True Love Tuesday: Lauren & Mark

Happy Tuesday brides-to-be, we hope your wedding plans are coming along nicely!

Our gorgeous couple today, Lauren and Mark made wedding planning look very easy with their glorious day at Cabra Castle, thanks to Craig Sands Photography for the stunning images.

Lauren and Mark first met in high school when she was 15 and he was 16. The couple always knew their relationship was for keeps and couldn’t picture life without either in it.

Mark planned a fantastic surprise proposal;

“Mark surprised me with a trip to Rome; I was told we were going to Dublin airport to pick his little cousin up, once we arrived mark handed me my passport and a suit case and said we are going to Rome. Best surprise ever, at this point it hadn’t even crossed my mind he was going to propose. He said he had been walking about with the ring in his pocket for two days. He brought me up to the roof top bar of the hotel in the evening of the second day, at this point the moon had just come out from behind a cloud and it was massive, mark had pointed it out and when I turned back round to him he was one knee, and asked the all-important question,” explained Lauren.

Back home the couple wasted no time and soon had chosen their day and booked their photographer, Craig. It was Craig who suggested Cabra Castle as the perfect venue for them and once they saw it they instantly knew it was the perfect location. The rest of their wedding plans fell into place nicely, simply by taking one task at a time.

“I got my dress from Orchid Studio in Portadown. Neil was absolutely amazing, he actually picked out my dress and asked me to try it on, it was completely different to the other dresses I had chosen but once I saw it on I knew it was the one. Neil also had the perfect jewellery and head piece for my dress, so I didn’t have to start looking to find something to match. My bridesmaids were from Perfect Day in Lurgan. Lisa helped with both the choosing of the flower girl dress and bridesmaids. She was absolutely amazing, very honest with her opinions and the bridesmaid dresses weren’t any of the ones I had originally picked. She choose one and ask the girls to try it on and I just fell in love with them,” added Lauren.

The couple didn’t have a specific theme chosen for their day but with planning in full swing a vintage, shabby chic feel developed. Keen to add their own stamp to the day, Lauren handmade some of the details including the bathroom refreshment crates, ring boxes and the girls personalised hangers. At the reception she had made their own sweet cart, glow stick table and tray bake table – a huge hit with the guests!

“The day was amazing; if anything went wrong I didn’t even know the staff at Cabra Castle were phenomenal from start to finish. However the heel of my shoe did break just before the first dance! But My Maid of Honour came to the rescue and gave me her shoes for the dance! The highlight of my day was walking down the aisle and seeing how happy Mark was, and knowing it was because we were about to start the rest of our lives together as Mr & Mrs Baxter. Marks highlight was kissing me for the first time as Mrs Baxter!” said Lauren.