Make it as special as your first date
Published at 21:08, Wednesday, 07 July 2010
It will be a date you’ll celebrate on your wedding anniversary for years to come and so choosing the perfect wedding date is important for brides and grooms-to-be.
It’s a Chinese custom to select a date with as many even numbers as possible, while for Victorians it was lucky to marry on the groom’s birthday but many couples choose a number or date that has personal meaning.
For Silloth couple Laura Sprott and Andrew Whitham, the number 10 has special meaning and will take on extra significance as they look forward to their wedding day on October 10 this year – 10/10/10.
There are several reasons why this date is special for the couple, who met at school in Silloth when Laura was 14 and became good friends before they started going out in 2000.
“We were at a wedding a couple of years ago and we talked about getting married,” explains Laura, 27. “I just thought that if the date 10/10/10 was on a weekend then I’d love to get married on that date.
“We have been together 10 years this year so it seemed perfect.
“I wanted a date that would be easy for us to remember and I love the season autumn as well.”
Having a good time together has always been important for Laura and Andrew, whether it’s going on holiday to sunny destinations including Cyprus and Egypt, to fancy dress parties, trips to Alton Towers or going skiing and snowboarding.
“Andrew’s sense of humour drew us together,” Laura laughs. “He is my best friend.”
But their relationship has also seen tough times and they have supported each other through thick and thin.
Andrew, 29, encouraged Laura to study A levels at school and she went to Nelson Thomlinson sixth form before getting a job in the pathology lab at the Cumberland Infirmary. When Laura got talking to a lecturer in radiography who told her about becoming a qualified radiographer she enrolled at St Martin’s College in Carlisle. But part of her course involved a placement in Newcastle and as Laura was uncertain about moving away from home Andrew took a week off work to go with her to make sure she settled in.
But Laura wasn’t happy living away from home and so she was able to complete her studies in Carlisle and qualified in radiography in 2004.
The couple bought their first home together in Silloth and Andrew and his brother Paul spent 18 months renovating the property. Laura and Andrew moved in 2006 and it was Christmas Day that year that Andrew popped the question.
“For years I’ve hinted about getting married,” says Laura. “That year I bought myself a big stocking for a big present and one for a small expensive present and waited to see what Andrew would do.”
The couple love Lionel Richie’s music and when Christmas Day arrived Andrew, who works at Innovia Film, Wigton, made sure that a Lionel Richie CD was playing in the background and waited for an excited Laura to open her small stocking.
“There was a ring inside,” she remembers. “I didn’t like it though.
“It looked familiar and then Andrew told me that it was one of my rings and the real one was under the tree. It was a surprise and the ring was perfect.”
They held an engagement fancy dress party at Stanwix Park Holiday Centre in February 2007, with Laura dressed as a mermaid and Andrew as a Mexican but it wasn’t long after this that plans for their wedding were put on hold. Laura’s dad Steven fell seriously ill a few months later and died in August the following year.
“It was devastating and Andrew was so supportive,” says Laura. “After dad died we started to look at setting a date for the wedding and it gave me something to focus on. We announced it at a barbecue on Bonfire Night in 2008.”
Laura loves everything associated with weddings so planning her own big day has meant she has put this passion for all things bridal to good use.
Referred to by Andrew as ‘The Book’, Laura has created a beautiful book filled with photographs and ideas she has discovered when planning the wedding, including inspiration from Cumbrian Weddings, Your Wedding Planner and Live the Dream Wedding Shows organised by CN Events.
She’s picked out colours and styles that will complement the vintage theme she has chosen for the wedding, incorporating pearls, lace and dusky pinks.
Laura and Andrew will tie the knot at Armathwaite Hall Hotel, Bassenthwaite followed by a wedding breakfast and evening reception.
“I’ve always loved Armathwaite Hall Hotel,” says Laura. “It is a beautiful venue and location. When we decided on the date I was desperate to check if it was available for our wedding.”
Laura will have four bridesmaids – Andrew’s sister Lucy, cousin Lauren Sprott and Laura’s two best friends Anna Sidney and Leeanne Cheng (chief bridesmaid) – and five flower girls. Andrew’s brother Paul will be best man. It will be an emotional day as Laura’s step-dad David Forsythe will be giving her away.
The evening reception will see guests being entertained by soul and Motown singer Wayne Allen from Manchester. Wayne has become known in celebrity circles and he performed at Wayne and Coleen Rooney’s wedding in Italy.
Carlisle singer and DJ Andy Whitaker will also perform.
Laura’s expert organisational skills mean that the final few months before the big day will be a time to enjoy and finalising arrangements and she still has her hen celebration to look forward to.
A five-day trip to Barcelona with 20 family and friends has been arranged by friend Kerrie Ann Allison and she’s pulled out all the stops to make sure they all help Laura enjoy her final weeks before her wedding. They’ll be staying in a castle with their own chauffeur and activities organised include hiring a yacht and cocktail making lessons.
For those family and friends unable to make it to Barcelona, there’ll be another celebration when they get home at Silloth Beer Festival. Andrew’s brother and best man Paul recently got married in Cyprus and they enjoyed a joint stag celebration in Tenerife in May.
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk
