From the proposal to the honeymoon, there’s a multitude of factors that can go into planning the perfect wedding. We hear from bride Stefanie Thetford, who reflects on her big day when she married husband Michael in Tunbridge Wells
So, Stefanie, how did the two of you first meet?
We met in Maidstone on a night out. Mike offered to buy me a drink and we spent the whole night chatting; he left it a few weeks before asking me on a date. We spent our first date in London at Madame Tussauds, and then on the London Eye seeing all of the Christmas lights.
And how did he pop the question?
We went to London for the weekend to the West End Live concert in Trafalgar Square. After a lovely day, we returned to our hotel and popped open a bottle of Prosecco, and then Mike got down on one knee – I said yes straightaway!
Any favourite memories from the big day?
The day was fantastic – it was the best day of our lives and more amazing than we could ever have imagined. The whole day was so enjoyable – my six bridesmaids and I couldn’t sleep, and were up at 4am, but had the best morning getting ready. I think my key highlight had to be walking down the aisle after we were married – we were both so happy, and to see all of our friends and family there for us and so happy was really special. For Mike, his key moment was seeing me in my dress for the first time when I walked down the aisle.
How did your suppliers help bring it all to life?
I went to Yours Truly in Maidstone with my mum, nan and six bridesmaids and had the most amazing morning trying on lots of dresses. The wonderful ladies of Yours Truly helped with ideas for bridesmaid dresses; I hadn’t decided on a colour scheme, so decided on ivory dresses with a different coloured sash for each bridesmaid.
We then moved on to venue decorations and flowers. We worked with Your Beautiful Day and decided to focus on ivory and silver, as my dress had silver detail. We used this for chair covers and table swaging. We had a fairy light ceiling and had the pillars at Salomons Estate in Tunbridge Wells draped with ivory organza – the first time I saw the room was when I walked down the aisle, and I was blown away by how amazing it looked.
For flowers, we all carried ivory roses and had roses on the table in silver fishbowls. We went to Moss Bros for suits, and each groomsman had a different coloured cravat to match with one of the bridesmaids’ sashes. Our photographer was Graham Scott, who was amazing at capturing all our special moments, along with our videographer Anthony TDH Media, who has provided us with wonderful memories of our special day.
Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We decided to wait a while after the wedding to go on honeymoon. It had been a dream of ours to be in New York over New Year and see the iconic ball drop in Times Square. So, on Boxing Day we jetted out to New York and had the most amazing week seeing the sites and bringing in our first new year as Mr and Mrs.
Have you recently got married or engaged? We are looking for brides to feature in an upcoming wedding feature. Email newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk with your details and we’ll get back to you
