Big Ben Calling…

These two lovers may have met online, but their mutual love for all things England ultimately inspired their British-themed wedding day, here in Utah.

When they got engaged, Ryan even tied in a little British-themed proposal. “It was so cute. I have always loved London. Each time I would visit, I would take a picture with a telephone booth or Big Ben, and my caption on social media was always, “Ben called…” On New Year’s Eve, he proposed at a cute decorated telephone booth here in Utah at midnight London time. Our caption for social media was, “Ben called and told us to RING in the New Year.”

How does one get Big Ben on the phone? Asking for us.

Jade grew up Irish dancing, which brought her to compete in England, and she’s always loved it. Ryan spent time coaching for Liverpool FC, which according to Jade, is very impressive for an American to do. For both of them, it was inevitable that they wanted to get married in London. But it wasn’t as easy as they thought.

“We initially wanted to get married in London, England. The more I looked into it, the more I realized this was nearly impossible because of the British laws, and as American citizens, it wasn’t going to work out. So instead, we had a civil wedding here in Utah and then got sealed in the London, England LDS temple.”

That wasn’t going to stop them from bringing London to them!

Bringing London to Utah

“Here in Utah, we had a very British-themed wedding. We had a British taxi as our getaway car and a telephone booth. We served mini desserts similar to tea time in England.”

Don’t mind us, we’ll just be adding tea time to all of our wedding day timelines from here on out.

“We had our temple sealing scheduled for two months after our civil wedding; however, my husband tore his ACL, and that delayed our sealing a little bit since he couldn’t travel. The following year, we had our temple sealing in London, England. We also went and exchanged vows at the Seven Sisters cliffs. We ended up having 30 of our family members come to our sealing as well, which was so much fun.”

Why have one wedding celebration when you can have two? Especially if it means vows on the Seven Sisters cliffs. We would fall in love all over again right on the spot.

British-Themed Wedding Priorities

Jade’s top three priorities while they were planning their wedding were photography, videography, and “making the day about us, and not about anyone else.” And we have to say, each priority was met with perfection.

“I wanted my wedding to be timeless. I didn’t want the photos or videos to be dated, so when we looked at them, you knew exactly when we got married. This led me to having very neutral colors: black, green, and cream. We also included a dress code for everyone who attended our ceremony. I picked a dress that was Bridgerton-style and old classic, hoping it wouldn’t date our wedding.”

Dear gentle reader, we must say we’re not mad about the Bridgerton references for such a grand affair!

“I loved how unique we made everything. I did everything from the eyes of a photographer, making sure that our wedding was picture-perfect.”

And there were some perfectly serendipitous moments while they were on the hunt for a photographer, both in Utah and the UK.

“Our photographer for our temple sealing actually used to live in Utah. I followed her years ago when she did a ton of Utah weddings. She then moved to the UK for school. I reached out to her when we got our sealing planned and asked if she would be willing to do our sealing photos and she said yes.”

If there were ever two lovers meant to be, it’s Jade and Ryan, and this is just further proof!

British Weather

A British-themed wedding day has all the charm and posh you can imagine, and then some. And of course, the weather had to reflect a typical English day.

“I realized it was my day, but we couldn’t control a whole lot. So I just took the punches as they came. We had our ceremony early in the morning so that we had the ideal lighting, with our reception in the evening. Funny enough, as soon as we left our ceremony, it started raining, and it rained the entire day up until about an hour before our reception. A true English day.”

“Most brides would have been so stressed, but I told everyone it was a rain or shine event since it was all outside. I said, ‘Grab your rain jacket and come party.’ Luckily, the weather ended up being absolutely perfect.”

Take it from this English-weather-loving bride, rain or shine, your wedding will be the perfect night you dreamed of, no matter what happens.

“Our bridals, ceremony, reception, sealing, vows, guess what? On each of those days, it rained. Before and after. However, I wasn’t about to let the weather stop me. Luckily, it stopped every time we had an event or needed to take pictures, but rain or shine, it would have been beautiful either way.”

A Ceremony in England

For their London sealing and vow ceremony on the cliffside, Jade loved more than anything sharing those moments with their families.

“We all stayed at a hotel near the London Temple, then got up and had brunch with our entire families that attended. We then went over to the temple for our sealing. Following the pictures, Ryan and I went to Seven Sisters Cliffs and exchanged vows and took pictures. Having 30 of our family members there, exchanging vows on the cliffs near the sea, it was such a magical experience.”

Magical doesn’t even begin to cover it. From a lovely British-themed wedding to a ring ceremony on the actual English coast, we’d say we are quite charmed.

“I loved going to England to get sealed. This is not something the average person does, and I’m so glad that we did something different and that we were able to share this experience with our families as well. I wish more couples would get sealed abroad, it was way less stressful and such a cool experience.”

But it didn’t end there. After their London trip, they continued on a cruise throughout Europe with their families to Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Take this as your sign to book that European cruise, and consider getting married abroad!

Right in line with how she approached her wedding day, Jade’s advice is, “Don’t stress about things you can’t control. You just have to roll with the cards you are dealt. Sometimes you can’t change things like the weather, just try to have a good attitude and make the most out of whatever situation.”

We have to say, it can be very easy to make the most out of your wedding day when it’s British themed and stunning!

From their proposal to the point of the Seven Sisters, Jade and Ryan’s wedding was nothing short of superb. Dare we say, even the Queen of England would have been delighted to see such a lovely day.