Give it some wellie!

Images by Julian and Sue Porter

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Early days…

When Rebecca reconnected with a girlfriend through Friends Reunited, little did she know that the rekindled friendship would lead to meeting her future husband. "She introduced me to Jonathan, who is her boyfriend's brother," recalls Rebecca. "We started off as friends and things just progressed from there."

The proposal…

"Jonathan secretly found out my ring size and bought an engagement ring which he took with him when he went to ask my dad for my hand in marriage. I was later told that dad had to sit down for a while as it was a bit of a shock - he didn't think anyone asked properly these days. A week later, Jonathan and I went on holiday to Lyme Regis, and while walking across the beach, he got down on bended knee and popped the question, which was a big surprise," recalls Rebecca.

The venues…

We exchanged vows at St Matthews Church, where Jonathan used to be part of the choir. His mum is a vicar, so she married us. We'd been looking at venues for quite some time when we found out about Elmers Court in Lymington at a wedding show. From the moment we drove up the drive, we thought it was perfect. The venue is a stunning old manor with lovely gardens looking onto the estuary.
Having a whole wing of the old manor house to ourselves was such a big plus. The rooms were fabulous, and the staff were very friendly and flexible. A lot of venues are quite rigid but Elmers was very flexible in terms of menu choices and decorations. I can't thank the staff enough for making our day run so smoothly.

The dress…

I tried on about 20 dresses before finding 'the one'. The dress I chose was very different from what I had in mind. It had a fitted bodice down to the hips, which I thought was sexy but in an understated way. I adored my little bolero jacket, which provided much needed warmth and also gave the whole outfit an edge. I also fell in love with the tiara at a wedding show. I was adamant I didn?t want a veil, but when I tried one on at my wedding dress shop, I just had to have it.

The transport…

I travelled to the church in my dad's Lagonda, while Jonathan drove my dad's Aston Martin DB5.

The decorative touches…

Our inspiration for the day was ski, snow and the colour blue. The chair covers were tied with silver sashes, while our table centrepieces were vases filled with a variety of flowers and calla lilies supported by crushed cellophane and water to create an ice effect. Each vase was placed on a mirror base surrounded by tea lights, while personalised snowflake confetti was scattered around the tables.

Top tips…

My only regret is that I didn't spend much time with our evening guests, so my advice to others is to circulate as much as possible.

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