An office romance at the Essex Chronicle was the start of a lifetime together for Stephanie Camp and Elliott Boddy. Elliott planned a romantic Boxing Day proposal by tying a stunning engagement ring to the couple’s cat Gizmo’s lead. After a walk in the park Elliott popped the question and a delighted Stephanie said yes. | read more
Joanna Hampsheir and Richard Bould created a perfect blend of the modern and the traditional when they tied the knot in a lovely ceremony at Cobham Hall School. The couple, who met on line, were determined that this time around the wedding would be about what they wanted. Richard had proposed to Joanna after inviting a diamond dealer to their home so that she could choose the perfect stone for her ring. With the ring in his hand Richard proposed whilst cooking breakfast, dropping to both knees and asking Joanna to be his wife. | read more
You may not think that the Festival Leisure Park in Basildon is the most romantic of places but when Gemma Stevens first met new husband Bradley Croft love was certainly in the air.
“I loved his smile.” Gemma explained “Somehow I knew we were just meant to be.”
Although they only met in the September Bradley proposed to Gemma on Christmas day. He presented her with a beautifully wrapped gift and when she opened it to reveal a stunning engagement ring she was delighted to say yes. They then spent the rest of the day sharing the happy news with their respective families.
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Sharon and Miguel love a festival, even knee deep in mud that they are happy to spend a weekend camping and listening to their favourite bands so when Glastonbury was cancelled this year because of the London 2012 Olympics, they decide to create their own occasion and get married. | read more
When Victoria joined Match.com looking for a tall dark and handsome man she didn’t realize just how much her life would change. As Vicki is six feet tall herself, she dreamed of meeting a man she could look up to and Ian certainly met her criteria at a lofty 6ft 7” | read more
After a long-distance relationship that culminated in many travels to Africa where her Lebanese boyfriend, Marwane Faddoul, then worked and resided, Nichola King was thrilled to accept his proposal on New Year’s Eve 2011. Then the planning for a British wedding (with a Lebanese twist!) commenced. | read more
It’s not often that wedding goes completely without a hitch but for bride Charlotte Scally her wedding to new husband Lewis Holt-Brown was absolute perfection.
“The whole day was amazing. I never imagined that I could have such and out of this world wedding day. ”
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Elaine Harris and Roger Dowsett were always destined to be together. The happy couple, who tied the knot on Mediterranean cruise this summer, discovered that over the years they had often been in the same place at the same time but had never met. They finally started dating after becoming friends when Roger became Elaine’s parent’s next door neighbour | read more
When she was a little girl Helen Doshi fell in love. Her schoolgirl crush, whose name was emblazoned in tippex on her ruler, was not a pop singer or an actor but her older brother’s friend Lee Cox. | read more
Ham, tomato and cucumber sandwiches are not often considered the best way to find romance but when Kevin Elliott began buying his lunchtime sandwich he became friends with the sandwich shop owner who was to become his mother-in-law. Sometimes mum really does know best and when she engineered a meeting between her daughter Rachel and customer Kevin romance blossomed. | read more
A missing bridesmaid and dropped wedding cake may have reduced some brides and grooms to tears but Jenna Watson and Gerhard Schoeman are made of sterner stuff.
The couple met in a night club where Jenna was part of a hen party and her bunny girl costume, particularly the tail, attracted South African Gerhard’s attention. Jenna admits that his taut backside was also a major attraction for her!
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Alan Warner’s family holiday to Devon when he was just 17 resulted in a beautiful white wedding for the Essex boy and his holiday romance, Devon girl Jasmine Higgins who was just 15 when she was first attracted to his hoodie and jogging bottoms style. | read more
Imagine making out the guest list for more than a thousand people. A mammoth task when you already have a wedding to plan! But that's exactly what newly-weds Kiran Akhtar (22) and 27-year-old Yasser Mahmood had to do when they invited almost twelve hundred people to help them celebrate their wedding. | read more
Newlyweds Fay Wood and Steve Lamb, met in the unlikeliest setting of a petrol station late one night when Fay’s friend was in need of chocolate, a kit-kat to be precise, and Steve had stopped to buy a sandwich on his way to a night club. | read more
When Dionne Lee and Jonathan Tyson decided on a winter wedding they certainly pulled out all the stops to make their Christmas Eve marriage truly memorable. The date meant that the couple could embrace their winter theme which included serving Christmas dinner to their delighted guests, magically twinkling Christmas trees decorating the reception venue, saxophonist Carl Sterling (www.carlsterling.com) playing during the meal and singer Gemma Samuel (www.gemmasamuel.net) playing classics and Christmas carols at the welcome drinks. Dionne’s seven bridesmaids dressed in winter white with warm fur capes to keep off the cold and a white horse drawn carriage with dashing white horses transported the beautiful bride to the church. | read more
Visiting the magical city of Venice had always been a dream for Amanda Gray so when her partner, Jeweller Mike Stapleton, arranged a holiday in this most romantic of cities, she was delighted. The trip will always have wonderful memories for the couple as Mike had taken with him a stunning diamond engagement ring and proposed to Amanda in the city of lovers.
