You know how they say “it will all be alright in the end” well I’ve got a wedding for you today that’s testament to that. In the run up to Gwenda & Drew’s wedding, anything that could go wrong did! Their venue went bust and took their deposit only four weeks before the big day… and unfortunately that was just the first loop of the rollercoaster that was their wedding plans…

“Let’s begin by saying that the wedding photos you see here are nothing like we thought they would be. In fact, very few things about the wedding were as we though they would be! I’d better explain myself…”

“For Drew’s birthday in November last year, I took him to a quirky B&B on the Kent coast – the decor was retro and the vivacious owner was such a character, we both adored the place. Drew noticed that there was a sign on the door for their first wedding fair, to he held the following weekend – ‘This would be a great place to get married’ he said (I agreed). We’d been together for nearly a year and a half by this point and neither of us were getting any younger – we already lived together and marriage was the next step. The following weekend, we did indeed go back to the venue – and walked out with a date booked and a deposit paid… now all I needed was the proposal! I had always said that I wanted my Nan’s engagement ring as my own, so I got it cleaned and resized and so presented to Drew in anticipation.”

“Time passes. On a whim, we decided to get a little Winter sun and flew off to spend Christmas in Marbella. Just before we left, I secretly checked the drawer where he had stashed the ring. It was still there – not this time, then! We had a somewhat alternative Christmas dinner in the Hard Rock Cafe at Puerto Banus, complete with a cracker… containing a plastic ring and a motto which read ‘Will you marry me?’. Low and behold, he then produced the real ring (which he’d sneakily picked up just before departure) and a pair of Tiffany diamond stud earrings, which haven’t left my ears since. He’d had them hidden in the boot of his car for a couple of months as he’d had this all planned, even before we found the venue.”

“Once home, ‘Operation Get Hitched’ got into full swing. Then came the first hitch: the venue underwent a change of ownership. Though we were concerned that the character of the place would change too much, the new owner assured us that plenty more positive changes would occur and that our original agreement would still stand. In part relieved, but with a ‘can’t quite put a finger on it’ sense of unease, the preparations continued.”

“Then came the second hitch: my Dad gets rushed into hospital. At 85, he had a whole raft of health issues and this appeared to be a complication of Parkinson’s Disease – without going into detail, if became clear that attending the wedding, if he was still with us at all, was a very unlikely scenario. My Mother wouldn’t hear of us postponing, so all we could do was carry on regardless (admittedly without quite the same degree of enthusiasm). Shortly before his conditioned worsened, it had been suggested that his present to me would be my wedding dress – so I went in search of the most ‘me’ dress I could find – it had to make a statement.”

“Several weeks passed and the uncertainly regarding my Dad’s condition was making concentrating on things a little tricky. Fortunately, all the initial hard work had paid off as now, there wasn’t much left to do – or so we thought. Enter hitch number three! Just when we figured that we were in the home straight with just four weeks to go, our venue shut down – the so-called owner turned out to be only the manager and he did a runner with our deposit, amongst others. After the fact, everyone has said on how remarkable calm I was – I knew that if I had the thermonuclear meltdown I really wanted to have then I would be no use to anyone. We’d come this far, so I’d be damned if this show was not going on. A throwaway remark about eloping to an old friend, Jacqui, (then via Las Vegas, Elvis chapels and Blackpool) got us to looking for a deconsecrated chapel in the South East. The Chantry at Turner’s Green in East Sussex was an instant hit – a blank canvas but with buckets of character. The owner, Sue, was an absolute legend from start to finish – nothing was too much trouble.”

“So, we were going to the chapel and come hell or high water, we were going to be married… but now we needed a venue for the reception. As luck would have it, 20 minutes away there was a lovely restaurant, formerly managed by Drew’s brother, Jamie – they agreed to host the reception – result! The registrar squeezed us in, too and once yet another set of legal preliminaries were done, we were good to go (again). Other wedding industry professionals came to our assistance, Asma from The Sugared Saffron Cake Company indulged us by creating a new cake design to match our ramped-up theme and Elizabeth from Simply Elegant Hire loaned us some additional items to dress not the one venue we had anticipated on, but two. We reused and recycled as much as we could, but nevertheless, the bank balance took a hammering in those last few weeks.”

“Through a whirlwind of reorganisation, so it came to the day itself. I arrived a mere (ahem) half an hour late and down the aisle I went with my daughter, Nadia, to the Etta James classic ‘At Last’ – two words which were so unbelievably apt on so many levels.”

Gosh what a story! Gwenda & Drew congratulations on your beautiful wedding and the fact that you did it so amazingly in 4 weeks! I have to say I’m utterly in awe. Big love to their wedding photographer Martin Hobby for sharing his images too.

Supporting Cast:

Photography Credit: Martin Hobby Photography
Ceremony Venue: The Chantry, Turners Green, East Sussex
Reception Venue: The Gun, Heathfield, East Sussex
Bride’s Dress: Danielle Lara Couture
Bride’s Shoes: Rainbow Club & Irregular Choice
Bride’s Headpiece: eBay
Bride’s Jewellery: Vivienne Westwood & Butler & Wilson
Groom’s Outfit: Jacket by Ted Baker; shirt by Paul Smith; jeans by True Religion; shoes by Delicious Junction; cufflinks by Tatty Devine
Bridesmaid Dress & Shoes: Next
Wedding Cake: The Sugared Saffron Cake Company
Afternoon Tea: Buy a Cake & DIY
Flowers: The Vintage Floral Design Co. (bride’s company)
Hair: Michelle Vassallo
Stationery: Zazzle
Decor/Props: Simply Elegant Hire
Vintage China: Benny & Boo