Hitched Win a Wedding Winners: Courtney & Adam's Classy Affair at The Majestic

Classroom sweethearts Courtney and Adam tied the knot at The Majestic in Harrogate in September after a romantic Thanksgiving proposal in New York

Maisie Peppitt

19 December, 2024

Courtney and Adam on their wedding day holding hands as they walk out of their venue into the lawns

Hitched Featured Suppliers:

Wedding Venue: Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa
Wedding Flowers: Favour & Grace
Wedding Styling: Love Lights the Way
Wedding Jewellery: Liberty in Love
Wedding Hair & Makeup: Lucy Diana Makeup Artist
Wedding Videographer: Big Day Productions
Wedding Alterations: Sewing Solutions
Wedding Tuxedos: Slaters

Courtney and Adam had the chic wedding of their dreams after winning Hitched's 2024 Win a Wedding competition, surrounded by family and friends in September of 2024. The couple tied the knot at The Majestic in Harrogate, a day that they'll treasure for the rest of their lives.

But before we spill the wedding tea, let's take a walk down memory lane.

Sharing how it all began, bride Courtney explained, "We met in secondary school, we were in some classes together, started speaking and seeing each other out of school in our last year of school and by April 2016 were we together. We then went to the same college after GCSE’s and we both stayed in Hull for University.

"Throughout university we worked and saved our student loans for a house deposit. After university we both got full time jobs and in May 2022 we bought our first house".

We love a story of childhood sweethearts, and Courtney and Adam's takes the cake! The pair managed to buy their first home together through saving and hard work, and we're so pleased they were able to make their wedding dreams come to life as well.

A Romantic New York Proposal

After six years of dating, Adam asked Courtney to marry him during a trip with her family to New York city. He knew that her favourite Christmas film is Miracle on 34th Street, and that seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was a life-long dream of hers. So on Thanksgiving morning, they got up early and headed out to watch the floats.

After three hours, they walked to Central Park and found a quiet corner by the boathouse. There, Adam decided to get down on one knee and ask Courtney to marry him.

Explaining how it all happened, Courtney said, "I was in shock and so happy. Little did I know, Adam had planned to do it at the parade but it was too busy and crowded to get to the spot he had planned so he stood for three hours panicking about how he was going to propose.

"At one point after the parade Adam knelt down to tie his laces and my mum quickly got out her phone to take a picture - I don't know how I didn't figure out what was going on! It ended up being the perfect proposal."

When describing the ring, she said "it's a white gold band with pear shaped diamond. I had previously shown Adam the rings I liked and he picked the perfect one for me!"

Once arriving back in the UK, the pair had originally planned to have a four-year long engagement. But, thanks to winning a £25,000 wedding with Hitched, they were able to tie the knot after just 22 months.

The Wedding Dress of Dreams

Courtney's dress matched the style of her wedding day - simple and classy.

"My dress was ivory, a-line shape with a low back. During my dress alterations I asked the seamstress to add a big bow on the back of my dress. It was a Sofia Cruz, and I bought it from Wed2B.

When describing why she chose it, Courtney said, "I loved the simplicity of the dress. The long train and the neckline were what made me choose this dress over others I had tried on. I felt amazing in it. I only tried on around five or six dresses as I did have an idea of what I wanted before going to try on dresses.

"There were parts of others, like the big bow on the back, that I liked, however the shape and neckline of my dress made it the ‘one’. I just took inspiration from other dresses to make it the perfect dress for me."

Of course, no wedding look is complete without the right accessories or jewellery. "My shoes were the BeMine collection on ASOS", explained Courtney. "A simple satin material block heel.

"My jewellery was from Liberty in Love. I had earrings, a necklace and a bracelet all from there. I also bought my bridesmaids earrings from there as gifts on the day. I also wore a cathedral length veil for the ceremony.

"I did have a second dress from Odd Muse that I was planning to wear the night of the wedding, however I ended up wearing this the night before for our pre-wedding party. When I went for my final dress fitting I made the decision I was going to wear my wedding dress all day and night, I just felt incredible in the dress and wanted to make the most of wearing it."

Adam's Smart Wedding Look

As for Adam's wedding look, Courtney teased that he didn't have much choice! She had a vision of all the groomsmen being in tuxedos, as after all - if you can't wear a tux on your wedding day, when can you? Adam hired a black tuxedo from Slaters for a real 007 effect.

"Adam had some personalised cufflinks from Badger & Brown", Courtney added. "We also bought the groomsmen and our fathers some personalised cufflinks from there."

Later on, Adam swapped out his bow tie to an untied bow tie, took off his jacket and unbuttoned his waist coat for a more relaxed look.

All in all, the overall effect was a classic, timeless look to go with the whole wedding theme.

Adam & Courtney's Friend-Filled I Do Crew

This is one popular couple! And the evidence is in the wedding party. In addition to the support of their loving families, they also had some brilliant friends onboard to help make their special day come to life.

For Courtney, she chose her primary school friend Megan to be her maid of honour. "She is the life of the party wherever she goes", said Courtney, "and I knew she would make the whole wedding experience so much fun."

Her bridesmaids were her best friends Rosie, Evie and Tia, and her cousin Grace, and they all wore the Cowl Back Satin Bridesmaid Dress in the colour champagne from Six Stories. Meanwhile, the maid of honour wore the Flutter Sleeve Wrap Tie Chiffon Dress in Vintage Cream.

"The colours and styles really complimented each girl and were on theme with the colours of the wedding", explained Courtney. "They all looked stunning!"

For Adam, his best men were his best friends from school, Elliot and Ollie. His other best friend from school, Dylan, was a groomsman, along with his brother Linden. Like the groom, they all hired tuxedos from Slaters.

