Weddings

St. Tewdricks, Chepstow

with Daniel and Sarah

5th August 2022

Tell us how you first met. Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.
We both studied Journalism, Film and Media at Cardiff University and knew each other throughout the whole time, however, didn't actually get to know each other until the end of our third and final year. Over the last few weeks of term, we bonded over our mutual love of Radiohead and films, most particularly Matilda. It was there in a beer garden we were endlessly quoting the film to one another; something that has remained in our relationship to this day. On a night out in Cardiff's Live Lounge, it was where we first found out that we both liked each other and that was where our relationship first blossomed.

Tell us about your first date.
Our first date conveniently happened to be on the day after we found out that we liked each other. We were originally planning to go and see The Subways in The Globe in Cardiff as friends, but coincidently it happened to be our first date. It was quite possibly the hottest gig that we have both ever been to but it was great. As a result, we had their song "Rock and Roll Queen" be the first song we walk back out to as husband and wife.

When did you know they were the one? Was there something he/she did?
It was pretty early on particularly when most of our conversations were made up of film and TV quotes. Sarah was told early on that Dan was a male version of her, so it was pretty obvious the two of us were meant to be together.

How did your partner propose?
On our 10th anniversary, Dan covered our staircase in photographs of us from over the last decade. On the back of each photograph was a handwritten message. They were funny, sweet and the very last message said "there's only one thing left to ask." I opened the bedroom door and the room was filled with candles. Dan was on one knee with the ring and asked me to marry him. I burst into tears and couldn't have been happier!

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.
Sarah: "I love how caring Dan is. He is always there for me and makes me happy every day."
Dan: "She never takes herself too seriously and is somebody who will always make me laugh no matter what."

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.
Dan has an amazing general knowledge and memory. While this is a great skill, it also means he is incredibly competitive and hard to beat in any game! Sarah likes to leave multiple glasses of water in various states of emptiness around the house, resulting in it looking like the house from the movie "Signs".

What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?
Sarah loved the off the shoulder sleeves on her wedding dress which she had seen many brides wear recently. We also loved the fact that we were able to have an outdoor ceremony which we feel has become much more of a trend since 2020.
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Tell us about your wedding?
Our wedding really was the day of our dreams. It was expertly captured by our fantastic photographers Peter and Vicky. Peter's enthusiasm and sense of humour meant that there were also lots of laughs throughout the day. Sarah and her bridesmaids had their hair and make up done in the morning at her parents' house by the amazing Shevaun and Rachelle. It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and Sarah loved spending time with her girls. Once we got to St Tewdrics House, Carrie and the team were incredible. They were so organised, helpful and friendly. Our outdoor ceremony was beautiful, even though it was hotter than we anticipated! The rest of the day absolutely flew by but each moment was incredible from the confetti entrance as husband and wife to the delicious food from Epic Caterers. We cannot wait to see the rest of our photographs!

What inspired your décor or theme?
From our degree and mutual love of film, we wanted a few special movie touches like the clapper boards in our centrepieces and tables named after some of our favourite films. Sarah's favourite flowers are roses and so they were incorporated throughout. The Mother of the Bride Liz is incredibly talented at crafting and we couldn't have had such wonderful décor without her expertise. She created so many special pieces for us from our beautiful invitations to our table plan. Fortunately our venue was so beautiful, it didn't need much to make it look amazing!

Suppliers
Venue - St Tewdrics House
Band - The Sisterhood
Suits - Slaters
Wedding Dress - Do You Believe (Newport)
Flowers - Catherine Grey
Cake - Sharon Talbot
Centrepieces and Decorations - Liz Murphy (Mother of the Bride)

Photography - Morgan James Photography
 

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?
You're never going to be able to take everything in on the day. Everyone always says how quickly the day goes but it really does. It was great not having my phone to be able to keep track of the time and just be able to enjoy everything

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?
It's having all of our loved ones together that will mean a lot to us. Everyone from all aspects and times in our lives being there will be particularly special.

Finally
Morgan James Photography was recommended to us by Dan's friend Greg. The free engagement shoot that we had with Peter last summer at Penarth Pier was a fantastic opportunity to get to know Peter who we instantly 'clicked' with (excuse the camera pun!) It was good practice as we had never had a professional photo shoot before and knew what to expect in terms of poses for the day. I would really recommend couples have an engagement shoot to help them feel more at ease on their wedding day. The photos we received from the engagement shoot were fantastic and we received so many compliments on them.