Rebecca and Nicholas' late spring wedding.
Photos by Peter Rear

Click on any of the images below to view a larger version

Early days…

Rebecca and Nicholas met in the summer of 1997. "We were both shop assistants and our eyes first met over Nike tracksuits and trainers," says Rebecca. The couple's first date was to see The Green Mile followed by a bite to eat. "It went very well. I still wear the perfume I wore that evening.
Nick says it reminds him of our first date," says Rebecca.
Nine years later Nick proposed. "We were going out for the evening and he was too nervous to wait until we were at the restaurant," remembers Rebecca who says he popped the question in their bedroom. "We had chosen the ring together and had it designed and made specially by a jeweller in Hatton garden, but I didn't know when it would be ready and I left it to Nick to surprise me with a proposal."
The couple took over a year-and-a-half to arrange their wedding, a task they undertook together. "I enjoyed talking through options with Nick because I am hopeless at making decisions when there is a lot of choice. He was particularly good at making short work of the tricky table plan, a task I was dreading."
The couple finally chose their date after taking into consideration the wishes of Rebecca's football-crazy family. "We plumped for 30th May safe in the knowledge that my Arsenal-mad family would not face the prospect of missing an Arsenal cup final. It was not until some months later that we found out that the final for 2009 would be held on 30th May
for the first time ever. This would have meant my brother missing his first domestic match in 10 years. We were too optimistic, though, and Arsenal didn't get there in the end. "I loved organising our wedding. Of course there were stressful moments, but in the end the joy of the day and its smooth-running outweighed that. I don't miss not having
much free time though."
Rebecca tells all about their happy day.

The venues…

When we got engaged we looked at several venues, but when we found out that Leeds Castle hosted weddings, we arranged a meeting with the wedding coordinator there - we have always loved Leeds Castle. The main reason we chose it was because neither of us is particularly religious, but we wanted somewhere special and picturesque. The castle ticked all the boxes as the ceremony was held in the 16th century gatehouse, and the surrounding gardens and river moat provided the perfect backdrop for photos. The terrace area outside the restaurant provided stunning views in the evening - it was so romantic with the castle lit up.
The team was also amazing - nothing was too much trouble. The caterers, Leith's, owned by Pru Leith's company, gave us a superb food tasting and we even got to use the castle butler.

The attendants…

My bridesmaids were Nick's sister Sophie and my best friend Cara, while the flowergirl was Ellie, the daughter of my oldest friend. I couldn't decide whether to have floor- or tea-length dresses, or whether to have simple ivory or coloured gowns. In the end I decided to go with a colour. After this the decision was really simple. Cara picked a style she liked, then Sophie tried it on and loved it too.
Things were a little bit trickier for Ellie's dress. Sophie was getting married six months after me and I thought I'd better check that she hadn't picked out the same flowergirl dress. It turned out that she had so I quickly found another one. The dresses all looked gorgeous on and really matched the theme of the wedding.
Nick?s best friend from school, Joe Gilmore, was the best man and the ushers were a variety of family members: Jon Warrick, Michael Hart, Tim Stillman, Larry Hart and Keith Archer. They each wore a suit in the same style as Nick's. Nick stood out in an ivory waistcoat to match my dress, while the ushers wore waistcoats that matched the bridesmaids' dresses.
We knew we wanted traditional morning dress. We looked at several options for the men's outfits and ended up going to Moss Bros.

The dress…

I tried on about 12 dresses and ended up choosing the one I saw in a magazine before I even went dress shopping. The corset was fantastic and it made the dress fit perfectly. I also loved the full skirt which fitted the romantic theme of the wedding. I bought my dress from Caroline Castigliano. The staff made me feel really special, and we discussed the look I wanted, theme and date of the wedding over a glass of chilled champagne.
I'd had a dream in my head ever since I was a little girl of how I wanted to look on my wedding day. It hadn't changed much over the years, so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted before I even started looking. I saw the dress in a magazine and went to an open evening where I saw it in the flesh. I thought I should try on a few others, but really nothing came close to the one I chose.

The transport…

I travelled to the ceremony in a vintage Salmons Jubilee Rolls-Royce with my mum who gave me away. The Roller then took Nick and me to the reception area, even though it was a short walk. It felt very grand to drive around the castle gardens and be dropped off at the door. It was also the first chance Nick and I'd had to be alone together, so we took a moment to take it all in and enjoy it.

The decorative touches…

The top table decoration included white and green hydrangeas, Florence Green and Vendella roses and rosemary, mint and eucalyptus to add scent. The central wedding breakfast tables were decorated with roses and hydrangeas which were displayed in tall clear glass vases that sat in the middle of a circular mirror.
The tables at the sides of the room also had a central circular mirror, but with a clear glass fishbowl filled with hydrangeas. Our florist had dressed the venue before so it was her who advised us to have flower arrangements at the sides and taller ones on the middle tables. The reception barn was beautiful and largely spoke for itself so we didn't need to provide much decoration.

Top tips…

Rebecca's top tip: Book as far in advance as possible any suppliers who will be dedicating a whole day to your wedding, for example the photographer, caterer and florist, so that you get your first choices.

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