ZOe AnD SARAH
arah proposed to me on the anniversary of our
first ‘date’. She schemed with some of my
closest friends and planned a romantic day of
pampering for me, which culminated in her
going down on one knee at home to present me
with a beautiful diamond ring. I had no idea she was
planning to propose and was so overwhelmed and happy I
just hugged her as tight as I could.
I didn’t realise at the time that Sarah was really anxious that I
hadn’t actually said the word ‘yes’. In my defence, I had thought
the hug and the kiss and the tears of joy implied it! Sarah’s
proposal was particularly romantic as she had factored in my
OCD about numbers and anniversaries – our first date, proposal
and wedding are all celebrated on the same day. A year after she
proposed to me I got down on one knee and presented Sarah
with her own engagement ring. Despite the fact the venue was
already booked and she had bought her dress, I was still worried
she’d say no! Sarah had wanted to do her proposal somewhere
in public but she knew I’d say no just to be funny.
We tried to make our day as much about us as we could. The
music choices were eclectic but we wanted to include our
favourite songs – and it worked on the day! We both walked
down the aisle to Sunshine On My Shoulders by John Denver and
returned up the aisle as Mrs and Mrs to Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.
We’re quite a down-to-earth couple and aren’t very
materialistic or showy, and we just wanted a day surrounded
by our favourite people having fun. We knew we wanted the
ceremony, reception and evening ‘do’ all in the same venue
and we both decided a hotel would be the perfect location.
This would enable family and friends to stay and would also
provide me with a room that I could use throughout the day so
S
‘We wanted to include our
favourite songs – and it
worked on the day!
We both walked down the
aisle to Sunshine On My
Shoulders by John Denver.’
that I could rest when needed.
Sarah suggested that we married in my home town,
Oakham in Rutland, but I told her that was an absurd idea as
we lived in Birmingham, Sarah worked in Birmingham and our
lives together were in Birmingham. So we looked at venues,
found the one we wanted, booked it for October 2014 and
paid our deposit. That June we relocated to Oakham and Sarah
hardly ever uttered the words ‘I told you so’!
The whole day began to evolve once we’d picked the
venue. We loved the look of the hotel as soon as we found it
and both said that we felt like Hercule Poirot as we walked
through the Art Deco hallway. It gave us the inspiration to
have an Agatha Christie/1920s theme and we decided to ask
guests to join us in fancy dress if they wished. We were both
members of an LGBT drama group in Birmingham at the time
and we were pretty certain our friends were going to relish the
chance to dress up. Both of our families loved the idea and
enjoyed spending time putting their outfits together.
pink weddings magazine » 47