Fenella and Stuart’s British Countryside Funfest (and Ottoline’s welcome to the world party)

Photos by PearTree Pictures

 

You might recognize this couple from the Glö homepage and examples page. I just love their story. These two were best friends for 15 years before they fell in love, decided to get married, and then had a beautiful little girl named Ottoline.
One day, Stuart decided that there was no one else he’d rather spend his life with than Fenella. But it was quite a wooing process, complete with a Shakespearean-esque sonnet, candlelit home-cooked meals, and many late night talks about love, commitment, friendship and marriage. Finally a formal proposal came about in the most unexpected of places.

How do I know so much? Because Fenella is one of my closest friends and Stuart is right up with her in my book. To top it all off Fenella and Stuart were among the very first Glö beta-testers, so for me they’ll always hold a special place in our Glö-history and hearts.

The Glö-Couple:

Fenella, a management consultant &
Stuart, a company director

Celebration Date & Location:

August 2010, Pekes Manor, Chiddingly (near Lewes), East Sussex, UK

Tell us how you got engaged:

We had just been to a wedding in Texas. We had only been dating for a few months, but we had been friends for 15 years before that. After the wedding (a great weekend affair on a ranch outside Austin) we went to a shooting gallery (as you do). While holding his Magnum .44, Stuart asked me to make his day!

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you were  aiming for with your celebration:

We wanted it to be relaxed with lots of good food and wine and plenty of opportunties for us to catch up with old friends and for them to catch up with each other. We definitely decided that one day would be too short and so tried to find a place where most people could stay on site and we could have events over several days. Instead of getting a wedding catering company, we found some great cooks who lived in the village and gave them our favourite recipes.

Did you add any fun twists on tradition:

We wrote our own ceremony and each had a best man and a best woman – which made for a lot of speeches! The twists were more with what we took out. The focus was on the people, the food, the wine, and the band. We spent little or no time (or money) on table decorations, favours, my dress or the wedding cake. The table decorations were a a candle with some scattered silver stars a friend had in her garage, the dress was a white 1920’s knee length dress from a ‘vintage’ shop (bought 3 weeks before the wedding), the cake was made by a friend (with plain white icing), and we dispensed with favours altogether.

Also, our daughter Ottoline was turning two the weekend after the wedding, so the morning after we held a “Welcome to the World” party for her – we had a child’s entertainer (which the adults absolutely loved…) and a naming ceremony conducted by her fairy god-mother and father (the closest she’ll get to having god-parents.)

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?

We wanted a simple, clean modern design, that was not too over-wrought or ‘wedding-y’. We were hosting the wedding in the countryside so liked the leaf motif.

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite

View Fenella and Stuart’s Save the Date and Invitation

 

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

1. Ask friends for help from the planning stage and on the day itself – they are delighted to be involved!
2. Nominate someone to be the key person for all the suppliers on the wedding day itself – you don’t need the stress and you won’t have time.
3. The day can go very fast. Plan some time to just be together with your partner to take it all in.

What’s the biggest “say what?”  moment or funny story that happened while you were planning?

Work got very hectic a few weeks before the wedding. A friend suggested I get a wedding organiser to help with the last pieces of planning. The first one I called asked me, ‘What’s the one thing that has to be right… the dress, the car, the cake…’ – totally not the sort of wedding I wanted!