Wedding
RSVP
You're Invited!
We’re so happy to be able to invite you to the wedding of our lifetime and we hope you’ll be able to join us in celebrating.
After so many years of isolating, new jobs, a new house, and general craziness, this will be a wonderful opportunity to bring family members and close friends together from far and wide to spend some quality time with.
Let us welcome you for a long weekend of good company, good food, sunshine, and memory-making moments.
Saturday 16th September 2023
The Olive Gardens, Malta
Bride
&
Groom
Nat
Natalie Schembri / Nat / Nataya / Nattydread
Of Maltese heritage, born in Middlesex, lived in many different areas including Northampton and now residing in Manchester (best city ever).
Singer, songwriter, artist and beauty salon owner. Nat’s colourful and creative life has given her many experiences and names along the way, but however you’re connected, you know she’s forever authentic in everything she does.
Huge Foodie / Vegan / Loves Brazilian Zouk Dancing / Doesn’t Drink Alcohol (Dean) / Chocoholic / Loves Bailey
Bay
Bailey Allen / The Bailey Bin
‘Essex Boi’ & ‘troublemaker’ could be used to describe my earlier years, but couldn’t be further from the truth now…
I’m a big softy at heart, in love with Manchester’s nightlife, independent food scene and a crazy girl called Nat?! I’m always on-hand to take on the next ‘big idea’ we dream up together, and looking forward to our dream of ditching our jobs and traveling the world together <3
BIGGER Foodie / (mostly) Vegan / Loves Dancing & Cooking / Problem Solver / Always Helping Others / Loves Nat
Our Love Story
28/05/19 – Our 1st accidental date – 1st picture together
Both coming out of bad relationships and originally out to cheer Bailey up. A group of us went out for crazy golf and food at Las Iguanas. Everyone had dropped away, but we both knew we couldn’t part there.
Unbeknown to Nat, due to a long challenge with dyspraxia, Bailey would never dance in public. However, that didn’t stop him pulling out his dance moves. Dancing on table tops in Alberts Schloss, then onto The Liars Club until 5am. Dancing is now part or our everyday life.
25/09/19 – Moving in together – Middlewood Street, Manchester.
Bailey had planned to move to Manchester in the near future for a fresh start and to be closer to his Dad, but the universe had other ideas. Bailey had just passed his driving test, Nat’s flat mate Dolly was moving out to start a new life in Spain and the commute costs were high.
It made sense to find a place to share together as room rentals were so expensive, so we opted for a 2-bed (just in case).
2019 – Our 1st Christmas
Bailey’s Uncle Jason had his 50th Birthday just before, which Nat performed at, so literally met everyone in one go. We spent Christmas with Nats sister Lorraine and Nephew Aaron and visited family in Essex and London.
No one knew what was lurking around the corner in 2020, but we had a wonderful 1st Xmas together.
11/03/20 – Bailey’s Birthday Treat
Everyone knows Nat loves getting pampered, but this was Bailey’s 1st spa experience, and of course, metrosexual Bailey loved it too (perfect).
We started to plan all our future spa days together and all of the wonderful things Manchester had to offer so Bailey could get to know his new city. Then one week later…LOCKDOWN!!
2020 – 2021
Both being out of work overnight, we spent our lockdown cooking, eating and getting to know each other even more. Aside from the worry and anxiety of lockdown, we loved spending every minute with each other and we give thanks that we got to spend it together.
During this time (as we both can’t sit still for 5mins) we started a new micro business together, found new independent salon premises for Nat, which meant she didn’t have to share work space post-lockdown, and started to save for a house deposit.
05/12/21 – It’s got a roof on it!!
There were lots of positives to take from lockdown, it gave us time to spend with each other and time to plan our future goals.
But one of the saddest moments was losing Bailey’s Grandma Joy, who unfortunately Nat never met. Joy was a talented musician herself, and we were given a compilation of her music that we could could play at home. She had also left Bailey a monetary gift in her will which Bailey was able to put towards our mortgage deposit.
There were so many obstacles to overcome but we managed to secure a mortgage, find a house and watched it being built from March to December.
Special thanks to Grandma Joy, may you rest in peace, we would not be where we are now without you.
13/08/22 – I can’t remember what he said, but I said yes!
So this happened…at a small BBQ with friends at our house. Nothing crazy or extravagant, but special and the priceless look on Franks face when Bailey got down on one knee, unforgettable!
Never did we ever think we would find the friendship, trust and love that we found within each other. Inseparable from the start, we both were never expecting to find what we did in one another.
But, when you know, you know, right?…and now we’ve actually experienced the knowing, ya know?!
Future Plans
Explore the world
Having a partner that you can share your hopes, ambitions and goals with, is a dream in itself (especially when they are pretty crazy/alternative!)
Natalie dreamed of traveling around the world, immersing herself in local cultures and exploring nature as it was intended. Bailey dreamed of exploring the world one dish at a time, eating all the local delicacies and learning how to cook his favourites, whilst living/traveling in a converted van.
