A beautiful, modern barn venue was the perfect spot for this couple's wedding. Our WED2B Real Weddings Milton Keynes feature reveals more:

A meeting online

Social networking site, Facebook, helped connect this happy couple. "We met through friends of friends online," Laura says. They met one another in early January of 2012 and went for a simple but romantic first date in a local pub for dinner. It wasn't until March 2013 that Laura and James became 'official'.

When talking about marriage, Laura was always told a proposal was never happening, so she was "completely surprised" when it did! James had snuck off to ask Laura's mum and dad for their blessing before he got down on one knee. His original plan to use their daughter for the proposal wasn't possible as she was too tired and was put to bed. Instead, when Laura came down the stairs, James was down on one knee surrounded by twinkly lights and candles.

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Finding the perfect dress

Laura wore the beautiful Serena by Bellami. "I loved that it was such a flattering shape!" she says, "it's so pretty and elegant." Falling head over heels for the delicate lace detailing, Laura knew it was the perfect dress for her big day. "I just felt so happy and pretty wearing it!"

Adding a couple of bridal accessories was a must! Laura chose the simple yet elegant veil LouLou and sparkly headband Autumn.

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A beautiful venue

This couple chose 16th Century Knebworth Barns as the venue for their special day.

"The grounds were amazing!" Laura says, "They were perfect for photographs."  The barn itself was modern and elegant without being too low-key or too stuffy. "We both just fell in love with it!"

They held both the ceremony and reception there as "they were perfect in both size and location". For guests who were travelling to attend, there was a hotel just 2 minutes away and it was close to the couples home. Perfect!

On the day...

Laura and James decided to have a civil ceremony at 3 in the afternoon. Laura walked down the aisle, with her dad, to the beautiful piano version of A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. "My mum did a reading of A Lovely Love Story which was wonderful," she says.

Once the ceremony was over, the couple and guests celebrated with Pimms, Peach Bellini's and pictures! The gorgeous wedding photographs were followed with dinner at 5 o'clock which lead to speeches at 6. "The speeches were great. Both loving and cringy for us both!"

All the excitement of the day didn't end there! Evening guests arrived later on and were entertained by a DJ that had everyone up on the dance floor, "there was loads of dancing!"

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The decor

There was a subtle Scrabble theme that featured throughout the day. The name cards and the favours used the classic Scrabble tile for people's initials and the wedding guest book used them too.

For their centrepieces, the couple had large fishbowls filled with twinkly lights surrounded by delicate purple gems and they hired large light up letters of their initials.

Laura's God-Mother was talented and kind enough to make their wedding cake. It was a simple, Victoria sponge cake, with fun Scrabble cake-toppers of the initials of the couple.

Laura's top tip

"Try to spend your day together! It's so easy to get talking to different people, and before you know it, it's the end of the night and you've barely seen each other."

A few more to inspire you

If you love the elegant a-line Serena just like Laura, you may also want to check out Annalisa and Robyn. These are both beautiful strapless gowns with sweetheart necklines.

Photography credit: Polly Doherty Photography