Real Weddings

A Saturday job in Tesco isn’t the most romantic place to meet your future husband, but that’s just where Stuart and I met when we were just 16 years old and both working as Saturday staff. Even then there was a spark, and my mum Vivienne who worked in the store too, really liked him. But at 16 you have your whole life ahead of you. I planned to go to University to study to be a physiotherapist and Stuart had dreams too, so the spark didn’t ignite, although we became firm friends. In fact, Stuart and I turned to each other in the years to come, acting as a shoulder to cry on when we went through relationship break-ups or had tough decisions to make. Then, when we were both 23, we found ourselves single again. I knew Stuart worked as a Deputy Store Manager at Sainsburys so, when I was home from Uni in Hatfield, Herts, mum, nan and I popped in. ‘This is the man Jenna is going to marry’ mum said to nan. But later that night Stuart sent me a text asking me out for a drink. We ended up on the pier in Southend eating fish and chips. It all felt so natural and from that summer day in 2006 we barely spent a day apart. Stuart got a job in St Albans and I was in Hatfield so there was lots of driving to see each other until, three months after we had that first proper date, Stuart moved in with me.

The holiday of my dreams...

After we had been together 18 months, Stuart and I, along with Stuart’s family, booked a holiday to Zante. On September 12th 2008, Stu and I took a boat trip, just the two of us, which ended with a swim in the beautiful sea and a walk along the beach. I was really hungry and a little annoyed that Stuart was lagging behind as we headed towards a restaurant. What I didn’t realise was that he was waiting for the sun to set. A year before we went away I’d had a dream that Stu proposed to me on a beach at sundown, and he’d remembered! As the sun set he asked me to be his wife and presented me with a beautiful

platinum ring set with three diamonds. I was stunned. He’d even asked my dad Alan’s permission before we flew to Zante! The proposal happened right outside a beachside restaurant and I realised the waiter was hovering. Stuart looked over to him and nodded, and out he came with the biggest bunch of flowers I’d ever seen. Stu had asked for 10 roses for each year we’d known each other and 18 lillies for each month we had lived together. His request had become a little mixed up and I ended up with dozens of stems of the most beautiful lillies. They were so big I could barely carry them! Back at the hotel Stuart’s family and some of the hotel guests were waiting with champagne – thank goodness I’d said yes!

A country wedding…

While I couldn’t wait to be Stuart’s wife, I didn’t want to rush the preparations and to be honest I couldn’t decide on a winter or summer wedding and the type of venue! In the end, after a visit to my mum and dad who live in a tiny hamlet near Great Dunmow, I knew I wanted a summer, country wedding, and I settled on August 22nd 2010 with a church ceremony at a tiny church called St Mary’s, followed by a reception at The Reid Rooms. Once the date was settled, I Began my Planning, asking my friends Jenna, Aimee, Charlie and Nicola to be my bridesmaids; Stuart’s sister’s three boys Jack, four; Luke, two and Adam, nine months to be pageboys and our good friend Dean Robson to do the photographs. Stuart was involved a lot too; sometimes in the most unusual ways! One day he witnessed a car crash on the M25 and went to comfort a lady who was shaken up. As he waited for an ambulance and her husband to arrive it transpired that the lady – Mandy Frost – was a florist. She sent Stuart a bouquet to thank him for helping her and it was exactly the sort of flowers I wanted for my wedding – roses and hydrangeas in purples and pinks. Of course she was thrilled to do

Jenna and Stuart had been friends since the age of 16, but it took a matchmaking mum to make the couple realise that they were made for each other…

A Budding Romance

them and even added in some ‘fairy dust’ and tied the ends with silk and a brooch which use to be my great grandmother’s – my ‘something old’. My dress was next – a strapless, corseted number in diamond white with a long train from The White Boutique in Bishops Stortford. For my bridesmaids I chose halterneck gowns in Lilac from Alfred Angelo. Stuart and the two elder pageboys and his best man Neil chose tails hired from Moss Bros with cravats and handkerchiefs dyed to match the bridesmaids dresses.

Our amazing day dawns

The weekend before the wedding Stuart, I and our families headed to St Mary’s to clean the church. It may sound odd but we were to be the first wedding there in a year and the church was filthy, the graveyard overgrown. When we left it was sparkling. We’d cut the grass outside and even cleaned the stained glass windows and polished the pews! Mandy created two beautiful flower arrangements and tied roses and hydrangeas to the ends of the pews which she later took to the reception. Throughout the rehearsal I had sobbed but on the day itself I couldn’t stop beaming. Stuart arrived at the church from his parents Christine and Danny’s house in a Mustang, his favourite car, while Stuart’s uncle who renovates classic Rolls Royces for a hobby did me proud with a beautiful bridal car. Dad gave me away to the trains of the traditional Bridal March played on the harmonium as that’s all the church had, and our 90 guests, packed into the tiny church, smiled and cried as Stuart and I took our vows. It was an amazing and moving service, and thankfully I didn’t cry once!

Bride: Jenna White, 27

Groom: Stuart Priest, 27

Home: Stevenage

Venue: The Reid Rooms, Essex

Date: August 22nd 2010

The reception

After the ceremony it was off to The Reid Rooms for the wedding breakfast – melon followed by chicken and a trio of desserts ; a brilliant best man’s speech from Neil who had even written us a song which he performed on his guitar and to cut the amazing wedding cake made by our friend Gill – three tiers of chocolate, lemon and vanilla sponge surrounded by vintage cupcakes. Around 40 extra guests arrived for the evening reception and to watch Stuart and I have our first dance to Cheryl Cole’s Parachute where we surprised everyone with a choreographed Cha Cha Cha (we’d had sneaky lessons at a dance studio!) followed by Van Morrison’s Someone Like You. Piano DJ supplied the music both throughout the breakfast and in the evening and were superb. Though we really didn’t want the day to end Stuart and I were flying out to Bali on honeymoon the following day so we had to leave to head to the Hilton in Heathrow. However there was one last surprise – my new in-laws had arranged a stunning limo to take us there! Not that I got to appreciate the car too much as I fell fast asleep!

A new life

Our honeymoon – 15 nights in Bali – was incredible and Stuart and I still haven’t come down to earth. We still haven’t had a crossed word since we met. Maybe that’s because we know each other so well, but whatever it is I’m blessed to have found him and look forward to our future as husband and wife.

Recreate Jenna and Stuart’s Wedding

Venue The Reid Roomswww.thereidrooms.co.uk

DressThe White Boutiquewww.thewhiteboutique.co.uk

Bridesmaid dressesAlfred Angelo

www.alfredangelobridal.co.uk

Hair and make-upVanessa at Essex Wedding Hair

www.essexweddinghairandmakeup.co.uk

PhotographyDean Robson

www.rtweddings.co.uk

VideographyBVS Digital

www.bvsdigital.net

FlowersAqua Flower Creations

www.aquaflowercreations.co.uk

EntertainmentPiano DJ

www.pianodj.co.uk

Groom’s suit Moss Bros

www.mossbros.co.uk