We won't mention the name of the dating app that Connie and Ian met on, but suffice to say they're both very glad they swiped a certain way! They chose a local pub for their first date and quickly discovered their mutual love of rare steak. "The rest just fell into place," Ian says.
Six months down the line, having sat down to their favourite meal, Ian made his excuses and locked himself in the bathroom to put his proposal plan into action. The couple had begun collecting rubber ducks from day one, and loved nothing more than sharing a bubble bath together with a glass or two of prosecco, which served as his inspiration. "I put up a collection of pictures surrounded by fairylights and candles, then ran the bath," he explains. He finished off the setting with a couple of their favourite collectibles in purple and gold, Connie's favourite colours, then invited her in. By this point Ian was on one knee, and they were both sobbing.
With such a brilliant back-story we couldn't wait to find out more, and chatted to the newlyweds about every detail from who wore what, to shocking speech revelations…
We both knew we wanted to get married in a barn, and Canterbury was the location of our first weekend away together. Winters Barns was the perfect setting for us, and its relaxed atmosphere was the icing on the cake.
I knew I wanted a simple dress without a lot of lace, but I couldn't find anything in the boutiques that was what I had in mind. So, I designed my own, and Mum made it. She even made my veil, and trimmed it with the same lace she'd used for the train.
Ian wore a green tweed jacket and waistcoat, with a burnt orange shirt, dark brown chinos and light brown tweed shoes. He completed the look with rubber duck cufflinks and a fox-motif tie in burgundy.
My bridesmaids were dressed in burgundy floor-length gowns with a lace overlay, which were also made by my mum.
Our table plan was made from a ladder of gin bottles. We had to rope in our mums to help us drink enough for this as well as the centrepieces. Funnily enough, they rose to the challenge!
Our wedding bands are rose gold, so we wanted to use copper in the venue décor, which our florist embraced beautifully with the vases. Our table names were gin bottles with fairylights in them.
I accessorised with the garter Mum wore on her wedding day, and had my 1920s-style shoes dyed to complement the flowers and bridesmaids' dresses.
Ian's mum made our wedding cake, which was a semi-naked, three-tier bake in chocolate, lemon drizzle and carrot. It was topped, of course, with bride and groom rubber ducks!
We chose a palette of deep red, orange,and a burst of yellow with lots of green. The buttonholes featured a pheasant feather.
We hired a prosecco bike for everyone to enjoy as a nod to our proposal story. We always keep the corks from the bottles of prosecco we drink, then Ian writes the date and occasion on them. So, he glued them all onto a picture frame and used as a venue decoration.
The venue's catering was fabulous, especially the fish and chips, and bacon butties in the evening.
We hired a selfie mirror as we knew it would get everyone in a silly mood so that we could capture some great 'worse for wear' pictures to look back on! The glitter booth was also a massive hit, and really kicked the party off.
Ian's speech was the highlight of the day for me. He made everyone cry with a touching tribute to his new family, including my son Leo. Plus, it was certainly a shock when I found out about Ian's Arnold Schwarzenegger shrine from his best man's speech!
The staff at Winter's Barns were amazing. Our day ran like clockwork, and we never had to worry about what was coming next or whether something was missing or wrong. Our florist, Amanda, was incredible. All we had to do was tell her about our palette and theme, and she came up with some fantastic ideas. Plus, Alexa, our photographer, had us laughing throughout the day!
We went to Bali for two weeks on honeymoon, visiting Seminyak, Uluwatu, and Ubud where we stayed in in the most incredible place with a private pool overlooking the forest. We planned it together and loved every moment.