A Very Special Morning

Courtney was over the moon when she finally revealed her first look to her bridesmaids. "It was really special as I had kept my dress a secret from them", Courtney explained. "Their reactions were everything a girl could dream of from her best friends.

As for hair and makeup, Courtney used a close family friend, Esther, who works The Salon in Hull. She's been in her life for years, and did everyone's hair in the bridal party.

"And for my makeup, I used Lucy Diana Makeup. She was lovely, made everyone feel so comfortable and we all loved our makeup on the day.

When describing how she wanted to feel on her big day, Courtney used the word "authentic". "From my dress to my makeup and hair I wanted to stay authentic to myself", she explained, "I just wanted a classic bridal look. My hair was up in a ponytail which is my everyday look. We just jazzed it up a bit with some volume in my hair and some curls."

Time to Say I Do

Courtney and Adam's wedding was held at The Majestic in Harrogate. The couple had a pre-wedding party on the Friday night in a private room with a jazz bar and pizza, and the guests were all able to stay overnight at a discounted rate - plus, they could use the spa facilities!

On Sunday morning, they also cornered a section of the restaurant off so the wedding guests could sit together.

"I loved the feel of the place", said Courtney. "It was so calming and the decor was lovely, it just really fit into what I had imagined our wedding would look and feel like.

"We chose a neutral theme, golds, champagne, and creams with hints a black here and there. I wanted a really classic but modern theme as I’m not an ‘out there’ type of person. I love the look of bright florals but it just isn’t me."

The ceremony took place in the same venue, and Courtney walked down the aisle to 'No Air' by Chris Brown and Jordan Sparks. Her Dad and Step-Dad both walked her down the aisle together, and Courtney's flowers came from Favour and Grace, and she walked down the aisle holding a bouquet of cream roses.

The bridesmaids had the same but smaller versions, and there was also a corsage for each mum with a single rose and some foliage. Adam, his groomsmen and the fathers all had buttonholes of one cream role and some foliage.

They exchanged rings, made by H.Samuel, and when looking back on the moment they were married Courtney confessed that, "he feeling of being pronounced husband and wife was like no other."

Post-Ceremony Celebrations

After the celebration, the wedding party continued the festivities at The Majestic, enjoying a selection of canapes during the cocktail hour. The wedding breakfast menu boasted delicious dishes such as tomato soup, rolled beef with potatoes and veg, wild mushroom risotto for the vegetarians, a butternut squash, gruyere and quinoa roulade, and to finish a white chocolate and raspberry bomb and a vegan vanilla cheesecake.

For the evening menu, guests could choose from some cold options as well as hot food such as noodles, salt and pepper chicken, fried rice, spring rolls and much more - yum!

And of course, we can't talk about food without describing the wedding cake. Courtney and Adam chose a salted caramel sponge with vanilla buttercream from The Fat Birds Bakery in Harrogate, delicately scattered with edible pearls. It was sliced up and left out for guests to take home as a tasty treat.

As for wedding favours, the couple chose miniature alcohol bottles, which they ordered from The Bottle Club. Each table was topped with either a blossom tree with a champagne chiffon puddle at the bottom over the base, whilst others had tea lights surrounding it.

Other tables had floating candles with the chiffon puddle and some extra tea lights, and the pair chose a sweetheart table with a chiffon runner and different height candles running along the front.

Anyone that knows Adam and Courtney knows that they support the Hull Kingston Rovers rugby team, and the pair even named the tables after the team's existing or past players!

When talking about entertainment, Courtney revealed that, "our venue provided us with a photobooth and all of the guests loved it, there was a constant queue!"

They also used Royal Casino Events to set up casino tables during the evening reception, along with a DJ from Evallance. The casino tables offered prizes to guests throughout the evening, and even had chips personalised for the happy couple.

Evallance also provided a LED dancefloor, lighting and a white backdrop and set up with personalisation on the DJ booth for a real party set-up, topped off with CO2 cannons from Evallance that the couple used during the evening reception.

Megan, Courtney's maid of honour, sang 'You're Still the One' by Shania Twain for their first dance, a moment that the pair will treasure from their special day for the rest of their lives. Sadly, Courtney's grandad was too ill to attend their wedding day, but Adam surprised her with a poem that her grandad had written for the day.

"I really wanted my grandad to be there with us on the day", Courtney explained, "and Adam reading out the poem during the speeches made me feel like he was. I don’t think there was a dry eye on the room, it was so special and I can’t thank Adam enough for organising it with my Grandad in the lead up to the wedding."

Sadly, Courtney's grandad passed away five days after their wedding day. Having the poem from him is something they will treasure forever.

When discussing the organisation of the big day, the couple agree that "the wedding coordinator for the venue was a massive help in the lead up to the day and on our wedding day. We had a few bumps in the road on the day but our coordination made sure everything was on track."

Looking Back

Just a few months since their wedding day, Courtney and Adam are still reeling in newlywed bliss. When reminiscing about the big day, they confess that if they could do it all again, they wouldn't change a thing. "Not everything went perfectly to plan", they admit, "but it was still the most amazing day of our lives."

As for tips for other nearlyweds approaching their wedding day, the couple advice is to "just try to live in the moment and not worry about everything going perfectly. Everybody says this but it goes so fast so just enjoy every second."

We asked Courtney for her favourite moment of the day, and she shared this sweet anecdote. "After the ceremony, Adam and I were in a private room just the two of us having a glass of champagne while all the guests were making their way outside for the confetti throw.

"It was so nice to have that time together to talk about our mornings and how we were feeling after we had just got married." Sweet!

Courtney & Adam's Featured Suppliers: