Wedding Belle


TheCinicolofamily have lived on Fishpool Street in StAlbans forover 38years andthis year celebratedthe engagementofdaughter Laura andherhusband-to-beBenPitts. In themidstofplanningherwedding, we caught upwith Laura andaskedher howthepreparationswere going.


Congratulations!When’s the ‘bigday’? We got engaged onNewYearsDay this year. We decided towait until next year to get married as I’ve alwayswanted a Springwedding and doing it this Springwould have been too short notice!


Howmany things have you got tickedoff your list? Well,we’ve booked the venue, Registrar, photographer, hairdresser, bridesmaid’s outfits are finished... so a lot has already been done but there is still mountains to do!


In the endwe’ve decided tomarry and have the reception at a venue not far fromStAlbans, TewinBury Farm, but are still sourcing our rings, photographer, dress and florist all fromStAlbans, which has pleasedmy family andme.


The averagewedding cost is expectedtobe around


Did you know?


£18,605 in 2011 according to WeddingMagazine.The


What surprisedyou the most aboutplanning yourday?Whenwe started to planwhat sort ofwedding we bothwantedwe soon realised itwasn’t that easy.Having lived in StAlbans allmy life I reallywanted to marry here.We thought having the service at the Cathedralwould be amagical, but even as close asmy parents are to theAbbey, less than 1mile, we had to apply to get a special license from theArchbishop ofCanterbury’s FacultyOffice ifwewanted tomarry there, and fit around a very hecticCathedral diary.


Even though the clergywere really supportive, in the end it seemed too tricky to find a date and venue locallywhich had the same day available. We also looked at StMichaelsChurch and StMichael’sManor, a beautiful venue a stone’s throwfrommyMumandDad’s house, but available dates and the costmade it too difficult for us.


30


greatest expenditurebeing the reception (av.£4,030) andhoneymoon (av.£4000)


Have you hadtocompromise anything due tocost? Probably the biggest thing has been the venue.We’re inviting around 80guests to the day sowe needed somewhere that could accommodate thatmany people without us having to remortgage our house!


Have you learnt anything you’d like topassontofuture StAlbans brides-to-be? Plan, plan and keep planning!Be as organised as you can, especially if you really have your heart set on a particular date or venue. There’s no


such thing as booking ahead too early! Especially photographers and other suppliers tend to get booked up anything up to 2 years ahead. It’s helped also to spread the cost, as there are lots of deposits to be paid.Otherwise try and enjoy it!


Laura’s wedding list


Rings www.hkjewellery.co.uk


Photographer www.arifgardner.co.uk


Venue www.tewinbury.co.uk


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