I have a funny feeling this week is going to FLY by. How is this year happening so quickly? Crazy! Anyway Tuesday lovers, here’s an introduction to another of our brand spanking and jolly wonderful new blogging brides. For the uninitiated amongst you, we have a team of real blogging brides that we affectionately refer to as the ‘Lovettes’. You can read about them here. Today, we get to say hello to the very lovely Clare who is tying the knot in just over a years time. Welcome to team Lovette Clare!
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Jonny and I first met three years ago on a sunny Saturday in a pub in Islington, thanks to our special mutual friend, Kate (AKA Cilla), who set us up on a blind date adamant we would get on. Kate’s pre-date brief about Jonny consisted of ‘very dry humour, tattoos, Crystal Palace fan, good hair, looks moody quite a lot but isn’t’ (that last one was my favourite). He managed to live up to all of the above, yet smiled a lot more than expected.
Anyone living in London during the 2012 Olympics may remember the lovely feeling hovering over the city that summer, and we’re both convinced the general loveliness contributed to the fact our first few dates went so exceedingly well!
I had been really poorly with flu the week before the first big meet, and he remembers all too well that my first few badly prepared words to him were unfortunately, “sorry I sound like a bloke” (which he just loves reminding me about – I horrifyingly think it’s likely to get mentioned in his wedding speech).
Luckily for me and my questionable first introduction technique, he looked past the dodgy throat and we instantly clicked, whilst comparing our favourite movies and talking a substantial amount of football. We sadly do not support the same team, therefore we are now forced to endure a relationship-testing two days a year when our teams play each other.
This may sound an odd thing to note, but everything about us being together has always feltso healthy and natural. We’ve spent the last three years having an absolute blast. We get each other and our weird ways, and luckily for us, find them hilarious. He knows that if I’m being grouchy or unnervingly quiet (rare), he needs to get me in front of a pile of food pronto. And I know if I say the word ‘Coldplay’, I’m about to get a half hour lecture about the death of music. I’ll admit it, sometimes I just like pointing out “ooh look babe, Chris Martin is on the telly” for giggles.
I always thought when it came to proposals, you must at very least have a small inclination of what was about to happen, but Jonny managed to show me that I in fact know nothing! He proposed in Barcelona, a surprise birthday trip that my family had sneakily set up for my uncle’s 50th, with muggins here completely oblivious to the fact the biggest planned surprise of all was for me. On our last evening whilst we were all enjoying fancy cocktails in a cute little square off las Ramblas, Jonny, out of what felt like nowhere, got down on one knee in front of my whole family (BRAVE!!) and flashed me with a very lovely flawless emerald cut diamond ring.
Cue one screaming family and cheering Spanish hipster bar! Turns out that a couple of months before the trip, Jonny had travelled up to see my folks to inform them that he planned to propose and sound them out beforehand- rather old school, I know! I have an extremely close family so the fact that all of my nearest and dearest got to share it with us was priceless, it still gives me butterflies every time I think about it. I later discovered that the proposal was very close to happening in the not-quite-as-romantic hotspot of Gatwick airport, thanks to an unscheduled bag search whilst going through customs! On reflection, he did go extremely pale….
I would say since getting engaged, we’ve both been quite shocked to discover just how traditional we actually are in a number of ways. Growing up, I wasn’t really one of those girls that had her wedding day blue prints ironed out from the age of five, donning a makeshift veil/pillow case round the house, let alone have any expectations on myself to definitely one day get married. At the time leading up to meeting Jonny, I had loved my time being single and living in London. Friends had often suggested (it had become a bit of a running joke, in fact) that when it came to dating, I was a bit of a master at honing in on flaws quickly and not giving anyone enough time to grow on me. Looking back, I think I was just very aware that if you’re going to make the decision to settle down with someone and share the rest of your days with, it should be with the person you can’t imagine settling without.
Luckily for me, when Jonny asked me to marry him, answering was as easy as being asked “would you like extra bacon with that?”, that blatant answer obviously being “OF COURSE!!”.
Our wedding will take place July next year, which at the moment feel like yonks away, however many couples have been quick to inform us that it’ll most likely fly by. We have booked our venue, a beautiful Georgian bare-brick barn set in a tiny little village in Hampshire. As for capturing the day, choosing McKinley Rodgers to be our photographers was by far the easiest planning decision we’ve had to make so far! I have been drooling over the stunning work of Pen and Cam featured on Love My Dress since getting engaged, and we can’t wait to finally meet them for our engagement shoot at some point later this year!
I have absolutely loved reading my fellow Lovettes’ stories so far (turns out I’m a total sucker for a good proposal story!), and I’m so excited to see everyone’s wedding plans grow and come to life. A massive thank you to Annabel and her team for the chance to share our wedding experience.
Clare x
A little background on Clare
As this is Clare’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.
