A wedding in paradise.
Here we are again with another incredible wedding story. This time, our gorgeous bride Amy tells us all about her incredible destination wedding where she wore Hannah by Sassi Holford . Put the kettle on, find a cosy corner, and join us in crushing over this beautiful bride and her sensational wedding day!
Tell us about your Other Half?
“John is my husband 🙂
Funny story of how we met really.. I used to park outside his work to walk to my office and he confessed to watching me out of the window whenever I pulled up! He is a family friend of my brother in laws family, and sat tight waiting for 8 years before he eventually asked me on a date during covid.
He was also at my sister and brother in laws wedding, to which I questioned who was 'the hot guy'!”
“John is very thoughtful in absolutely everything he does, even from our first date to now, and the proposal was no different. He booked me a surprise trip for my 30th birthday in August 2021, however covid wiped that off the calendar. So as soon as the world opened back up, he changed our flights and whisked me off to the Maldives, somewhere I had always dreamt of going. Upon arriving in paradise, we went for a sunset walk along the beach and he got down on one knee on 4th May 2022, and of course I said YES! Our dinner table was ten adorned with flowers and a bottle of champagne, so started our holiday off perfectly.
He also went to my parents beforehand to ask permission from my Dad, as he knows that would be important to me.”
How did you decide on your wedding venue?
“In all honesty, I had ZERO intention to ever get married in the UK, it just wasn't for me!
We already had a family holiday planned to Cala D'Or in Mallorca a month or so after the engagement, and so said let's just see if there's anywhere we like whilst there. Neither of us felt pressure to book a wedding, or get organising straight away so we were just going to enjoy the holiday as normal.
We looked at one venue, which isn't a typical wedding venue- more a private beach bar vibe where the ceremony could be on the beach and I was absolutely SOLD.”
“John forewarned me, 'Ame even if you really like it, don't look too keen'.. As soon as we walked in, I went 'OMG I LOVE IT' and that was that! We booked it for the following September even before flying home!
The beach bar location really set the tone for the wedding, as we didn't want a super formal day, we wanted laid back party vibes for our absolute nearest and dearest to share with us. It was perfect!”
How did you find your various suppliers?
“To be honest, as the wedding was abroad, scouring Instagram for suppliers and ideas for the day was a massive help! I found my hair and makeup artist on Instagram, and my photographer- they had worked together at a lot of weddings I saw online and so were tagged together!
“Again, we didn't want to spend ages away from our party having a photoshoot, we booked the party and so wanted to enjoy it with everyone! And our photographer described herself as a ninja who would follow us around and capture natural moments, which is exactly what we wanted!”
Photographer: Emma Fenton
Hair & Makeup: Ala Perfect Make Up
What are your top tips for other brides?
“Honestly, enjoy every single moment. I can hand on heart say, I LOVED planning our wedding. I did not feel any stress surrounding it, just pure excitement! Think of it as one massive party, with all your favourite people, all your favourite food and drinks, and you're the best dressed!
Also, don't worry too much about the bridal checklists you see online or in wedding planners, do what you want to do! For example, we didn't have a wedding cake- we simply didn't want one, we chose a great dessert instead!
Make sure the day is about you and your partner, nobody else!”
What was your favourite part of the planning process?
“I have to say, trying on dresses was my absolute favourite thing ever!”
“I keep my circle small, and so just me and my Mum (and my sister to a couple of appointments), spent a few weekends going and trying on as many dresses as I could. We would always go for a prosecco debrief afterwards and say what we liked about each one. I tried to keep my appointments as close as possible so I had a fresh memory of what I liked about each one.
I also really loved asking my bridesmaids- my sister, my best friend and my husbands twin sister and my niece and nephew to be page boy and flower girl. It made the circle complete 🙂”
What was the most memorable part of your day?
“There were a few!
I have to say, my Dad seeing me in my dress for the first time was really lovely and an emotional moment. My Dad is a real tough guy, and he had tears in his eyes which was just so nice.”
“I also absolutely LOVED our first dance.
When we were dating, we always heard 'Dancing in the Moonlight' on the radio, as someone had bought out a newer version of it and we always said this was our song and so there was no question as to what our song choice would be. It was absolutely perfect with the waves crashing in the background, a truly special moment.”
“We also had a traditional Spanish wine box ceremony. Before the wedding John and I had to write a letter to each other in secret and seal the envelope. The letters were then put into a wooden box and we asked the bridal and groom party to hammer in nails into the box during our beach ceremony. The wine will be at its' prime in 10 years time and so on our 10th wedding anniversary, we can open the box, drink the wine and read each other’s letters.”
