Becki and Kieran’s special day
When we asked Becki if she would like to re-live her wedding day for our blog, she jumped at the chance. I remember the day Becki collected her wedding dress and how sad I felt that our journey together had come to an end. All Boo Brides are special to us, but there will always be a special place in my heart for Becki x
Who is your other half and how did you meet?
“My husband is called Kieran.
We connected on match.com in 2013 and met up in Reading for our first date. He was the first guy I met up with, and I liked him so much that I cancelled a date I was due to have with someone else the following weekend. Can’t believe how lucky I was and still am!
We got engaged on 24th December 2021. The proposal is a bit of a funny story, as it didn’t really go to plan! We were due to go to Windsor Great Park Illuminated with my family a few days before, but had to cancel, so Kieran’s proposal plans were scuppered. By Christmas Eve, he had decided he was just going to do it, romantic plans or not, so he tried to convince me to go out for a walk to Virginia Water. I was still in my pyjamas and didn’t want to go as it looked like rain and I had already started helping my family prepare for Christmas the next day. He tried to convince me, but I wasn’t having it, and he looked so disappointed, which I didn’t understand (it’s only a walk, why did he want to go so bad?) so I kept asking him what was wrong, to which he kept saying nothing, which clearly wasn’t the case! Eventually I said ‘you look like you’ve got something to say, so just say it’ to which he responded ‘will you marry me’ and got down on one knee!”
How did you decide on your wedding venue?
“We had been to 3-4 other wedding venues, but none of them had the same ‘warm’ feeling as Great Fosters. We both instantly loved it and could really envision having our special day there.
We didn’t want a summer wedding as we both hate being too hot, so we chose an October date. Autumn is such a lovely time of year as it’s not too cold and you get such glorious colours in the trees! This really fitted with the warm, classic, cosy kind of vibe we wanted to achieve.”
How did you find your various suppliers?
“Many of the suppliers we went with were on the supplier list at Great Fosters, which made it nice and easy! Others we found online, either through a Google search or via the old reliable Instagram.”
Anna Lewis - Cake @annalewiscakedesign
Anthony Blay - Suits (Groom, Groomsmen & Dads) @anthonyblaymenswear
Caitlin Hair & Beauty - Hair (Bride + Bridesmaids) @caitlinhairandbeauty
Carousel String Quartet - Music For Ceremony & Drinks Reception (don’t think they have an Instagram account)
Claire Hayes Makeup Artistry - Makeup (Bride + Bridesmaids) @clairehayesmua
Fine Flowers Co - Flowers @fineflowersco
Firebird Events - Lighting, DJ & Band @firebird.events
Fully Funktional - The Band (organised via Firebird) @fullyfunktional
Hayley B Weddings - Photographer @hayleybweddings
Pravins Reading - Rings @pravinsjewellery
Stacy Oakley Calligraphy - Stationary & Signs @socalligraphyuk
Wed2be - Bridesmaids Dresses @wed2b
W4 Wedding Films - Videographers @w4weddingfilms
“We were so pleased with our suppliers, they all did such a fantastic job. We had a great experience with them all, but some standouts are below:
Firebird - they were so incredibly professional and easy to deal with, start to finish. I really can’t think of a single thing they could improve on. The communication was easy and everything we asked for was executed to perfection.”
“Fully Funktional - these guys were amazing, and so many of our guests said the same. Incredibly talented bunch of musicians that played a great range of music. Every song was a banger and they really interacted with us and the guests, which was so cool.
Claire Hayes - The makeup was so beautiful and really adapted to the 5 of us perfectly. Claire really gets the ‘natural glam’ idea, and her makeup seeks to elevate natural beauty. She was also so great at keeping me calm and organising us in the morning when I was feeling very anxious through nerves and a severe lack of sleep.”
“Caitlin - As with Claire, Caitlin did all of our hair beautifully and exactly as we wanted. I’ve honestly never loved my hair more than on the day!
Hayley B - Kieran and I both hate having our picture taken, but Hayley was so great and made such an effort to make us feel relaxed, which really helped! Also her photographs are stunning.
