Planned to perfection

From the proposal to the wedding day, this fun-filled wedding was carefully organised for maximum style and smiles

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Early days…

Sarah and Lee had worked for the same company and were both out entertaining business partners when they first had the opportunity to talk properly, which soon led to them dating.

“I fell in love with Sarah because she is the most caring, trusting, generous and kind-natured person I have ever met,” explains Lee. “I love her with all my heart and know that we will have a very happy life together.”

“I fell in love with Lee because he is a truly exceptional man,” says Sarah. “As I got to know him, I discovered aspects of his personality which never failed to surprise me; he is so much more than meets the eye! He challenges me every day and makes me believe that together we can achieve anything.”

The proposal…

“Sarah and I had planned a trip to New York in February 2007, so I thought it would be romantic to propose while we were out there,” Lee remembers. “I hadn’t told a soul about my intentions, as I wanted it to be a complete surprise for everyone.” “I organised the ring before we went and it was really difficult to keep secret as I was desperate to show my friends and family. The game was nearly given away at the airport when my hand luggage was searched by a security guard – he pulled out the pouch containing the ring and started to open it when I pulled him aside and whispered its contents. To his credit, he slipped it back into the bag immediately and sent me on my way with a wink.”

“I had thought long and hard about where to propose, and I chose the River Café, on the Brooklyn Waterfront. The food is stunning and the views even better, looking back towards the stunning skyline of Manhattan.”

“I was exceptionally nervous on the night, so asked the waiter to recommend a bottle of champagne to help set the night off in the right tone. Everything was going perfectly and when the pianist started playing New York, New York, I produced the ring… I was really pleased because she was visibly stunned and obviously had no idea of my plan to propose,” remembers Lee.

“I was taken completely by surprise; it was perfect in every way!” says Sarah.

Hen and stag parties…

“L-plates and angel wings are not really my style, so my hen weekend was spent in London with close friends and family,” explains Sarah. “We were extremely civilised, taking afternoon tea at the Royal Kensington Hotel and dining at Cocoon, an excellent Thai restaurant on Regent Street. However, my best friend and cousin refused to let me off the hook completely and hired a naked butler to serve pre-dinner drinks in our hotel suite, it was a bit of a shock but he made a mean Cosmopolitan!”

For his stag night, Lee spent a weekend in Prague, the stag party
capital of Europe. “My best man Mike took it upon himself to ensure everyone consumed the required amount of alcohol. As for details… what goes on tour, stays on tour!” laughs Lee.

The venues…

“I was very keen to marry in a church and Orchardleigh has a 13th century chapel, St Mary’s on its own island; I was sold as soon as I saw it!” explains Sarah. “On the day it poured with rain, but this only served to make the church more beautiful inside as it was filled with candlelight giving it a magical glow.”

“We liked the idea of a big manor house where all our guests could stay and we wanted our venue to stay open late as our crowd love a party! Orchardleigh is a private residence, so offered to keep the bar open as long as we were still standing – that also clinched it for us!” says Lee.

The dress…

Sarah recalls, “Our wedding planner Samantha sent me a link to the Pronovias website and I took my Mum, Lee’s Mum Carol, my best friend and bridesmaid Anne and Samantha for a weekend in London to find a dress and to visit Jimmy Choo!”

“The first dress I tried is the one I bought; it felt perfect and reduced my Mum to tears, so I knew it was the right one. It was strapless and closely fitted, with a fishtail shape to the knee; it was satin with lace overlay and tiny pearl detailing.”

“The intricacy of the dress required simple accessories, so I wore drop pearl earrings that were a birthday gift from my parents and a beautiful string of pearls, which was a surprise gift from Lee and made them a really sentimental choice.”

“I kept my hair and make up very simple also and chose red nails and lipstick to give the dress a glamorous, Forties feel. The whole thing was finished off with a cathedral length veil trimmed in matching lace.”

“I was very conscious of wanting to look like myself and as a result I felt quite comfortable and surprisingly glamorous!”

The groom …

Lee was keen to wear something very simple and traditional and chose a black morning suit with a plain ivory waistcoat and black tie. “It was simple but very effective and my socks were red, to pay homage to my beloved Manchester United football team! Shoes are important to me and I chose a classic pair by Jeffery West from Selfridges,” Lee explains.

The bridesmaids…

“The chapel was very small, so I wanted to keep it simple and only asked my best friend Anne to be a bridesmaid… but a couple of months after agreeing to take on the job she discovered that she was pregnant!” says Sarah. “We went back to the drawing board on the dress and she looked utterly radiant on the day, absolutely beautiful.” Lee’s son Charlie was the couple’s ring bearer, alongside his cousin Summer as flower girl. Both are almost six years old.

