Linda Cattermole & James Barnes

St Peters Church, Dyhram, Bath
Saturday, 18th July, 2009

Linda was enjoying a holiday with a friend in Borneo when they embarked upon a climb up Mount Kinabalu — and met her new man, James, 3000 metres up! It was love at first sight and Linda and James spent the next five days travelling together, before James had to go home. Three weeks later he met Linda at the airport and the pair have been inseparable ever since! James proposed during a romantic trip to Paris: “it was in front of the Sacre Coeur as the sun went down,” says Linda.

The bridal gown…

Linda found her beautiful Sophia Tolli (sophiatolli.co.uk) dress at Cathedral Brides in Wells (cathedralbrides.co.uk). “I was out wedding dress shopping with my friend Helen who was also getting married. I was with her family but as soon as I tried it on I loved it and made sure I took my mum and dad to see it — it was the first thing we all instantly agreed on!” Her shoes were by Rainbow Club and her mum made the veil.

The venues…

After the ceremony at St Peter’s Church, the couple had photos taken in Dyhram Park (nationaltrust.org.uk) before heading to The Park in Wick, near Bath, for the wedding reception. “We spent a lot of time looking for venues, on our way back from Bath went into the National Trust house for a walk around and saw the beautiful church on the hill. We got to know the parish and also went to see the park in Wick. We liked the venue as it had accommodation on site. The wedding breakfast room was separate from the disco which worked well. It was a Manor House but it still felt small and personal.”

The flowers…

The bride’s bouquet was made up of classic ivory roses, while her bridesmaids had posies made from Memory Lane roses and eucalyptus, which looked pretty against their lilac gowns. The reception flowers were a combination of ivory and Memory Lane roses.

The cake…

The ivory four-tier cake had a pretty floral design on similar to that on Linda’s wedding dress, and was made by Anna Tyler cakes (annatylercakes.co.uk). The classic design hid a surprise though — orange and ginger fruit cake and raspberry sponge flavours!

The entertainment…

There was something to keep everyone entertained at Linda and James’s wedding! A string quartet played at the ceremony and reception, plus Linda’s friend Emily Beahan is a classical singer and sang Ava Maria and Pie Jesu. “In the evening we had Nick Langston and the Hipcats (nicklangston.a8creative.co.uk) who played swing music,” says Linda. They were brilliant and let us use their amp to play music through the ipod later, so there was no need to spend money on a DJ!”

To see more photographs from this wedding, buy a back issue of Perfect Wedding
issue 36— just click here!