When Laura Edinboro & Gareth Hughes embarked on a luxury holiday to Jamaica little did Laura know that Gareth was thinking of finding the right time to pop the question.
From the sun drenched beaches of the Caribbean to a bright spring day in Shottle the happy couple who found love online in 2007 tell us a little bit about their special day.
Tell us about the proposal
We were on holiday in Jamaica, (one of our top 10 destination Weddings for 2014) we were having cocktails on the beach at sunset and Gareth got down on one knee and totally surprised me. Laura told us that he had been carrying the ring in his pocket for a few days until the perfect moment came along.
Gareth & Laura among the daffodils at Shottle HallWhy was Shottle Hall the perfect venue for your big day?
“Shottle had everything we wanted; it is intimate venue with the option to have everything and all in one location with beautiful grounds too”. We were blown away with the level of attention and care before we even booked our wedding. Shottle Hall had ideal areas to satisfy our and our guest’s needs on our special day, whether it's was quiet rooms like the Lounge or the Library for the aunts and uncles or a lively room with a disco in the Orangery for those who wanted to dance the night away.
Laura tells us a little bit more about the finishing touches for the Wedding on 15th March 2014 :
Your theme: We didn't really have a theme as such but from the early stages of our designs (save the dates and invites) a heart theme organically emerged. We loosely followed this theme through to the wedding day along with our colour scheme which was the colour of the bridesmaid dresses.
The dress: I didn't really know what I was looking for so was willing to try all styles, surprisingly the style that my mum thought would suit me didn't. I knew the dress I eventually chose was the one as soon as I tried in on. When I came out of the changing room my mother and future mother in law shed a few tears, and to top it all off the dress and I shared the same name! That sounds as though it was definitely meant to be.
Bestman, Bridesmaids & Ushers : The best man was Mikey a good friend of Gareth's from University, who made his speech as a poem which was really clever. The bridesmaids were my sister, my future sister-in-law, my 2nd cousin, Gareth's cousin and our flower girl was another 2nd cousin of mine, so it was a real family affair for the Bridal party.
Your ceremony: We had the civil ceremony in the Lounge at Shottle Hall, with Henrietta the Harpist playing throughout the ceremony which was a real highlight. Maria from the registry office also really made the ceremony feel very personal and it was a very special part of our whole day.
The beautiful Bride making her entrancePhotographer: It took quite a bit of searching to find our ideal photographer, there is a lot of choice out there and it is important to find the right person to capture your day in the way you want. Eventually we came across Leigh Mcara and loved his work and when we met him we just knew he was the right person to capture our special day.
Flowers & Decoration: The Flower shoppe in Clay cross produced all our bouquets, button holes and centrepieces for the day. We chose the dark pink Cala lilies that complimented the bridesmaid’s dresses perfectly and looked lovely on the tables. We also chose to have the chairs covered by Cakey wakey to finish off the room and the ceremony perfectly.
Cake: We had a four tier cake from Delicious designs; we had Fruit, white chocolate & raspberry and Vanilla along with some chocolate cupcakes to please all tastes. We spent quite a while researching designs and went for an offset square design with minimal detailing.
Evening Reception: For the evening we hired Barry Pearn as our DJ who played our first song we danced to as man and wife - Truly, madly, deeply by Savage Garden. The evening continued with dancing and a traditional finger buffet was served later on.
The couples 1st danceHoneymoon: In less than 2 days after the wedding we jetted off to St Lucia where we spent 12 days enjoying the sunshine and all the wonders that the island has to offer.
