A fairytale wedding day dream came true for happy couple Emily & Ryan who live in Holmewood, Derbyshire with their cat Lola.
The pair met on a night out back in 2016; Emily was out for a friend’s 21st birthday, while Ryan was on a night out with his friends. They started talking and got on so well, they exchanged numbers at the end of the night.
Emily says, ‘Ryan actually texted me on the Sunday after our Saturday night out saying, “I don’t know if you remember speaking to me, but I think you’re a really lovely girl and I would like to take you on a date”.
Emily was only 20 years old at the time and wasn’t sure about the date as she was still going out enjoying herself. However, her mum persuaded her to give Ryan a chance and he was a real gentleman. ‘He took me out for a meal, won me over, dropped me off at home after and made sure I was ok’, Emily remembers. Then after six weeks of seeing each other, Ryan asked Emily to be his girlfriend and the rest is history.
After 3 years together, in 2019 the couple got their first flat together and things were going well. Emily had been having a stressful time at work and came home upset one day to Ryan who had bought her flowers. ‘He told me to look at the flowers, and there was a little coin with an angel of the north on it’. Ryan had planned a weekend away in Newcastle for them both. Little did Emily know that’s where he would propose.
After a wonderful day out in Newcastle, Ryan & Emily went back to their hotel room to get ready for an evening out. Emily walked into the room to the biggest bunch of flowers she had ever seen, with rose petals all over the hotel room. As she turned round, there Ryan was on his knee and he proposed then and there.
‘It’s a funny story really as the year before we got engaged, we actually came to Newcastle and stayed in the exact same hotel, but pretended to be engaged to get cheeky free upgrades. I’d also said to Ryan never to propose to me in public as I’d die of embarrassment, which is why he did it in the hotel room instead’, Emily remembers.
The happily engaged couple started planning their wedding straight away, booking The Peak Edge Hotel immediately as their wedding venue.
Emily says, ‘We’d been to the Peak Edge before we’d got engaged and knew how beautiful it would be to get married there’, she went on to say, ‘Seeing how beautiful it is, it’s simply breath-taking and it stuck with me’.
So the venue was booked, and the date was set.
Aside from the inevitable issue of Covid, the wedding planning was smooth sailing. The couple changed their date from August 2021 to May 2022 and all suppliers were able to accommodate the change.
The night before the wedding, Emily stayed at The Peak Edge Hotel with her mum, sister and niece in the Devonshire Suite. She’d arranged for her bridesmaid and maid of honour to arrive the next morning so they could all get ready together.
The wedding had a beautiful blush colour scheme, featuring ivy, dried grasses and pampas grass centre pieces and aisle décor. Emily’s bouquet was similar with the addition of blush pink roses for a subtle pink touch.
The ceremony was at 1:30pm, with the wedding breakfast to follow at 4pm. The happy couple had a live band play on the night which got the guests up and dancing. ‘Ryan actually played guitar with them; some of our guests didn’t know Ryan could play guitar so well. Even I was impressed!’ Emily says.
The band switched to a DJ for later in the evening which helped split up the night well.
For their first dance, Emily and Ryan had ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica, with the lyrics being a fitting choice for their wedding day.
Emily says, ‘If we could do it again, I would, it was absolutely amazing.’
When asked how The Peak Edge Hotel helped with their special day, Emily says, ‘I can’t even describe how amazing they were. I would recommend anyone to go up there. Fran my wedding planner absolutely amazing. Any small problems she fixed, I had nothing to worry about. Laura took over from her at night, and Gareth helped run the wedding too. All of them as a team collectively made for smooth sailing. Fran even kept checking on me before the ceremony.’
In fact, Emily loved the staff that much that she took an opportunity to apply for a job at Peak Edge and at time of going to print, she will soon be joining their weddings team!
Emily gushed about her wedding day so much to her friends, that one of them has now booked their wedding day there too.
‘I put my trust in to say they will make your wedding day amazing. They will give you the time of your life’, she says.
When asked what advice they would give to other couples getting married, Emily says, ‘Remember your commitment to one another, so many couples get wrapped up in wedding planning because it is so exciting. You can forget the reasons why you’re getting married in the first place, it’s a massive day but it is just one day. Once the day’s over and the honeymoon is done, it’s back to reality and you have to remember the exact reason why you’re getting married. Don’t get wrapped up in the planning of it all, remember it’s a lifelong commitment.’
We would like to wish Emily & Ryan a huge congratulations and all the best for a very happy future together.
Featured Suppliers
Venue: Peak Edge Hotel
Dress: Nora Eve
Suits: Skopes for Groomsmen and Hugo Boss for Ryan
Rings: Goldsmith’s
Bridesmaids dresses: La Closet De Chanel
Cake: Victoria from The Pantry Door
Décor: Jenny from Perfect Day
Entertainment: Peak Edge DJ and the band was Firecracker
Stationery: Jenny from Perfect Day
Photographer: Craig Baggaley
Hair & Makeup: Chelcie Florence Studios