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Early days…
As a work colleague of Claire's dad, Nicky first met his future bride at her dad's birthday celebrations. Nicky was shy so his brother had to intervene and get them talking to each other. Claire adds: "Eventually Nicky gave me his telephone number, which meant I had to do all the chasing after that point. But I'm glad I did. We have now been together for 11 years."
Claire fell in love with Nicky simply because of his sense of humour: "He makes me laugh like no one else can. He's kind, considerate, funny and good looking," she says. Nicky adds: "I can't really remember how I fell in love with Claire, it just kind of happened. I suppose it helps that she's a bit of a looker so that might have had something to do with it."
The proposal…
Nicky proposed to Claire on 1st April, 2007 when they were sitting in a park with a cup of hot chocolate and the Sunday papers. Claire recalls: "We were chatting about life in general and the subject of marriage came up. I told Nicky that I'd love to eventually marry him, to which Nicky replied, Why don't we then?" Claire asked if that was a proposal or an April Fool's Day joke and burst into happy tears when Nicky confirmed that it was in fact a proposal and that he had been thinking of ways to do it over the last few weeks. "A little old lady who walked past was the first person we told followed by family - who also thought it was an April Fool's Day joke."
Hen and stag parties…
Claire had two hen weekends. The first was a long weekend away with her five closest girlfriends to a villa in Alicante. Claire says: "We had such a brilliant time and laughed so much." A week later Claire had a night out at a local restaurant with friends and family. Claire remembers: "It was great fun. The waiters get the hens up to dance and so I danced with a waiter who promptly split his trousers after pretending to drop me."
The groom-to-be went to Dublin for an alcohol fuelled weekend with 17 friends and family. Being of Irish descent it was the obvious choice.
The venues…
Being a wedding photographer, Claire is familiar with many of the local venues but had forgotten all about Horsley Towers until she photographed a wedding there soon after she had got engaged. Claire adds: "As soon as I got there I knew it was 'the one'. I phoned Nicky straight away and told him he had to come and see it. We made an appointment a week later with the coordinator and booked it immediately. We wanted somewhere picturesque, where we could have exclusive use and where our guests could park the car and stay overnight. Horsley Towers had it all. Our guests all commented on how lovely it was. The staff were also brilliant, especially the bar staff who kept everyone watered until 4am."
The attendants…
The bride-to-be had three bridesmaids: Nicky's nieces, Lorna, Hannah and Olivia, all of whom had wanted to be bridesmaids since the couple got together. They all wore chocolate-brown strapless tea-length dresses from Glamorous Gowns, with a mocha-coloured sash and matching wrap. As a thank you gift Claire and Nicky bought white gold necklaces, each set with a single diamond, which Claire gave to the bridesmaids.
For his groomsmen Nicky had one best man, his brother Andy, five ushers, his brother Neil and his nephews, and one page boy. They all wore three-piece grey morning tails from Moss Bros with caramel/mocha-coloured cravats. Nicky, Neil and Andy wore cufflinks engraved with their initials that Nicky had bought as a thank you gift.
The dress…
Claire fills us in on the dream dress she wore for the big day: "It was an ivory fishtail dress from Essence of Australia Couture. It had a fitted bodice which was scattered with clusters of Swarovski crystals. I also had a bolero made which was stitched with matching beads around the edges and cuffs. Originally I had chosen a completely different dress and changed my mind six months prior to the wedding."
Nicky had bought Claire a beautiful Swarovski necklace and matching earrings which she wore along with a gorgeous sparkly tiara. Claire forgot her something 'old' and
'borrowed' and also forgot the old silversixpence from the 1920s that her mum had given her. 'New' was the dress and blue was a blue bow that Claire's nan had given to her to stitch inside her dress.
The bridal bouquet was a simple hand tied bouquet of mango calla lilies with bits of willow entwined. The bridesmaids' bouquets comprised of matching mango calla lilies and orange gerbera.
The decorative touches…
For the ceremony and wedding breakfast the chairs were covered in white linen with a chocolate brown sash. Claire and Nicky placed framed photographs of friends and family around the venue to give it a personal touch. The table centrepieces were tall vases filled with beautiful birds of paradise flowers and willow placed on top of a round mirror. The couple had bought the vases and gave them out to selected family and friends at breakfast the next morning to take home. A little framed photo of each guest identified each place setting, which also acted as a favour. Claire adds: "It really got guests talking as some of the photographs were not the most flattering or most recent. We had great fun finding the images, it took some time to do but it was well worth the effort."
The best bits…
We hear what Claire loved most about the big day: "For both of us it was the ceremony, even if Nicky did get my first and second names mixed up, accidently calling me Suzanne as he read his vows! I was fine up until I walked into the ceremony room which is when the nerves hit me but as soon as I looked up and saw Nicky waiting for me with a big smile on his face I knew that it was simply the best moment of my life and one that I'll remember forever." Nicky adds: "Seeing Claire walking down the aisle made everything worthwhile she looked simply stunning and i couldn't believe my eyes."
Top tips…
"It is one of the quickest days of your lives, so take a few minutes to be together on your own so that you can take in what you are actually doing. We had a few snatched kisses and glances during the day but we didn't really catch up with each other until we went to our bridal suite. We sat up for a couple of hours opening some cards and talking about the day."
To read more about the couple's big day, check out Claire's wedding diary blog by visiting the website www.desirephotography.wordpress.com
The honeymoon…
Two days after the wedding Nicky surprised Claire with a 'mini moon' which was a few days away in the Lake District, staying in a lovely hotel on Lake Windermere. The couple also went to New York and Las Vegas for 10 days in March this year to coincide with Nicky's birthday.
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