Cathryn & Caradog’s beautiful wedding at Christ College Brecon has been warming our cockles this week! With gorgeous images from Zoe Preston Rayne here is Cathryn to tell us all about their big day.
What was your budget? £12000 …. there or there abouts :) We were incredibly lucky to have help from our generous families.
How would you describe your wedding theme? We decided that we wanted a wedding that allowed our guests to totally relax and enjoy themselves. We knew we didn’t want an ultra glam wedding or anything too quirky because it just wasn’t us. So we decided we would go for a rustic traditional theme. From the moment we got engaged we knew where we wanted to get married and so our theme had to fit with buildings that were built in the 13th Century and have a great history behind them.
What was your favourite part of your wedding? Caradog and I have gone through the day so many times and we keep changing our mind on this one. At the moment mine has to be the marriage ceremony in St Nicholas Chapel. It had such significance to get married in that chapel, as I was confirmed there, my good friend also holds the position of Chaplain, and so to be married by him made it truly special.
I actually put the whole service together myself, the hymns are ones we love singing in church, I wrote the prayers and the blessings and all the music was chosen by myself and Caradog.
Trio Canig , who are an amazing male voice trio, (one member happens to be Caradog’s Father) welcomed our guests and entertained them whilst we signed the register.
Due to the personal nature of our ceremony we both felt so emotional throughout it and if our wedding day had just been that 1 hour service I still would have been the happiest girl in the world.
Tell us about your Wedding Dress I didn’t rush out to try on wedding dresses and left it about 6 weeks before I took my mum with me on a little ‘girls day out’. I had an idea of what I wanted but I received wise words from so many of my already married friends. So I tried on every style and went to about 3 different shops that day. It was lots of fun but I didn’t come away from those shops feeling like any of them were really me. I knew exactly what everyone was expecting and whilst I didn’t want to wear anything that was different to my usual style I still wanted to cause a little surprise.
A few weeks later I booked an appointment at Timeless Elegance in Cardiff. So I went on my own and again tried on a number of dresses but I had my eye on two particular ones.I had looked at Eliza Jane Howell online and was in love with her designs and as soon as I tried on the ‘Eliza’ I knew it was perfect. I telephoned my mum who was so excited she drove up from Swansea the next morning to see it. I remember walking out and she just said ‘Yes!’.
The ladies in Timeless Elegance were so lovely and we loved the experience.
Who did you pick as your bridesmaids &/or best man and why? I chose 4 glamorous ladies as my bridemaids. I had been bridesmaid for three of my best friends already and before Caradog and I got together it was a bit of a case of ‘3 times bridesmaid never the bride’. But after meeting Caradog and getting engaged I was delighted when I could ask Gabrielle, Lucy and Joanne to return the favour. Joanne also has a gorgeous little girl, Myla, who couldn’t wait to be a princess at my big party so I had her as my flower girl.
My brother got engaged a couple of months after me and so there was no question about having Victoria, his fiancee, as my fourth bridesmaid. Its been really fun planning two weddings together. They get married in December and I really can’t wait to be her bridemaid. I now class myself as highly experienced!
Why did you choose your venue? Caradog and I met in Brecon, lived together in Brecon and I was a teacher at Christ College for a number of years. Since moving to Cardiff it only seemed fitting we go back to Brecon to get married and it was the only venue we were in love with as it had such a significance. The buildings are incredible, the grounds are immaculate and due to my personal connection with the College they could offer us a bespoke wedding.
How did the proposal happen? Caradog had told me he had 3 surprises planned overt he weekend of my birthday. The first one was my ‘farm yard’ birthday cake. We had been out with my brother and his Fiancee the night of my birthday in Cardiff and the following day Caradog had a sense of urgency in the morning. He wanted to get back to Brecon as he had an activity planned for us. So we got home and he packed a picnic basket. We walked down to the Canal in Brecon and he told me he had booked a boat and was going to drive us down the canal and we were going to have a nice lunch. The boat trip was surprise number 2.
After about 15 minutes he asked me to go into the picnic basket and have a look. I pulled out 2 Joe’s ice creams and since Joe’s is my favorite I thanked him for surprise number 3. He told me,quite quickly, the ice cream was not a surprise.
Shortly he moored the boat and led me down to a spot at the side of the River Usk. As I started to unpack the picnic I noticed Caradog fussing with something and next thing he was down on one knee and asking me to marry him. That was surprise number 3.
The boy did good! After I said yes, we continued on with our picnic in total bliss.
Any DIY stories/tutorials you’d like to share? The majority of the decoration was all DIY. We made our own invites, table plan, place cards, order of day, pew ends for flowers. We even made our own table runners and polaroid style photo booth. I felt our rustic theme didn’t need outside inspiration or help and the result was a fun, old-world-inspired vibe. We learnt quickly to accept help of those who wanted to help us and don’t be worried about if they don’t do it exactly as you visioned. It added to the character of the wedding.
What was your first dance & why? Our first dance was played by our talented band ‘ Pardon Madame ‘. They covered Luther Vandross ‘Never too much’. To ask Caradog to slow dance would have been a crime. When given half the chance he is the first one up on the dance floor, as am I. We wanted something upbeat, that had great lyrics and that would entice our guests to come up and dance with us and feel the love. We planned a short routine that had made everyone giggle think we got the party started with it.
In hindsight, was there anything you would have done differently? Nothing at all. We were so grateful for all of our families help and we took advice of those who offered it and spent a little quiet time together to reflect half way through the day. Everything was perfect.
Do you have any advice for future couples? Just remember everyone you invite are there because they love you and want you to be happy. Nothing will spoil that and if you are worried about something not being quite right then tell yourself that and it will put it all into perspective.
What’s the best piece of marriage advice you received? From a dear couple with lots of wisdom; ‘You will learn from other people, but don’t feel the need to compare the life of your marriage to anyone else’s. That the plan for our marriage will be uniquely beautiful’.
That was written on our wedding jenga guest book.
What was your favourite thing about planning a wedding? Spending lots of time together as a couple. Knowing that person has the same desire as you to put together a great day. We laughed and ate our way around 2 wedding fayres, tested out the photobooths, researched the bands, practiced the dancing……. I miss the planning but now my husband has me on wife duties which is just as much fun but with no deadline.
The Suppliers
Photographer: Zoe Preston Rayne
Wedding Date: 27/03/2015
Videographer: Shutterhire Penarth
Ceremony Venue: Christ College Brecon
Reception Venue: Christ College Brecon
Bride’s Dress: Eliza Jane Howell from Timeless Elegance
Bride’s Shoes: Cancer Research Bridal Suite
Groom’s Outfit: Aiden Sweeney Brecon
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Own seamstress
Cake: Daisy Bake
Flowers: Blodau’r Beudy
Make Up: Farhana Ali
Band: Trio Canig and Pardon Madame
Caterers: Christ College Brecon
Transport: Bill Child
The Wedding Album
