The Wedding of Christina and James at the Exchange Hotel Cardiff
Weddings
The Coal Exchange Hotel, Cardiff
with Christina and James
14th November 2020
Name: Christina and James Wood
Reception & Ceremony Venue: The Coal Exchange Hotel, Cardiff
Dress: Perfection bridal boutique
Suits: Dyfed Menswear
Florist: About Flowers
Cake: Rebecca Hocking cake design
Hair: Hair and Make up by Vicky from VV Boutique
Photography: Morgan James Photography
Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.
We are an internet dating success story. After almost 4 weeks of chatting online, he finally got the hint to ask me to go our first date.
Tell us about your first date?
He asked to go for dinner and drinks in one of our local Wetherspoons. He jokes that he took me out and got me drunk and he's been doing it ever since! He even chanced a goodnight kiss but I missed the hint and it ended with a kiss on the cheek.
When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?
There's never been one particular thing or moment in time. Sometimes you just know I guess.
How did your partner propose?
As one for romantic gestures he decided to propose whilst we were on holiday in Venice. He waited until we were nestled on a gondola taking a tour of the city to pop the question. It was only when we were back on dry land and found a pub for a stiff drink that it finally started to sink in!
Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.
That we are best friends and can talk about anything.
If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.
He is constantly having to look after me. I am so accident prone, banging into stuff and falling over. I remember the first time I ran after him, I tripped and fell over, it was hilarious (you know once I'd managed to get back up!)
What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?
I love that people are looking at how to make weddings more sustainable.
Tell us about your wedding?
It's safe to say that we got married in very stressful strange times so it didn't turn out exactly how we planned. That said we had a fantastic day. We booked to have our wedding at The Coal Exchange Hotel, in Cardiff Bay. We were restricted to 30 guests, but that made the day a lot more intimate. We streamed the ceremony for those who couldn't attend. As we could no longer have a disco we invested in some indoor games, including badminton, limbo, ring toss and giant Jenga. The food was fantastic and the cocktails didn't go down too badly either! Everything had to close down by 10, which I was grated for the next morning!
What inspired your décor or theme?
We decided our wedding was going to be based on our love of live music! It was one of the reasons we chose the venue, as it used to be a music venue in the 90s, but has since been converted into a hotel. As it was an autumn wedding we went with a navy and orange colour scheme.
What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?
Nothing could have prepared us for what this year through at us but I guess it would have been to have considered having a smaller wedding before being forced into one.
Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?
Getting ready with the girls! Eating all the food and playing all the games we organised.
