Amy Elizabeth Vollans and Russell Alex White

Photographer
To capture our big day and those all-important memories, we used Allan Scott Photography, whom we met at a wedding fair and loved his contemporary work. When we met Alan we knew he would put our guests at ease throughout the daywith his easy-going professionalism and we were right! He produced some amazing photos that we will treasure forever.

Where did you meet?
Our eyes met on a double-decker bus when we were just 13 on our way back from shopping trips with friends in York. He was a true gent and let me down the stairs before him, following the words ‘after you’... We finally got together about a year later.

What attracted you to him?
His big cheesy smile with his bright pearly whites and amazing good looks.

Where did he propose?
On Christmas Day 2007, I’d opened all my pressies but then I had to find one more, which was hidden in the Christmas tree. Russ had an oak box with red velvet handcrafted with a mirror on the inside engraved with: ‘I will love you always and forever, will you marry me?’ which I couldn’t read for the tears – good job he was down on one knee and said the all famous words to me to clarify what the sparkly princess- cut diamond ring was for!

Venue
We fell in love with the venue the moment we stepped through the door. It was simply amazing with its beautiful timber beams and huge windows overlooking fantastic views. The staff were so helpful and the food was absolutely fantastic.

The dress
I fell in love withan Ellis dress named The Princess and the Frog, from Brides of York on Micklegate. Sharon, the owner, gave me expert advice and was totally honest.

He wore
Russ, along with the best man, the father of the bride and the father of the groom, wore a slate grey Prince Edward suit with a white shirt, silver waistcoat and bright Cadbury purple cravat from Greenwoods in York, where the wonderful Geoff assisted them no end.

Bridesmaids
We found the perfect dresses at Forevermore Bridal Wear. Mori Lee full length dress (design 269) in Cadbury purple taffeta which were handmade. Lynda Hatton couldn’t have done enough for us.

Flowers
We decided on artificial flowers, having seen Silk Floral Art at a wedding fair, as the quality was outstanding. We had tall wine glasses full of purple and cream flowers incorporating pearls, glitter and diamantes that matched the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets, buttonholes, corsages and large stands which stood either side of the top table. Anne Baker was incredibly creative and made the tables and flowers a real talking point.

Transport
Blue Sky Wedding Travel were our choice for the bridal car. We had a cream Beauford for the bride and father of the bride. Tony’s wit and friendliness as he drove us to the venue diminished any nerves. My wonderful friend Emma kindly chauffeured the two bridesmaids and mother of the bride in a brand new white Audi A5 convertible.

Table décor and favours
Our theme for the day was our favorite movies. We made our table plan, place cards and organised our own decorations, which included square mirrors, purple beads, menu cards and sweet jars with our own Willy Wonka and Friends, labels which had a photo of us as oompa loompas on them. Our ladies’ favour was a mini perfume of Hugo Boss Purple and a cream paper fan and the men’s favour was a bottle opener key ring with led torch each in a purple organza bag.
We did a ten question movie quiz to get guests chatting and at the end of the speeches gave the table with the highest score a scratch card for each guest on that table. Worked a treat!

Entertainment
The Pavillion String Quartet created a great atmosphere playing while guests arrived, for the arrival of the bridal party, and throughout the drinks reception.
No wedding would be a wedding without a good old cheesy disco – for which we booked Nightowls in York. The majority of our guests had stated their favourite song with their RSVP as per our request so we had music to suit all tastes.
We also kept our first dance as a surprise to everyone, as Russ mixed some of our favourite songs to strut our stuff to.

Honeymoon
We quite literally had the most amazing honeymoon in the Riviera Maya in Mexico. We stayed in a 5* all-inclusive hotel named the Excellence Cancun. We swam with dolphins, had a couple’s massage on the beach, were pampered in the spa and ate and drank like a king and queen. The perfect way to start our new life together.