A surprise announcement was the ‘icing on the wedding cake’ for Mr and Mrs Massey

The happy couple were joined by friends and family in Bowness-On-Windermere to witness them exchange their vows and then Mr and Mrs Massey shared some exciting baby news at their reception.

Here Lauren, who is 30, and 33-year-old Carl, from Winnington in Northwich, share their wedding story, in their own words.

The happy couple

When and how did you meet?

Lauren: Carl and I first met in Northwich on a night out in 2010. During 2011, we dated for a few months but I wanted to go and travel the world so things didn’t work out. I left the UK in January 2012 and moved back to England in March 2017. On my birthday that April, I bumped into Carl on a night out in Northwich, we got talking again and we have been together since.

What did you think of each other when you first met?

Lauren: We both liked each other a lot when we first met, but I was in another relationship at the time so nothing happened at first. We remained friends and around a year later we began dating. When we re-met again in 2017, we hit it off straight away and knew it was now the right time for us to be together.

Where and when did you get engaged?

Carl: We got engaged on August 4, 2019 in Bowness-On-Windermere.

The wedding rings

How did one of you propose?

Lauren: Carl had booked a weekend away for us to our favourite place - Bowness-On-Windermere in the Lake District – and we had this gorgeous room at the McDonald Old England Hotel with a view across the lake. After we had checked in, Carl asked me to come over to the window to look at something outside. He started to tell me how much he loved me and that I was the only person he had ever loved. Then, he got down on one knee and proposed. Of course, I said yes!

What was the date of the wedding and reception?

Carl: June 5.

What was the location of the wedding and reception?

Carl: Storrs Hall, Bowness-On-Windermere.

Storrs Hall, Bowness-on-Windermere hosted the special day

How were you feeling on the morning of your wedding?

Lauren: I was feeling very emotional and so excited. I couldn’t sleep so I woke up at 4am and took a nice relaxing bath. I just wanted to marry Carl, so I was feeling quite impatient. I do remember being so relaxed and stress free. Everyone kept saying I was the most chilled bride.

Carl: I felt emotional and very nervous for the speech. I didn’t sleep at all the night before the wedding because of the speech but I couldn’t wait to marry Lauren.

How would you describe your wedding?

Lauren: Perfect! The day was so wonderful and everything went so smoothly. It was such a simple, classic and elegant day. We wouldn’t change a thing.

How many guests did you have?

Carl: 72 guests.

The wedding party

What did your guests eat?

Carl: For starter we had Parma ham, melon, mozzarella, for main we had slow cooked Lakeland beef, creamed potato, roasted carrot, mushroom, bacon, fresh herb and for dessert we had strawberry pavlova, vanilla, yoghurt and strawberry sorbet. We then had pulled pork buns and chip buns in the evening with wedding cake.

Did you have a first dance?

Lauren: Our first dance was to Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are”. We would listen to this song on our regular road trips to the Lake District. The words remind me of exactly how Carl treats me and the things he says about me.

Did you have speeches?

Lauren: We had four speeches and they were all so great and very emotional. Our guests complimented them so much and said even if you didn’t know us, you would have cried at the speeches. They were so lovely. Although Carl was nervous for his speech, he did an amazing job. It was very heartfelt, yet also funny.

A time for celebrations

What are your favourite memories of the day?

Carl: Seeing each other at the altar and seeing how happy all our friends and family were to be celebrating with us. Being able to get married outside with the lake in the background was fabulous. Everyone enjoyed the speeches too.

Tell us a little bit about your outfits on the day

Lauren: I tried on about nine dresses,but when I tried the dress on that I chose I knew straight away it was ‘the one’. It was exactly what I had imagined and I became so emotional as soon as I saw myself in the mirror. We had originally looked at a blue colour scheme for the bridesmaids and page boys along with a navy suit for Carl and the groomsmen but something just wasn’t right and we decided to change. We went with a sage green colour theme which tied in well with our green and white flowers. Carl went for an all-black tuxedo with white shirt. I just wanted everything to look elegant and simple - nothing over the top or too busy -and it all came together so well. Our little page boys, who were aged one, two and three, stole the show with their cute little shorts, shirt and braces, although we didn’t quite manage to get the bow ties on them. We also couldn’t persuade them to walk down the aisle with me as they wanted to be with their Grandad at the front!

A kiss as husband and wife

Did you go on honeymoon?

Lauren: Carl and I had a gorgeous little mini moon for three days after the wedding. We stayed in the boat house at our wedding venue, which was stunning. We liked it that much we have booked to stay again for our first anniversary next year. Our proper honeymoon will be two weeks in Crete with our little boy Archie, who is two.

Why did you want to get married?

Lauren: Carl and I love to travel together and we love going out for food or to the cinema. Now that we have Archie we love our days out as a family. I love Carl because he is so kind and caring, he looks after me and Archie all the time and always puts us before himself. He is the nicest person I know and seeing him become such an amazing dad makes me love him even more. We loved having our little boy Archie at the wedding and we announced on the day that we are expecting baby Massey number two in January. It was so nice being able to share this news in person with all our friends and family.

Just the two of us

Photo credit: James Hicks Photography

If you want to appear in our Wedding Day feature, email heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk