Jamie and Paul Hawkins
 1st August 2009

15 years ago my husband Paul was a student at the art college in Carmarthen. 11 years ago I was a student at the art college in Carmarthen. I'm now a lecturer at the very same college in the fashion department and 4 years ago my now dear friend Kate joined the team. Kate had been in college with Paul the 15 years previously, a little match-making on Kate's part and 4 and a bit years later Paul and I are getting married! I often wonder what would have happened if either of us hadn't studied at the college, but I do believe our paths would have crossed at some point as we were truly meant to be together.

Paul had planned to propose to me on Valentine's Day, however I kind of stumbled across something he was trying to hide and got cross that he was hiding something from me! He had no choice but to do it then and there a few days before Valentine's Day and of course I said yes! The ring he produced was a family heirloom passed down from his grandmother to his Mum and now me. To have a ring with such meaning meant more to me than any ring he could have bought.



The first thing I did before anything was shop for my wedding dress. I knew exactlywhat I wanted; a La Sposa dress I had seen in amagazine and I found the exact dress at Bridal Elegance in Llanelli. Next were my accessories, on a trip to New York I dragged my friends around lots of shoe shops but found nothing, then we found the Manolo Blahnik store tucked away down a side street just off Fifth Avenue. As I walked in the store I saw them straight away, "the something blue shoes" that Carrie Bradshaw wore in the Sex in the City film! I felt like Cinderella trying them on and there was no way on earth that they were not going to come home with me!!! My bridesmaid Kate who is a Milliner made my two headpieces, one to wear for the ceremony and one for the evening reception. She also made the fabulous headpieces that the bridesmaids wore.

We decided to get married in St Egwad's Church in Llanfynydd, it's a really pretty idyllic village which we thought would be perfect for our summer wedding, then it rained, rained and rained some more! We were extremely lucky though as on the day the sun decided to come out. The reception was held at Pantglas Hall also in Llanfynydd. It really was a beautiful setting which has given us some fantastic photographs. We were the first wedding in their new bigger function room, it's a gorgeous room and the blue paint they used on their windows matched my shoes......perfect! Working in fashion I decided to name the tables after my favourite designers, the top table was named after Manolo Blahnik of course! Paul's job was to find a band for the evening reception and he came up trumps. The band trekked all the way from Dudley and I'm so glad they did as they were amazing and kept everyone dancing until midnight. They even practiced our first dance song which was As by Stevie Wonder.

Buying the cake was definitely a highlight, I had been told by my bridesmaid about the wedding cakes from Heavenly in Llandeilo after she had tasted their white chocolate and blueberry cake at a wedding fair. I booked an appointment straight away and I can honestly say their cakes are the best I have ever tasted (I can still taste them now.......mmmmhhhhh!!!). We chose two different flavours, the white chocolate sponge cake with blueberries and the chocolate sponge cake with raspberries.

A lot of friends were involved in our special day which meant so much to us, my friend Damon made my hair look fantastic, my friend Christopher did all the flowers, an old college friend of Paul's who now works as a professional photographer did our photographs, a work colleague picked me up in her Jaguar and my bridesmaid Kate and I made the wedding stationery.

We honeymooned in St Lucia in the Caribbean. We stayed at The Calabash Cove which was absolutely perfect for honeymooners, we felt like the only one's there for days! The staff would bring us coconuts everyday and leave us fresh flowers on the bed. On our last night they even set up a table on the pier for us to have a romantic dinner. It was the perfect end to a perfect holiday.

Now it's all over I wish I could do it all again so I think i'll start planning to renew our vows in maybe 10 years..........or 5 years...........or 1 year?!!

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