Lizzie & Ronnie

 

About the Couple

To have something to help relive this incredible day. All of our families (from Uganda, Devon and Shropshire) will be together with our friends . To have the day on film will mean we have something that captures the words, emotions and story of the day.

because your cinematography blew me away! All the other videos look like something an uncle could film- but i felt your films capture the vibe, the scene, the setting and the details- more than they capture “aunt Mildred’s” bad hat! The music you use was also important in sealing the deal for me- it aligned to the film to encapsulate a real emotion and film feel… not just watching a wedding but feeling the essence of the moments.

You guys? …What do you do?..How do you spend your days?..What’s important in life? etc etc

Groom- Ronnie! My 6’6” Ugandan big kid! A genius in the kitchen (he was Gordon Ramsey’s left arm at Claridges for 8years) he now runs 6 restaurants around Surrey and Berkshire called Bel and the Dragon. (He’s easy to google). Hes devoted to giving back and making people smile, he’s a huge people pleaser which he does at work and at home with friends and family. His favourite role is that of host… so he’s dreading his stag do! At home he’s a big teddy bear and he loves nothing better than a military movie with me (asleep on him). And when there’s any rugby going on- he’s a part time fiancé 😂. Totally dedicated and invested. Ronnie has a complex upbringing which might need a voiceover (especially when it comes to helping you know who’s important to ensure gets captured!)- he was brought up by his bloodline grandma Beatrice who he calls Mama, and her husband peter. Unfortunately Ronnie’s parents were killed during the civil strive. When that all got so bad, Ronnie was moved to England to live with peters niece and family who live in Devon. So We very much have three families between us and they are all wonderful. Unfortunately peter passed away last year so we hope and pray that Ronnie’s grandma Beatrice will be able to join us at the wedding and we know that the Devon squad will.  Beatrice will be the matriarch of the wedding- our very important queen. And Ronnie’s heritage will be present throughout the wedding (cue all groomsmen in kanzu’s aka long white dresses!)- I know, another challenge for me to take on !

Me- Lizzie. I’m a project manager at Waitrose, and a newly qualified Pilates instructor, woo! (I give you full time job, full time course and plan a wedding… cheers Ronnie!) Sport has been part of my whole life in one way or form and I’ve been lucky enough to compete for England although happy with my more balanced set of cards now.  Ronnie should probably fill in this box for me! He would say that I’m an overachiever, never relax, passionate, driven, always planning something, that I love to host. He might give me some credit for making our house a home and he would not admit to never mowing the lawn or knowing how to use an electric drill- those are very much my areas of expertise! My family has been through a lot (although whose hasn’t these days) and my mum is currently battling round four of cancer- so that is defining us a bit at the moment and Ronnie is amazing at sending ridiculous messages of support to all of my family at perfectly random moments! Laughing and gratitude are key for me. Oh and as if you hadn’t guessed, one of us is mindblowingly organised …. the other is a Ugandan big kid.

We’ve been together for over six years… Ronnie made the first move and I didn’t even realise until I sheepishly returned to his ground about 3months later (went to China and didn’t check Facebook). But once we started talking we haven’t ever stopped.

Ha! Well we got engaged August 17th in st Raphael, south of France and it was perfect. But… Ronnie had been banned from discussing marriage for about a year because he kept talking about “when we’re married” and “your bridesmaid” and I kept having to send him a picture of my empty ring finger! I’ve never been the girl with the pre planned wedding file and I don’t tempt fate so when he asked and he knew we would get married this summer- I was set a challenge and willingly accepted it! Fortunately the project manager thing kinda helps!

We actually went on about 6 trips in the first half of 2018 (we love travel- something Mr “but Britain is travel to me” has gotten addicted to finally as well!) and any one of them (particularly New York) could have been the moment so I genuinely had no clue. I remember looking out of our balcony (Les Roches rouges… dreamy) and seeing Ronnie down at the bar next to the crashing waves, and he was on the phone. I thought nothing of it and when I came down he was on the phone to his grandma which is normal (turns out he’d been on the phone to my parents too!). We had a drink and as is normal for us we were messing around the rock pool when Ronnie sent me on a photo mission to have a pic between the rock pool and the sea. By the time I came back he was sat on a sunbed with a not-small pile of colourful diamonds next to him! He definitely didn’t get down on one knee and I definitely swore a lot! But it was a deal and we went on to drink a lot of wine through a lot of smiles …

Ronnie designed the beautiful yellow, white and pink ring himself and my favourite totally un-Ronnie story is that the ring fit, and when I asked him how he managed to make a ring fit without using any of mine he said that he just had to feel the girls (in the jewellery shop) fingers until he found one my size…. he just knew my finger size. Who knows that!! But that is him. He doesn’t talk that much on a sentimental level, but those type of actions tell me a lot.

so… we’ve gone neutral. My parents live in a great spot in the country but I wasn’t going to give my mum any version of extra work so that was out the question. Devon is too far, Uganda is a no! And we are using virtually all people we know as suppliers (aside from videog and photog!) and because we both “organise” for a living we have connections in this area near us (we live near Beaconsfield so 40mins from frensham) so it means we can build up a wonderfully meaningful connected wedding with not too much hassle. We can also celebrate great suppliers who have become friends.

We are having a weekend wedding and our dream would have been to have one big site where everyone could stay for two nights together. But I’m not a millionaire and I don’t want anyone to spend that much on one weekend. So we are using Churt bel and dragon as the base for the weekend which is a stones throw away from the church and the Friday reception venue- so it will be the perfect compromise. We want everyone to be able to relax into the weekend (Thursday afternoon-Saturday brunch) and not cram all the conversations into one day.

Our church and vicar are absolutely amazing… and we can’t wait to get married there.

What experience do you want to give to your guests?

A true celebration of two individuals coming together- Ugandan and British, bright and colourful. We want our guests to relax into the weekend, to feel a home from home. To feel celebrated and thanked for their contribution to our relationship. To be a part of every step of the weekend with us. We would be far less without these people and we can’t wait to start our lives with them by our sides (providing bubbles constantly preferably!).

I hope this has helped create some sort of picture….. looking forward to working with you!