Emma, why did you choose a Rachel Chaprunne bridal headpiece?
When I saw the Florence headpiece it was exactly what I had been looking for at a price I could afford! I had wanted something delicate, that would glint in the light and sparkle but wasn't over the top. I knew I wanted more of a vine type style. The Florence had everything, it was on gold wire and my accessories on the day were mainly gold, it had pearls and then crystals to sparkle. It was also bendable so the hairdresser was able to mould it to my head, it was light and I couldn't even feel it once it was in place!
Thank you Emma it was an absolute pleasure to make it for you, you really do look amazing!
So to the beginning, tell us all about the romantic proposal?
Jon proposed on 2nd Jan 2016, he suggested going for a walk up to a place called Carn Llidi which is a hill overlooking the coast at a beach called Whitesands. After we had climbed/scrambled our way right to the top he got down on one knee and proposed. The ring was his great aunts so is particularly special. The view from the top is amazing you can see all round the headland, the sun came out at just the right moment and then he pulled a bottle of champagne and glasses from his little rucksack! It was perfect!
Tell us about your exquisitely beautiful dress!
My dress was called Irene by Wendy Makin. I went to a few dress shops and thought in my mind I wanted a slim fitting style. However when I tried these on I felt so uncomfortable, the minute I put Irene on it just felt right. I thought about it for a while but kept coming back to Irene. The dress was beautiful lace at the top but then the silk chiffon skirt just floated along as you walked, I knew this was what I wanted especially with a garden style reception. One of my bridesmaids Mish offered to make me a sash. As she lives in Australia she brought over lots of different bits and then hand sewed the belt the week before the wedding!
How did you choose your colour scheme?
The colour scheme began with Jon wanting to wear an orange tie! I felt orange bridesmaids wasn't for me and so chose grey as I felt the orange bouquets really popped against it and it was classy and suited everyone's skin tone. The girls all chose the neckline they wanted and so were different but the same style skirt, as the skirt was chiffon it also toned well with my dress. The navy suits toned in nicely as well with orange really looking good against them.
We asked a friend who is a florist to source the flowers for us. I knew I wanted a less formal looking arrangement for the tables and for the flowers to almost feel just collected from the hedgerow! For foliage I really liked the tone of green of eucalyptus. I had also seen some hanging arrangements and we decided to ask our florist to make 3 hanging arrangements for the marquee. It was the first time she had done this, we found 3 cartwheels on eBay and I thought they looked absolutely stunning. My bridesmaid Emma along with a friend Sarah arranged all the other flowers in the marquee, they added so much colour without being overpowering and looked beautiful.
Bridesmaids & flower girls?
4 bridesmaids - they were all my closest friends from different points in my life. I had six bridesmaids! and two flower girls (our niece and our goddaughter) although the little one didn't quite fancy it on the day (actually she lay down on her front in the entrance to the cathedral crying and the bridesmaids and older flower girl all had to walk over her!). My two younger sisters were bridesmaids, two of my friends from university and two of my closest friends from Pembrokeshire. They were all brilliant although many lived far away (my sister lived in Thailand, mish in Australia and two in London), lots of what's app chats! They organised between them, a home hen do, a hen do in Cheltenham and a spa day the week of the wedding. They all helped decorate the marquee and a friend called Sarah helped with the flower table arrangements. Emma one of the bridesmaids hand painted all the tables names and signs for us and like I said Mish handmade my sash
The groom and groomsmen took their time deciding on suits! Jon is somewhat a perfectionist and even had two suits to choose from right up until the day! I found out what Jon was wearing as I walked up the aisle! Jon had 4 ushers and a best man. His 3 older brothers also then wore the same suit but with a different coloured tie? The suits came from a local boutique called Jackie James in Carmarthen ( actually the shop is owned by the same couple as where I got my wedding dress!). The suit is by Marc Darcy and was called Callum. Jon really wanted orange ties and we found these floral ones online. They also had the same tie in blue ( which our dads wore) and in silver/grey which his brothers and nephews wore. The suits were 3 piece and Jon ended up wearing a grey waistcoat to set him apart. We gave all the groomsmen and dads, engraved pocket watches to wear on the day.
Pocket watches! What a lovely sentiment Emma & Jon. So stylish too!
A picture tells a thousand words! Getting ready for a magical day!
Tell us about your super talented photographer!
Our photographer was Grace Elliott and she was brilliant. A lot of the time you barely knew she was there capturing all the moments but she did really well to organise all our guests when the bigger group shots were needed! She has such a lovely relaxed style, it really made us feel at ease.
