Angeli’s Story

The Proposal

Andrew proposed to me on Christmas day in Mauritius (where my father’s side of the family are from). It was a complete surprise to me! Andrew had spent months having the ring designed and made in Dubai. He had phoned my dad to ask his permission to marry me! Both our families knew about it but nobody gave away the surprise. Andrew had hurt his knee and foot falling on the rocks a few days before Christmas so he couldn’t get down on one knee. It was the most romantic proposal ever. He asked me if I would do him the honour of being his wife and of course I said yes!

The Outfits

The Bride – My dress was diamond white. It was strapless with buttons down the back. The dress was silk with a chiffon overlay. It was full length with a long train. The veil was also full length. It was white net with a silk edging. The dress was absolutely gorgeous!

The Bridesmaids – They wore bright pink, strapless, dresses.

The Groom and Groomsmen – The ushers looked lovely in black morning dress with white shirts. They had ivory cravats and waistcoats.

The Wedding and Reception Venues

Ceremony – St Mary’s Church, Horsham, West Sussex

My family home is next door to St Mary’s church, I have wanted to get married there since we moved to Horsham. It is a beautiful old church with a fantastic warm feel to it. I was baptised in the church and have close links to it through friends and family.

Reception – Slaugham Place, Slaugham, Nr Haywards Heath, West Sussex

We found Slaugham Place on the internet and fell in love with it straight away. We were living in Dubai so I asked my mum and dad to make an appointment to see it. They also loved it right away so we booked it. It really is magical!

Decorative Touches

Room decorations – We had a marquee set next to the ruins in the grounds on Slaugham Place. Slaugham Place has a moat surrounding it so it felt very romantic. The marquee was ivory with a carpet on and a dance floor. The top table was a horseshoe shape. It was decorated with Casablanca lilies, white dendrobium orchids, Milano and Bianca roses and white lisianthus with garlanding, petals and night lights. We had tables of ten set up around the room. There were bay trees in the doorway leading into the marquee and table centre pieces on each table. The tables were scattered with pink rose petals and the ladies all had a single stem rose on there plate.

Table centrepieces – The table centres were in tall glass vases and were oriental Casablanca lilies, Bianca roses, gypsophila Millefleur, white lisianthus, twisted willow, asparagus fern, soft ruscus and aspidisra leaves.

Favours – Ivory boxes with a pink ribbon filled with Jelly Belly Jelly Beans in white, pale pink and bright pink.

The Cake

It was a gorgeous caramel coloured 4 tier cake with white tear drop detail. The design was so intricate yet the overall effect of the cake was simple but elegant. It was made by our good friend Carol Mason. We had two tiers of fruit cake, one chocolate and one sponge. It was decorated with Akito roses and white spray roses.

The Transport

I walked to the church with my father and bridesmaids. Andrew and I and the bridesmaids were driven to the Reception in a set of white twin Rolls Royce’s. We had the guests picked up from hotels (we chose a couple of pick up points) to take them to the church and then from the church to the venue. At the end of the night they dropped the guests off. It meant guests didn’t have to worry about parking and taxis and everyone was in the right place at the right time!

Advice to other couples

Make sure you are 100% happy with the people you choose to provide the services e.g. photographer, make-up, hair. You spend so much time with them that you have to get along. Don’t worry about changing your mind and losing a deposit, we changed our photographer and music but it was definitely worth it!
Make sure you make a conscious effort to take in everything that is happening on the day. It goes so quickly but if you make a point of being aware of everything that is going on, enjoying the day and looking at people as you walk down the aisle you will remember it all later!
Chat to everyone during the meal. We ate quite quickly then worked our way around each table so that by the end of the meal we knew we had spoken to everyone. It is so important to acknowledge that you appreciate people spending your special day with you.

Suppliers

Wedding Reception Venue – Slaugham Place

Venue found through Country House Wedding Venues

Bride’s dress and veil – Miss Bush Bridal wear, Ripley, Surrey

Bride’s accessories (tiara, shoes) – Tiara – Serendipity, Shoes – Celine

Make up – Blush

Groom’s suit – Marc Wallace, London

Bridesmaid’s dresses – Confetti and Lace, Chichester

Other outfits (ushers) – Marc Wallace, London (as above)

Wedding rings – Cheetan Jewellers, Dubai

Wedding cake – Carol Mason

Flowers – Judith Smith

Cars – Country Style Wedding Cars. Coached provide by Knights Travel

Invitations – Confetti

Wedding list – John Lewis

Disco/DJ – Urban Blue

Wedding favours – Confetti

Photographer – Marie Stone

Master of Ceremonies – Jeremy Griffin

Dance lesson – First Dance UK

Hairdressers – Heatwave in Horsham, Hannah and Katie

Travel agent – Select Travel, Horsham, West Sussex