Claire & Jon have been our Cwtch of the Week twice and today is time to feature their full wedding which was captured beautifully by Lloyd Williams Photography. It is a truly beautiful day in a gorgeous venue, Rosedew Farm, and full of beautiful DIY elements. Claire tells us all about it here. 
How would you describe your wedding theme? The overall theme was a relaxed, country style. We both wanted something that reflected our shared interests – we do a lot of outdoors stuff together like cycling, running and camping – and we wanted to steer away from the more traditional, formal style of wedding and instead create a natural atmosphere, full of personal touches! It was held over a weekend from Friday to Sunday and it was as much about our guests enjoying the day as us. 
Our theme was carried through in the quirky stationery from Heart Tree Design which featured bicycles and wine; the venue we chose at Rosedew Farm out in the countryside with its gorgeous Barn decorated with fairy lights; and the beautiful loose country flowers that were placed around the venue. The main colour for the wedding was grey blue and so the decorations for the venue were based around that. The majority of decorations were DIY to make it more special. I spent the winter months sewing little stuffed hearts in different shades of blue to hang on the backs of everyone’s chairs, with special ones for our parents, bridesmaids and best man. I made bigger comfy heart cushions for the reception area. I decorated jam jars with washi tape and they were filled with flowers or wine corks. I also hung up loads of homemade polaroid-style pictures of me and Jon on our various travels!
In keeping with the bicycle theme, I found an old blue bike on the internet which we decorated with fairy lights and flowers. The table centrepieces were metal bikes with little baskets, and our lovely florist (The Bee Orchid) created beautiful flower arrangements to go in them.
There was a lot of input from friends and family members too. My mum made 150 metres of bunting for the Barn, which my dad and a few others then painstakingly put up! My mum also made a post box for the cards. My brother-in-law, who is a talented carpenter, made us a cake topper featuring a bride and groom on a tandem bicycle. We also spent a fun evening with friends making the name place holders out of wine corks. A friend from work made the cupcakes and another made the rings. We hired a vintage VW from LoveDub Weddings to take us to the church and Rosedew Farm. It was a really fun experience and in keeping with the laid back day!
What was your favourite part of your wedding? It is really difficult to pick put my favourite part as it was all amazing – but I loved dancing with friends to the last tune of the evening, Summer Nights from Grease – cheesy but great.
Tell us about your Wedding Dress I wasn’t looking forward to the wedding dress hunt – I knew that I wanted something really special and different. Then my mum suggested as an aside that we should look in the attic for hers and my gran’s wedding dress. We got them down and my gran’s dress fitted perfectly. It was in practically perfect condition after 70 years and I knew that it was exactly what I wanted to wear! The original veil was in the box too and I also wore that! Before the wedding I did take the dress to a seamstress who specialises in vintage clothing (Laura M Davey) who did an amazing job in reshaping the bodice and lowering the neckline slightly to make it a little more modern, but the majority of it was unchanged – I loved it! My gran was so happy that I had worn her dress, it made her day. We also had an original photograph at the reception of her and my grandfather on their wedding day, so you could see what the dress used to look like! In the evening I changed into a 1950s New York short dress that I found in a vintage shop in Bridgend – it was great for dancing in and looked great with my white Converse trainers! I got Obbligato Jewellery to add some sparkle to my Converse; she also handmade all of mine and the bridesmaids’ jewellery which was another lovely personal touch.
Who did you pick as your bridesmaids &/or best man and why? My bridesmaids were my two best friends, Claire and Beth, and my sister Lauren. I’ve known Claire and Beth since we were infants and although we don’t live very close anymore, every time we see each other it’s like we’ve never been apart – no one else can get a word in edgeways! They are all very special girls and were so great all weekend, helping me set up the venue on the Friday and putting up with me being bossy, keeping me calm on the morning of the wedding, then staying on the dance floor with me all night long. As a gift I got them personalised Converse with the date of the wedding on the heel! Jon managed to get his ushers and best man signed footy shirts (by heroes from their favourite teams) as a thank you.
Why did you choose your venue? We got married in All Saints Church, Penyfai. The church is very special as my other grandmother was married there and my bridesmaids and I used to be choristers there too! The ladies at the church arranged the flowers and it looked wonderful. Jon’s cousin Gary is a vicar and he married us, making it really relaxed. Then during the signing of the register my bridesmaids sang a couple of songs (The Rose and A Thousand Years), which were beautiful and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house! If anybody is looking for wedding singers I recommend them! It was the personal touch that made the ceremony so amazing and emotional. For the reception venue, we both wanted to have a relaxed wedding surrounded by the people we love – so we decided to hold the reception at Rosedew Farm in Llantwit Major. The venue is just perfect – it has cottages and chalets where we housed our family and friends for the whole weekend and is really close to the beach, plus it is surrounded by beautiful scenery. On the Friday night, we held a pre-wedding party at the Farm which was a perfect way of catching up with people we hadn’t seen in a while and allowed all the guests to meet each other too. On the Sunday after the wedding we all congregated for breakfast rolls by the Barn, which was a lovely way to say goodbye to people before everyone headed off on their separate ways. The venue has a big outdoor space by the Barn, so on the wedding day we had a few small gazebos, one for the smokers and the others as a “chill out” area with hay bales to sit on and decorated with fairy lights. I wanted to make sure that there were some fun things for people to do during the afternoon and evening as the weather was lovely, so we had a swing ball set, giant jenga game, giant cards, a guitar and space hoppers outside, all of which were really popular! Also in the evening we had a photo booth which was really fun, as well as the band Omega Blend followed by DJ Justin who got everyone dancing. I got some flip flops for the ladies and put them by the dancefloor for those wearing heels.
