James and Emma held their wedding at Lancaster House. We are thrilled that they shared with us details of their wedding planning along with photos of their wedding celebrations.
The couple met while they were both at Sixth Form College, when Emma was 16 and James, 17. They were on a college trip to view Leeds University, and none of James’ friends went so he tagged along with my Emma’s friends. The rest is history!
Emma shares with us their story:
A Surprise Proposal
For our five year anniversary together James planned a surprise trip to Rome. I had no idea where we were going (I thought it was a camping trip in the Lakes!). My mum had packed my case, and James arranged the whole trip holiday.
On the 12th July 2012 (our actual anniversary), our second day in Rome we went to the Trevi Fountain. It is tradition while at the Fountain to throw a coin over your shoulder into the Fountain, and James had coincidently told me this story during the day! He gave me a coin and said I had to close my eyes while doing it, me oblivious to everything I did as I was told and when I opened my eyes he was down on one knee! I… after controlling my tears said yes!
Finding the Perfect Wedding Venue
We looked at a few different wedding venues and knew what we wanted. After seeing Lancaster House and all that it has to offer we knew it was the right place. The option to have it as an exclusive wedding venue was a great appeal to us. Also, plenty of bedrooms for our guests, the fantastic staff and that nothing was ever too much trouble – we appreciated this through the 2 years of planning the wedding! All staff were unbelievable and very friendly, definitely the hotels biggest appeal!
Choosing the Wedding Dress
I took my Mum, sister and mother in law to my wedding dress appointments. I knew I wanted straps on my dress and nothing too big. After trying on roughly 20-30 dresses in two shops, I went back to Dreamcatcher in Kirkham to try on a dress again. I knew it was the right dress when my Mum, sister, mother in law and shop owner all cried!! After all the fittings and adjustments I couldn’t wait to wear it and reveal it to James and my Dad.
Grooms Outfit
James went with his Dad to ‘look’ for possible suits, I got a phone call an hour later from James telling me he had booked the suits! They were from Slaters and were the grey tails that he wanted.
The Wedding Breakfast
The food was James’ area of the wedding! He knew before booking the hotel that he wanted beef for the main course. As we are quite different in our food choices it was great we could have two options for all the courses (but 3 for the starter to suit James!). All food was fantastic, and any changes we wanted to make after the tasting were made without any fuss.
Table Settings
With not being a massive flower fan and wanting a little something extra for the evening table saw the gypsophila vases with lights in a florists leaflet (Sonje Jones) and knew that was what I wanted. She did a fantastic job and decorated the aisle as well as the top table and all bouquets and button holes.
Wedding Favours
After going to a friend’s wedding several years ago I ‘borrowed’ their idea of having charity pin badges (cancer research) as the favour. I would much rather have the money go to a good cause then have all the favours left on the table at the end of the night. We also got personalised love heart to go with the pin badges.
The Wedding Cake
Not too interested in the more traditional tiered cakes but we wanted a top tier to cut. After peaking to Bout Cake at one of your wedding fairs and tasking their cakes we were sold on the cupcakes with small top tier.
The First Dance
I knew before we even got engaged what our first dance song would be should we ever get married! when we did get engaged, I suggested it to James and he immediately agreed. Chris Brown ‘Superhuman’ means so much to us a couple because during my first year away at university (in Birmingham), James stayed in Blackpool, we went to the Manchester Arena to see Chris Brown and he performed that song and it was the moment knew James and I would be together forever.
Honeymoon
After going into the travel agents to book our honeymoon to Dubai and Sri Lanka, we came out having booked four nights in new York three nights in Washington and four nights in Miami! After finding out August was monsoon season in Sri Lanka we changed tact and went for an adventure honeymoon. It was incredible, and we got to experience the hustle and bustle of new York history and green spaces in Washington and beaches in Miami.
Weddings at Lancaster House
James and Emma with our wedding co-ordinator Lauren on their big day.
Lancaster House Wedding Showcase
If you are planning your wedding, or even just dreaming about the possibility, come along and meet our Lauren and the team at our next Wedding Showcase evening on Thursday 25th August 2016 from 4.30pm to 8.00pm.
For further details please contact our wedding team on 01524 844 822.
