88 Saturday December 18 2021 | the times
Readers’ Lives
along with Arthur and Kim, who was
a bridesmaid. Tom stayed at home
with Roswell and his best man, Dave,
who he has known since the age of
three and was in the same marching
band.
Aimee placed a photograph of
Tom’s father, who died in 2014, on a
seat next to his mother at the
ceremony at Leeds Civic Hall. Tom
could not hold back the tears as she
walked in with her father to the Goo
Goo Dolls’ Iris. Her father had been
in a motorbike accident and they had
thought he might not walk again. He
walked with a stick and hugged Tom
at the top of the aisle.
Aimee’s mother missed out on most
of the ceremony as she tried to calm
Arthur who was “going bananas”
because he wanted to be with Aimee.
The newlyweds walked out to Bruce
Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark and
drove with their children to the
reception at Chilli Barn, a rustic
wedding venue on the edge of OtleyChevin Forest Park. It started
snowing as another 20 guests turned
up for a buffet followed by dancing to
a live band.
Aimee and Tom had practised for
their first dance to Kiss the Girl from
the Disney film The Little Mermaid,
and it was not long before their
children joined in. “Tom thinks he is a
bit of a Fred Astaire when he has had
a few drinks,” she says.
“You don’t have to spend a lot of
money to have the most amazing
day,” Aimee adds. “All that matters is
the people who are there. It was just
incredible.”If you would like to feature a
wedding or engagement or the
birth of a child on these pages, call
020 7782 5583, Mon-Fri, to discuss
the content and cost, or email:
[email protected]
thetimes.co.uk/static/terms-and-conditionsAimee’s friend, Kim, was in a
marching band and inspired her to
join. “She said it was a lot of fun and
there were boys,” Aimee recalls. Fast
forward 14 years and Aimee is now
married to Tom who played the snare
drum for a rival band.
“Tom was very popular within the
band scene,” says Aimee, who was on
percussion. “He was very talented.”
He had grown up with his father
playing Bruce Springsteen and
Phil Collins on the family jukebox,
and been captivated by the drum
solos.
Aimee and Tom would see one
another at competitions around the
UK and the bands would get together
for an annual party at Pontins in
Camber Sands. “It was a brilliant way
to experience your teenage years and
feel part of something,” she says. They
kept in contact via social media.
Tom has since drummed at the
Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary
concert at the O2 Centre in London
and with Coldplay at the opening and
closing ceremonies for the London
Olympics. He is now an underwriter.
Aimee had two children — Roswell,
now 9, and Honey, 8 — and was
single when she contacted him via
Facebook in 2013. “I had a feeling that
she might message me,” he says.
Aimee was then living in Stafford
and travelled to Leeds to meet Tom
for dinner at a restaurant. “It was like
meeting an old friend,” she says. They
introduced one another to their
families. “He was absolutely brilliant
with the children,” she says. “He’s fun.
He is just one of those people who
everyone likes being around.”
After a year, Aimee moved with her
children and springer spaniel, Bibi, to
live with Tom in Leeds. “You
sometimes do things on a bit of a
whim and a prayer, but thankfully it
has all worked out,” she says. With
Tom’s support, she is training to be a
veterinary nurse. They have a rabbit,
two cats and two dogs, including
Tom’s chihuahua, called Paddy.
It is not unusual for Aimee to come
home from work with an extra animal
to look after. During lockdown, she
nursed a baby fox who they named
Phoebe. “Aimee just amazes me how
she can find time to make sure we are
all happy plus hand rear a baby fox
every few hours throughout the
night,” says Tom.
Marriages and engagements
Old friends march to the beat of love
“We love the buzz of a busy family
home,” he says. “There is always a
dance class to watch or a play date.”
In 2018 they had a son, Arthur, and
moved into their current house,
which they are extending. Marriage
was not something that he had
imagined before meeting Aimee.
“There was no flash engagement,” she
says. “It was more of a family decision
that we wanted all of us to have the
same last name.”
They sent out invitations to 80
guests for their ceremony at Leeds
Civic Hall. “I was never panicking
that it would get cancelled,” she says.
“We just didn’t have a massive budget
anyway. There is a long life after
weddings.”
Tom’s younger sister grew and
arranged the flowers for their
wedding. Aimee went with her
younger sister, mother and Honey to
choose her dress from a bridal shop in
Leeds. The bridal party stayed at a
hotel on the night before the wedding,Thomas and Aimee became friends more than a decade ago. Years later she decided to contact him on social mediaNew readers
Laira’s name was
inspired by Lyra
in Philip
Pullman’s His
Dark Materials.
“That name stuck
in our minds,”
says Lívia. As she
is Brazilian and
Alistair is British
they also wanted a name that was
pronounced the same way in English
and Portuguese.
During a planned home birth Laira
arrived “minutes after our groceries
delivery”, with Alistair rushing to put
the frozen food away.
Her big sister Amilia (New readers,
January 19, 2019) was with Lívia when
she discovered she was pregnant again.
“She understood from the beginning
and was very cute during the
pregnancy. She would say ‘I love you
my baby sister’. Now she gives her lots
of cuddles.” The age difference
between the girls is almost exactly the
same as between Lívia and her sister.Lois loved being
pregnant with
Lola. Then, in
her ninth
month of
pregnancy, she
was diagnosed
with breast
cancer. Lola
arrived via
planned C-section at 38 weeks and a
month later Lois began chemotherapy.
She and Ben named their daughter
after their favourite song by The Kinks
and chose Angelica as her middle
name, “because I fully believe that
she’s my guardian angel, sent to us just
when we were going to need her”, says
Lois. Her other name is Lola “No
Patience” Stanford.
Lois and Ben are documenting their
journey @parentsvscancer on
Instagram. “People have said to me, ‘I
don’t know how you’re doing this with
a baby,’ but I don’t know how I’d do it
without her. She is my focus. When I
get up in the morning I don’t think
about my cancer, I think about her.”Aimee Sewell, 28, a trainee
veterinary nurse, and Thomas
Shepherd, 37, an underwriter, were
married on November 27, 2021, at
Leeds Civic Hall
Lola Angelica Stanford was born on
September 14, 2021, at Northwick
Park Hospital, Harrow, to Lois, 33,
and Ben Stanford, 31Laira Bonadio Barfoot was born at
home in the borough of Haringey,
London, to Lívia Bonadio, 38, and
Alistair Barfoot, 35The perfect gift
for new parents
‘She has her father’s eyes
and face shape but her
mother’s lips and nose’
Celebrate the arrival of
a newborn in Readers’
Lives, a service in
contracted tributesCall 020 7782 5583 or email
[email protected]50%
discount for
subscribersPIPPA SUZANNE DRACOTT WAS BORN ON MAY 28, 2020,
AT BROOMFIELD HOSPITAL IN CHELMSFORD, ESSEX,
TO CLAIRE, 30, AND GARY DRACOTT, 30BETHANY CLARKE