We have an absolute corker of a DIY wedding for you today, photographed by our newest LUSH LIST member Andrea Ellison . Sarah & Matt got married in the stunning Manorbier Castle , Pembrokeshire followed by a reception at the Castlemead Hotel . We’re so excited to have this gorgeous couple on the blog today so sit back, put your feet up and just enjoy the gorgeousness!
How would you describe your wedding theme? Eclectic fiesta!
What was your favourite part of your wedding? Its so hard to pick one moment! It’s a cliche to say but it would have to be actual ceremony, standing side by side with the biggest grins on our faces, surrounded by people we love. No feeling can beat that. 
Tell us about your Wedding Dress My dress was by Claire Pettibone. I found it very quickly! I’d seen a picture of it in a magazine and instantly loved it. However it was way over what we’d budgeted for so I tried on a few others (all lovely but not THE dress). So I decided to go to a shop in Bradford on Avon ( Carina Baverstock Bridal ) that I knew had the dress I loved, kidding myself that I’d ‘just try it on’….. Which I did, but once I’d done that there was no going back! I found the whole experience pretty stress free to be honest, and sort of wish it had taken longer! 
Who did you pick as your bridesmaids &/or best man and why? I had three friends, one old, one from university days and one new to represent different stages of my life plus four flower girls including two of my nieces.
Matt’s best man was an old friend from school days who he chose because of his calm head and easygoing attitude!
Why did you choose your venue? The venue was a semi-ruined castle next to the beach in Pembrokeshire where I grew up, a place I’ve loved since I was young. Completely magical. We both loved the fact that it was all a bit rugged and windswept, it captured the spirit of the wedding perfectly! 
How did the proposal happen? Matt told me he was going out and said I needed to go upstairs. I found an envelope on the bed, inside of which was a note to say I must follow the clues he’d written. These led me on a trail all over Bristol (where we live) to places that were special or had meaning to us such as our first date spot and where we met. The last clue took me up to a tower at the top of a hill in a park. Matt was waiting on one knee at the very top! 
Any DIY stories/tutorials you’d like to share? Oh blimey! Our whole wedding was very DIY. Most of it involved trawling charity shops! It was all fairly simple though. The name cards were an old set of plastic farm animals that I’d had as a child, we sprayed them gold and found some little black and white tags in Ikea that we wrote the names on and tied onto the animals. We also bought LOADS of job lots of ribbon from ebay for the backs of the chairs to add to the fiesta vibe.
What was your first dance & why? We didn’t have one! Too cringey!
In hindsight, was there anything you would have done differently? Absolutely nothing! 
Do you have any advice for future couples? Just to relax and not sweat over the small stuff. The last thing you want to be doing is stressing over little details that no one but you will notice on the day! We figured out what was most important to us and put the bulk of our budget towards that- in our case that was music and we had some amazing bands which got everyone up and dancing, the guests didn’t stop dancing and neither did we!
What’s the best piece of marriage advice you received? Keep going on dates! Which we do, and it keeps things fresh and exciting.
What was your favourite thing about planning a wedding? To be honest we’re not big planners. We were very lucky to have incredibly talented and helpful friends who worked tirelessly to help us get everything together and make it look the way it did. I loved the day before the wedding when all hands were on deck- including our incredibly lovely and talented photographer Andrea !
The Suppliers
Photographer: Andrea Ellison
Ceremony Venue: Manorbier Castle , Pembrokeshire
Reception Venue: C astlemead Hotel , Manorbier
Bride’s Dress: Kristene in blush by Claire Pettibone from Carina Baverstock Bridal
Bride’s Shoes: Flats from Dune – I don’t do heels
Bride’s Headpiece: Just flowers! Made by my maid of honour and best mate Ruth
Bride’s Jewellery: present from Matt he found the necklace and earrings in an antique shop
Groom’s Outfit: Topman
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Topshop for the big ones and Monsoon for the little ones!
Bridesmaid’s Accessories: a complete mix!
Cake: Cake ! a small shop in bristol
Flowers: my maid of honour Ruth and her amazing mum!!
Hair: Enigma in Narberth Pembrokeshire
Make Up: Enigma in Narberth Pembrokeshire
Band: Magnus Major and Shoot the Moon , all Bristol
DJ: our mad friends Tom and Mike
Stationery: Mum! She designed them and a local printer made them into postcards
Caterers: C astlemead Hotel for the big roast and yummy canapés from PlumVanilla in Narberth
Any Reception Decor/Props: all sourced from charity shops, jumble sales and ebay mainly
Transport: The Blue Beetle hire Reg
The Wedding Album
We LOVE a DIY wedding here on Cwtch the Bride! If you are proud of your DIY wedding efforts and want to show them off to our readers, email charlie@wordpress.com x
