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Introduction

This post is going to get extremely long so I would advise that, if you’re mainly interested in a particular section, feel free to use the contents list to skip to where you’d like to read. I also want to add the disclaimer here that weddings are as unique as the couple themselves – nothing I say is intended to shame others or be judgemental to other’s choices. As a couple, Mike and I chose to base our decisions off, firstly, what was within our budget and means and secondly, what mattered to us the most. We wanted to enter our marriage in a sensible financial position rather than feel as if we were drowning in debt.

Our wedding was comprised of several parts. Firstly, we had a handfasting ceremony in Glastonbury, then, a week later, we were married at the register office and had our reception later that day in Cobbles. We then went on honeymoon just over a week later.

As a disclaimer, we paid for our wedding with our own money. This article is for information purposes and any affiliate links will be clearly marked to avoid confusion.

What We Did for Our Wedding, The Timeline and Decisions Made

20 Months Out

Within the same month as our engagement, we decided we wanted to dive head on into planning the wedding. Having been together for over 10 years, we already had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do. At the 20 month out mark, we booked our venue to ensure it was secured. We decided on Cobbles – a grade II listed barn in Ogmore. We chose the venue after visiting once before for sandwiches with friends (their food is incredible by the way). It’s a small place that can cater to both intimate and moderate size weddings. It also doesn’t require a huge amount of decorating given that it already has that rustic charm I was looking for – we wanted cosy and struggled to find this in other venues. Many other venues local to us refuse to cater to smaller groups too so Cobbles was perfect for our guest list of 35. Booking was really straightforward, and we felt like we were in good hands from day one – we also secured a lower pricing too as we booked early before a price increase.

Around this time, we also booked our photographer/videographer. We chose Amor Photographic and LS Films. We met them at a wedding fayre and instantly felt like they were the right people for us. Candid style but also able to get the classical portraits you want from your wedding day, the images also have this beautiful ‘light and airy’ aesthetic that gives a dreamy overall finish. We were also thrilled with our wedding film – we opted for the highlight film as well as a full documentary cut so we could always look back on our special day. The editing of the film is lovely, and we’ve had so many compliments on how it turned out – both from those who attended and those who didn’t.

Finally, just to get an idea on what we wanted, Mike and I tried on some outfits. I went to Wed2B while he went to Slaters. I personally didn’t enjoy my experience at Wed2B but that doesn’t mean others wouldn’t find their dream dress there. I did purchase my bridal cape there after all. Mike loved the choices available at Slaters and later went on to purchase from there.

19 Months Out

On 10^th November 2023, we held our engagement party. We opted for a simple party with buffet at our local football club (The Venue at Pen Y Bont Football Club). Bridgend DJ did the music (we asked for tracks suitable for younger millennials and he got it spot on), and it was a really good night. We went down the route of having an engagement party as we knew we wanted to come together to celebrate with a larger group than we were going to be able to host at the actual wedding. While some consider it taboo to do things this way, for us, we just wanted to bring everyone together for a good time so that was all that mattered to us. The dress and shoes I wore on the night were £2 and £5 on Vinted respectively – this was perfect for me as I hate spending a lot of money on an outfit I’ll likely only be able to wear once (not to mention the environmental impact of buying new).

Around a week after the party, I said yes to both of my dresses. The gown I wore at the Glastonbury ceremony was second hand from Second Chance Bridal. At first, I wasn’t sure about it but paired with the cape, it was perfect and felt like the right choice. It was also an absolute steal of a price given that it was never actually worn at a wedding – only a bridal fashion show.

My Cobbles gown was from Cariad Bridal in Swansea. I met the owner at a wedding fayre and loved her attitude from the moment we began speaking. She is incredibly experienced, has dressed all body types and they offer alterations on site for a fixed price. They also store the gown for free, press it and are insured. While not ‘cheap’, I felt my dress was a good deal considering I customised one of the fabrics (added sparkle to one of the underlayers) and everything felt taken care of. On the day, the dress fitted like a glove.

Towards the end of this month, we chose our wedding bands from Smooch. Again, we met them at a wedding fayre and despite me initially not wanting to spend much on our rings, I began to change my mind given that we’d be wearing them for the rest of our lives. I’d also had a negative experience with getting my engagement ring resized at a high street store, so I wanted to try somewhere else. I have 2 rings – one that was received during our Glastonbury ceremony (Mike opted to receive a sword) and one during our legal ceremony (this was where Mike began wearing his too). Our rings are customised according to what we wanted – mine match the blue of my engagement ring while Mike’s has a brushed finish and unique, bolt-like shape.

15 Months Out

At this point, we booked our honeymoon at Hays Travel – more on this in another post!

We chose our cake too from Ceri’s Cake Creations. To be completely honest here, I wasn’t going to bother getting a cake at all. Social media is filled with people saying it’s absolutely pointless because ‘nobody eats it anyway’ but this couldn’t have been further from the truth. We opted for a 3 tier, fondant fancy style cake as this was something on our vision board from our first year together way back in 2012-13. The largest tier was lemon curd, the middle was raspberry and white chocolate, and the top was cookies and cream. It was an absolute hit with everyone – the favourite flavour being the cookies and cream.

