The Couple - Siobhan and Grant

Real Bride blog - Siobhan and Grant

Wedding details

The Couple – Siobhan and Grant
Venue – Branston Golf and Country Club
Date – 4th May 2024
Dress – Enzoani – Natsuko

The Couple
How did you meet?

We met at school, he was a year above me. We didn’t start dating until after we finished school. Our relationship blossomed from seeing each other more through parties and nights out.

Your engagement story?

In 2021 during Covid, each month we would make an effort to get dressed up and have a meal at home. At this point we also had a puppy which was 5 months old so we couldn’t really leave him alone for too long.

After a lovely three course meal cooked by Grant, we decided to play scrabble (another favourite!). He asked me to close my eyes whilst he set up the game. Once I opened my eyes he was down on one knee with a very special question which was also spelt out in the scrabble board. Not believing this was true, my first response was ‘are you being serious?!’

Safe to say it was the easiest yes I’ve ever given. Him proposing at home makes the house we live it that bit more special because we will always have that memory here.

We then started doing the excited couple thing and rang around to all our family, who were all equally as shocked as I was! Getting married was never on the plan… or so I thought.

What was the first thing you booked for your wedding and why?

The first thing we booked was the wedding venue… well our first one. We thought this would create the domino effect of booking everything else! Unfortunately about six months later our original venue had cancelled on us (nightmare!) but we were still about 16 months off from the wedding so we had plenty of time to look for venue part two!

We then found our perfect venue, Branston Golf and Countey Club – and it was perfect!

The Wedding Vision

We knew we wanted to do a lot of decor ourselves and that it would be a fun day for everyone.

I settled on the idea of showing our relationship through the years along with memories created with our friends. Being together for 13 years, we have a lot of stories to tell!

Even though it was a summer wedding, I had always been set on the colour burgundy/plum, and this is very much what we went for too. Everything came together amazingly and I wouldn’t change anything we did.

Moment for the Dress

Where do I start with the dress!? It was absolutely stunning!

The dress I ended up saying YES to was Enzoani- Natsuko. I knew I wanted something floaty, fun, with lace and glitter and this had everything!

I kept my jewellery quite simple with a necklace my husband got me ages ago (I have been wearing the necklace for about eight years now), simple earrings, a pendant that was attached to my dress from my mum and a bracelet from my mother-in-law with something blue on it.

I knew I wanted to be comfortable on the day so I opted for flat sandals with bows on them. Let me tell you, flats to a wedding is a game changer! Don’t get me wrong I can wear heels for a long time but I was so comfortable all day. Quite a few people thought I would be wearing converse, I nearly did!

My makeup was quite glam and flawless and I opted for a half up half down hair style which had the addition of real flowers. Absolutely stunning. I wish I could look like that everyday!

Wedding dress shopping

After we booked the venue, I was super keen on getting my wedding dress. My sisters sister-in-law visited Mimi Toko back in 2019 and I instantly knew this was the place I wanted to get my dress (at the time I didn’t think it would ever happen).

After speaking with the girls at Mimi Toko, they picked out some stunning dresses for me to try on.

I knew I wanted it to be floaty, lacey and glittery. When I arrived at the shop (which was based in Duffield at the time) I was greeted with the first dress. This was the dress I actually said yes to after trying on around 15 other dresses. I instantly knew that one was the dress because everytime I tried on a different dress, I was always looking back at that dress or comparing the dress I was trying on to that dress.

I very nearly said yes to another dress but once I put Natsuko back on, I was instantly crying and I said YES!

After I had said yes to the dress, I think I tried it on a few more times, once for my bridesmaids and once when my actual dress arrived. I loved it everytime I tried it on and it was my biggest and longest kept secret I’ve ever had to keep from Grant.

The morning after our wedding the first thing I did was show him all the other dresses I tried on, we both agreed the one I tried on was the best one (phew!).

Tips for future brides

It is easier said than done but try not to stress. I was told that I was one of the most relaxed brides ever from a few people.

At the end of the day, it’s yours and your future partners wedding day, do things that make you both happy. Don’t invite that person if you don’t want to. Get that extra canapé. Choose the bridesmaids you want. It’s your day!

Also make sure you budget, luckily I have a husband who loves a spreadsheet so everything we planned was accounted for and we knew how much we needed to save.