Andrea & Jo tied the knot in July 2019 at the beautiful White Hart Inn, Lydgate in Saddleworth.
Jo and I originally met at school, but
then bumped into each other during a meeting at work 30 years later. Six months later, we found ourselves
working on the same floor of the police station where Jo was a safeguarding
children’s nurse and I was a police officer. The police station had a great social life and we’d meet up on nights out – but
we were always reluctant to ask each other out in case it didn’t work out.
Jo: When
the time came for me to leave the unit, I plucked up the courage to ask Andy
out – finding out later that Andy was going to ask me, too! Since then, we’ve
only been apart for three days and we’ve each found our soulmate and created
our home together.
Andrea: For our first
anniversary I secretly arranged for us
to go to Florence, as I knew Jo really wanted to go, and I began to design a
bespoke engagement ring for her that felt more personal.
Jo: Andrea
told me to book the weekend off work, so I knew we were going away but imagined
it to be Cornwall. Then on the Tuesday, she became acutely ill. She was wrongly
diagnosed with a kidney infection when in fact it turned out to be food
poisoning! She faked being well and convinced me she was fit to go…and after an interesting trip around Munich
Airport toilets we landed in Piza. On Saturday we went to Florence where
Andy planned to propose in the Boboli Gardens overlooking the panoramic scenery
of the city – but she was so poorly that by the time we arrived, the Gardens
were shut.
She was devastated, but after handing me
an anniversary card, to my amazement she proposed on the palace steps outside.
And of course I said yes! Andrea had asked for my son Jack’s consent to marry
me…that text made us cry buckets!
Andrea:
In the following April, Jo took me back to Florence and we returned to the
Boboli Gardens where Jo presented me with an engagement ring as she said I
should also have one.
A&J: Our
wedding venue was The White Hart Inn in Lydgate, Saddleworth. It was
recommended by friends who had already attended a wedding there. We both wanted
a big party and we immediately fell in love with the venue’s location, rooms,
food and amazing staff. The location was just perfect for all our guests and
comfortably accommodated the 280 we had planned for. Having attended a wedding
fair at the White Hart we met so many of our suppliers, such as our
photographer, cake company, string quartet and venue stylist. It was a
fantastic opportunity to meet businesses that were familiar with the venue
itself. The ambiance and atmosphere was just
what we wanted for our special day, so we made the decision that the
White Hart Inn would be our dream venue.
We fell in love with an image of a
bouquet that our friend Kelly sent us, which then influenced our rustic theme
and she incorporated this into all our wedding stationery and signage. We chose
the thistle blue from the bouquet for the
bridesmaids dresses and a variety of white, peach and antique pink roses along with
the thistles for our place settings, which our niece, Talia, the florist of the
family created, making our dreams a reality.
Jo:
Our first dance was to ‘My First My Last My Everything’ by Barry White which
all the guests gatecrashed! The last dance was epic and all the guests loved
it. Andrea flashed her bum which had everybody
in stitches but she didn’t realise it would be filmed (#700 views on
Facebook and counting).
Jo: I’ve
got so many stand-out memories from the day. Seeing Andrea walk down the aisle.
She is so beautiful and I’m still in awe that I get to spend my life with her.
My son’s amazing speech…not a dry eye in the house. We sang Happy Birthday to
our friend who postponed her 50th birthday celebrations to come to our wedding.
And my terminally ill Dad, doing his best to be at our wedding and all our
amazing family, friends and staff who supported him to enjoy the day. He passed
away a week later.
Andrea: My stand-out memories include seeing Jo, the absolute love of my life, waiting for
me at the end of the aisle. Our wedding vows, which were so heartfelt and real, especially as Jo looked into my eyes with
such love. My Dad walking me down the aisle, as I never envisaged this
would happen. My beautiful sisters Lisa and Nicolle (bridesmaids) who went
above and beyond to make our day run smoothly; my amazing stepson Jack’s speech
which brought me to tears; and my pal and father-in-law’s presence, despite his
illness, will always be etched in my memory and heart.
Many thanks to Christopher Leis
Photography for supplying Andrea & Jo’s images
http://www.christopherlewisphotography.com/
Supplier list:
https://www.thewhitehart.co.uk/
http://www.alisonburgesscouture.co.uk/
https://www.lafleurbridal.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/katiegarnettmakeup/
https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaJamesSalon/
Flowers by Talia Fay Burlison
https://www.facebook.com/LancashireChairCovers/