W4 - As with Hayley, Chris and Amy were so friendly and made us feel comfortable with being filmed for much of the day. The finished video is absolutely perfect and really captured our day. So glad we went with them.
Carousel String Quartet - Lovely bunch of very talented ladies. We were especially thrilled as we commissioned them to learn a Star Wars song (Cantina Band) as we are both a bit nerdy and wanted to have little personal touches here and there. It was great, and some of our geeky pals loved it too!”
What 3 tips would you give to other brides planning their day?
Have a relaxed evening the night before and an early night. I spent the night before at Great Fosters with my maid of honour Emma. Another of my bridesmaids, Jess, and her wife Dalia also stayed the night before so we had dinner together and then had a cosy catch up with some tea before going to bed. Unfortunately, nerves kept me awake most of the night so I only managed about 3 hours sleep, which was not ideal!
Don’t get too caught up in everything being perfect or ‘wedding politics’. Planning a wedding can be quite stressful, and there’s a lot of pressure in anticipation of the day, especially when you feel the need to please other people. Things will go wrong, but once you’ve said ‘I do’ you will be so happy that nothing else matters, and it’s about you and your husband, nobody else!
Get your dress as early as possible. I put this off and was lucky that I had just enough time to get everything ordered and then altered (thank you Emma!)
What was your favourite part of the planning process?
“I’m probably not the best person to ask… I found the planning quite stressful. I genuinely found it difficult to let go and rely on so many different suppliers without micromanaging. I did have a very in-depth spreadsheet, so it was nice to watch it all come together! We did enjoy having a look at the venues and trying to imagine our perfect day and then having that vision turn into reality.”
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
I can’t list just one, so here are several!
Seeing Kieran standing at the bottom of the aisle
Our first kiss as husband and wife. I was so nervous I don’t actually remember my dad marching me down the aisle, or much of the ceremony, but the kiss was when it all came together and felt real.
When my dad teared up when he saw me in my dress for the first time - he is usually making fun of me or calling me unflattering nicknames - I won’t list them all here!
The speeches were lovely and so heartfelt (for the most part, of course there was some obligatory roasting!).
When in typical fashion, I got some beef bourginon on my wedding dress and one of my bridesmaids had to help me clean it off.
When my veil got swept up by the wind and attached itself to some branches (I’ve included the picture for you!)
When we had an impromptu husband and wife lightsaber duel.
What did you enjoy the most about your Boo Adventure?
“You guys know how thrilled I was with my dress (which I fell in love with at first sight from the window on my drive to work one day) and I’m so glad that I came to you! Most brides can’t wait to get their dress, but I was dreading it. I was worried I wouldn’t find anything that I would feel confident and beautiful in. You guys gave me such confidence and I needed that from you more than you know. Honestly can’t thank you enough!”
Did you manage to have a Hen & Stag?
“For the hen, we went up to Cambridge for the weekend. We had a private chef cook us a meal on the first night, and on the second day we went punting on the river, followed by dinner and drinks. We went to a bar where they had live music and video games, which was awesome.
For the stag, Kieran was taken to Cardiff. They went white water rafting and then went out for a meal, followed by a night out which included a bar with virtual darts. His uncle and a few others stayed out until around 6am!
We did invite a few of our friends from overseas but unfortunately, they couldn’t make it, so the furthest anyone travelled was from Rochdale.”
Who was your Most Valuable Person on the day?
Why are you making me choose?! Obviously, Kieran has to be number one!
My incredible bridesmaids (including my sister) are also huge MVPs! We’ve all known each other for 30 odd years, from when we grew up in Hong Kong together, and it was so special to have them with me for such a huge milestone. They all did a great job of keeping me calm in the lead up, and especially on the morning of the wedding. My mum deserves a mention too, as she’s “The Notorious MVP”.
Thank you so much Becki for sharing your special day with us. I’m sure that our current brides will find much inspiration in your wise words and helpful tips (not to mention the incredible supplier list and first hand reviews!)
