Lisa and Jack, who teach at the same school, pretended for a long time they weren’t together.
But after they got engaged, it was all over red rover. “We stopped denying to the children in our school that we were a couple,” says Lisa, 30. “The children were overwhelmed with excitement and prior to the Easter holidays that we were married, our headteacher held a ‘wedding ceremony’ in our school hall where the deputy head and I walked down a makeshift aisle and I was given away to Jack [29].”
They married for real on April 14, 2019 at their blush pink romantic wedding with 85 guests. A ceremony at The Orangery at Buxted Park Hotel was followed by a reception at the same venue. “We decided on Buxted Park Hotel as it was a special place that his family had held family occasions in, including Jack’s 18th birthday where many dear family and friends, who have since passed away, were present,” explains Lisa.
The pair handmade a lot of things themselves, including table numbers and the pick and mix table. “We framed photos of weddings of our relatives going back to our great-grandparents and included a memorial table of people who had passed on, including my mum and Jack’s best friend Holly.”
Photos courtesy of Paul Read Photography.
“My bracelet was a gift from Jack’s family for my 30th birthday,” says Lisa.
“My sister’s mum dried hundreds of rose petals (including our engagement roses) which we cut up and used as confetti,” explains the bride.
“We were lucky enough to have exclusive use of our venue for our wedding day and many of our guests stayed the night in the hotel,” says Lisa.
“He also took some amazing photos during the speeches of our guests as well as the wedding party, which was lovely with lots of people laughing and crying,” the bride says of their photographer Paul.