Real Bride

#EnzoaniRealBride: Stef & Matt

From Workplace Colleagues to Lifelong Loves

For Stef and Matt, it was friendship at first sight...that ultimately blossomed into true love. After supporting and working alongside each other as colleagues for years, Stef and Matt's relationship developed into a beautiful romance that has led them around the world. Fast forward over eight years after their initial meeting, and the gorgeous couple decided to make it official with a lovely spring wedding in the English countryside. Read on to see their "traditional with a hint of vintage" nuptials and how Stef found "The One" in her Blue by Enzoani Hanoi wedding dress:

THE DRESS

"My dress was perfect. It is elegant, glamorous and sexy. The dress is an ultra-romantic, soft chiffon gown with accented ivory and pewter embroidered flowers, which contrast the dress and enhance it beautifully. It has a sweetheart neckline, snug bodice and mermaid tulle, with embroidered lace. The dress is then brought right up to date with a beautifully designed and stunning diamanté belt. I chose this dress as I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it on the mannequin in the shop. I didn’t have this kind of dress in mind, I wanted a backless, full skirt kind of dress, but after putting it on, I couldn’t and wouldn’t take it off. Every time I tried on the dress I fell in love with it even more. On the day, I felt a million dollars – and the smile on my husband’s face when he saw me said it all."

THE LOVE STORY

"I first met Matt when he was a Veterinary student at the practice I worked at as a student Veterinary Nurse. My first impressions of Matt was that he looked quite a geek wearing his lab coat and suit to practice, but his smile was infectious. Matt’s first impression of me was that I was funny with a heart of gold. I looked after Matt in his student work, and even made him look good to the bosses. I obviously looked after him very well, as he then took a job at the practice after qualifying as a Vet, and he began to support my training to become a qualified Veterinary Nurse. We became great friends working together and socialising with others outside of work. Years passed until anything romantic happened, but when it did, we both shared butterflies, even working together became exciting. It was hard at first when we started to make a go of our relationship, as we kept it a secret from everyone at work due to the huge amount of pressure and judgement. We still socialised, but held hands under the table so no one saw."

"After the news came out to everyone, they were so supportive and happy for us. Our relationship flourished, travelling to destinations worldwide such as The Maldives, Jamaica, Morocco, Paris, Greece, Rome, Thailand, and continuing working closely together in the veterinary practice for the past 9 years, and of course adopting two ginger cats, Rupert and Leonard. We bought our very first house together 7 years into our relationship. After searching for months for our perfect one, we finally stumbled upon the house we finally bought, and together put our own stamp on it making it our home."

"Matt FINALLY proposed 8 years after we met, on holiday in Thailand. Matt had informed me he wasn’t going to propose on holiday, so I certainly wasn’t expecting anything to happen. One evening after visiting stunning islands off Phuket, we went out for a lovely meal, afterwards Matt wanted a photo of us, so he set up his camera for a shot of us on a jetty looking out to the Andaman Sea, on positioning his camera, Matt ran over to me and as the camera started counting down to take the photo, Matt got down on one knee and spoke ‘ Stef, Will you Marry Me?’ Well I initially thought he was joking, I laughed and hit him to stop messing about – but after realising he wasn’t joking, I of course said yes and tears of happiness flowed."

THE WEDDING DAY

"It’s very difficult to pick our favourite moment of our wedding day, as it truly was perfect. If I had to choose one moment of our day, it would have to be walking down the aisle. My young nieces and nephew, Poppy, Daisy and Aaron (ages 2-5) walked down the aisle first, holding a sign reading ‘Uncle Matt, here comes your girl.’ After this my three beautiful bridesmaids, Kat, Hannah and Liz, entered the ceremony and walked down the aisle, holding beautiful arrangements of cream tulips and wax flowers. It was then my turn to make my entrance. From the moment those doors opened and I could hear ‘You Take My Breath Away’ playing by our band and everyone looked at me, smiling, I felt a huge sense of pride, happiness and joy. I remember just seeing Matt’s face beam, I could feel the butterflies in my tummy and truly knew I couldn’t wait to marry my best friend. As I walked down the aisle, with my dad by my side I just smiled at Matt. My dad had to keep whispering to me to slow down, as I was walking so fast to get to my husband to be. As I looked around, with all of our friends and family present – everyone was smiling – it was perfect."