Modern couple Clare and Paul celebrate fun rustic wedding

Like many modern couples, Paul met Clare on a dating site when she messaged him first.

After taking one look at Clare’s online dating profile, Paul wrote it off as a mistake. “I remember immediately thinking that she had sent a message to the wrong person, as she was too beautiful to be interested in me. I didn’t message her back,” he says.

But Clare, 31, had messaged the right person, and she followed up with a week later.

“I had not forgotten her,” says Paul, 33. “I thought that the second message couldn’t be a mistake, so I responded.”

Following a proposal at the top of a tower in Venice, the Nottingham pair began to plan their fun rustic wedding with a modern, gender reversal twist.

The pair tied the knot in front of 60 witnesses at Hazel Gap Barn in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire on April 14, 2018. As Paul stood aside his ‘best man’ and friend of over 15 years, Sophie, Clare walked down the aisle with her mother with her brother acting as flower boy.

While April had been tainted as the month Paul lost his father, he says he now has a happy reason to enjoy the month. “Our day had the right mix of sadness and celebration, not only of our love for each other, but the love of our family and friends clearly have for us too.”

Photos courtesy of Thomas Thomas Photography.

Fleurtations provided the delightful spring blooms for the day.

Clare paired her vintage-inspired tea length dress with teal pumps from Irregular Choice. 

Clare and Paul spent their first night as a married couple at Clumber Park Hotel. 

Clare turned to a former coworker for their three-tiered cake – Jenny from The Cake Lady. “Her cakes have always tasted amazing.”