Lucie and Daniel’s town hall wedding ceremony

Lucie and Daniel met in sad circumstances but made sure their wedding day was full of fun, laughter and joy...

Lucie and Daniel met through St Wilfrid’s Hospice Facebook page. “We were both young widows, having lost our husband and wife a year apart in St Wilfrid’s Hospice,” says Lucie. "We talked for about six months before we actually came to face to face and met for a drink in a country pub."

"Our first date was 8th August 2016.”

Dan proposed with the help of Lucie's son, Teddy. “I had been badgering Dan for ages for an engagement ring and instead he bought an American Chevy truck,” says Lucie. "So, I told him I’d never get in it until he put a ring on my finger!"

"I kept my promise until Mother’s Day March 2022 when he surprised me after a family meal. My son was holding a ring box and telling me Daddy had a question for me."

"It was totally unexpected, but so Dan."

"He was adamant he wanted to do it his way with Teddy involved. Funny thing was, Teddy had seen the ring before and drawn a picture of it for me!”

A great shopping experience

Lucie discovered wed2b from a brides’ chat group.

“From the minute we walked into the central London store I was made to feel special,” she says.

“The consultant had already selected two dresses from the variety of designers available, plus I found one in the window I hadn’t seen before. Then there was a fourth wildcard dress."

"The wed2b girls knew exactly what they were doing and were full of ideas and tips for the day. When I was torn between two dresses, one of them said my personality shone in one particular dress, which was the super sparkly one."

"She was so right. I love sparkle and glitter!"

"I enjoyed the fact there was no stress, no time limit and we could just try the dresses on and listen to their advice.”

Lucie chose Raye, an ultra sparkly A-line with modern 3D florals by Viva Bride. “I knew, deep down, the moment I saw her online I wanted her,” she says. “The glitter, the sparkle, the train, the 3D flowers, just wow. I’m just a Disney princess at heart and that’s how she made me feel at every fitting and on the day."

"Even my mum said that the dress was made for me."

"The way she swished and the light caught the sparkles was stunning. I also added an A-line Wunderskirt for extra volume and some silver hair grips.”

A town hall wedding ceremony 

“We knew we wanted a town hall wedding ceremony because Eastbourne Town Hall is a very well known and beautiful building and has an amazing staircase,” says Lucie. “We found the reception venue by fluke. Dan’s mum suggested we visit it after she had a work party there. As soon as we walked into The Royal Eastbourne Golf Club I fell in love with the space. It had wrap around windows and views across the South Downs one way and the sea the other. It also had a roof terrace to enjoy the views even more. The wedding planner Jessica was amazing and truly turned my vision into a work of art.”

The big day

“I got ready at home with my mum, aunt, mother-in-law, a good friend, three cousins and my brother and his girlfriend,” says Lucie. “We all had a laugh and worked our way though a pastry breakfast with some Prosecco and nibbles, with party tunes in the background. I was so stressed about the weather and was obsessed with checking the forecast, as I had arranged a horse and carriage surprise which the groom knew nothing about. It did rain about 11am but then it was dry with sunny moments, thankfully!”

"Teddy walked me down the aisle and he looked so smart in his matching suit. In fact, Teddy was our little best man for the day. Dan brought him up from about six-months-old, so they have their own special bond."

"I walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of Sigala's ‘Came Here For Love’. Our ceremony songs were from the Disney World fireworks show, as a little nod to my love of Disney. We walked out as husband and wife to Elvis’s 'Burning Love’. As a family we love Elvis! We also chose ‘A Lovely Love Story’ by Edward Monkton as our reading, which was read amazingly by Dan's cousin, Carl.”

A lovely surprise

“Straight after the ceremony I surprised Dan with the horse and carriage,” says Lucie. “We went for a ride, just us two, and Dan was gobsmacked that I’d booked it and kept a secret for over a year! It was amazing."

"When we arrived at the golf club we went out to the roof terrace for a glass of Pimms before we joined our guests. It was just nice to take it all in. We had a hog roast for our meal, which was unbelievably tasty. We also had a crisp hoop, sweetie cart and cupcakes for later. Our first dance was to a cover version of Elvis’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, sung by a female artist. It was beautiful,”

All things bright and beautiful

“We knew we wanted a multi-coloured wedding, as we wanted it to have a party vibe,” says Lucie. “Plus, we couldn’t actually decide on one colour! I came across some colourful invites, then we used all of those colours as a base."

"We had rose gin bottle centrepieces, created by the florist who worked at the hospice, along with the brightest bouquet I could imagine. We also had LED sparkle balloons scattered around the room, which looked amazing when it got dark, Mr and Mrs balloons and a statement balloon and foliage hoop for photos.”

“There was a photo booth to have some fun with later on, plus light up ‘LOVE’ and ‘MR AND MRS’ letters, which looked fabulous considering Dan told me I didn’t need them!” says Lucie. “We had glow sticks and personalised sunglasses for the dance floor and a sparkler send off later that night.”

Dancing the day away

“Our wedding cake was cupcakes with rainbow and glitter frosting, made by a family friend. We had a swing singer, Tom Fitzpatrick, to welcome our guests and get the party started. In fact, we used to go and see Tom sing when we first started dating, so it seemed fitting that he would perform for us on the day. As we entered, he sang my favourite song, which ended up with me and Dan on the dance floor having a little unexpected dance!”

“To end the day, there was a DJ and he was amazing. He kept the dance floor filled all night. I even gave him a TikTok challenge to find a remix song and he succeeded. I went wild, my night was made!"

The best bits

“One of the most memorable moments was putting my dress and my accessories on all together for the first time,” says Lucie. “Also, seeing Teddy in his suit and Dan at the end of the aisle smiling."

"He said he wasn’t going to look but he did!"

"The last song of the night was the pop version of my entrance song, which I chose so we finished the day as we began. It got everyone on the dance floor one last time! Just amazing.”

My top tips…

“Take it all in, the day goes so fast,” says Lucie.

“Take five minutes here and there with your groom just to enjoy yourselves and see what you have created.”

Lucie and Daniel’s Dream Team 

Photographer: Davie Langham Media

Town Hall Wedding Venue: Eastbourne Town Hall

Venue: Royal Eastbourne Golf Club

Wedding dresses London: wed2b

Singer: Tom Fitzpatrick 

Florist: Loveland Flowers 

Chairs and sashes: Frenchie's Event Decor

Decor and sweetie cart: Honey Bee’z Party and Events

Cake: Neety’s Cupcakes 

Photo Booth: Letters in Lights

DJ: South East Entertainment 

Hog roast: East Sussex Hog Roast 

Makeup: Jess Marie Makeup Artist 

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