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Mr & Mrs Matthew Purvis 20th February 2009 St Lucia |
Matt and I met at the beginning of 2007, he was my gym instructor! I thought he was gorgeous and great to talk to. A few months later in April, Matt asked me out and we clicked. It’s funny, because when people say, "when you meet someone you’ll just know", I’m not sure I ever believed them, but it was totally true. We fell for each other completely. Within a few months, he was living with me and my five year old twin daughters, Sophie and Jess. In February 2008, we went for a walk to Lymm Damn, one of my favourite places, when Matt proposed. I was delighted and said yes immediately.
We looked at venues but decided that we wanted something original. When I first mentioned getting married abroad to my parents, I think they thought we were joking or that I was hormonal, as we had just found out I was pregnant. When we researched this option more, we decided it would be perfect for us. It would give us an intimate wedding with our close family and friends, we could be relaxed on the day, and our daughters could enjoy part of the honeymoon too. Fortunately, once they realised we were serious and found an amazing venue, they were completely supportive. We were thrilled that our daughters, parents, sisters and some close friends would come with us. Planning the wedding was really easy with the help of a fabulous travel agent. We looked into the resorts which could accommodate a wedding and which country to go for. It is really important to consider the legalities of the country you are looking at when considering a wedding abroad, as they all differ. Many say you must be resident in the country for a period of time. This varies massively, so check before booking. We chose St Lucia as we wanted somewhere sunny, beautiful and by the sea, it was perfect. We had to be there four working days beforehand, so we booked our flight for 15th February 2009, with the wedding to be held on 20th February 2009. The time between booking the wedding and jetting out flew by. I think this was due to looking after family as our daughter Emilia was born in August 2008.
When we landed in St Lucia, the weather was drizzly but warm. We had arrived for our wedding, which was so exciting. The girls were shattered as we got the minibus to the resort with our parents, but soon perked up when we arrived at Almond Smugglers Cove, which was simply amazing. We were so happy and excited. I remember thinking we had definitely made the right decision.
In the days leading up to the wedding, we met with Lorna, the resort’s wedding co-ordinator. She was lovely, and assisted us with our choice of music, flowers, cake and finalised which of the four restaurants our wedding meal would be held at. We could choose to get married on the beach or at the wedding chapel. Lorna was incredibly helpful and we made the arrangements for our special day.
We spent the next few days relaxing on the beach and playing around the pool, but the day before our wedding the rain arrived. It absolutely poured down and was still raining when we went to bed (Matt stayed with his best man)! I must admit I was mortified, but you can’t control the weather, so I just prayed it would clear before our marriage at 1pm. I woke up at 4am with the sound of rain pounding the roof. I eventually went back to sleep but was woken a little later by Emilia! I opened the curtains and was amazed to see gorgeous sunshine, it made my day! I spent the morning having breakfast and drinks with family and friends who’d made it to St Lucia, before starting to get ready.
I thought I would be a bag of nerves and stressed, but it was not like that in the slightest. I was so excited and completely elated to be marrying my Matty. I travelled to the wedding chapel with my daughters and parents in a golf buggy, an amazing experience in itself.
Words cannot describe how much of a princess I felt walking down the aisle towards Matt. We chose to be married in the wedding chapel, a beautiful white wooden arched gazebo in the hotel gardens, an incredible setting. The ceremony lasted for around twenty minutes as we said our vows with the sea behind us. I took in every moment and felt so emotional.
After the ceremony, we enjoyed champagne with our guests before having our first dance in front of the chapel we were then taken around the resort for photographs.
Lorna had arranged for us to have the use of an air conditioned bar immediately following the ceremony, to enable us to have the speeches in a private environment. We spent the next couple of hours sitting by the pool before our meal at ‘The Waterside’, a lovely open air restaurant next to the beach and overhanging the sea. Idyllic! We couldn’t have dreamt more beautiful scenery. The day had been magical, but most of all enjoyable and relaxing for us.
Lorna checked on us at various intervals throughout the day, to ensure it was going well. It was wonderful to have her as a point of contact throughout the planning and on the day. We absolutely loved our special day. As we headed to bed that evening, we both agreed the only thing that could have made it any better, would have been having more of our family and friends with us to share it.
We were fortunate to have our honeymoon the following week in an Almond Resort in Barbados, whilst our daughters were well looked after by their grandparents. It was incredible and we loved the relaxed Caribbean lifestyle. We were also able to have our wedding photos sent to us in Barbados. We were stunned with the amazing pictures.
When we arrived home, we had a few days before our next big event. We wanted to make sure that all our friends and family could commemorate our big day, even if they couldn’t be with us in St Lucia, so we had an evening wedding reception. It was fabulous to see our 140 guests. They were all excited to hear about our magical day, and I was thrilled to be able to wear my dress again! It was the big celebration we had wanted it to be and we were pleased that everyone was able to celebrate our marriage.