HOLD ME CLOSE

Ciara and Sonny celebrated their big day at Hampton Court Palace Golf Club with a green, cream and white colour scheme

Images courtesy of HayleyB Weddings

Ciara and Sonny have known each other since they were children. “I went to school with Sonny’s sister,” says Ciara. “Later in life, we bumped into each other, and there was an instant spark. I was attracted to Sonny’s good looks, sense of humour and chivalrous manners.”

Sonny surprised Ciara by proposing on Christmas Day in 2017. “I had been quite picky about never being proposed to on a special occasion, so the fact it came on Christmas Day made it all the more surprising,” shares the bride. “My favourite fi lm is Love Actually, and even after seeing it a million times, I never get bored, so Sonny decided to reenact the scene where Keira Knightley opens the door and has a declaration of love held up to her on big whiteboards. Sonny had our daughter help and it didn’t click until about the third page what was happening, but I said yes!”

Here the bride shares some of her favourite moments from their big day...

For our favours, we gave our guests scratch cards and a lucky penny which doubled up as place names.

The grounds at Hampton Court Palace Golf Club are just beautiful. We loved that we had the freedom to create the day we wanted using our own suppliers and ideas. Marian and Kim from Hampton Court Palace Golf Club worked so hard to make sure everything went smoothly and helped us plan the day to perfection. We wouldn’t have changed a thing!

The centrepieces were pink flowers from BBL Floral Design.

Katy from Icing Elegance provided our cake. We hired traditional London buses from Rent A Routemaster to take our guests from St. Matthias Church to Hampton Court Palace Golf Club. It was a massive success and got our friends and family in the party spirit.

I wore a Monsoon wedding dress. I felt so comfortable and accessorised with a mid-length veil and pointed shoes from ASOS. Sonny chose a navy three-piece suit with a grey-checked waistcoat from Dapper Formalwear while the other members of the party wore navy versions.

On the morning of the wedding, I felt surprisingly calm. Once the official church part was over, we were both excited and grateful to have all our family and friends in one place after so long apart. The bridesmaids opted for dark green gowns with gorgeous pleated bodices and romantic cowl backs.