By Patricia Campbell
There’s nothing like a prospective wedding to get the office talking, especially at ELLE HQ...
In my new role as bride-to-be, I’ll be blogging my way to the altar: sharing my experiences, inspirations and discoveries with you, as well as the latest wedding news, trends and bridal sample sales, in the lead up to the big day.
About me
You’ve probably already gleaned a bit about me from my posts so far, but it’s only right to give you some back story. So here goes. I’m Patricia, a somewhat whimsical 30 year old writer and commercial editor at ELLEuk.com with an insatiable appetite for style, preferably from a more glamorous, bygone era (but nothing too twee as I fear I’m suffering from vintage fatigue). I’ve been with my musician fiancée, Seb, for a decade – yes, really – and until the end of last summer, I was getting quite comfortable with the fact that we were going to be one of those couples who were coolly indifferent to the whole marriage thing.
The proposal
Turns out, Seb had other plans. It was late August last year and we were at a beautiful fjord, north of Roskilde in Denmark (hometown of supermodel Freja Beha Erichsen), attending the wedding of a dear and mutual friend. The reception was one of those laid-back DIY affairs – everything on a shoe-string, but just so tastefully done. Filled with a sense of euphoria and romance, idealism, even, I remember remarking upon how wonderful it was that one of the coolest couples we knew had tied the knot. Inspiring and adventurous, they seemed to represent a blueprint of marriage that promised adventure and excitement, rather than convention and drudgery.
Perhaps Seb was taken by the same mood when he invited me outside between speeches (there tend to be quite a few at Danish weddings) to take in the spellbinding view of the fjord, now ablaze with the painterly pink afterglow of sunset. He asked me to marry him then and there. No ring, just completely spur of the moment. Although I later discovered that he’d been planning it for months – even asking my dad for his permission. Ahh. In the end, he just did it when the moment took him, and I love that it was just so natural and relaxed.
The ring
Seb, mercifully, gave me the option to choose my own ring and I relished the opportunity. I decided to go bespoke, commissioning Hatton Garden jeweller Simon Lewis to create this emerald and diamond stunner. The brief: a central oval cut diamond, flanked by two marquise diamonds and two tiny emeralds either side, a nod to my Irish parentage, set on the lightest, thinnest and most delicate yellow gold band you’ve ever seen. Not for me the heavyweight platinum sparkler.
Next steps
Since then, we’ve decided on a summer date, a location – beautiful Devon – booked a suitably pretty church, and secured our reception venue: the stunning Huntsham Court. And, after putting ELLE’s big bridal sample sale guide together, I decided to take my own advice and managed to get my hands on my dream wedding gown for a fraction of the price (more on that soon). But, even with the big things sorted, there is still plenty to do, and I’ll be sharing each and every step of my journey with you.
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