Nicola & Sam Merrydale Manor 14/02/22
How were the final weeks of planning?
Final weeks before the wedding were ok, people around me tell me I was stressed but I didn't feel it. I'm used to organised chaos which with one thing or another was what it was but that's just my life from day to day with twins and a 6 year old!
What did you do the night before?
We (myself, my sisters, my Dad and the kids) had some tea at the pub/hotel we were staying at (The Dog). The food was incredible. We put the kids to bed and relaxed into our own beauty sleep.
Tell me about your wedding morning
The morning... we got up and put some music on. It was raining (oh no!). The girls got their make up done at the hotel we had stayed at the night before, we then got transferred over to Merrydale and I took my place in the make up chair. We opened the prosecco and I had my hair done too! It felt very rushed, and I felt really stressed. In hindsight the moving between 2 venues plus the kids, dresses and wedding stuff was too much for us and we should have thought about that before, that was probably the only thing I didn't think about. We got dressed and then the kids dressed then we made our way to the ceremony room.
Favourite part of the day
The ceremony. I was really nervous until I saw Sam, then when I saw him I instantly relaxed. Add to that me stressing about the kids being kids and not behaving. They were perfect, I really needn't have worried.
What was your First Dance
The first dance was by Lucas Graham: Love Someone. We both picked 5 songs that we liked and he'd never heard this one and I hadn't either so as it was different for us both and we both loved it we decided it was perfect. It stood out above the rest, some were far too slow to dance to. Someone told me to practice dancing to the song in the kitchen and see how you feel, if it's too slow and you feel daft it's not the one as you're going to be conscious anyway. That really helped!
What other music did you have?
Walking down the aisle: Pachelbel: Canon in D Major
Signing the register: Shane Filan: Beautiful In White
Walking Out Music: Coldplay: My Universe
Who did speeches and did you love them?
Sam's uncle David, my Dad and Sam. The speeches were so cute. David speaks in front of people for work, but my Dad and Sam aren't speech people, I suppose it's not something a lot of people normally do in their lives but they all did really well, some nerves but I'm so proud of them. We got them recorded so we can re watch them at anytime which was lovely as I knew on the day we'd have the twins and they'd be other stuff going on!
How was the Reception?
The food was lovely, the service was amazing. The catering company was spot on. Would highly recommend. Because of our young family we didn't get a lot of time together, sitting next to Ava during the meal was amazing however, I loved it. Her pride in us being all together, dressed up and getting married shone. The set up of the room was perfect, we were always having an intimate wedding with our closest friends and family and that was what we got.
If you did it again what would you change?
I'd have got a picture of us all straight after the ceremony, we don't have one of the 5 of us in our wedding attire and I wish we did (because of the twins!). I would have definitely stayed at the venue the night before. Maybe get married when the kids were a little bit older, as it was tough with the kids being the ages they were. I would have eaten more in the day, I had no breakfast then hardly anything during the day so by the time the evening came I hadn't eaten a lot and the gin went straight to my head!
The Dream Team
Venue: Merrydale Manor
Photography: Lucy Longworth
Videographer: Stefan Remneson
Dress: Jodie by Ronald Joyce from Because I Love You Bridal
Glam: Make Up by Lucinka & Victoria M Hair
Suits: John Francis, Harwood
Bridesmaids: Because I Love You Bridal
Florals: Country Flowers, Knutsford
Cake: Emma Metcalfe
Toastmaster: The Tall Toastmaster
Caterers: Barretts Event Caterers
DJ: Will from PC Roadshows
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