Real bride interview - Sarah & Matt

A Monday afternoon treat with a lovely real bride, Sarah who married her sweetheart at Warwick House and looked ultra glamourous in the Elsa and Lily dresses in a English Garden themed wedding. 

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

The details;

Bride’s name: Sarah Garrett

Groom’s name: Matthew Evans

Date of wedding: 1st August 2015

Venue: Warwick House

Bride’s dress: Elsa & Lily chiffon

Groom’s suit: Kenneth Cole

Shoes: Carvela

Accessories: Love Shine Bridal @ Etsy

Make up artist: Bryony Dalton

Bridemaid dresses: David's Bridal

Hair stylist: Grace Tunesi

Photographer: Kayleigh Pope

Flowers: Carol Harratt @ Jacqueline the Florist

Cake: Bedworth Cake Shop

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

The background;

How did you and your husband meet?

We met in Lyon, France in February 2009. We both lived in the same building, although we were studying at different universities. It was a chance meeting as he was originally supposed to be in a different city, and then when it changed to Lyon he was previously in a different building but moved!

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

What’s your engagement story?

We went back to Lyon for a holiday in October 2013, and on the first evening he took me up to the top of the hill overlooking the whole city via the funicular. I had never seen the view at night the whole time we had lived there. When we got to the top, I found out later that apparently the spot he had in mind was closed at night, so we ended up wandering around looking for a place to go and found a secluded spot in front of the Fourvière cathedral where the view was fantastic and then he got down on one knee! Afterwards we went back down into the city for a celebratory drink and meal.

Where is your engagement ring from? Did your husband choose it himself?

While we were still in Lyon on our holiday, we went shopping around the jewelry district there and I tried on a few different rings in a few different shops. It actually turned out to be the first ring that had caught my eye that I went for in the end! It’s an antique platinum and diamond ring.

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

The planning;

How long did you have to plan your wedding and was it enough time? 

We had just over a year and a half to plan our wedding, I would say that was definitely enough time – long enough for it not to be stressful but not too long that it felt drawn out.

Why did you choose your dress? Which dress did you wear?

I had already been to 3 or 4 other dress shops and tried on quite a few dresses. Bridal shopping is different to any other shopping you’ll ever do in your life, because all of the dresses are so beautiful and expertly made so it’s hard to narrow them down because none of them are going to be ‘horrible’ dresses and they will all make you feel glam because that is the nature of them! However I could tell as soon as I tried on one of Sabina’s dresses that these were a different level even within a luxury market. The material felt superior to anything else, and the style was exactly what I was looking for without even realising it!

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

 

Why did you choose your venue? Where did you get married?

I’m from London, and Matthew is from Coventry and so we broke with tradition slightly by getting married near Coventry. We decided this because his family is larger than mine, with quite a few more elderly relatives so to ensure that all of them could make it we got married in Warwickshire.

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

The memories;

What was your first dance song?

John Legend – All of me. We both agreed on the song quite easily, because it expressed our own feelings – Matthew would listen to it every single day on the way to work at one point..!

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

How did you feel in your dress?

I felt incredibly glamourous but also very comfortable.

 

How did you feel just before you walked down the aisle?

By that point I was really excited to see Matthew and all our family and friends – it was what the whole morning had been building up to so I did my best to stay calm and hoped the weather would hold as we got married outside.

 

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

How many bridesmaids did you have? Where did you find your bridesmaids dresses from?

I had 4 bridesmaids – one of whom lives in the States so I went to David’s Bridal for the dresses. This meant that the UK based bridesmaids could try their dresses on here as they’ve got a store in Westfield Stratford, and Amélie in the States could try on hers over there (as they have one in almost every town!)

What was your colour scheme or theme?

We went for white and green – green is one of my favourite colours, and we wanted a sort of ‘English country garden’ theme.

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

What was the best moment of your wedding day?

So hard to choose! Seeing everyone as we walked back up the aisle was a lot of fun, as were the dancefloor antics! When we went to the bridal suite at the end of the night, one of Matthew’s aunties had sneaked up earlier to scatter petals on the bed! The venue had also run us a bubble-bath-jacuzzi and left us a bottle of champagne and hog roast rolls for a midnight snack!

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

 

What was the funniest thing that happened on the day?

The photo booth provided a lot of laughs. The funniest thing on the day was either everyone getting fancy dress on for the photo booth, or the dance floor antics.. the groom busting his soulja boi moves and the best man swimming across the dance floor!

Advice;

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

What’s your best tip for dressing for the big day you’d like to share with other brides?

Have your bridesmaids ready to help! I'd say have a trial run with all your underwear/ jewelry/ shoes. Also, if you're fair-skinned it definitely is worth it to get a spray tan (Sienna is the best brand that I've had). Also, it is of course quite a big expenditure to get your hair & make up professionally done but if you can do it, then it is such a good investment the impact is incredible! 

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

What advice would you give to other bride’s planning their wedding?

You and your partner should have the final say on everything – make sure you run everything past them, and try not to ask for too much advice from other people because everyone will have their own ideas of how to do things but it has to be your decision.

Make sure you write lists for which photos / poses you’d like. I had sent standard family ones to the photographer, but they were all quite big group photos, and it would have been nice to have ones with just me and my mum or just me and my dad, etc. Also try to get photos of you with all your friends as the day flies by and although you’re speaking to people you don’t always get pictures with everyone! As for the poses with the bridesmaids I hadn’t thought of this at all so felt a bit stumped all of a sudden on the day when the photographer asked which poses we’d like!

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

Did you discover any amazing suppliers that you’d like other bride’s to know about?

All of the supplies were great, I would use all of them again!

A few that I didn’t include above were:

  • The photo booth company, picbooths.co.uk (or 5starbooth.co.uk for London-based)
  • For the seating plan – we had a map of Lyon from Old City Prints @ Etsy
  • Bee beads for seating plan & bee hair pins from Bee Inspired Crafts @ Etsy

Sabina Motasem minimalist wedding dress

Looking back, is there anything you’d change?

Is there anything you wish you knew before you started planning your wedding?

Only how quickly the day goes!

What was the most stressful thing about planning your wedding?

The guest list always takes a bit of work, and it will throw up issues no matter how you do it so just be prepared for that!

Finally;

What 3 words would you use to describe your wedding day?

Family, friends, delight

 

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September 07, 2015 by Sabina Ali
Tags: Real bride


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