RealLifeWedding
Romantic ceremony at
Thrumpton Hall How it began... Alanna Young first met Damon Humphrey in a nightclub after a night out with friends. He asked for her number at the end of the evening and rang the following day. Says Alanna: ‘It wasn’t long until we spent nearly every day together and soon we were completely inseparable. I think very early on we both knew we had met The One.’
The proposal Inspiration for Damon’s proposal came from the television programme The Vicar Of Dibley – whenever it was on Alanna always turned to him and said: ‘It looks so lovely there, I would love to go and see that village.’ Damon decided that it would be the perfect place to propose and discovered it was filmed in the village of Turville in Buckinghamshire. ‘He told me we were going out for the day and we drove to Turville,’ explains Alanna. ‘I had no idea where we were going or why. Once we were there we took a romantic walk and he proposed to me in a beautiful church garden filled with flowers. It was perfect, very thoughtful and definitely very personal to me.’
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The venue The couple opted for a civil ceremony and knew that they wanted to get married somewhere with beautiful gardens. They decided on Thrumpton Hall because it is secluded and surrounded by the most beautiful gardens. Alanna says: ‘We loved that Thrumpton Hall has a beautiful lake, complete with graceful swans, and also the quirkiness of the secret gardens. The Hall also has the most magnificent carved wooden staircase, which helped provide a great backdrop for the wedding party’s big entrance. ‘We made the ceremony more personal to us by adding in readings and we made promises to each other alongside our vows.’ After the ceremony they moved on to the Rutland Square Hotel in Nottingham city centre for the wedding breakfast and evening reception. The dress Alanna’s dress was by Maggie Sottero and she also wore a full-length veil covered in very delicate crystals, with jewellery from Swarovski. Both the dress and veil were from New Bride, Nottingham. ‘I knew I had found my dress as soon as I tried it on,’ she says.
‘I always said I’d never get married in a pink dress and in the beginning I only looked at ivory dresses. That all changed when I tried on this pink dress that I liked for the beautiful bodice and I decided right there and then that this was the dress for me. I completely fell in love with it and I never looked at another dress again. The colour of the dress is actually called Pearl Rose and not pink, which made me feel better! ‘I can honestly say I felt like a true princess on the day and I’m planning to come down to breakfast wearing it on our first anniversary, just so I can wear it again!’ Alanna’s hair was done by her friends and she did her own make-up. ‘Having my friends and my daughter, Grace, with me to get ready on the morning made it such a fun and exciting experience and I never had time to feel nervous.’
WHITE Weddings
RLW Alanna&Damon.indd 60
13/11/09 11:30:00 am