London - Everyone puts their wedding photos on Facebook, don’t they? It’s the modern way, after all. Last week, Natalie Bilson and Kriss Aixhill, a couple from Derby, did it in style.
They were married at the Athena Beach Hotel in Cyprus in front of a few of their friends and family – plus a 10 000-strong community on Facebook as the winners of Thomson’s YourBigDay Wedding.
More than 750 couples applied, but with a little help from friends and family – who then persuaded their friends and families to vote for them – Kriss, 26, and Natalie, 28, won through and stood, with the Mediterranean waves breaking behind them, to exchange vows.
The pair met each other in 2007 when they were in the Army. Natalie was serving in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers at the time. “I was wearing overalls covered in grease the first time we met,” she says.
Kriss jokes: “I broke tanks and Natalie mended them!”
The two of them endured a dual posting in Iraq before they got engaged. Both then left the Army, but Kriss has rejoined.
The YourBigDay process saw Thomson’s Facebook followers choose the design of Natalie’s wedding dress, where the stags and hens went to (quad biking and a sunset cruise), the colour scheme (coral and sand, which was a huge relief to Natalie who was worried about blue and yellow), the bridesmaids’ dresses and even the first song at the reception.
It’s hard to imagine a more deserving couple or a more appreciative one. The last time they went away on holiday was in 2009 when they headed to Majorca on a bargain break in January.
They’ve struggled financially and getting wed means that the family will be able to move into married quarters. The couple have two children – Jake, aged four, and Alfie, who will be two in December.
Natalie’s mum Julie was left misty-eyed by the YourBigDay experience. “It was always Natalie’s dream to get married by a beach and she’s done it,” she says, beaming with pride, and recalling that when she wed Natalie’s father, it involved a visit to the register office followed by a trip to the pub.
These days, many brides want a much more elaborate occasion to mark their big day.
The average UK wedding costs £20 000 (about R360 000) but heading abroad can cut the cost – and keep the guest list down. Most weddings abroad cost about £8 000.
YourBigDay is, of course, a showcase for Thomson’s wedding business – the company arranges more than 1 000 weddings a year in Cyprus, which is its most popular destination.
But, ultimately, as we watched Natalie and Kriss exchange their vows, surrounded by family, it was still a reminder that even in this digital age, the magic of a wedding is about two people standing next to each other, exchanging heartfelt vows in front of other people – whether that means a handful or thousands. - Mail On Sunday