The best man and ushers …

“I had two best men, my brother Shaun and my long time friend and colleague Mike,” Lee says. “I was best man to both and relished making the most of my speeches. It only seemed fair to give them both a right of reply.”

“We all wore the same outfits, which worked really well; I didn’t want to complicate things with too many colours and the black and white theme ran through the whole wedding.”

“The speeches were fantastic. The guys had obviously put a lot of thought into them and between the two of them they talked for over 40 minutes. There were several of the classic best man jokes in there, but the highlights were when they shared details of our many drunken mishaps over the years, plus my brother doing a “musical interpretation in dance…”

“Sarah’s brother was Usher and Toastmaster. He did a fantastic job and it made the difference having a family member in charge during the wedding breakfast as it made it more personal."

The ceremony…

“I was extremely nervous on the morning of the wedding and was so grateful for my wonderful Mum and Anne my bridesmaid who kept me calm despite myself,” says Sarah. “All the way to the church my Dad held my hand so tightly; it was such an emotional journey and I can’t imagine how I would have managed without him there beside me.”

“The ceremony was beautiful, with readings from Lee’s Mum and my cousin. We had a rehearsal the day before and I had felt very selfconscious saying my vows but on the day it felt so different and I looked straight at Lee as I spoke,” she remembers. “The church looked so magical in the candlelight and was packed with all the people who mean the most to us; it was wonderful.”

“We arrived at the church about an hour before the service and as the church filled up I became much more nervous,” says Lee. “I was excited that the time had finally come, but conscious that I would feel very emotional during the service, I was determined not to cry!” “Sarah walked down the aisle and looked absolutely stunning; I welled up but held in the tears… just. She took my hand and I felt at ease. The ceremony went off perfectly.”

The flowers…

Sarah chose white Avalanche roses and white peonies, with eucalyptus leaves for the bouquets and white roses for the buttonholes.

“The chapel was filled with candles,” Sarah explains, “the candlelight was atmospheric and the overall effect was beautifully understated.” “The colour scheme for the day was black and white, as I like things quite simple and classic; anything too complicated would have been at odds with the grandeur of the location. Lee came up with the idea of naming our tables after classic black and white films and we had some pictures printed with well known quotes from each film instead of table numbers.”

“The crockery and table linen was all white with black ribbons tied around the napkins and dark chocolate hearts in the centre of the white plates as favours. The children all had white chocolate mice as their favours, which went down a storm!

“Our table centres were candles in clear vases, with green berries and a black butterfly decoration.”

The reception…

“The reception began with a choice of Champagne or classic Pimm's; we had a pianist providing background music as our guests mingled,” says Sarah. “Following the meal, my Dad made the first speech, which was perfect: short and sincere. I felt so proud of him; three years earlier he had suffered a stroke and it was such a wonderful feeling to walk down the aisle with him and see him enjoying my wedding day.” “Lee followed with a very moving speech, and the Best Man speeches were hilarious if somewhat close to the bone at times!”

“We hired a live band for the evening, who played a variety of classic rhythm 'n’ blues and dance tunes and were excellent, but they finished at midnight when the party was just getting started, so I was glad we had hired an iPod speaker and light system and put together some classic playlists. It didn’t take long for some of our guests to start playing DJ!”

“We are both exceptionally lucky to come from very close-knit families and a large part of my enjoyment on the day was seeing all of them together having a good time. One of my favourite memories is seeing my Mum and Dad with their arms in the air dancing and it was great to relax and spend some time on the dance floor with my gorgeous new husband and all of our friends.”

“When we finally called it a night at 2.30am, we were played out with Frank Sinatra’s My Way and a group hug – what an excellent party!” The cake Sarah and Lee chose a cake made from a selection of whole cheeses, from the Bath Fine Cheese Company. “It was decorated by our florist and looked beautiful. Some of our guests aren’t aware that it was real cheese to this day!” laughs Lee. “We had the cake cut and served the cheese with biscuits after the evening buffet.”

The photographer…

Sarah and Lee chose Howard Keith as their photographer. “He is very passionate about wedding photography and we felt his previous work spoke for itself along with the superior quality of the albums he produces,” the couple explained. “We were so pleased with the photographs he produced of the day, when we saw them we were overwhelmed.”

Top tips…

“Hire a wedding planner,” says Lee.

“I cannot imagine putting together an event of this size without professional help. I wouldn’t expect just anyone to be able to do my job, so who would I be confident of putting together a wedding?”

“Sam, our wedding planner, was fantastic; she took away all the stress and worry and delivered our perfect day. In fact, I wish she would organise the rest of my life for me too!” exclaims Sarah.

The honeymoon…

“Our honeymoon was spent at Hermitage Bay in Antigua – it was fabulous and extremely relaxing,” they recall. “We have very hectic work lives, so picked somewhere we could relax. All we did was drink cocktails, eat fabulous food, and sleep!”

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