Meet our Wedding Winners
In November 2019, we were inundated with entries to our Win a Wedding competition, and are delighted to be working with our lucky winners, David and Kelly, on planning their special day. Here we caught up with the couple to get to know them a little more and hear their story so far:
Where and when did you first meet?
David – It was at a morning volunteering at Barnabus homeless charity in 2016. The charity provides services for homeless people in Manchester, this particular event was a breakfast club. People in need were given tokens to come and spend on a hot breakfast to encourage them to spend their money in the correct way. I was tasked with making the toast, for around 3 hours solid and Kelly was serving the breakfasts at the hatch. We served over 200 people for the morning, it’s a really popular and valued service since the homeless community can even take a hot shower and exchange clothes at the centre too.
Kelly – I like to volunteer whenever I can. We are often given corporate responsibility days through my work which I take advantage of. I have volunteered at Fare Share and the Trussell Trust before, helping with the distribution of food packages and Barnabus was a new opportunity for me.
David – It was a one off at Barnabus for me. I have organised my own charity football game in aid of a friend who sadly passed away. This inspired me to do more charity work which is why I ended up at Barnabus and luckily met Kelly. We bonded over being thrown in at the deep end in the busy kitchen and made a pretty good team straight away.
Where did you go for your first date?
Kelly – After the morning at Barnabus we had the opportunity to sit down and hear about how the morning had gone and how many people we had helped, which is when we arranged to go for a drink and we went to The Refuge bar at the Principal Hotel in Manchester a few days later.
David - How did you propose to Kelly?
David – My gran passed away in 2007 and left me a ring, which she wanted me to give to the girl that I eventually wanted to marry. I had been with Kelly for a while when she moved to Dublin with work in 2018, which was difficult, but we were determined to make it work because it was a great opportunity for her. I’d fly to Dublin on a Friday straight after work for the weekend and we’d try to alternate it so Kelly would come back the next weekend. But Kelly often had to travel for work, so there’d be times when we wouldn’t see each other for three or four weeks. This particular time I was visiting in September 2019, we had been for a meal in Dublin and I proposed as we were walking by the river on the way home.
Kelly - Was is a complete surprise?
Kelly - I couldn’t believe it. It was a complete surprise. He dropped down on one knee and I was like ‘What are you doing?!’. I’d been working in Dublin for a couple of years and the long-distance is hard but I enjoyed the excitement of seeing David at the weekend, we’d often do ‘date nights’ each time he came to visit so this particular one with the proposal at the end was completely unexpected! David’s work circumstances meant that he couldn’t move to Dublin so once we’d decided that our futures were together and that’d I'd have to move back to Manchester eventually make it work, David must have decided it was the right time.
David, it was you who entered our Win a Wedding competition, did Kelly have any idea?
David – No, she didn’t have any idea. I thought it would be a nice surprise! And it was something that would be a massive help to us. You don’t see many ‘win a wedding’ competitions, so I thought ‘Why not?’, but I didn’t think for a minute that I’d win!
Kelly – I can’t believe how lucky we are to have won, so thank you so much!
How did it feel when you got the call to tell you you had won?
David – I was actually in Kelly’s flat in Dublin, I had been visiting and Kelly was at work. I was due to fly back the next morning. I got the call and was gobsmacked! I had to take myself off for a drink to calm down. I had the shakes!
How did you tell Kelly?
David - I told Kelly that I had some news, and she immediately thought it was something bad. When I told her we had won, at first she didn’t believe me.
Kelly - How did you feel when David shared the news?
Kelly – Obviously, I didn’t know he had entered, so I was just wondering how we could have possibly won a wedding! It wasn’t until I saw the email from The Devonshire Arms that it sunk in a bit more and obviously I am ecstatic!