A Beautiful English wedding… Clare & Sam

Clare and Sam got married on the 9^th October 2009 at Hampton Court Palace, Surrey UK. As you can see from the stunning pictures Clare did an amazing job, that’s probably why she is now a wedding planner and my new side kick at My Lovely Wedding. Over the next few months Clare and I will be working together and bringing you loads of inspiration, wedding ideas and tips on getting married in Dubai. If you’re familiar with Dubai you’ll know that right now it’s super-hot and it’s defiantly not wedding season. So for now I’ll be bringing you lots of beautiful overseas weddings.
The Proposal…. Sam proposed to me in Koh Samui, Thailand. It was very romantic.
The Vision for the day…. Relaxed, pretty, romantic and a little bit thrifty. I incorporated butterflies as much as I could, as Sam proposed a beautiful butterfly flew passed, it was a very special moment, almost magical. I also had gorgeous fucia pink orchids, the Thai flower.
The Planning process…. I was planning my wedding from Dubai so I had some help from my mum in the UK.
Budget…. £30,000 (180,000AED)
My lovely dress…  My dress was Maggie Sottero from a little boutique called Miss Bush in Surrey, UK.
Finding my dress…. I found my dress in the first shop I went into. I was with my mum and my future mother-in-law. The sales assistant asked me to find 5 dresses that I liked and she would find another 5. Believe it or not the dress I chose was the first dress the shop assistant gave me to try on, as I walked out of the dressing room everyone cried. It was a moment I’ll never forget.
Groom’s threads… It was from Moss Bross- morning suits, with tails. (He looks rather dashing doesn’t he?!)
 
The Readings + Music…. I’m half Welsh so we had “Guide me oh…(bread of heaven)’, make me a channel of your peace and colours of day. My mother, mother-in-law and my bridesmaid’s brother did readings during the service. It was lovely and traditional.
My bridesmaids…..  I had 4 bridesmaids, my sister and 3 of my closest friends. They all did an amazing job…
The Flowers… My flowers were fucia pink orchids. The florist was a friend of mine and she did a fantastic job. She also incorporated pearls and diamonds in my bouquet which I just loved.
The Details + Décor….  The reception venue was a class conservatory; it was beautiful enough that we really didn’t need much decoration. We kept it very classic with a splash of thrifty elements. We had vases filled with floating candles and flowers on each table. For our favors we gave our guests a mini bottle of Jack Daniels or Baileys , which I think went down quite well. Instead of having a traditional guest book we asked our guests to write on the back of the name tags and hang it from willow branches. In the evening we a sit down dinner for 100 people followed by a jazz band, which were amazing… everyone had so much fun and danced all night long, everyone had so much fun and danced all night long.
Cake…My very talented mother made our 3 tier cake. It was very simple and classic and tasted delicious.


 
The Honeymoon…. After the wedding we had a few days at home with our families in the UK before we set off on our honeymoon to Bali via Dubai. We did a quick stop at home, swapped our luggage around and headed back to the airport. We stayed in Bali for 2 weeks at the Anatara hotel, it was amazing.
Memorable moments…  We had 100 of our closest friends and family there so the day was really amazing. The 2 most memorable moments were when Sam arranged for the jazz band to play a special song dedicated to me called “Always there – by the Canadian male voice choir”. I had also surprised Sam with a shirt signed by the whole Chelsea football team; I presented it to him while giving a speech. He was over the moon as he’s a massive Chelsea fan!
Advice for other couples… Make your wedding personal to you and think of all the things in life that you love and make you ‘you’. What is it that makes you individuals or what do you both love? Maybe it’s a favorite song, a colour or a place you’ve been together that you can incorporate into your wedding. And enjoy every minute of the day and don’t get too stressed, your wedding day should be about ‘love’, and defiantly not a time to get stressed.
Credit where credit’s due…  Planning the wedding from Dubai was hard but I had my mum to help me. She acted as my wedding planner and really helped me with the details. I think its really important to leave the details to the professionals so that you can enjoy the day and also make sure you don’t miss anything out. You only have that dream wedding once so you need to relax and enjoy it…