How did the proposal happen? Jon and I went to St Agnes in Cornwall for a week’s camping in Easter 2013. My family has spent holidays there since I was really young and it’s probably my favourite place in the world. Apart from the proposal, I also will never forget that week for being the coldest and wettest I have ever been in a tent! On the only sunny day we went for a run along the coast – it was a rare break in the rain and really warm – and ran down to the beach. When we got there it was empty apart from a few dog walkers and it was next to the sea that Jon asked me to marry him, with a ring he designed himself and had made by a friend (Silberhund Goldsmiths). It was perfect (despite being a little sweaty from running!). Jom was really nervous about losing the ring on the way – I did wonder why he was running funny!
Any DIY stories/tutorials you’d like to share? To decorate the Barn, it was quite a DIY effort which I loved! It’s really easy to collect jam jars and use washi (fabric) tape to embellish them. I chose a bunting effect, cutting out little triangles and sticking them around the jar, to go with the bunting in the Barn and on the stationery.
We also saved up wine corks for the name places – we sanded them down on one side so they didn’t roll and cut out a slot for the name card.
I sewed loads of little hearts to put on the backs of chairs – these are really easy to do if you have a sewing machine by cutting out two fabric heart shapes from a template, sewing the fabric together inside out with a looped piece of ribbon (leaving a little gap to turn them the right way round), then putting a bit of stuffing in and hand stitching them closed. I made the heart template much larger for the cushions and also sewed on triangles across the front, again to look like bunting.
What was your first dance & why? We chose Newton Faulkner – Dream Catch Me, because we love the words and it’s one we always have on repeat in the car and sing really loudly to!
In hindsight, was there anything you would have done differently? We would have announced to our guests about the photo booth run by our photographer Lloyd in the evening – not everyone found it and it would have been good to see some more people in funny poses!
Do you have any advice for future couples? Remember that it’s all about YOU – don’t be too disillusioned by other peoples’ weddings or the pages of glossy magazines. You don’t have to spend thousands and thousands to have a perfect day. There are loads of things you can do yourself or with friends which can be really fun, particularly with decorations if you want to save some money and there are plenty of great ideas on the internet (including this blog!).
Also, get a good team of people that you can trust and go meet them in person – everyone who was involved, from photographer, florist, caterer, hair and makeup, DJ, band, venue, stationery and seamstress, were such lovely people and they helped to make the day run perfectly.
What’s the best piece of marriage advice you received? On the tables we placed some luggage tags that I made asking for “Advice for Mr and Mrs Smart”. Some of the comments that came back were really funny, but my favourite was always remember to say ‘I love you’ at least once a day.
What was your favourite thing about planning a wedding? I really enjoyed the DIY aspects, particularly making the hearts and cushions, and it’s inspired me to become more creative with my sewing. I’ve even made my own Christmas presents this year!
The Suppliers
Photographer: Lloyd Williams
Ceremony Venue: All Saints Church, Penyfai
Reception Venue: Rosedew Farm
Bride’s Dress: Gran’s
Bride’s Shoes: Debut
Bride’s Jewellery: Obbligato Jewellery
Groom’s Outfit: Austin Reed
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Alfred Sung – from High Society Bridal in Cowbridge
Bridesmaid’s Accessories: Obbligato Jewellery
Cake: Cuppy Cakes
Flowers: Bee Orchid
Hair: Kate Petersen
Make Up: Kate Petersen
Band: The Omega Blend
DJ: Black Panther Discos
Stationery: Heart Tree Design
Caterers: Quarter Penny Cafe, Cowbridge
Any Reception Decor/Props: DIY
Transport: Love Dub Weddings
Other: Bar – Plan It
Rings – Silberhund Goldsmiths
Seamstress - Laura M Davey
The Wedding Album
What a gorgeous day! Thank you Claire & Jon for sharing with us and thank you Lloyd for getting in touch.
If you would like to see your wedding on Cwtch the Bride email charlie@cwtchthebride.com
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Cwtch of the Week: Claire & Jon by Lloyd Williams
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