After much dreaming & scheming, we set a crazy goal to buy our dream van in 2026, convert it ourselves and be traveling full time by 2028. This may seem like a long time away, however if the last 3 years are anything to go by, it will fly by in the blink of an eye.
We’ve already started planning what we’ll need:
– A van (specifically a Fiat Ducato, Peageot Boxer or a Citreon Relay)
– Electrics (100% solar power to run our hob, fridge, water pumps, AC, etc)
– Water (shower, sink, water pumps, filters & custom built water tanks)
– Heating/Cooling (diesel air/water heater for warmth & hot showers, fans, AC)
– Toilet (adjusting to a composting toilet will be interesting!)
– loads more…
Your presence is our present and we are so grateful to have you join us in Malta. If you still wish to give us any form of wedding gift, please don’t bring anything of size as it will be too difficult to bring back home with us (you know what Nat’s like with packing).
Any monetary gifts will go directly into our ‘Van Savings’, helping us start our once in a lifetime world tour <3 (AKA 3 year honeymoon)
The Venue
When,where & how to get there
Olive Gardens
Triq L Gharriqin, L-Imdina, Malta.
With its well-groomed gardens and a breath-taking backdrop of Mdina city, Olive Gardens can be appreciated both during the day with its luscious greenery and olive groves surrounding the garden, as well as during the evening when the bastions are beautifully lit-up.
Saturday September 16th
Ceremony 15:00 (3pm)
Transportation for our UK wedding guests to the venue will be provided
Itinerary
Some important times to take note of (like cake cutting) but we’ll also go with the flow!
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Ceremony 15:00
The “I Do’s” don’t be late or you might find yourself wondering down the aisle to Bailey
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Nibbles & Photos 15:45
Woohoo, there's no going back now! Time to relax with some drinks and canapes and to get those all important photos before the sun and the drink ruin our hair and make-up lol, smile!
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Open Bar & Food 17:30
Time for the open bar, but don’t rush, we’ve got you covered until 23:30. You’ll be able to order Red, White and Rose wine. Local made Cisk, Excel and Hopleaf beers and lagers as well as Heineken. Soft drinks, mixers, Juices, still and sparkling water. Spirits and cocktails will be available at an extra cost, but your juices & mixers are provided. Antipasti boards and fresh breads will be laid out on all tables.
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Speech BINGO 18:00
Speech Bingo and Prosecco. If you’d like an opportunity to say a few short words on the day we’d love to put your name in the bingo bin & give it a spin. Names will be drawn at random and off you go. Live for the moment, they pass so quickly.
We’ll also have some of our favourite antipasti nibbles at all the tables to get you ready for the main event.
You know that we’re free-spirited, so sit wherever you’d like & have a mingle. You’ll find no name-tag dictatorship here (nobody puts Bailey in the corner!).
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Buffet Banquet 18:45ish
We’ve handpicked some of our favourite foods that we hope you’ll all enjoy. There will be a few different serving stations around so you can stick to your safe options or try it all. This will be a flesh-free menu, no dead animals will be at the dinner table. Please let us know of any dietary requirements / allergies.
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time for cake 20:30
Let’s cut the cake already, before Nat dives in mouth first. We'll have a few different flavours to choose from.
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first dance 20:45
Our first date was full of dancing and now we’ll dance our first dance as husband & wife.
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party time 21:00
...until they kick us out, which will probably be about midnight. Time to shine. Break out those dance moves, we’ll meet you on the floor.
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Still hungry? 23:00
Just in case you are, we'll roll out some well needed midnight munchies.
the food
Camilleri Catering
The Camilleri (cami-lairy) group is a family-owned business that was first established in 1843 and is to date the oldest confectionery trader on the Maltese islands.
Their flagship store is still situated in Merchants Street, Valletta. It offers the largest assortment of pick ‘n’ mix varieties with over 240 different types of sweets, gummies, and chocolates. You’ll also find a vast selection of wines, spirits, artisan ice cream, cakes, and homemade bakes.
You won’t have to worry about going hungry. We have worked hard with the chefs to bring together a bespoke menu of all our favourite world foods for our special day (and you know how much we LOVE our food). There will be plenty to go around.
If you have any dietary requirements, please let us know when you fill out the RSVP form <3
theme & dress code
Anyone that knows Nat or has ever visited her salon will know she’s a tropical girl, and if you didn’t, then I think you can gather that from this website lol. Expect splashes of tropical colours like the ones on the website and of course a dab of gold here and there.
THEME: Tropical – White, Pinks, Greens, Teals, Golds.
DRESS CODE: Formal Summer Vibes
Warning: The temperature is likely to be around 27℃ with the potential for high humidity during the day.
This will gradually drop to around 20℃ towards the evening.
Please dress accordingly to stay comfortable. Once inside the venue walls, there are no cobbles or loose stones although the ground is rarely 100% flat, so high heels should be fine but stilettos may be an ankle hazard! There are a few steps leading up to the ceremony location and a few more leading down to the toilets. Please let us know if you have any access requirements.
Bailey will be in a stone coloured linen suit 😉