How did you first meet?
I’d been out a few weeks prior with friends and they insisted I joined the online dating site, Bumble. I’d been single for 2 years and was always dead against online dating.
I downloaded Bumble, and Rory was one of the first people I matched with and spoke to.
We chatted for about two weeks before we met. Rory was living in Barry at the time, so we went to Barry Island for our first date.
How did you propose?
It was our first night in our first house together. Rory was nervous, he kept doing laps of the living room, I didn’t know what was wrong. Even the dog was barking because he couldn’t settle.
Rory kept pulling me up, then he’d start laughing and sit back down again.
We were decorating the house, so we’d had a few drinks whilst painting and watching the rugby. Then he knelt down and proposed.
Where did you get married?
Fairyhill by Oldwalls
What attracted you to the venue?
I really wanted to get married outdoors; it was my dream. I was set on either springtime or autumn as they’re my favourite months. When we saw Fairyhill and how they brought the outdoors in, we fell in love with the place. We had the option to get married outdoors, but it was reassuring to know that if the weather wasn’t on our side, we could get married indoors, whilst still feeling like we were outside, as the k room is surrounded by woodland.
What was your first dance song?
Magic by Coldplay but a cover version. Our daughter was born to the song too, so it was even more special.
What was your wedding theme?
We had lots of floating candles in vases and as it was Autumn we went for browns and copper piping to create an Autumnal feel.
Our florist, Lan Lima, was so lovely, we had two miscarriages between getting engaged and the wedding, and Jan had put into my bouquet and Rory’s buttonhole, the flowers associated with the month our babies would have been born.
What stationary did you have?
We had our cake stand from hearts rustics. A table sign and a welcome sign, cones for confetti and lots of jars on the table and candle holders. We opted for logs under the vases on the centrepieces to tie in the Autumnal feel, along with little tea lights on sticks, a post box and memory table.
What did you wear?
It wasn’t what I thought it would be. In my head I wanted a long sleeve dress with no lace and a low back, and I went with something totally different.
It was the 5th dress I tried on in Wynter Isabelle. I didn’t like the dress at first on the hanger, but the lady in the store insisted I tried it on, and I instantly fell in love.
On the wedding day, I had a side clip over my ear from Sarah Vuong Bridal Jewellery. I always tuck my hair behind one ear as a comfort and it went perfect with the dress.
What advice do you have for others?
We highly recommend Fairyhill, it was amazing, everything ran so smoothly. The team there helped so much with the planning and making sure everyone was okay. We had lots of calls with our wedding coordinator, so we knew everything was taken care of. Even down to the food, the staff knew exactly who was having what food, there was no shouting out who was having what. It’s the little things.
My second recommendation is to make sure you have a good photographer, mine was amazing, and everything felt natural rather than staged.