What did you enjoy most about being a Boo Bride?
“Ah, what a dream of a boutique!”
“My Mum and I both thought I was really going to struggle finding a wedding dress I loved, as I didn't love the traditional bridal dresses. I'd been to quite a few weddings recently, and always thought the brides looked beautiful but I never loved the dresses, for me. Walking into other shops, some of the shops asked you to go along the rail and pick out ones you liked, but seeing the dresses on hangers just didn't help- nothing jumped out at me.
Emma at Boo pulled out some she thought I'd like to try, and after each I had to say what I liked or didn't like, so we narrowed it down to shape / style etc.
I actually had saved a picture of my dress on my phone a while back and thought I'd like to try it. I had shown my Mum the photo and she was so underwhelmed so I never thought of it again.”
“Whilst in store, Emma asked her colleague to get out 'Hannah' to try and I recognised the name as the dress I saved. I put it on, and even though it didn't fit properly. WOW. I had spoken to lots of my friends who got married and said they never had THE moment of trying on a dress and knowing it was the one. But as soon as I looked in the mirror with this dress, I just knew and burst out crying. There was absolutely zero competition. Hannah was for me! Trying on any other dresses after Hannah were just unmatched, it was everything I wanted and when we actually got married a lot of my friends had said to me it was a very 'me' dress, which made it even more special.”
“I wanted to make sure there were some sentimental touches at the wedding but very subtle. For example, none of my grandparents are with us anymore, and we lost John's Mum the year before the wedding and we didn't want to call it out in a toast as we would find it too upsetting. I got John a pin with a photo of his Mum and left it in our room as he got ready so she could be with him down the aisle. I also printed photos of my grandparents, John's Mum and Gran and tied them to my wedding bouquet. Again, so they could be there with us.
My Nan was one of my best friends and would've absolutely loved our wedding. Her name was Eileen and whenever we would joke around with her (she was very young at heart), I would sing 'Oh come on Eileen' and she used to laugh so much. We had 'Come on Eileen' as our wedding reception entrance, and everyone who knew her said it was a lovely touch and lots of watery eyes!”
“As the wedding was in Spain, we had lots of guests travelling to us throughout the week lead up. Therefore, I decided I needed to look bridal every.single.night and so literally packed a suitcase full of white outfits only- you can only be the bride once, right?!
We also had a girls night and a boys night the evening before the wedding as John and I didn't want to wake up together on our big day, we wanted to keep that tradition. So me and the girls went for tapas and sangria whilst the boys (my Dad included) went for a curry and copious amounts of beer! Luckily, the wedding ceremony was at 6pm, so they had some time to recover the next morning!”
“We booked out a rooftop bar the day after the wedding and put on tapas and sangria for everyone to come and enjoy with us. We were so grateful of everyone flying out that we were insistent on a free bar for the wedding and also to fund the day 2. Little did we know that the day 2 would run from 2pm until about 1am! Safe to say everyone needed a major detox when we returned!
For my hen do, the girls organised a weekend away in Cardiff which was A LOT of fun. We had a drag queen bingo bottomless brunch and there was lots of dancing and prosecco!”
“As our wedding was in Spain, we also legally got married in the UK beforehand. We kept this really really minimal as we only wanted to get married 'once'. We chose to walk down the aisle together- I only wanted Dad to walk me down once for real. We didn't have any of our music for the Spain wedding and I wore a white suit- complete contrast to my wedding dress. We then took our parents and siblings for a champagne lunch afterwards to celebrate, it was really lovely to have the legality on such a small but personal scale as it didn't take anything away from the Spanish wedding.”
What was your most stressful moment?
“To be honest, I don't think we had any complications! Oh, the most stressful thing was finding somebody to have our dog, as everyone we loved and trusted would be in Spain with us!
On that note also, we actually went and had a little photoshoot with our dog so she could feature on the top table with us- yes we are obsessed with her!”
Who was your MVP on the day?
“This is a tough one, as even right up until the last minute I felt pretty chill! We sat in the hotel whilst the girls were getting their hair done, just chatting. But with that in mind, I'd probably say my parents- both my Mum and Dad are absolute gems and were dancing all night with all our friends. It really was just an amazing atmosphere, with everyone chatting and having the best time.
Ah, can we do it all over again?!”
Thank you so much Amy & John for sharing your special day with us and allowing us to be a tiny part of it.
Wishing you both all the love and happiness a lifetime together can bring xxx
