>> REAL WEDDING – ALICE IN WONDERLAND << JAMES & SAM FROM THE WEDDING HOUSE SERIES!!

I’ve been dying to get this wedding posted!!  Soo here goes, introducing the fabulous Alice and Wonderland couple from the new Channel 4 series Wedding House, James and Sam.  Photographed by Ben Moore Photography.

♥ So how did you both meet?

We met on a flight to America! Sam was working as cabin crew and James, the world’s most nervous flyer, needed assistance. James cheekily handed Sam a business card at the end of the flight and after a couple of weeks Sam plucked up the courage to call!

♥ Tell us about the proposal!

James (after being accused of not being romantic) buys Sam a little present every Friday. After waiting till he had a permanent job, James bought a ring and hid it where he usually would hide the ‘Friday present’. Sam was speechless, and had to nod her head to say yes as she couldn’t talk.

♥ What made you apply to be on Wedding House?

As we couldn’t afford a lavish ceremony, and as Sam was previously married, it seemed a really good way to have a memorable wedding day. We certainly wouldn’t have been able to achieve anything like the Wedding House ceremony without their help.

♥ What did you have to do to get on the show?

We had to send in our idea by email, along with details of how we met. Following that we were invited to an audition in London which was filmed and shown to Channel 4 executives. Two weeks later we heard that they loved our audition tape and that they wanted to marry us!

♥ Why did you want an Alice in Wonderland theme?

Sam has always loved the books, and has always loved the idea of living in a fantasy world. This gave her the opportunity to not only get married, but to do so in a way which she had dreamed of for years.

♥ Did you like your outfits? What were your favourite bits about your look? Sam were you disappointed or happy to not have a traditional bridal gown?

We were both ecstatic with the costumes! Not knowing what they were going to be until the day was a bit nerve wracking but we were really pleasantly surprised. James had thought that his look would be very basic and restrained so was happily surprised to see how crazy his suit was. Sam expected the traditional blue dress and white pinnie but fell in love with the dress they chose, she wishes she could have kept it!

♥ How did your guests react to dressing up?

Almost all of our guests were happy to dress up, one or two didn’t like the idea of being on TV so chose outfits which hid their faces (Cheshire Cat and Jabberwock). James brother Nick, who was the best man, was dreading having to dress up as the White Rabbit but nonetheless threw himself into the role.

♥ Who was what character?

Wow, where do we start… James was The Hatter, Sam was Alice, Sam’s mum and dad were the King and Queen of Hearts, James’ mum and dad were the White King and Queen, Sam’s brothers were the Knight and the Jabberwock, James’ brother was the White rabbit… We also had Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Knave, Jesus (a carpenter), the dormouse, card soldiers and many many more!

♥ What was the most memorable moment of your day?

Tough question… probably the moment where we were pronounced husband and wife, the culmination of the whole day… That and dancing along with all our guests in the Wedding House after the ceremony to ‘Pencil Full Of lead’ by Paulo Nutini, the surrealist thing we have ever seen…

♥ Did the rest of the day follow a more traditional route? Ie. Did you have speeches? First dance? If yes, what song was your first dance too and why?

We had a small reception on the evening, where we swapped roles (James dressed as Alice and Sam as The Hatter) but didn’t have a proper reception until three months afterwards (which was also Wonderland themed)

♥ Did you have any entertainment? If yes, what and why?

For the reception we had a caricaturist (went down very well) and a silent disco, so people could choose the music they listened to.

♥ Do you have any advice you can offer Peonies & Pearls readers?

If you want to have a day that’s different plan ahead in advance! We were very lucky to have the Wedding House team to help us, and if we’d have tried it ourselves it would have taken a lot of effort!

♥ Any regrets? Or best decisions made?

Best decision we ever made, we have got happier and happier since the day we married…


I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Sam’s beauitful bouquet is made from cupcakes and is edible!! It was made by Splat Cooking and they also run workshops to teach you how to make your own. Here’s a little bit of info about Splat Cooking the lovely Victoria sent me.

“We run regular workshops to teach attendees how to create their own cupcake bouquet with a colour scheme to suit them and to include the use of food safe glitter and food jewellery etc. We have a workshop coming up in the new year at our head office – look here and other courses available at other locations offered by our franchisees all of whom have been fully trained by Beverley Glock, food writer, BBC online cook, Times online food expert, mother of 3 and founder of Splat Cooking.”

And here’s a few close ups of Sam’s goregous bouquet……

 And here’s what Sam had to say about her bootiful bouquet!! 

“My wedding day was a creative extravaganza and I needed a unique bouquet that could fit in with my Alice in Wonderland theme. What better than an edible bouquet that not only looked amazing but tasted divine too! The edible tag said Marry Me as a play on the Eat Me tags in the book which I thought was a lovely touch! If you didn’t know you would have sworn they were flowers they were so perfectly created to mimic them. There could not have been a more perfect bouquet and the fact that I could have a nibble on it when I got a bit peckish was an added bonus! Thank you so much!”

Big thanks to James, Sam and Ben for allowing me to share this gorgeous wedding with you!!

Ceremony Venue: Sundridge Park Manor
Reception Venue: Granvilles, Stone, Staffordshire
Photography: Ben Moore Photography
Videographer: Channel 4
Cake: Splat Cooking
Bride’s Dress: Prangsta Costumier
Bride’s Shoes: Prangsta Costumier
Bride’s Headwear/Veil: Prangsta Costumier
Bridesmaid Dresses: Prangsta Costumier
Groom’s Attire: Prangsta Costumier
Groomsmen’s Attire: Prangsta Costumier
Rings: Goldsmith’s
Makeup Artist / Hairstylist: Leo Bancroft