Real Bride Stories: A classic and romantic blush pink wedding

Amanda and Michael West finally got to have their magical, blush pink wedding day in August 2022! After many delays to this special moment due to the everchanging tides of COVID-19, this long-awaited time was everything these newlyweds could've dreamed for. I spoke to Amanda about her wedding planning journey, her ideas and inspirations, and her top tips for any newly engaged brides-to-be reading this!

Tell us firstly about the proposal?!

We love Ibiza, and had gone there a few years in a row as we are clubbers. Michael proposed to me in 2010 on the sunset boat party just as the sun was going down, very romantic!!

So... Amanda! Your wedding looks beautiful. What was your initial vision and did this change throughout the process?

"I love pink! Pale pink in particular. My aim was a classy wedding day with pink incorporated. I looked up how to use this colour for weddings on the internet and that is where I came across the 'Pink country flowers' theme. It was absolutely perfect as it used a pale, classy pink. I then found 'Dotty About Paper' which have this theme throughout the stationery we needed, it was meant to be."

Let's talk final look! Give us a feel for your wedding day; Venue, Dress, Colours etc?

"I'm so pleased with how the colours have come together! It was hard to find the pale blushing pink colour throughout but when it was all put together, the flowers, bridesmaids and groomsmen; it matched perfectly. The theme 'Pink country flowers' matched with everything including the church aisle with the petals and the pew ends. Our florist, my niece and I hand-made the aisle pew ends for the church, and the artificial flowers for the venue. All the rest were real flowers, they all complimented each other beautifully."

What about the dress!

My wedding dress was bespoke, I worked with a fashion designer at the bridal shop to create my perfect dress. I'm so pleased with how it turned out! We worked on it for about 6 months before the big day. I loved my dress, I felt like a princess literally! It was sparkly everywhere and we used Swarovski crystals on the straps and V back.

How did Covid affect any timescales/decisions you made?

Our wedding was planned from Feb 2020. We had booked the venue, church and made all of the big decisions and then Covid hit!!! It was a shock as we had been together for 17 years and engaged for 8 of those years before setting a date. The world had thrown this huge spanner in the works the moment that we had decided to plan our big day, we felt jinxed!!

We were going to get married in August 2021, but Covid was still creating a lot of uncertainty so we decided to move the date to August 2022. The suppliers were very understanding and there wasn't a lot of money we had to pay as extra for changing the date, we were very fortunate.

Meeting with our suppliers was almost impossible during Covid. We had a lot of zoom calls and had to wait for things to ease Covid wise before being able to visit our venue and church. It was very unpredictable times and caused a lot of uncertainty. We were just hoping that things would ease by the time our wedding day came. Fortunately, it did and we were immensely grateful to have everyone there together on our special day.

What stationery pieces did you choose from us and how did you personalise them, for example, wedding invitations, save the date cards etc?

Lainey was our main point of contact from Dotty About Paper. She has been absolutely amazing with all of our requests from the very start.

From Dotty About Paper, we used the: save the dates, change of dates, our day and evening invitations, RSVP's, guest information cards, pocket folds, envelope seals and favour stickers. seating plan, wedding sign, wedding arrow, poem for camera cards, guest book and sign, order of service, poem for wedding gifts and thank you cards.

Most of the stationary was bespoke. Lainey created them as per my request and used her own natural creativity. She did an amazing job and gave the best advice which produced beautiful results. The guests loved all the fine detail we had put into the stationery.

What did you find the most enjoyable to choose/book?

I loved it all. I would have to say the venue because as soon as we saw it, we knew it was perfect for our wedding reception. Surrey Downs in Tadworth is so picturesque and was a great blank canvas for us to create our dream.

Did you have any help in the planning and preparation of your wedding day?

We are very independent and made all the big decisions between us. I had a wedding organiser book which helped me to plan. Other than that, I was guided by my suppliers, I was very fortunate to have their support.

Finally, what advice would you give Brides-to-be who are about to start planning the big day!

1. My advice would be to give yourself plenty of time to plan. The wedding organiser book was my bible, I wrote lots of notes and important details in this.

2. Choosing the right suppliers is vital as they were with us on our journey for years so were reliable, considerate and extremely supportive. We researched 3 suppliers for each aspect of the wedding and chose the best one for us. It's good to get comparisons in prices and to just find out how passionate they are about their job as with weddings they need to be, to make the magic happen for you, it is a very special day.

3. Be aware that even with all the planning, the month before will be stressful due to people dropping out last minute, which means adjusting seating plans, menus etc. We had this before our wedding and were able to rectify the changes but it was very time-consuming. Don't be disheartened if people don't turn up on the day. It just makes you realise who are the most important people in your lives as a wedding is such a personal, joyous occasion that friends and loved ones should want to attend to show their support.

4. The day really does go super quick so enjoy every minute and cherish all your pictures and videos afterwards, keep them safe. Your wedding day is one of the best days of your life.

5. The little things that don't go right on the day the guests won't even notice, only you, so just take your time to digest it all and don't worry about any errors.

6. You will feel like you're in a whirlwind on the day, it is a dream come true, one you will never forget, enjoy it!

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs West, from us all at Dotty About Paper!