Clare Casey is marrying Jonny Haylock on Friday 29th July 2016.
McKinley Rodgers are taking their photographs. You can find Clare on Instagram.
How They Met:
We pretty much covered this above 🙂
About their wedding:
The venue we have chosen for both the ceremony and the reception is a quaint bare-bricked Georgian barn in the tiny village of Buriton in Hampshire. The barn sits in a very cute courtyard surrounded by cottages and the main manor house, and situated right next to a beautiful duck pond. This barn differed from a number we had seen, as you felt you were really at the heart of the village, which seemed to add to its character. I’d say the setting could definitely be described as ‘quintessentially British’ and ticks the classy yet quirky box we were hoping to find when looking for a venue. I had inkling the second I came across the venue online that there was a chance that’s where I would be getting married… luckily enough, Jonny agreed! (phew).
We opted for summer 2016 as we felt 18 months would be the ideal amount of time to comfortably plan. Jonny is also a teacher which means taking time off of work during school term wouldn’t be possible, but hey ho….
The best way I can describe the overall style we are leaning towards is ‘vintage cinema’ old Hollywood; with a modern, edgy twist! Rather than follow one particular theme or genre, the aim is to take bits we love from a number of captured styles throughout time, ideally that we feel complement each other. We are both quite creative types, therefore we want to do as much as possible to stamp a bit of ourselves on the day, and also make it personal for our friends and family. We will have approximately 120 guests of very lovely people. We are beyond excited about having everyone we love in the same room together, and seeing what antics follow as a result (we know some BIG personalities!)
One common factor for both of us is getting the balance right between sentimental and ‘corniness’ . Neither of us are very good with corny- we just can’t pull it off. I mean we struggle with Valentines cards, and a large portion of our day to day affection is dedicated to taking the mickey out of each other- a lot (very childish of us I know, I know; but it keeps us smiling!) I’m still convinced there’s a chance that rather than the ‘embrace and pose’ textbook wedding shots we may be captured high-fiving in the majority of our wedding photo album, with a few finger bunny ears thrown in for good measure (is this a good thing or a bad thing? the jury is still out). Luckily as we’ve seen from Love My Dress, there’s a beautiful and bespoke wedding style out there that can be created to suit all personalities and couples – you just have to put your mind to it. So in summary what this means in practice is: the aim is stylish yet relaxed, with minimal amounts of hessian hearts and strictly no harpist present!
What does marriage mean?
For me, marriage is about managing to get excited about things that you probably never thought you would before meeting your other half! It’s getting excited at the thought of growing old and grey together. Marriage is being able to finding the funny side and enjoying the repetitive nagging about not putting lids on bottles properly; getting bored yet oddly equally love hearing the same lame dad-esque jokes week in, year out; and slowly but surely morphing into June and Leon in Gogglebox (that’s our personal aim, right there!) It’s always remembering to appreciate each other, and knowing that you are better people by being together.
What will actually change after we’ve said our vows? I’m not sure. The weird thing is about weddings, for all the money spent and hours used carefully planning and lovingly preparing for a milestone of what is essentially a single day, the reality is if following the big day in question you stay exactly the way you are with each other right now or yesterday, then congratulations- I think that means you have officially won at marriage!
Favourite Hollywood Icon?
What a fitting question, considering our overall theme! I would say hopefully we will be able to incorporate a sense of a number of Hollywood genres, however if pushed; it would have to be defined as a Grace Kelly and Carrie Mulligan love child- taking Grace’s natural air of chic and Carrie’s uber-cool edgy yet relaxed aura. Oh, and let’s throw in the flirtatious fun side of her aunt Marilyn M.
Jeez, now that really is setting my aims high!!
Favourite Love My Dress wedding:
Hmmmmm… so many stunning weddings featured on Love My Dress, however I found the beautiful and moving wedding of Clara and Jason particularly memorable. The effortless class and individual sense this wedding oozes just blows my mind. The sentiment of marriage and family is also present in abundance, and the creative input from their friends and loved ones clearly adds to its one of a kind uniqueness.
Another aspect of why I am so fond of this wedding is because it so successfully manages to encapsulate a number of style and genre influences (a major double thumbs up from this bride to be!), all of which can be seen reflected naturally in their personalities, of which the photographer manages to capture wonderfully. From the unique floral colour combinations, to the stroke of genius that is their edgy yet elegant theatre wedding venue… I love it all. It demonstrates why spending time adding your own print on your wedding and doing it on your own terms is worth every second.
One thing that I will also personally be taking away as a result of this wedding coverage is, after seeing how stunning Clara looked in her understated and chic number, I am officially a newly converted recruit to ‘TEAM VEIL’! There’s something very special about adding such traditional features alongside contemporary twists.
Oooh this makes me doubly excited about meeting you both soon!! xxx