This winter wedding day was all about dancing, drinking, celebrating and having fun. Our WED2B Real Weddings feature reveals more:

Laura and Darren’s first date was in 2011. “It was a camping trip with Darren’s entire family!” laughs Laura. Darren proposed four years’ later on a beach in Mexico. “He had asked my mother’s permission before asking me, which was a lovely touch,” says Laura. “He then arranged a private candlelit dinner on the beach. It was a very windy evening and we were sat right by the sea, so I nipped off to the toilet to tie my hair up. When I came back he had left the ring box on my placemat and was down on one knee. I cried for five minutes before I said anything to him!"

 

Real Weddings Solihull: A wonderful winter wedding

 

Dream dress shopping

Laura bought her dress from WED2B’s Solihull store in September 2016. “The ladies were so helpful and I didn’t feel rushed or pressured in to choosing a dress,” she says. “They knew exactly what would suit my body shape too and I ended up with a totally different style to the one I had in mind. I also visited the Wednesbury store a few days before the wedding in a panic, as months of the gym meant my dress didn’t fit as I wanted it to! They were brilliant and I ended up purchasing some Amixi off-the-shoulder sleeves, which made a huge difference to the dress. Both stores I visited were brilliant. The ladies really couldn’t do enough for you. I could have stayed there all day!”

 

Real Weddings Solihull: A wonderful winter wedding

 

Beautiful Emmy

The dress Laura chose was Emmy, in blush. “I absolutely loved the lace around the bottom and the long round train,” she says. “I also loved that it pulled me in the waist too. It was a proper princess dress. I also purchased an Amixi belt to break the dress up and add a bit more sparkle!”

 

Real Weddings Solihull: A wonderful winter wedding

 

The perfect venue

The couple married at Weston Hall, in Staffordshire, on 25th November 2017. “I always knew I wanted to get married there, even before I was engaged,” says Laura. “The venue is gorgeous. It’s a large manor house which looks spectacular when it’s lit up at night.”

 

Real Weddings Solihull: A wonderful winter wedding

 

The ceremony

Laura’s Mum walked her down the aisle, “It was lovely and very emotional,” she says. “We entered to ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri, which still makes me nearly cry now! We opted to have a short ceremony with just 50 guests that was lovely and intimate. The most memorable moment was being told by the registrar that we were officially man and wife. It was probably the best moment, as you wait so long for it but it makes all the stress and planning completely worth it!"

 

Real Weddings Solihull: A wonderful winter wedding

 

A winter wedding to remember

After the ceremony there was a drinks reception, which gave the newlyweds a chance to say hello to everyone and thank them for coming. “I went with a winter wedding theme, as we were getting married at the end of November and the venue had just been decorated for Christmas,” says Laura. “I handmade all the decorations and the centrepieces, which were tall vases with hand-painted snowy pinecones and glitter twigs. Darren and I collected all the cones and twigs from Cannock Chase near our house and then I painstakingly painted each and every one and glittered all the twigs myself!”

 

Real Weddings Solihull: A wonderful winter wedding

 

Food, glorious food

“Our sit down meal was beautiful – a real winter wedding menu of soup, chicken Wellington with crushed new potatoes and seasonal veg and finished with lemon tart,” says Laura. “Plus plenty more wine and prosecco! We did the speeches before the meal so the speakers could get them out the way and enjoy their food. They were beautiful and, of course, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house! My father-in-law also put together the most lovely slideshow of photos of Darren and I throughout our lives and then some lovely pictures of our relationship.”

 

Sweet treats

The two-tier cake, decorated with fresh, pink roses, was made by a school friend of Laura’s who now owns a cake shop. One tier was red velvet flavour and the other was salted caramel and toffee, chosen by Laura’s 10-year-old brother.

 

Real Weddings Solihull: A wonderful winter wedding

 

Party on!

“We had 160 guests in the evening, so it was a big party,” says Laura. “It was full of dancing and plenty of drinks, which for us is the perfect celebration! The most fun part was probably the spontaneous dance off that happened after everyone had had a few drinks, which included one of the ushers spinning on his head!”

 

Did your wedding have the wow factor like our Solihull winter wedding feature? If you would like to be a part of our real weddings feature send your favourite photo to info@wed2b.co.uk and we’ll be in touch!