Laura and Dom got engaged at the Grand Canyon while on a trip to Las Vegas. As they both love the city and 1950s glam, they decided that should be their wedding theme. Laura wore a red wedding dress, and they had a polka dot theme for the bridal party; the bridesmaids wore 50s style polka dot dresses and the groomsmen had polka dot pocket squares. For entertainment they had casino tables, a pianist, and Laura did a choreographed dance with her dad.
“We both wanted everyone to enjoy our wedding day”, said the bride. “We wanted a very short ceremony followed by a big party. Everyone gasped when I entered the room in a red dress! I had a charm with a photo of my granddad on it attached to my bouquet which a friend gave me the night before the wedding. My granddad was very important to me and passed away in June 2015.”
The day was held at Stanton Manor Hotel near Chippenham. “At our reception guests were requesting songs for the pianist to play and the whole room was filled with people singing along. It was a lush atmosphere! We also decided to have a cheese wedding cake, gave out flip flops for guests in the evening and had a dog as a wedding guest; my mum’s dog Alfie!”
“Our guests said they saw another side to Dom during our wedding”, she explained. “He portrays a strong, tough man usually but on the day he was very emotional. We both had the best day. It was so nice to see in each other’s faces how much we were both loving every second.”
Laura and Dom did a lot of DIY projects in the build up to the wedding, with help from Laura’s mum. “We made so much included the ‘L&D’ button signs, the bunting and the framed ‘plan of day’ and ‘journey of our wedding planning’ signs. We also made the favours, seating plan and place cards. My mum made my veil the, jewellery for the bridesmaids and boxes in the loos which included freshen up goodies and essentials for our guests.”
“The one thing we wish we’d know about planning a wedding before we began is how much things cost! Our biggest expense was the venue, but the package we got was amazing and included so much. But we saved money on the wedding decorations, as we made a lot of it ourselves, and also by making our save the dates. I also love a bargain so kept my eye out for sales to get what we needed at the right time.”
The bride’s final advice to other couples is simple, but easy to forget in the run up. “Your wedding day can be quite overwhelming (especially the lead up) so our advice is to remember to sit back together on your wedding day and take it all in. It’s really lovely to remind yourselves that the day is about you two tying the knot and celebrating making this commitment to one another.”
