One’s wedding day is the biggest celebration of one’s life, or so they say — so how does it feel to share that special moment with the Queen?
June is set to be the busiest wedding month in history and more than 17,700 weddings are due to take place over the Jubilee weekend — more than any other weekend this year, according to London-founded wedding planning app Bridebook.com.
And far from feeling overshadowed by Her Majesty’s landmark Jubilee, many couples are capitalising on the nationwide party fever and taking the regal vibe in their stride: corgi cakes, life-size cut-outs of the Queen and toasts to the monarch are among the Jubilee-themed details many are set to include in their big day.
Meet the couples heading down the alter this historic weekend.
Sarah Whitehead and Gareth Tromans
Operations manager, 29, and diabetes specialist nurse for the NHS, 42
After meeting through friends we realised we lived on the same street! It wasn’t love at first sight as Gareth was wearing his 6ft Tom Baker Doctor Who scarf but we soon fell in love and have been together for eight years now.
We were meant to get married on May 8 in 2021, which would have been VE Day, however, with lockdown and losing my Grandfather on the same date in 2020 we decided that if we couldn’t have the fly-past and bunting of VE Day then we would have the jubilation of the Jubilee instead.
Our wedding this weekend will have a red, white and blue theme; the bridesmaids are in red, the groomsmen in blue, the bride is in cream.
The florals are also dark red roses with creams and myrtle, which is the royal bouquet flower and the men have blue thistle.
Gareth the groom will be giving a huge toast to the Queen in his speech.
Amy Cooke and Michael Graham
Head of research at a consultancy, 32, and engineering consultant, 30
We met at a mutual friend’s 21st birthday party almost 10 years ago. Our wedding is on June 4 at Owen House Wedding Barn in Cheshire and the Jubilee was only announced after we had set the date.
We couldn’t have asked for a better wedding present, to be given two full days off just before the wedding. It means that lots of our friends and family have extended their stays.
On Sunday, the morning after the wedding, we are hosting a huge wedding breakfast and Jubilee street party at home where we will use all the leftover wedding food and flowers, so nothing will be going to waste.
Andrea Walton and Josh Beech
Fraud manager, 28 and senior design engineer, 29
We met on Tinder seven years ago and will be getting married on June 4 at Nailcote Hall in Coventry.
We had booked everything long before the bank holiday had been announced, but the time off work will certainly make it easier for those who are travelling to come down the day.
To mark the Jubilee, we’ll have a royal-themed photo booth with crowns and masks of the Queen’s face.
Victoria Norton and Lee Smith
Office administrators, 32 and 40
Lee added me on Snapchat five years ago and we met up after talking to each other for a few weeks before we started dating.
Now five years later we are getting married over the Jubilee weekend at Norwood Park, Southwell, in Nottingham.
The extra bank holiday has allowed us to organise a joint “sten do” (stag and hen) on Thursday, which we wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for the Jubilee.
For the wedding itself, we’ve bought a cardboard cutout of the queen so guests can have pictures with Her Maj on the day.
Emily Adams and Nick Howe
Writer and editor, 28 and architect, 32
We met at the University of Kent in 2012, almost a decade ago and we’re getting married on Thursday at the Post Barn in Newberry.
We didn’t know about the bank holiday at the time - it was only announced a month after we’d booked and paid the deposit, so we’ve ended up saving £5,000 as we’d have never been able to afford a bank holiday otherwise.
To celebrate, we’ve made a giant Guess Who game for guests to play alongside other garden games. All the characters are our guests, but we’ve chosen to include the Queen too of course.
As well as a traditional cake that my sister-in-law is making, we’ll be having a whole host of caterpillar cakes and now, the new Queen and corgi cakes from M&S.
We’re having Pimms as our drink after the ceremony for something quintessentially English. And of course, we’ll be raising a glass to Her Majesty during the speeches.
