James and Tara's Wedding in Ampthill, Bedfordshire

Our Real Wedding

We had been together for 4 years, lived together for 3 and had 2 dogs when James proposed. I had always hinted at it being at Swan Lake ballet, which is something very sentimental to me. So on my birthday, he took me to a Safari Park (where we had our first day out together) and did a picnic on the side of their lake filled with swan pedal boats named.. Swan Lake. I already had a wedding ring that I inherited from my nan and so he chose a beautiful, simple engagement ring to go with that.

When it came to our wedding, we wanted it fun, relaxed and intimate with a great evening party and so we chose to have it in a small town pub. My bridesmaids were my sister and best friends, and James' groomsmen were his brother and best friend.

I had originally planned on getting a simple wedding dress from somewhere like Asos, however my friend convinced me to go to one bridal shop for the experience - and I ended up with my very traditional Justin Alexander dress. My bridesmaids dresses were from Monsoon, and the groomsmen suits were a mix of M&S and Next.