Do you believe in fate? We sure do, and if it weren’t for Rochelle gatecrashing her friend’s work party, she never would have met the love of her life, Rob. “Rob and I first met when I gatecrashed my friend’s work party in Newcastle. Rob was my friend’s boss! Six years later we are expecting our second child and couldn’t be happier.”

The pair tied the knot in the picture-perfect setting of Doxford Barns surrounded by their friends and family. “I have a large family so it was important to us to have a venue that held our guests comfortably with on-site accommodation. We fell in love with Doxford Barns after visiting almost three years ago during a open day. It had everything we wanted. We particularly loved the balcony in the threshing hall where we positioned our ceremony singer.

“We had over 120 guests residing in tents, motor homes, onsite cottages, pods and nearby hotels. The venue really did lend itself to hosting large weddings.”

“We double-barrelled our surname. Robert Charlton and Rochelle Lainé became Charlton-Lainé as my family name is so rare nowadays. My ‘little’ brother walked me down the aisle and my mother gave a very touching speech, as my father is no longer with us. Our son, Mason was our ring barer.”

“As a DT/Art teacher, it was great to be able to make our vision a reality. I hand made most of the decor myself. Rob is good with DIY so I had plenty of help.”

“We chose to have burgers for our wedding meal and wedding cake for dessert, as we didn't want a traditional meal because we didn't want a traditional wedding. Every one had the choice of either chicken, beef or veggie burger and three toppings. The topping menu was delicious. It varied from local chorizo, halloumi and aioli, amongst others. We had a caricature, magician and magic mirror photograph booth to entertain guests. We also tried to break the world record for domino stacking as we felt this was a quirky way to entertain our guests.”

“My wedding dress was originally from a local store, but it went into liquidation before my dress could be ordered. This meant that I was without a dress and a deposit until the lovely ladies in the shop said I could have the sample dress for the deposit price, which was three sizes too big! This was an amazing suggestion from the owners and I was very thankful for, however, I was then tasked with finding a shop that would take me on with my dress to complete the alterations. After months of searching for someone willing, Accent Original Bridal Wear in Newcastle gave the go ahead to fit my dress. They looked after me from the minute I stepped into the shop. This wasn't the only set back as I then found out that we were expecting our second child! Luckily, due to the dress being too big and the date of the wedding being where it was, it meant that I was five months pregnant and my dress still fit because we ended up with a bigger size in the first place. The whole thing was a blessing in disguise.”

“The day was filled with laughter and muted colourful tones. Our photographer, who is also a close friend, agreed to secretly plan our gender reveal for the wedding day. I sent her the sex of our baby written by the sonographer, in a sealed card weeks before the wedding (and we didn't even know the sex of the baby too so it was a wonderful surprise on the day that our guests loved too). She bought confetti and stuffed it in to a piñata for our son, (Mason who is three years old), to brake open and reveal blue for a boy, or pink for a girl. She has scoped out lots of hidden places around the Doxford Barns site for us to take photographs. As a former Art Teacher and current Design Technology Teacher, it was important to me that we find a balance between staged and natural shots. I’ve always been a fan of high fashion magazines depicting preened brides and grooms looking off into the distance. I feel Claire has done an amazing job and we are so glad we had her to take our photos.”

“The other highlight for me was on the morning of the wedding. Rob had written 10 cards with 10 different reasons why he loved me. Each card was given to me by a member of the bridal party of the morning duration while we were getting ready with hair and makeup. As a pregnant bride, my emotions were already running high, he nearly sent me over the edge with tears by the final card.”

“If I were to give any advice to other brides, it would be to take some private time enjoy being together on the day. It was important that we enjoyed each other’s company as much as our guests. We made time to check in with each other and tried where we could to talk to guests as a couple, rather than individuals. It meant we could see more of each other throughout the day.”

For more real wedding inspiration, take a look at our dedicated weddings section. For more information on Doxford Barns as a wedding venue, take a look at its dedicated venue lowdown in the brand new issue of Belle Bridal Magazine.