All the Wedding Inspiration You Need from Real Weddings Across the North East

– Maddey & Jacob –

The pair met in their final years at university and after navigating their long-distance relationship during the pandemic, Jacob made the move to Northumberland in 2021. In 2024, having carried the ring around in his bag for three days trying to find the right moment, Jacob proposed to Maddey in Lake Garda just minutes before a huge rainstorm rolled in. With all transport stopped for the foreseeable, the couple ran to the nearest bar and drank wine with the locals in the pouring rain.

Just one week later, the pair decided on the most iconic wedding date of all: New Year’s Eve. At their three-day wedding, guests took part in a sweepstake to predict the first dance song. A surprise organised by the mother and father of the bride saw one of the ‘waiters’ take a stumble and erupt into song, and guests joined in a conga line around the venue. The personalised wedding magazines were complete with a ‘Where’s Wardy’ puzzle.

– Emily & Thomas –

The couple met when they were both living in Brussels. Thomas is Belgian and Emily moved to Brussels to work post-university. Having met as next door neighbours they quickly moved in together and the rest, as they say, is history. Thomas proposed on a trip to Istanbul in a beautiful restaurant by the water in Bebek with Emily’s Grandmother’s ring. Emily wanted to marry in her native North East and the wedding provided the perfect opportunity to show the beauty of Northumberland to friends and family from Belgium.

– Rachael & Elliott –

Rachael’s first memory of meeting Elliott was when he and his friends gate-crashed her 14th birthday party. They were the cool, older boys who hung out in the garden the entire time and probably had no clue that it was her home or her party. They crossed paths several times after that, the most memorable being outside a club in Newcastle although according to Elliott, from the very beginning, he really fancied Rachael although at the time it felt like that feeling was very much one-sided. Their paths crossed often, but he admits he admired her mostly from a distance, never quite brave enough to do anything about it.

Then a mutual friend hosted a drinks party and they found themselves sitting on the sofa together, and for whatever reason Looney Tunes cartoons were playing on the television. They laughed so hard choosing which of their friends matched each character they fell in love there and then, aged 19. It took until a trip to Japan in 2024 for Elliott to propose with a trilogy ring he had had specially designed, and surrounded by cherry blossoms and dozens of awestruck Japanese onlookers, the moment was pure magic – one neither of them will ever forget.