Real Weddings Chelmsford: A Champagne-themed wedding

Leanne and Les met through mutual friends at a local pub in 2012. “We’ve been inseparable ever since,” says Leanne. Les later proposed when the couple were on a flight to New York. “We love travelling and we saved up for a First Class flight to New York City,” says Leanne. “I had no idea but when we boarded Les had already spoken to British Airways and all of the crew and the pilot were in on it.” 

A flight to remember

“One of the crew members kept me busy by taking photos of me, as I was just so excited to be in First Class. Little did I know, Les was near the cockpit at that point, with the rest of the crew, planning the proposal."

"During our meal he came and sat opposite me. Then, when the lady arrived with dinner and removed the cloche, instead of my main course she revealed a beautiful engagement ring. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I said, ‘Yes’ and the pilot announced it over the tannoy to the whole flight! We also got to sit in the cockpit after landing. It was the best flight ever!”

Wedding dresses Chelmsford 

Leanne won WED2B’s weekly wedding dress competition. “It was absolutely amazing, as I’d even planned to go into the Chelmsford store that Wednesday,” she says. “It was fate! I always knew I wanted a blush or champagne dress and when I tried on a beautiful champagne Anna Sorrano design I just knew it was ‘The One’ (for similar try Paola, Kelsey or Lennon). The staff in the store were amazing and really looked after me, my mum and my maid of honour. We also bought a pretty belt, veil, veil topper and underskirt."

"Later, we had to move our wedding date twice due to covid, and it changed from being a Summer wedding to a Winter wedding. I contacted WED2B’s friendly Live Chat team online and the lady helped me choose a gorgeous faux fur jacket to wear, which kept me warm on the day and looked fab.”

Summer, Spring and then finally a Winter wedding

The wedding venue was The Compasses at Pattiswick in Essex. “It was the first venue we saw and nothing afterwards lived up to it,” says Leanne. “It’s a beautiful venue but we also booked it for the amazing team there. We just knew they cared and would look after us, which they did. Our day was perfect."

"We first booked for the 13th June 2020, then moved it to the 27th March 2021 and then again to the 4th December 2021, which was my late father's birthday. He left us the money we were using to pay for the wedding, so we thought this was a very fitting tribute to him. Again, I think this was fate, as the venue in winter was stunning. Very rustic with fires burning, so our burgundy theme went perfectly.”

The big day

"My mum walked me down the aisle to ‘Stand By Me’ by Florence and the Machine,” says Leanne. “We wrote our own promises to one another and had two beautiful readings, read by my brother and my maid of honour. We then walked out as husband and wife to 'You’ve Got the Love’, also by Florence and the Machine. Luckily, for December, we had a lovely sunny day. It was very cold, but we managed to get some stunning photos outside, before it got dark.”

A champagne afternoon tea

The theme for the day was burgundy and Champagne. “The ceremony was followed by a yummy afternoon tea accompanied by some bubbles,” says Leanne. “Les and I toasted with Veuve Clicquot Champagne, as this is our favourite."

“We chose burgundy as my mum had this colour scheme for her wedding and also Les picked this to match his gorgeous navy suit.”

“Champagne was the main theme, as we love Champagne. The tables were all different Champagne names, with the top table being Veuve Clicquot."

"Our wedding cake, cupcakes and favours were created by a local lady who made a naked red velvet cake, vanilla and carrot cake cupcakes and Biscoff, and there were Oreo truffles as favours."

"We also had big light-up letters ‘LB heart LB’ as my initials didn’t change and Les shares the same. There was a fab photo booth with a flower wall too, as well as a magician, Nick Crown, who was so entertaining."

"Our DJ was fab and played the best music to suit all of our age groups and our music tastes perfectly. We danced our first dance to ‘Chasing Cars’ by Snow Patrol and we finished the night on ‘Sweet Caroline’ by Neil Diamond, which went down a storm. Lots of dancing occurred!”

Leanne’s Dream Team

Photographer & Videographer: Rapid Image 

Venue: The Compasses at Pattiswick 

Wedding dresses Essex: WED2B

Florist: Miss Fleur Floral Design

Cakes & favours: Little Liz’s Patisserie 

DJ & Photobooth: Aurora Pearl 

Magician: Nick Crown 

LB & LB letters: It’s in the Party Bag 

Suits: The Grooms Room 

Transport: GC Cars

Makeup: Emma Smeaton 

Hair: Finishing Touches 

If you would like your big day to be one of our real weddings please click here to share your story and photos with us and we’ll be in touch. Or click here for more details about WED2B’s wedding dresses Essex.