Mel and Simon’s wedding at Shrigley Hall in Cheshire was amazing, a day full of smiles, laughter, emotion and sunshine! Mel and Simon are one of those couples that you can’t help but get on with the moment you meet them and I was so pleased for them that they had such a perfect day 🙂

Thank you so much Mel for writing the story of your wedding for me and for you very kind words about me too, it was so nice to read and really means a lot. Huge congratulations again to you both 🙂

Mel & Simon’s Wedding Story…

Simon and I met through hockey, and knew each other for nearly 5 years before we started ‘seeing’ each other. Given the number of fancy dress parties we’ve attended over the years it’s fair to say that he’d seen me at my absolute worst so knew what he was in for!

Simon proposed at home on our third anniversary. The proposal was not without its own drama as I found out after the event that the ring – which had been on order for months – had very nearly not arrived on time. It also happened on a Wednesday night which was quite unusual – one friend in particular didn’t believe it was true until I sent a text to his wife…

The wedding planning went surprisingly well, although we organised everything over 2½ years so were able to book a lot of suppliers early. We found St Christopher’s Church in Pott Shrigley and agreed it was perfect, so with Shrigley Hall just a ¼ mile away our decision about venues was simple. We tried to include our families in decision making wherever possible, and this worked very well. It was nice to see our collaborations pay off as everything came together so well on the day!

I can’t pinpoint a ‘favourite’ part of the wedding day as I enjoyed it all. We were extremely fortunate to have so many people able to travel from abroad – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, & China – as well as many of our friends from much closer to home. I just wish I could have had more time to talk to everyone on an individual basis as I kept saying I’d get back to them but don’t feel like I did. I do however think the speeches deserve a special mention – anyone who was there will know what I’m talking about (and no, Simon will never live it down!) – I’m not saying anything, Mel! 😉

I had been told beforehand to try to take at least five minutes during the wedding day just to sit back and take it all in, but I tried to do this throughout the day at different points – this has helped me remember some of the smaller details that probably would otherwise have passed me by.

All our suppliers were brilliant and I wish I could list them all. I can highly recommend Claire Murray (Makeup by Claire) and the girls at Roe 11 in Macclesfield who made all the girls look a little more than just presentable, our stunning flowers were supplied by Gaynor David (GD Flowers), and the Caldara String Quartet and Maisie Johnson did a wonderful job with our music at various times during the day. We were lucky to have them all.

We were of course also extremely fortunate to have Neil with us as our wedding photographer, and I don’t think anyone could have worked harder nor done a better job. I cannot thank him enough for giving us such an amazing record of our day and still can’t decide which photograph is my favourite. Thank you again Neil – you are brilliant!

This photo sums up Claire perfectly, always laughing and keeping everyone happy!

I love this photo of us getting ready. I’d delayed putting my dress on as it was so hot. My sister was determined I would be on time (not that it was ever in doubt!)

My awesome parents, I wouldn’t have got anywhere without them!

this is definitely one of my favourites. I was so nervous at this point as we’d just left the room where we’d all got ready. Luckily I made it down the stairs in one piece!