Hap hap happy Friday!!!!

We have a bloomin gorgeous wedding for you today! Gwen and Trystan had the most gorgeous day! And it was on her Dad’s farm! Its just so full of lovely DIY bespoke items, and judging by the fabulous images by Vince from Whole Wedding Pictures, everyone had an absolute amazing time!

It is inspiriationaltastic! Enjoy….x

Gwen and Trystan’s Farmer Themed Wedding!

How would you describe your wedding theme?

As a Farmer’s daughter and having been brought up on a farm, it meant the world to me to have the wedding on my Parents’ farm and having a farmer themed wedding! This made my Dad laugh, as he explained in his speech that I was the one daughter (out of the three of us) that was least interested in farming as a child! I used to go out farming with my handbag and pearls around my neck!! But having the wedding in a tent on the farm was really special and meant a lot for us as a family. We had a stretch tent in the field with straw bales, two large bride and groom manikins made of hay bales, milk churns and watering cans holding the flowers to name just a few farming items.

What was your favourite part of your wedding?

The favourite part of the wedding for me without a doubt was the wedding ceremony itself. Everything from arriving at the front of the chapel, walking down the isle, seeing Trystan for the first time, was just incredible.

We were surrounded by our friends and family who mean so much to us which made the service extra special. Music plays an important part in our lives, therefore having a local male voice choir singing The Rose for us in the Chapel and Trystan’s brother Gwydion and my Cousin Lisa singing a duet of Come what may for added a really nice touch.

A close friend to us, Dave, played the piano beautifully which made a beautiful vibe to the service and my friend, Sara made a reading of I’ll walk with you which was lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole service and it went way too quick!

Tell us about your Wedding Dress

I found my wedding dress in Huw Rees Brides, Llandeilo. This was only the second bridal shop I visited, but when I tried this dress on I knew it was the one! My Mum came with me to support me and we both made the unanimous decision that this was the one! The dress was called Hanoi from the Blue collection designed by Enzoani.

I really liked the detail in the top part of the dress and the subtle way it blended into simplicity. I enjoyed the experience of trying on the beautiful dresses however I enjoyed watching the Bridesmaids trying on their dresses more, as I could sit back and relax, enjoying the fashion show!

Who did you pick as your bridesmaids &/or best man and why?

My two sisters, Trystan’s sister and my two friends were the five Bridesmaids on the day and my baby Niece, Cadi who was 8 months at the time was a little flower girl.

Trystan’s two brothers shared the role of being Best men, and his three ushers were his two friends and his brother in law.

We had a great time with this crazy lot during the planning of the wedding and more so the hen and stag parties!

Tell us about your photographer

Vince from Whole pictures was the clever man who captured our special day through wonderful photos. Our wedding day was a grey and foggy day and the sun didn’t make an appearance at all. Initially Tryst and I were slightly disappointed, thinking our wedding pictures would look slightly miserable. However, Vince was very excited about the blank canvas the fog created, and felt the weather offered a magical vibe.

He created fantastic photos both outside on the commons and inside the Chapel and the stretch tent. He spotted a local quirky shed which he was eager for us to have a photo in front of due to it’s rustic, vintage vibe. We are both very pleased with our photos and keep looking at them, reminiscing about our special day.

How did the proposal happen? 

