The Lovettes: Hannah and Chris and their Happy Valley Norfolk Wedding

Good evening all, please join me in welcoming another of our fabulous Lovettes team members.  In recruiting our team of blogging brides this time, we wanted to take on brides at all stages of their wedding planning.  Hannah has just two months until her wedding, and I’m delighted that we’ll get to share the final phase of her wedding planning adventures with you all. Please join me today in welcoming this lovely bride to be and her fiance Chris…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So here I am on a little revision break, trying not to think about the now ‘T-minus two months’ countdown to our day – eeek! Genuinely have had to hit pause on the planning at the moment as coming up to finals…but the less said about that the better!
So to the real point of this little bit of writing – not to instil panic in myself at the task ahead, but instead to reflect on mine and Chris’ relationship and tell you a wee bit about us…

I met Chris when I was in my final year at Edinburgh university – I had been invited along to a rugby match by my friend Charlie, I think mainly as company for his sister, but who was I to refuse watching Scotland at Murrayfield? (I appreciate a good rugby player, sorry game!).

Chris was up visiting his brother, Liam, Charlie’s flatmate. I had had a super busy day face-painting at a Christmas fair for the Sick Kids’ Friends’ Foundation and had ended up getting drenched in the rain walking back from Leith(standard November Edinburgh weather!), I was then met with a dilemma as my only pair of jeans were soaked – what to wear? Naturally I settled for a pair of tartan trousers (high quality from the Royal Mile no less!) – well if you can’t wear tartan ‘trews’ for a Scottish rugby match when can you wear them? – on joining the group I was met with ‘Are you wearing your pyjamas?!’ – good start!

Clearly Chris was not put off by my openly ‘fruit-loop’ nature, but as I had plans that evening (a ‘provocative Disney’ house party I think?!) any further advancement on celebratory chit chat (Scotland won – yay!) was put on hold. We met again the following March at the student union ‘Big Cheese’ – I spotted Chris in the queue and admittedly saw an opportunity to push in! – sadly he left before a promised dance – super rude – so social media came to our aid, becoming ‘friends’ on facebook and then swapping numbers, leading to a first date in Manchester where he lived.

To be honest I had decided by our third date that I was completely in love with him, but recognised that an announcement of such magnitude after only a couple of months would probably send him running for the hills, so managed to bite my tongue – being more than a little talkative this was pretty tough, in fact when he did finally tell me, he resorted to writing it on a napkin as apparently he couldn’t get a word in edgeways?!

Chris is a project manager for a construction company and has worked on various projects, including being in the team responsible for Team GB’s accommodation at the Olympics. Having graduated from Edinburgh I worked as an HCA before starting this medical degree, which Chris has had to support me through for the past 4years – I am, shall we say, a fairly stressy individual so no mean feat!

The last five  years have just flown by! We bought a puppy(who then decided my dad was her favourite, hence she lives with my parents!), relocated together for my course, and now have a little house in a lovely village with fabby neighbours and a rabbit called Lilac(who Chris refuses to take responsibility for!). We have a favourite cafe which became even more loved when they agreed to our bizarre request to collect glass bottles for the wedding! – but as Chris’ Grandad says ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’!

Chris proposed on our holiday in Australia last year. We were on a boat in the Whitsundays, it was the second day and we’d all been snorkelling in the morning. There was another opportunity to snorkel in the afternoon but I decided I’d rather chill on the boat than battle with the soggy ‘stinger suit’ to go back out; to my surprise Chris agreed, stating that he didn’t feel that well. I didn’t think much of it so sat down to read my book (‘Wedding Night’ by Sophie Kinsella, no less!).

 

After about 20minutes Chris called me over to the front of the boat and started chatting about us and our relationship and before I realised what was happening he had knelt down in front of me and proposed! I was so surprised I had to ask if he was serious, and then leapt up to share the news with our new friends on the boat forgetting to say yes – oops!! He had managed to keep it secret from everyone except my Dad, who he’d asked permission from before we left, and had kept the ring hidden in a sock for the first 10days of the trip!

 

The planning itself has been abit of a rollercoaster of stress and excitement. I bought a wedding magazine as soon as we got back into the country and promptly burst into tears when reading an article detailing the timeline of planning – the pressure to ‘conform’ and be decisive felt unachievable, especially when I had no clue where to begin(thankfully Chris’ ability/experience at meticulous organisation has kept us on course!).

I found LoveMyDress via a google search for ‘Downton abbey wedding’ and found two of my favourite weddings on the blog (here and here) and thus my daily visits to Love My Dress, Pinterest board and the wedding excitement began! Chris has been dragged literally round the UK: including venue-hunting in Aviemore, a ‘Bridal Boot Sale’ in Wiltshire and wedding fairs in London and Birmingham!

A genuine thank you to Annabel and the LoveMyDress team for offering a little haven for a super indecisive, and subsequently occasionally ‘stressy’, bride-to-be and for letting me be a little part of it as one of the Lovettes! I am so excited to share this 2month countdown with you all! (Anyone have any vintage-esque bridesmaid dress suggestions let me know!?)

Love Hannah x

 

 

A little background on Hannah and Chris

As this is Hannah’s first post for Love My Dress,  we thought it would be nice to share some of her original Lovettes application with you all – to help you get to know her a little better.  We’ll be doing the same for all our new Lovettes when it comes to sharing their first posts.