At the time Amanda was expecting another child, so wedding plans were put on hold for a while. Emily, now 6 was a welcome addition to the family and a sister for Michael, now 10, but keen to grow their beautiful family further, the couple put wedding plans on the back burner and continued to expand their family with Maisy, 5 and son Frankie, aged 2.
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Diane Huggins was in no hurry to marry her partner of almost twenty years. The couple had been together ever since Gary caught Diane’s eye at his carpet shop, almost twenty years ago.
“I went in with mum looking for lino for her bathroom and after several surreptitious visits to “look at samples” Gary finally asked me on a date.”
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Claire Winsor first met her gorgeous groom, Mark Griggs when they were just thirteen. The path of true love though, seldom runs smoothly and although Claire had a huge crush on Mark he can only remember her as part of a group of giggling girls who used to torment the boys playing out on their bikes and showing off their skateboard tricks. | read more
Nikki Livemore and Dan Williamson’s wedding reception, at the romantic waterside setting of Roydon Marina was everything the couple wished for.
The couple have been together for nine years and opted for a blue and yellow themed wedding to reflect their love of Tottenham Hotspur. | read more
Samantha Porter and Gavin Ireland‘s love of Lindy hop dance and all things vintage inspired them to make their wedding day a vintage extravaganza. Gavin, a former soldier with the REME was the main organiser, taking charge of all the little details as he made Samantha’s dream wedding day come to life. The event was heralded with invitations made to look like ration books and asking guests to embrace the theme to make the day extra special. | read more
Hannah Livermore’s little wedding planner book captured all the special details she envisaged to make her wedding to new husband Michael Thomson absolutely perfect. The couple had been together for nine years but with sons Joshua and Teddy coming along, time and finances seemed against them. | read more
Lifeboat engineer Jack Warry first met his new wife Josephine Crane at a Norfolk boarding when they were just seven years old. “She was my first girlfriend and we remained close friends until the school closed down in 1999 when sadly we lost touch.” Jack explained. | read more
When Lee-Anne Wilson started chatting on line to Dave Collins romance was the last thing on their minds. The couple soon became great “cyber friends” and found that they had loads in common but fate had other plans and when they decided to finally meet up, there was an instant attraction. A relationship quickly flourished. “Dave is the first man I have ever really loved simply for his personality. I’m not saying he’ not good looking too, but being with him is like being with my best friend.” Lee-Anne confided. | read more
When Becky Lister and fiancé Gary Sumner had to cancel their wedding plans due to the financial pressures of having two small children and the economic downturn they didn’t simply put their plans on hold. Gary is a bit of a romantic and had proposed to Becky a year earlier on holiday in the beautiful Greek Island of Kos. | read more
Phillipa Kerr tells us how she really fell for husband Sam Edwards!
A magical, perfect day that went all too quickly for teacher Phillipa. | read more
Not many couples can say that a hurricane brought them together but Jenny Payne and Tim Newbolt might never had met if hurricane Ike had not disrupted their travel plans. Tim was moved from his hotel in the east of Cuba to where Jenny was holidaying with a girlfriend. The couple soon started chatting and the Colchester farmer and Bristol school teacher spent much of the holiday together. It wasn’t until they returned home though, that romance began to blossom when they realised just how much they missed each other’s company.
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The calm serenity of bride Claire Rolfe when she walked down the aisle on her father’s arm to take her vows with fiancé Darren showed no trace of the whirlwind that had been the couple’s wedding plans. | read more
When Holly Tomlin married her childhood sweetheart Matthew Brown after a seven year engagement she looked and felt amazing. The wedding had been planned for almost a year with a sumptuous reception at Gaynes Park, Epping and as both Holly and her parents are in the hospitality industry they knew exactly how to plan a successful wedding. | read more
Getting a newly married couple to the reception on time became a priority for the Dormy House Hotel during the recent snowy weather, when tractors and a convoy of 4x4's were called on to get the bride, groom and wedding guests to their wedding breakfast. | read more