An international meeting led to a dream wedding day for Becky & Stuart.
The pair met on a night out whilst both living in Dubai. This led to a cheese and wine date night where sparks flew and the rest is history.
Becky and Stuart decided to move back to the UK amidst the pandemic as they were both offered jobs back home. They live in West Yorkshire with their labrador Harley and had been together 3 years before their engagement.
On a holiday to Dubrovnik, Croatia with Becky’s family, the couple went off for the day and that’s when Stuart popped the question. ‘I’d booked a hotel and a meal out and proposed at the dinner table’, Stuart says.
‘I’d seen the ring in his pocket 4 hours earlier in the box’, Becky remembers.
Of course she said yes immediately; a good job considering Stuart had already booked the venue and most of the suppliers! ‘I already knew she would say yes’, Stuart says, ‘We’d been out on a dog walk in North Yorkshire and were near Thief Hall; Becky called in to use the toilet and when she came out she commented on how amazing it was and how perfect it would be for a wedding. I booked it a few weeks later’.
‘But he made me wait a year before he proposed’, Becky laughs.
Thief Hall was the perfect blank canvas for the happy couple as it meant they could do what they wanted. It was booked from the Thursday to Monday, with guests able to stay from Friday to Sunday.
When choosing suppliers for the big day, Stuart found it quite easy as he had a list of recommended suppliers from Thief Hall to work from. The planning went quite smoothly; ‘it was easy until Becky and her mum tried to take over’, Stuart joked.
The couple were happy to let the suppliers do their jobs and if they recommended something, they were happy to go with the flow.
‘I’d been to weddings before where there was a massive lull, so it was important to make sure everyone had a good time’, Stuart says when asked about the most important part of the planning. Becky said the food was also really important and having the wedding as a whole weekend affair as there would be friends and family travelling from far and wide to the
big day.
‘We had family coming from Surrey, friends from Dubai and the Cayman Islands’, Stuart says. Becky continued with, ‘It was nice that we saw everyone on the Friday, so got to spend time with everyone which allowed us to relax a bit more.’
The theme of the wedding day was sage green and white, with Stuart’s suit a sage green from Joshua Adams Menswear in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire and his groomsmen wore matching waistcoats and ties.
‘I was looking for a sage green suit and had looked in a few places, even bespoke tailors near where we live but couldn’t find what I wanted. Then someone recommended Joshua Adams; I walked through the door and saw my suit on a mannequin exactly as I wanted it. I spoke to Andy and they were brilliant. The groomsmen, my dad and Becky’s dad all had their suits from there as well. They were really good at recommending what would look good together and were so helpful. Every time I went in there it was like chatting to friends’, Stuart says.
When it came to the wedding day, the happy couple were pretty chilled; ‘ We stayed together the night before in the honeymoon cottage at Thief Hall, had breakfast in the morning, then Becky went to get ready and I went on a dog walk with some friends’, Stuart says.
The ceremony was held inside due to bad weather and Becky and Stuart had 2 flower girls and 3 page boys with no bridesmaids due to a large friendship group. Becky commented at how shocked Stuart looked when he saw her for the first time, ‘He was shocked at how good I looked I think as he’s used to seeing me with my hair tied up’.
It all felt a little surreal on their wedding day; ‘The only other time I’ve been in that situation is as a guest at a wedding, so it was strange. We knew everyone in the room was there for us’, Stuart says.
As part of the wedding festivities, Becky & Stuart played the famous Mr and Mrs quiz. Then guests sat down to a 2 course meal with canapes before and cheese boards and cookies to finish.
Becky and Stuart also wented to sing the praises of the coordinator at Thief Hall; ‘ Hannah was our coordinator and was absolutely brilliant throughout the weekend; she would go and get our wedding party drinks and thought of things before we even realised we needed it, which took a massive weight off us’.
When asked if they’d offer any advice to other couples planning their wedding, Stuart said jokingly, ‘Let one person organise it all haha. Trust the suppliers as they know what they’re doing. Thief Hall recommended our florist as she works closely with them.’
Featured Suppliers
Venue – Thief Hall
Photographer – Photogenik (photographers Nick and Nik)
Dress – Emily Bridal Wear Sheffield
Bridesmaid Dresses – Etsy
Groomswear – Joshua Adams
Hairdresser – Eleanor Jayne
MUA – Eleanor Jayne
Rings – Nightingale York
Stationery – Etsy
Food – Proper Pizzas, Nomad Catering
Decor – Thief Hall and Elegant Impact
Entertainment – Captain Atlantic (band) Yorkshire Games Hire (lawn games) Matt Stacy (sax player) Craftaloon (Photo Booth and Cheese stand)
Cakes – L’taurus Sweet (cookies and brownies)
Florist – Yvonne Dennis