Trystan and I have been together since secondary school, since the ages of 16 and 17. We had been together for over ten years and had been living together in Cardiff for two years. In April 2015, Tryst had been living in London for a period with his work and my friend Katie was living with me whilst he was away. One average Wednesday, I received a bouquet of 12 red roses in my workplace. I was very confused and instantly thought that they must be from a grateful patient of mine. The card read “Caru ti, Tryst x” which means “Love you, Tryst”. Our anniversary wasn’t for another month so I instantly thought that he had done something wrong!! When I tried phoning him, there was no answer so just thought I’ll speak to him later. That night, I returned from work to Katie my housemate demanding that I needed to get changed and get ready to go out. When I asked more questions about where, what, why etc she said she couldn’t say, just that I need to be ready for 7.30pm. As you can imagine I was very confused and did not have a clue what she was up to! I got ready as ordered by 7.30pm and sat quietly on the sofa waiting for more clues. Shortly after, Trystan’s sister turns up at the house and stated that my carriage awaits! She drove me down to Cardiff Bay without giving anything away and did not answer any of my questions. She told me to walk over to the Italian Restaurant, Signor Valentino. As I walked into the restaurant, I looked around looking for a familiar face or a clue as to what was going on and the waiter told me to have a look on the balcony. As I approached the balcony, there I saw Trystan sitting on a table for two, overlooking Cardiff Bay, under a heater with two glasses of champagne. I became all coy and nervous and asked what he was up to. He made a little speech saying how much I meant to him and then asked me to marry him! I was gobsmacked and had the biggest smile on my face. Tryst had to ask again, “so…will you?!” To which I said, YES! It was very romantic I must say!

Any DIY stories/tutorials you’d like to share?

The biggest DIY project of the wedding was the sofas we made from pallets. Trystan’s friend had access to many pallets in his workplace which he kindly put aside for us. Trystan’s Dad is a carpenter so he was able to put them together for us in the style of corner sofas.

His parents own a caravan park therefore had access to lots of old sofa cushions which we shaped to fit the pallet furniture. Both our Mums are very handy with their sawing kits and very cleverly sawed duvet covers over the old sofa cushions. We had a selection of pastel colours on the four pallet corner sofas we made with a selection of scatter cushions to add colour and comfort. We painted the pallets white which made them look very effective. The aim was to have these sofas outside the tent however the weather wasn’t brilliant, therefore we had the sofas inside which worked well to create cosy corners for people to sit and chill when having a break from the dancing!

What was your first dance & why?

Our first dance was to “All I’ve ever needed” by Nikki Reed & Paul McDonald. It has a gorgeous tune and the lyrics were very relevant. We loved having 2 minutes to ourselves, dancing to this beautiful song.

In hindsight, was there anything you would have done differently?

We had a big set back to the wedding preparations due to the weather! The stretch tent was supposed to be erected on the Saturday before the wedding, however due to torrential rain and strong winds it was not possible. The next available slot the tent company had to put the tent up was the Tuesday before the wedding and the floor couldn’t go down until the Thursday before the wedding. This made everything behind schedule which made us all panic a little bit. But all the hard work from all out friends and families made it all right on the night! We probably should of been a little more prepared but it’s easily said in hindsight! The crazy week added to the fun I suppose!

Do you have any advice for future couples?

The day goes soooo fast, as everyone told us! So make sure you take it all in, even the build up to the wedding. Take time to spend with each other, not just mingling with all your guests – after all, the day is about the two of you. Just have fun and don’t let little things stress you out. If things go wrong, just try and laugh about them!

What’s the best piece of marriage advice you received?

Being an opera singer, Trystan has to travel a lot which means being away from home and away from me. We got married in July and in August he was off to Zurich, Switzerland for 10 and a half months to sing in the Opera house there. With this in mind, the best marriage advice we received was “Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him go.”

What was your favourite thing about planning a wedding?

I enjoyed planning all the arty and crafty things in the wedding such as the invitations, order of service, name places etc. I count myself as quite an organised person so I enjoyed having my notebook full of ideas and a list of things to do and sort. I also had a board on my pinterest page which I loved looking for inspirations. It became quite an addiction towards the end! It was great having our two families working together to create our fantastic day and spending lots of time with our bridesmaids and groom’s men.

The Suppliers

Photographer: Whole Picture Weddings
Videographer: Clic Productions
Reception Venue: Wedding Tipi
Bride’s Dress: Hugh Rees Brides
Cake: Rhwbeth Melys
Flowers: Sheep Shed Designs
Hair: Salon K27
Make Up: Delwedd Beauty Salon
DJ: DJ Bry

The Wedding Album