Carrie & Will had their French themed wedding reception at Fonmon Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan on the 23rd of August last year. The wedding ceremony took place at the Church of St Hilary and these beautiful photos were submitted to us by photographer Aled Garfield . As always we asked the couple a few questions about their big day.
How would you describe your wedding theme? We love everything about France, the culture, the food, and of course the wine but we also love the sense of style from Parisienne chic to rustic rural chateau. We wanted this to set the theme for our day by using the muted pink and purple tones of our French lavender table centres in our stationery, bridesmaids dresses and posies. The menu and wine choices were also distinctly French and our Paris Metro station table names referenced our love for the French capital. 
What was your favourite part of your wedding? The ceremony of course! Apart from that, it was great to have all our family and friends together in one place to celebrate with us. To see everyone supporting us and having such a good time was really special. 
Tell us about your Wedding Dress I must have tried on a million dresses but there was nothing I liked enough to say ‘this is the one’. I thought I had a really good idea of what I wanted but it wasn’t until I looked at a completely different style of dress – which my friends convinced me to try on – that I finally found the one and I absolutely love it! 
Who did you pick as your bridesmaids &/or best man and why? I picked Tania to be my maid of honour. Tania and I were in school together and we’ve been friends ever since. Another of my close friends, Karolina, was my bridesmaid and together they did a great job! 
Why did you choose your venue? Although we’d heard of Fonmon Castle , we’d never been there until close friends of ours Luke and Sophie had their wedding reception there a few years ago. It was a really lovely day and showed how beautiful and unique a venue it is. 
How did the proposal happen? Will had told me he was taking me to London for the weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday. He’d arranged everything from train tickets and hotel to a few things for us to do while we were there. On the day we were all packed and in the car (supposedly heading for the train station London-bound) when Will pulled an envelope from under his seat. In it was my passport, a letter and an itinery for a long weekend in Paris! I was so surprised but I didn’t have any suspicions of a proposal at that point. We spent two amazing days enjoying all that Paris has to offer and then on the second night Will proposed. It was so romantic and such a surprise. Over some champagne we called to give the news to our family and friends before heading out into Paris to celebrate properly.
Any DIY stories/tutorials you’d like to share? Will is very creative and was keen to do as much as he could himself. He produced all of our stationery from the save the dates and invites to menus, favours and the table plan. He even did the ribbon bows for our table centres with a little help from a YouTube tutorial! Doing everything meant we were able to have exactly what we wanted while keeping the theme consistent throughout. It made everything a little more personal too. 
What was your first dance & why? We really struggled to decide on what to have right up until the day before the wedding! We chose Bruno Mars, ‘Marry You’ in the end. It’s quite fun and up beat and not too cheesy either!
In hindsight, was there anything you would have done differently? We had everything we could ask for and more from our day so we wouldn’t change a thing about the day itself but Will says he’d probably have allowed himself a little more time for making all of the handmade things!
Do you have any advice for future couples? The sheer range of options available to you when planning your wedding are truly overwhelming and its easy to get carried away or bogged down. It’s important to discuss what you both really want from the day and keep that in mind. If you can do that you’ll end up with your perfect day and you won’t have had to remortgage the house to achieve it! 
What was your favourite thing about planning a wedding? Being able to create a day that is totally yours is really special. 
The Suppliers
Photographer: Aled Garfield
Ceremony Venue: St Hilary Church, Cowbridge
Reception Venue: Fonmon Castle , Barry
Bride’s Dress: Perfection Bridal , Cardiff
Bride’s Jewellery: Crouch , Cardiff
Groom’s Outfit: Dyfed Menswear
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Coast
Cake: M&S
Flowers: Hilary West
Hair: Rachel at Ken Picton
Make Up: Lara at Ken Picton
Band: Pelican Groove
DJ: Pelican Groove
Stationery: Handmade
Caterers: The Really Fresh Food Company
Any Reception Decor/Props: Handmade
Transport: Rolls Royce Ghost, All Stretched Out
Other: Choir- St Hilary Choir led by Chris Mowat.
Harpist- Megan Morris
Drinks- Majestic Wine
The Wedding Album
What a beautiful wedding! If you have a wedding you would like to submit to potentially feature on the blog please contact charlie@wordpress.com xx
