Cecily & Jamie

Cecily and Jamie's big day is just all so pretty, from Cecily's gorgeous customised Jesus Peiro gown (that bow!!! Those sleeves!!!) to the stunning florals by The Rose Shed, every detail is delightful. The couple chose boutique hotel Holm House to hold their reception and had exclusive use so close family and friends could stay over. Their brunch the following day sounds like such a lovely idea, the perfect way to combat any hangovers and relive moments from the night before.

The Bride

Cecily The Bride: Having tried a handful of dresses and not particularly loving or hating any, I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get that ‘this is the one’ feeling...until I found mine. I knew I wanted something simple, elegant and feminine and Jesus Peiro does just that with his designs. I instantly fell in love with the level of detail in my dress; the light chiffon of the skirt, the delicate strand of sparkle and the exquisite lace (which Spanish designers seem to do oh so well!) I combined aspects of two Jesus Peiro lace shrugs to have something tailor-made just for me, incorporating an incredible silk bow at the back. I removed the shrug in the evening so I had two completely different looks. A short, delicate veil, little drop earrings and a simple necklace for the evening were the finishing touches.

The Groom

Wearing a suit to work every day, Jamie knew he wanted to feel different for the wedding and opt for something other than a standard suit. He was quite quickly taken by the idea of a mismatched look, teaming a tailor-made grey dinner jacket from A Suit the Fits with navy trousers and a navy polka-dot bowtie from French online bowtie company, Le Colonel Moutarde. As a gift for the morning of the wedding, I bought Jamie a pair of personalised cufflinks from Not On The High Street with maps of where we got engaged and where we were getting married. I wanted him to have something sentimental to wear on the day and could be a special keepsake thereafter.

The Venue

Holm House is a boutique hotel set on the cliff-tops of Penarth; a Victorian seaside town just outside of Cardiff. We fell in love with the style and general feel of Holm House for our wedding reception; the décor is simple and contemporary, the main restaurant is light and airy with beautiful views over the Bristol Channel, and it generally feels quite a special place. We had exclusive use of the hotel which included 12 beautiful rooms and breakfast the following morning with our nearest and dearest – a really special ending to the experience. What made it extra special was the flexibility they offered. Many venues we viewed made us feel like we would be on a conveyer belt of weddings, so the exclusivity, attention to detail and personal service offered by Holm House really swung it for us.

The Decor

I was keen for simple elegance in all aspects of our day. We went for crisp, clean and muted tones which were echoed in the flowers, stationery, wedding party attire and decorative details. To keep costs down for our stationery, I bought downloadable templates from Etsy and printed everything through printed.com. They were great. We had lots of personal decorative touches to make the day more personal to us, including photo collages, wedding pictures of our parents and grandparents, a framed poem that we love, and handwritten signage contributed by my talented sister-in-law.

The Flowers

The flowers from Rachel at The Rose Shed were absolutely beautiful! In line with our simple colour scheme, I went for crisp whites, ivories, a little bit of dusky pink, and a lot of grey-green foliage. I love the look of loose and unsymmetrical bouquets so was beyond thrilled with them. I didn’t realise how expensive wedding flowers can be (!) but Rachel was amazing at making suggestions to ensure we remained within our budget.

The Wedding Party

The bridesmaids wore long, grey, beaded dresses from ASOS. I wanted them to have something they could wear again and would be comfortable for dancing the night away! To express their individual styles, they also chose their own jewellery and shoes. They all looked incredible! The groomsmen had a mismatched look like Jamie, but with lighter grey jackets from Next.

The Ceremony

Our ceremony was held in my parent’s village church. It is a gorgeous, peaceful little church in the Welsh countryside with views of rolling hills behind. It was so special being able to walk to the church from my childhood home with my Dad and bridesmaids. We had our photo shoot in the field behind the church which belongs to a neighbouring family. They have four amazing alpacas which we were lucky enough to have feature in our photos!

The Entertainment

I’ve always dreamt of having a string quartet at my wedding, so when I found the Vulcan String Quartet I just had to book them. They gave a perfect rendition of the song I asked if they could play as I walked down the aisle, and their version of ‘All You Need is Love’ whilst we signed the register was a really special moment! They also played during our reception drinks which created such a lovely atmosphere outside in the September sun. We booked James Piper, an up-close magician, for the time between the wedding breakfast and evening reception. It worked really well having some entertainment for this period and James was fantastic – guests were in awe! For the evening party we booked a band called Black and Gold through an agency, Earcandy. The band were AMAZING. Everyone was up on the dance floor and loving life! They play nationwide so I would thoroughly recommend them.

The Food

We are big foodies so food was always going to be an important part of our day! Holm House allow wedding couples to design their menu from scratch which is fantastic and gave us a lot of freedom to make it exactly what we wanted. Working closely with the head chef and visiting for multiple tastings (what an experience!) we came up with a menu that was perfect for us and went down a treat with our guests. We opted for a light king prawn starter, a classic lamb dish with an Asian twist for main, and a delicious trio of desserts; lemon tart with Italian meringue, raspberry parfait and chocolate mousse. We were also able to create our own signature drink so went for a refreshing gin and limoncello-based cocktail. That was seriously popular! My sister is a baking don so it was a no brainer asking if she would be happy to make our wedding cake. She did an incredible job and it was so special knowing that she had done it for us. The three-tiered naked cake was decorated with sprigs of rosemary and blueberries and each of the three layers was a different flavour; raspberry and white chocolate, vanilla with blackcurrant jam and lemon with lemon buttercream. So good! For the evening we booked Ffwrnes Pizza; a local street food pizza company based in South Wales. Ffwrnes cook their delicious wood-fired pizzas in a small Italian van which is adorned with fairy lights. It looked so beautiful under the clear night sky. Jez and Ieuan run the company and are fantastic, laid-back, friendly guys who were brilliant to deal with.

The Photography

Lewis Fackrell’s photography style is perfect for what we were looking for – natural yet creative. He captured the love, laughter and details of our wedding absolutely perfectly. Every time we look through the images it feels like we’re reliving the day all over again! He is such a genuine and warm guy with an incredible talent for what he does. 

The Videography

The advice from everybody we knew who had recently married was to get a videographer - and my gosh, we're so glad we did! The day goes in such a flash. As soon as the wedding was over I felt a sense of relief we had had somebody there capturing the whole day on video, meaning we could relive it all and see the parts that we both missed.  I instantly fell in love with the style of Foster Filming's videos. They are beautiful, emotive, natural and capture the details of a wedding so perfectly. Whilst our decision to book Foster Filming was based purely on the highlights videos on the website, we struck gold in finding Ben Foster. He is the most lovely guy who instantly put everybody at ease. We are in love with our video and will treasure it forever.   

Advice

1. Enjoy every second. This is probably one of the only occasions you will have with everybody you both love together and celebrating in one room. It’s such a special feeling, so remember to take a second to step back and take it all in! 2. Whilst the planning can get a bit stressful at times, never lose sight of why you are doing this. The most important thing is that you are getting to marry the person you love.