is over the moon to announce that Louise has chosen us to provide her with her dream wedding dress for her dream day.
If you are wondering who Louise is or why this dress is so special (we know every dress is special!) then read on!
A KIDLINGTON woman is the envy of brides-to-be across the world after winning a competition for a fairy tale wedding at Blenheim Palace.
Louise Simmons, 39, a community manager for a parenting website, found out on July 4 that she had won the coveted prize of a ceremony and reception for 100 people at the palace’s wedding venue, The Orangery.
She said: “I was at home alone when I found out and I ran around the room going absolutely bonkers. I live on the High Street in Kidlington - people probably thought I was a mad woman.”
The competition was run by Sodexo Prestige, the hospitality company at Blenheim Palace, and had entrants from 83 countries including America, New Zealand, Turkey, Brazil and Malawi.
The prize was awarded to the entrant to achieve the highest number of online votes from family and friends wanting them to win.
Entrants were encouraged to get people to vote through email and via social media sites Facebook and Twitter.
Louise received more than 700 votes beating 1,587 fellow brides-to-be. She said: “I got everyone I knew to vote, my friends, family, their friends, their friends’ family and cat and dog. My family are so excited, we’ve been in floods of tears.
My dad said my mother, who died, would have loved it. “
The prize includes a three-course meal, free champagne, a wedding planner, toastmaster and use of the Bouchain Bar and The Campaign Rooms. She added: “I never expected to win, never in a million years. I couldn’t have dreamed for a more stunning wedding location.
It really is going to be the wedding of a lifetime.”
Louise met her fiancée Alan Hill, 45, a project manager for the school of Health and Social Care at Brookes University, two years ago on dating website eHarmony. She said: “I’d been on my own for a while and I saw an ad for the site and thought ‘why not? I’ve got nothing to lose.’ It cost £30 a month but Alan is worth every penny. He is the nicest, most caring, lovely guy I have ever met. I just knew than he was right for me.”
After having a long-distance relationship for a year, Alan moved from Poole to live with Louise and her children in Kidlington. Louise has three children from a previous marriage, Jennifer, 18, who will be bridesmaid, Jason, 12 who will be the usher and Joshua, five, the ring-bearer. Alan also has a son who is at university in Herefordshire.
She said: “My daughter is more excited than me, that we are going to be princesses together, she can’t wait.”
Blenheim Palace is a special place for the couple as it is the spot where Alan proposed and where the couple, who enjoy country walks, shared their second date. They had been planning a modest wedding before finding out that they had won the competition. Louise said: “Money is tight, being a family of five, we are just average people who could have never afforded this. We would have just had an average wedding. We probably wouldn’t have any party, meal or anything. This is completely outside what we could have achieved on our own.”
She added: “Alan was absolutely over the moon, he was delighted that I could be a princess, he was really pleased that I could get to kind of wedding that I had only dreamed of.”
Alan & Louise
The couple have announced the wedding will take place at the palace in early June 2012.
Keep posted for photos of the big day