Grace Elliot - 'My style is contemporary reportage with traditional story telling, all done with professionalism, a smile and a helping hand. I capture the emotion, the big moments , the small ones and all the ones in between. What I offer as a wedding photographer is a friendly face on your big day, I like to get to know you prior to the wedding day so that I can build a relationship that enables me to capture the photographs you really want of your wedding day.
Did you have a theme or style in mind?
With regards to the day we wanted a relaxed feel and therefore wanted it to be as outside as possible and have an almost garden party, rustic feel. We knew there would be lots of children as we decided to invite family children. This meant there were 23 children aged between 6 months and 16! We decided on a marquee wedding, we wanted everyone to have a good fun time and for it to be a good party!!
How did you choose your venue?
We got married in St Davids Cathedral and then the reception venue was Hilton Court Gardens in Roch, Pembrokeshire. We chose the cathedral because the building is beautiful, it had some connections to Jon's grandparents and the whole setting is amazing. The resident Canon there is also very good fun and made us feel very relaxed.
Hilton Court for us was perfect, it's a gardens with lake, woodland and hidden little houses for kids to find. There was an area for the marquee. It fitted perfectly with what we had in mind and Rachel the owner was really accommodating with our ideas and any questions we had!
Our ceremony was in the cathedral. I felt extremely nervous when we first arrived as the grounds outside the cathedral were packed with tourists who'd come to see what was happening!! However the Canon then accidentally stepped on my veil which definitely broke the ice! During the service I just felt excited and me and Jon couldn't stop smiling! There were no tears! It was extra special throughout the day as we both have vicars in our family. Jons cousin performed a lot of our service for us which was bilingual so Welsh and English. Another of his family members said a welsh prayer and my cousin gave grace at the wedding reception. It was nice to be able to include our family in our service.
On the day the weather could not have been better! Sunny, warm but not too hot with a little wind (good for making the veil and dress look good!). The weather made the day really as it meant the wedding went exactly as we had envisaged. Everyone was able to gather outside the Cathedral for photos, Jon could use the AC Cobra car he had hired (his dream come true!) as it was open top.
At Hilton Court it was just perfect, kids were running around the gardens playing all day, people could dance the night away or mill around the marquee into the gardens, around the fire pit and tables outside. It really was everything I'd hoped it would be.
Cake & Cheeeeeese!
Jons brother Matthew offered to make our wedding cake. He also designed all our stationary for the day. He made 3 different flavour sponge cakes and arranged them so they were different sizes and heights and displayed differently. My Dad was in charge of the cheesecake and as they live in Cornwall ( where I grew up) we had alternating Pembrokeshire and Cornish cheeses. In fact Jon is a dairy farmer and so the cheddar we used is the cheese our cows milk goes to make!
Our caterer was a company called Qube catering. Matthew and Claire were so relaxed and easy to work with. We had a two course sit down meal with plenty of canopes on arrival! The food was delicious and was followed by a variety of pizzas and a hog roast at night.
Partying until dawn!!
We searched for a band for a long time but didn't find something that suited us so we had our friend Chris James who is a wedding DJ and he was absolutely brilliant. We told him we liked 90s classics and some more modern music and gave him lots of examples of our favourite songs. It meant the dance floor was busy all night!
And those extra special moments making your day so magical and amazing?
All our guests made our day extra special! It was amazing that so many of our friends and family could come, friends came from Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and Jersey for the wedding which made it really special. Everyone looked amazing. And it sounds like everyone had a good time. The homemade raspberry gin I put on people's tables may have helped with this! For Jon having the AC Cobra was his little dream although it was fairly hard to get into with a wedding dress on we managed and it was brilliant fun!
Best moments of the day, too many! But when I first got to Jon at the top of the aisle and we could grab each other's hands! When we came out to the bells chiming. Our first dance Elbow " one day like this" and the songs we had chosen for after. Looking round the dance floor and seeing everyone from our 6 year old niece, to my aunty to our friends dancing away to " you got the Love" by Candi Staton! Seeing the kids flying around the gardens in various states of muddiness but having an absolute whale of a time!
Being the last to leave the marquee at 4 in the morning and walking back in the dark to the shepherds hut we had hired!
Emma it has been absolutely wonderful to share your perfect wedding day in my blog. A huge congratulations & lots of warm wishes for a future filled with love & happiness.
Beautiful memories for a lifetime x
