Danielle & Dave
A Whirlwind Romance for Doncaster couple Danielle & Dave.
Danielle and Dave met 3 years ago; Danielle is a foot health practitioner and Dave had booked a routine appointment. After the appointment, Dave got in touch to say thank you and Danielle took her chance and asked him out on a dog walking date. Four weeks later after a whirlwind trip to Scotland, Dave moved in with Danielle, and their relationship blossomed.
For their engagement story, the proposal destination was Skiathos in Greece on 7th June 2022. Danielle was five months pregnant at the time as the couple weren’t ones to wait around. During a romantic evening after a meal, they went for a walk on the beach, ‘There was a private cove with just me and Dave, no one else was on the beach, Dave lit a mini fire and laid a picnic blanket out. He put our favourite artist Paulo Nutini on his speaker. We later found out it was a nudist beach,’ Danielle says.
The couple began planning their wedding straight away and chose the date of 7th June; it would be 2 years to the day of their engagement; a perfect date
to make it official.
Danielle and Dave had an intimate legal ceremony at Mansion House in Doncaster on 7th June, with a big celebrant-led wedding to follow on 20th July 2024.
Sheffield’s Peddler Market was to be the location of the wedding celebration with over 200 guests due to attend.
Danielle and Dave are both self-confessed perfectionists. ‘We wanted to get it right and spent so much time and energy on the planning, it was a lot, especially with a one year old but it was worth it. All the vendors were amazing’, Danielle says.
As the couple had two ceremonies, Danielle opted to have two gowns; the first was a short, corseted gown featuring Bardot sleeves and bow detailing, which she wore for the legal ceremony. The second gown was a figure-hugging lace number with a stunning long train.
When shopping for her wedding dress, Danielle found Tickled Pink Bridal at an I Do Wedding Exhibition she attended and booked an appointment whilst there.
‘I went to Tickled Pink with no makeup on and no fake tan as I didn’t want to ruin any of the dresses. I tried on so many gowns but it didn’t feel right. Holly told me to go home, get some fake tan and makeup done and come back, which I did. Holly gave me a gown to try on and it was instantly ‘the one’; in my mind I wanted a big princess dress; Holly and the team have an eye for knowing what suits your shape,’ Danielle says.
She goes on to praise Tickled Pink Bridal, ‘I’m so thankful, it’s important to me to support local businesses. They have an excellent attention to detail and can’t do enough for you, they just go above and beyond. It’s a beautiful shop and very personal, you feel comfortable that they know what they’re doing, it’s amazing’.
Danielle and Dave also booked a few other suppliers at the I Do Wedding Exhibitions; CRT Weddings and Sophie Lauren Productions were two of them.
When asked if they’d had any issues during the planning, Danielle mentioned one moment with her sister who, bear in mind is a qualified hairdresser and has done Danielle’s hair beautifully for the past 14 years.’We had my hair colour booked in two days before the wedding and it went bright red. When I say bright red, I looked like an England flag’, Danielle says. Thankfully, her sister managed to tone it down in time for the big day.
When the wedding day arrived, Holly from Tickled Pink got everyone in their bridesmaid dresses (also from Tickled Pink) and they went downstairs to wait for the bride reveal. Danielle also had a gown reveal with her dad and then her little boy Otis, a truly special moment.
Danielle and Dave also booked a few other suppliers at the I Do Wedding Exhibitions; CRT Weddings and Sophie Lauren Productions were two of them.
Danielle and Dave had a celebrant- led ceremony, with Danielle’s friend Sara Calder leading the proceedings.
‘This was a special story for us; when Dave came for his appointment, I was doing my friend Sara’s feet at the time, so she was there the moment we met. She’d never been a celebrant before, but she smashed it and made it fun and personal to us’, Danielle says.
Confetti cannons went off during the first dance, kick starting the party!
For their first dance, the happy couple created a four song mix up including ‘Better Man’ by Paulo Nutini, which is also the song that came on during Dave’s proposal, so it was a romantic moment to remember.
During the first dance, the train of Danielle’s dress nearly caught fire from the fireworks; ‘Dave spun me around and my train went through the fireworks, so I decided to get changed into my short dress after that’,
Danielle says.
For the food, the happy couple had pulled pork and halloumi skewers by The Spitting Pig, cheesecake from a local business in Bentley called Hank Marvin and their wedding cake made from layers of cheese and pork pies from Porter Brook deli in Sheffield.
Everything was geared towards ensuring their guests had
a great time, with three sets of fireworks, a walking brass
band, live band The Warning Tones (featuring Dave’s stepbrother), Cat on Sax and smoke machines to add to the party atmosphere.
‘It was brilliant dancing with everyone we loved’, Danielle remembers; ‘our vision was for it to be colourful and vibrant like a big nightclub and it definitely was’.
The happy couple even had a sparkler send off with all guests lined up outside Peddler Market.
When asked what advice they’d give to other couples, Danielle recalls some important advice she was given; ‘I was getting my nails done the day before, someone said to me, “only you know if something hasn’t gone to plan, don’t bring your energy down if something doesn’t go to plan, keep your energy high, forget it and keep moving”, it stuck with me,’.
The couple celebrated their honeymoon in Croatia after the legal ceremony, and plan to go on family adventures with their little boy Otis to keeping making more happy memories in the future.
List of Suppliers
Venue: Peddler Market / Mansion House Doncaster
Dress: Tickled Pink Bridal
Photographer: CRT Weddings (Peddler)
Key Reflections (legal ceremony 7th June) (Photo credited)
MUA: By Paige Finley
Flowers: Meadows and Mulberry Weddings
Videographer: Sophie Lauren Productions
Wedding Rings: Bride – J & R Jewels Ltd, Doncaster/ Groom – Beaverbrooks
Food: The Spitting Pig
Desserts: Hank Marvin
Cake: Porter Brook Deli
Music: Grumpah Music/ The Warning Tones/ Cat on Sax
Balloons: Viva Balloons
Décor & Confetti Cannons: Light It Up Hire
Room Dressing: Village Green Events
Fireworks: Gala Fireworks