Lou and Pete's Gold Glitter and Metallic Wedding by Benjamin Stuart

Happy Monday everyone, I do hope you all had a wonderful weekend? We are back and ready to start the week off in style with this totally fabulous gold glitter and metallic wedding from Benjamin Stuart. Lou and Pete chose an amazing theme after finding the gold glitter bridesmaids dresses, and from there their wedding took on an extra glamorous 1920 theme. With spray painted pineapples and table plans made out of old doors, this wedding not only looks amazing but is full of beautiful handmade projects. With an abundance of amazing food and drink, the guest were so well looked after. I really do wish I could have attended this wedding myself!

We wanted a really relaxed, fun day with amazing food, fabulous wine and for it not to bankrupt us or those attending!!

Lou and Pete's Gold Glitter and Metallic Wedding by Benjamin Stuart

Lou & Pete were married on the 4th June at Aldershot Registry Office & Tweseldown Racecourse. ‘We choose the registry office as the racecourse wasn’t licensed for ceremonies and other venues were quoting a ridiculously high amount to use a room for 30 minutes. It did mean we had to compromise and keep the ceremony to family and bridal party as we were limited to 39 attendees in total. As I work in the events catering world and used to run weddings a few years ago we knew we wanted a complete blank canvas where we would be able to do whatever we wanted. The latest ceremony the registry office could do was midday so we had canapes at the venue so people didn’t go hungry, it meant the day seemed to go on much longer. We had 39 guests for the ceremony, 86 for the day and 122 in the evening. It took us just over a year to plan.’

How they met
We met working in a hotel in Wokingham and have been together 8 years!!

The Proposal
We went to Rome and on the last night after a pretty boozy day then a gorgeous meal with lots of wine and grappa we proceeded to walk back to the hotel. We clambered up the stairs at the Scalinata dell’Aracoeli and sat down to take in the view. Pete went down a couple of steps onto one knee and got out a ring box. I then said ‘what the f**k are you doing’, romantic hey?! I did say yes a few moments afterwards, it was just such a surprise!

How did you allocate your budget?
The majority went on food and wine as we decided that was the most important thing we wanted to get right. Loads of our guests said it was the best wedding food they’ve ever had.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We didn’t really splurge although my ring was pretty pricey and the band for the daytime wasn’t something we originally factored in, and the haybales were quite a lot as we had 30. We were pretty sensible and we saved quite a bit on my dress, using the food as the centerpieces for the tables, going to France to buy our booze, using an old door as the table plan and borrowing Mum & Paul’s marquee for a ‘chill out’ area. We were lucky as family made and gave bits to us – sister did table numbers, Dad brought a load of fabric for the bales and his girlfriend made the BAR sign out of corks which was epic and we have on our window ledge at home.

Why did you choose your photographer?
We did a wedding with Ben last year and as well as his photos being amazing him and his wife were really nice and seeing as Pete tends to grimace and not smile we needed someone who would make him relax and take casual photos when he wasn’t looking!!

The Dress
My dress was a second hand Maggie Sottero from Sell My Wedding Dress which was a bargain (although getting it taken up and cleaned was fairly expensive) and shoes were Dune, I didnt like them to be honest but they were a good all-day-wearing-height, no one saw them and they were pretty reasonable.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Pete’s suit was M&S and the bridesmaids dresses were Debenhams in the sale (£48! I had dress envy when I first saw them!!)

Theme or Colour Scheme
I loved the metallic theme and then saw the bridesmaids dresses so went with gold glitter… Pete suggested a prohibition 1920’s theme too which also worked with the gold so it was a mix of the 2 with whiskey cocktails, peacock feathers and gold glitter! Our flat and my sisters house is still covered in glitter and I think she’s still picking it off my nieces.

Flowers
My amazing uni friend Heidi did the flowers and feathers, and organised the haybales through partybales. She did an amazing job it was all perfect!!

Decoration
We spent ages spray painting bottles and pineapples, ending up with gold hands, writing peg place cards and finding fabric for the tables to try and pull the gold/ 1920’s theme together. We had Pinterest boards which we kept secret so the guests would be surprised on the day.

The Food
We wanted sharing boards which Matt, our caterer, organised perfectly. It meant everyone dug in and chatted as they passed food round. It also meant people could have as much or as little as they wanted. Canapes included: Mini Chicago style hot dogs, Mini BBQ beef burger, Monteray Jack & spring onion skins, Salt cod brandade with chilli mayo. Then we had Charcuterie boards followed by a choice of mains – South coast pulled pork w/ mini brioche bun, shrimp, sweet potato & pepper gumbo or American mac ‘n’ cheese. For desserts we had mini puddings of Lemon meringue, New York baked cheesecake or Double Chocolate opera cake. In the evening we had a street food cart and a wood fired pizza oven!

Wedding Cake
7 tiers of cheese plus chilli jam made by one of my chef friends

Entertainment
The 12^th Street Swingers and DJ Sam. Both were brilliant!

Stationery
We got our stationery from Etsy as it kept the costs low.

Personal Touches
We did everything ourselves from ordering the chairs, crockery etc to fairy light chandeliers (Pinterest fail!) making corn hole, setting up the venue with the help of our families and Charli and we really enjoyed it! Even the clear up the next day!

Special Moments or Highlights
All of it!!! Looking around when we sat down to eat and seeing all of our friends and family, doing picklebacks for a toast, the DJ instigated dance off that we have on video, sparklers in the evening, ALL OF IT!!!

Advice for other couples
Scrimp where you can and spend on the priorities, just because someone else had it doesn’t mean you need to. Search for the bargains and don’t be afraid to try and negotiate and think outside the box.

Biggest Surprise
Just how amazing it was! We enjoyed the whole thing, set up the day before, getting ready in the morning, just everything was absolutely perfect. It really was the best day ever!