Our wedding story

Competition winners Kate and James won a photography package courtesy of Your Surrey Wedding and KS Images

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

Early days…

The couple first met in May 2005 through friends at the Harrow Inn in Cheam.
"We were friends first, but we had our first official date sitting at the top of Box Hill, near Dorking, where we spent the afternoon getting to know each other. It went really well and I knew he was the one!" says Kate.
James proposed to Kate on a beach in Bali on August 17th, six months after their daughter Jessica was born. Kate's family were out there too, so they all celebrated afterwards with champagne.
As soon as they got back, Kate started planning their special day. "I loved organising our wedding day as we put our personal touch on everything," Kate fills us in on all the details of her big day...

The venues…

We loved the location of Cain Manor and it's in a beautiful setting. It was perfect because we had a lot of children coming, and there was so much space for them to play both inside and outside. Also we had the place to ourselves which was really good, as we could put the kids to bed and continue partying into the night.

The attendants…

James had his best friends' Peter and Ross for his best men, and his friends Robin and Paul were his ushers.
My bridesmaids were my twin sister Steph and my best friend Lucy. As Steph lives in Singapore, it was up to Lucy to choose the dresses. Luckily they are the same size and shape, so it was an easy choice.
We thought it would be lovely to have lots of children at the wedding. For our flowergirls we had our daughter Jessica, and James' nieces Charlotte and Emily. We also had our nephews Ilyas and Oliver as our pageboys.

The dress…

I wanted something quite simple, which my dress was, but the train and detail added the right amount of glamour. I got my dress from Crystal Breeze in Kingston which was recommended by my best friend. It's a fantastic store as it has a style for everyone.
I went with my sister who picked up my dress and told me to try it on, even though it wasn't what I was looking for. I fell in love with it straight away and didn't try on any more. I liked the simplicity of it.
I wore two orchids in my hair and a diamanté hair band to tie in with the flowers in my bouquet. I absolutely loved my hair, and the fact that my lovely friends made me look beautiful on the day made it all the more special.

The flowers…

My bouquet was made of roses, orchids and lilies with dusty pink ribbon, pearls and diamantés. I left the bouquets up to the florist, Mia Shakespere, who did an amazing job. I also carried a photo of my dad, who passed away four years ago, so he could be with me throughout the day.
The groomsmen had cream rose buttonholes and our mothers both had orchid buttonholes.

The decorative touches…

Our colour theme was chocolate brown and dusty pink and I designed the invitations, centrepieces and cake myself. I also made bags for the kids, containing colouring books and games, so they were entertained for the day.

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