Monochrome magic

Rebecca and Jon share the details of their glamorous black and white themed wedding.
Images courtesy of phillipnashphotography

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Early days…

Teachers Rebecca, 27, and Jon, 31, had been together three years before they married.
"Jon and I met at King Edwards School in Witley which was the first teaching job for both of us," says Rebecca. "We fell in love at first sight and we were engaged within six months."

The proposal…

During a trip to China, Jon popped the question to Rebecca while they were standing on a street corner in Beijing.
"It was a total surprise," Rebecca says, "I nearly ruined all of his plans though, as he was going to ask me on the Great Wall of China. Unfortunately earlier I had made a comment about what a cheesy place it was to propose. So he ended up asking me in the evening after dinner."
Rebecca shares the details of their special day...

The venues…

"We chose the church because it's in my home town and the church is practically in our back garden - we always hear the bell ringers practising. We had our reception at Farnham Castle, the food was fantastic and who wouldn't want to get married in a castle?"

The attendants…

"I had four bridesmaids - my sister and maid of honour Louise, and my best friends Claire, Lisa and Rachael. They each wore a black, one shouldered evening gown from Karen Millen, accessorised with black and white earrings and a large statement black flower ring.
Jon had his best friend Tom as his best man, and his friend Steven was the MC for the day. He met both of them at drama school. His groomsman was Mike, the maid of honour's boyfriend.
The men wore black tails, grey trousers, a white shirt and waistcoat and personalised black and white polka dot ties and handkerchiefs from Gresham Blake."

The dress…

"I wore a strapless fishtail ivory dress with full ruching and a lace bolero by Ritva Westenius. For my 'something old' I wore my nanny's pearls in my hair, a pearl vintage bracelet and pearl earrings. My 'something borrowed' was my grandmother's wedding ring, which was sown into my dress and I wore a new blue garter.
I wore custom-made shoes from Emmy, a London boutique, and my bouquet comprised white calla lilies."

The transport…

"Jon and I travelled between the ceremony and reception venues in a Bentley and my bridesmaids arrived in my dad's black Chrysler."

The decorative touches…

"For our centrepieces we had large black martini glasses filled with fairy lights and tall standing lilies. For the favours, we gave each of our guests a lottery ticket - the numbers were the date of our wedding.
We had a fantastic black and white chocolate wedding cake from Choccywokkydoodah as dessert. This was a two-tiered creation, covered in white chocolate and decorated with handmade chocolate lilies and orchids and detailed with black stamens and outlines."

The best bits…

"Everything worked like clockwork except for a spot of rain, but the photos with the umbrellas are great. The best part of the day was obviously saying our vows and then seeing all our friends and family dance the night away on the dance floor."

Top tips…

"Use the local companies recommended by your venue, as they will know the area better than outsiders. Ours were fantastic.
Also, I lost the table plan and all the guest information, so I would recommend backing-up everything.
And don't forget to enjoy every minute because it goes so fast. Have someone film the wedding - it's brilliant to watch the next day."

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