Fiona Jacques, 30, married Michal Gabrielczyk, 25, at King's College Chapel, Cambridge, followed by a reception at The Manor Barn on 8 June 2013. She says:
Michal and I met through the Corpus Christi College rowing club. I was asked to cox the first boat crew and, after a fortnight of me shouting at them, they did better than expected! During the next two years, our friendship grew over tea and cake every day.
Only those with a close connection to the chapel can marry there - I teach at King's College School and look after the choristers at evenings and weekends. We also had to obtain a special licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury as the chapel isn't a parish church.
We found our colour palette by looking through the pages of Brides - we both love purple, so it was an obvious choice to make.
Michal and I are known for being quite adventurous with food. We wanted to keep an element of the unusual while at the same time providing something that everyone else would eat - the duck breasts, potato bake and beetroot fondants went down a treat!
Because we met through rowing we had a guard of honour with oars from our old college and current rowing clubs to accompany us to the reception. We considered doing it as we left the chapel, but realised that the 12ft oars might be somewhat dwarfed by King's College.
We collected interesting wine bottles and corks in the months leading up to the wedding and used them as name card holders. We also used over 250 metres of homemade bunting.
My top tip: Don't feel pressured into following certain traditions if they make you feel uncomfortable. You want to be able to look back and have enjoyed the experience.
Photography by Lina And Tom; www.linaandtom.com