Hannah Frost is marrying her fiancé Chris on 11th July 2015
Location: Happy Valley, Norfolk
Photographer:  Red on Blonde
Find Laura via: Pinterest + Instagram

How they met:

Chris and I met while I was in my final year of uni at Edinburgh (chosen as my place to study partly with the aim of finding a ‘Scottish husband’ – it’s the accent!) and he was visiting his brother(flatmate to one of my best friends). We were all going to a rugby match (Scotland vs SA – I still have the ticket!) and I was to meet the boys at a pub to travel to Murrayfield together.

Unfortunately earlier in the day, having had to walk home from Leith in the rain, my single pair of jeans were drenched and some serious wardrobe emptying to find an appropriate outfit occurred…in the end I settled on a pair of tartan trousers from one of the super ‘high end?!’ Scottish shops on the Royal Mile – if you can’t wear tartan trousers for a Scottish rugby match when can you wear them?! Anyways it obviously didn’t put him off and Scotland won(sadly a rareity!). Our paths didn’t cross until 4 months later when we bumped into each other in the queue for the ‘Big Cheese’ union night – I was pushing in! – and we exchanged numbers…

The next four years flew by: Chris worked on the Olympics(construction manager for Team GB’s accommodation!), I began a medicine degree(gulp!), we bought a house together and in April 2014, during a holiday in Australia, Chris proposed on a boat while we were sailing round the Whitsundays! – Total surprise! – he’d managed to hide the ring in a sock during the first 10days of the holiday!

About their wedding:

Having decided to be brutally practical and rule out Scotland as an option (trying to juggle Chris’ work, my final year with exams and wedding planning from afar seemed a step too far! ) we decided that Norfolk, having featured heavily in my childhood for weekend trips and family mini-breaks (my dad is a keen bird-watcher as was my Grandad, who sadly passed away three years ago, and my mum loves the sea!) and as a beautiful coastal region, therefore enabling our guests to have a weekend break by the sea, as well as coming to our wedding, was a fabby plan!

We chose a date in July as it will be after my finals (the week before graduation – fingers crossed!), but before I start work and Chris’ project gets super busy for handover in September.

Our service is going to be held at All Saints’ church, Thornham – a beautiful Norman church, home to hundreds of bats! – I love this, as with not being able to get married outside it felt as though nature was coming inside? – Although I am careful not to voice these opinions amongst the church-goers who obviously have to clear up after them…

The venue – ‘Happy Valley’- is then 20 minutes away – we have the house for a few days before so we can set up (with the help of our bridal party and both of our families) and so people can pop by for cups of tea and chatter, as am expecting the day to fly by! We have around 120guests coming from Scotland, Surrey, Cambridge, America and Australia! and our border collie, ‘Bee’ will be taking centre stage in photos!

It’ll be a simple marquee surrounded by trees with lots of fairy lights, garden games, hay bales on the little ‘island’ as a chill out/chatter area and there will be a band and a ceilidh in the evening! My auntie is an amazing ‘shabby chic-er’ and is on the case with lots of props including vintage teacups, lampshades, ladders and crates. We have no ‘colour scheme’, the boys are wearing kilts and we have yet to settle on bridesmaid dresses, but it’s going to be natural, wild, mis-match and as chilled as possible!

What does marriage mean?

I asked my boy what he thought about this one he said: ‘Marriage is a partnership that promises support, strength, care and affection, which ultimately means you will do everything and anything you can to ensure that person is happy, looked-after and safe. You look forward to coming home every evening, as you know within your home there is love and a reason for why you continue to take a step on this planet every day. When you look someone in the eye and you witness a sparkle that triggers a thought in your brain that is accompanied by a warm glowing feeling in your heart every second that you share together, you know you want to spend the rest of your life with that person.’.

I don’t know how to add to that really, bless him?! Other than to say that being with someone who I feel like I fall in love with again and again and who not only accepts that I may be a slight ‘stress-pot’ occasionally, but who can make me laugh when am in one of said stressy moments( – most recently by singing the whole of ‘Let it Go’, with actions!) makes me feel so ridiculously lucky! I am so excited to ‘tie the knot’ with Chris, in front of our amazing families and friends, and to wear my wedding ring as a symbol of our love and our acceptance that, while we have no real idea of the ups and downs of the journey ahead, we are in it together!

Favourite Hollywood Icon?

Hmm, this is a tricky one as I’m not sure our day is going to be ‘polished’ or glamorous enough to be compared to anyone in Hollywood! I have always loved the film ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (Kevin Costner and, embarrassingly, Alan Rickman!), since I saw it for the first time as a child I have considered the final wedding scene to be iconic and ‘how I would like my wedding to be when I grow up’ – the natural beauty of the forest, a flower crown, chilled and happy guests and a barrel or two of local ales!(the latter obviously being a more recent addition obviously!)

Alternatively I could compare our wedding’s personality to the Disney princess ‘Merida’ in the film ‘Brave’ – natural, wild(amazing hair!), slightly stubborn or less than traditional(the date was considered by many to not be overly sensible straight after exams and some raised eyebrows at lots of the ideas!) and definitely Scottish – kilts, a ceilidh and a coach-load of Celts!

Favourite Love My Dress wedding:

Ridiculously tough choice but I would say this wedding is one of my favourites. I love love the vintage style, the commitment to the ‘feel’ of the day and the totally gorgeous photos. The fact that this beautiful bride and groom were completely undaunted by the pants weather is something I am determined to be inspired by (whilst obviously praying and crossing every limb and digit that the 11th July this year will in fact be dry and the sun will deign to put his hat on and come out, even briefly! – I feel £100,000 to disperse the clouds is a ‘little’ insane and probably contradicts my ‘natural’/wild approach!).