Dream wedding winners busy planning their special day

A Devon couple who won a £8,000 dream wedding last October - thanks to the Mercure Exeter Southgate and Radio Exe - have been busy making plans for their luxury wedding celebration at the top Exeter hotel.

Carla Pillivant and Toby Rowland, from Cullompton, who have been together for more than two years, will be getting married at the Mercure Exeter Southgate hotel in May.

With their big day fast approaching, Carla has been busy meeting all of the wedding suppliers involved, all of whom have generously offered their services for the big day.

These include: the bridal gown from La Bella Bridal and Toby’s traditional morning suit from Lugets; a cake from Kate Burt Cakes, flowers at the reception from Exeter based Rosie the Florist and a photographs taken by KCB Images. Kooky Booths are providing the couple with a fun photo booth for guests to enjoy, Purity Boutique Spa are doing the bride’s make-up and manicure and Summer and Lola, the Hair Boutique, will be on hand to create the perfect wedding hairstyles for the bride and her two bridesmaids.

Carla and Toby have decided on purple and silver for their wedding colours, and Carla has already chosen her dream dress from designer La Bella Bridal. Her first fitting takes place on 28th March.

Kate Burt, who creates exclusive, couture wedding cakes, has been working closely with Carla and Toby to make sure their choice of wedding cake is exactly what they’ve dreamt of! The couple has decided on a 3 tier white chocolate cake and a passion fruit glaze, with a large purple ribbon around the bottom and a diamanté ribbon around the top.

Bride-to-be Carla said: “Our plans are really coming together now and the staff at the Mercure Exeter Southgate have been amazing! We had no idea how much there is to organise for the big day - from the invites, table names, table decorations, lighting and even the photo booth – but all the suppliers have been so helpful - I can’t thank them enough!”

Tamsyn Parsons, Sales Manager at the Mercure Exeter Southgate said: “We are thrilled that Carla and Toby have made good progress with their wedding plans. They have made some excellent choices with the various suppliers and we can’t wait to welcome them for their big day in May.”

Party Lights South West, who will create a magical, fairytale atmosphere at the wedding with beautiful professional lighting said: ‘'It's great to be involved with such a fantastic couple. Getting married is the most magical day of a couple’s life and to be a part of the Mercure Exeter Southgate wedding competition is very exciting. I hope that my lighting will add even more magic to their special day.’’

Other businesses that have generously offered their services for the couple’s special day include The Little City Paperie who are providing the stationary, B:spoken.two who are treating the couple to dance lessons and Cockington Chocolate Company who are organising the favours. The couple will also receive a three-month membership to Spa Naturel Fitness at the hotel.

The Mercure Exeter Southgate will be exhibiting at the Sandy Park Spring Wedding Fair from 10.30am to 2.30pm this Sunday (22nd February).