On the same day we chose the cake, we placed the order for our flowers with ELYN Boutique in Pontypridd. At a wedding fayre, we were so surprised by how ‘real’ the florals looked despite being artificial. From the outset, I knew I didn’t want real flowers as I wanted to be able to keep my bouquet to display at home after the wedding. With this store, I was able to discuss the colours I was looking for with the owner and she was able to create the most beautiful bouquet, corsage, and flower crown for me. Mike’s buttonhole was also really lovely and coordinated with the other flowers perfectly. We ordered all ivory buttonholes and corsages for the groomsmen and bridesmaids – I chose to go with corsages as I wanted everyone to be able to keep their hands free for food, drinks and dancing rather than worry where they left their bridesmaids bouquet.

13 Months out

We did our ‘engagement shoot’ with my now sister-in-law – Leanne. Here’s some photos from the day. Her primary interest is in wildlife photography but she was happy to do a little photoshoot for us – give her a follow to support what she does!

12 Months Out

We sent our save the dates. We made these using Canva, purchasing some nice paper from eBay to print them on.

11 Months Out

We took a trip to Glastonbury to collect our custom-made wedding sword from Sam Smith, a local blacksmith. Our sword is engraved with runic symbols that have special meaning to us.

7 Months Out

We attended a taster evening at Cobbles to try out our wedding food and drink. I’m so glad we did this as it gave us an opportunity to ask questions, not only about the menu but the day itself. Our wedding menu was the Grazing Table (essentially, charcuterie done as a whole meal). We also did canapés during the cocktail hour – Welsh rarebit, bacon wrapped dates and Perl Wen Glamorgan sausage balls.  The food was amazing as usual!

Around this time, I also went on a work night out so decided to do my makeup trial that day. This worked out really well as it allowed me to assess how the makeup would look after wearing it all day and into the night. I chose Bleedinbeauty as my MUA and nail technician as her work is incredible and she’s such a nice person to talk to. For my makeup, I knew I’d be doing it myself for Glastonbury but for Cobbles, I wanted to feel a little more stress-free and have someone do it for me. I chose a look fairly similar to what I ordinarily wear – matte base, mauve lips and winged liner.

At this stage, we also gave notice of marriage. This was a really simple process at our local council building, but this was the point where things began to feel very real!

6 Months Out

We began dance lessons at The Dance Centre. We started early as we’re absolutely not ‘dancers’. We believe giving ourselves plenty of time definitely paid off!

5 Months Out

I had my hair trial with Amber at The Hair Studio in Llantwit Major. This is my usual place for a good cut and style, so I knew I’d be in good hands. More on how Amber and I know each other later!

We also asked our bridesmaids and groomsmen if they were on board at this stage.

3 Months Out

We sent our invitations. These were, again, designed on Canva and printed at home. I bought some vellum jackets and did custom wax seals to make them feel extra special.

2 Months Out

I had my final couple of dress fittings here. At first, I was a bit nervous as the dress was too large, then too small, but it was just right in the end after the seamstress had worked her magic.

1 Month Out

We went on our stag/hen dos. For the daytime, we all met up to do airsoft together – this was held at Celtic Country Sports and was so much fun. I’m so glad we chose to do this a month before as it took around 2 weeks for the intense bruising to fade away.

For the evening, Mike and I went our separate ways. One of my close friends drove us to do pottery painting at Goodsheds in Barry. We all got to decorate a plate each and then we did a group one to commemorate the day – I got to keep this one. It was also really cute as, a few weeks prior, the organising friend asked what style of music I liked so she could put on a Clubland type playlist while we painted. We also ordered food and, once finished, headed up to the bar upstairs for cocktails. Before the last train into Cardiff, a few of us decided we didn’t want the night to come to an end so we ran for the train. Once there, we went to Boom Battle Bar where we finished the night by meeting up with the boys (they’d been to Roxy Lanes while we were in Barry). In the end, we got home around 3am and I think we’ll be forever grateful for the incredible night our friends organised for us.

1 Week Out

I headed to my parents’ house to ensure all of the décor pieces were boxed up and organised ready for Cobbles. My mother had also finished customising a handbag for me ready for Glastonbury.

2 Days Before

This was the day for what I call ‘body prep’. It involved an ‘everything shower’ amongst other things. I did my own gel nails, shaving, eyebrow styling, tinted my eyelashes just to name a few examples. I also ensured I’d packed my bags ready for the weekend ahead. Crazily, I also went to see a film during the evening of this day. I’m not sure how I found the time.

1 Day Before – Friday 20^th June 2025

I began my wedding prep by attending an emergency dental appointment to fix a broken back tooth that had started giving me pain the afternoon before. Once that was out of the way, I headed to a hair appointment at The Hair Studio in Llantwit Major. Danielle did an amazing job on my hair for the ceremony the following day. I left with it sealed under a satin bonnet. With the car already packed from the night before, we began the drive to Glastonbury – we usually stop at Gordano Services for this kind of journey with Mike usually looking for fast food and me, coffee.

On arrival at Glastonbury, we checked in at the Travelodge and then walked to locate our ceremony site. This may sound odd that we didn’t know where to go ahead of time, but we had to move it last minute. Due to antisocial behaviour in the area, we had to move our ceremony from the Avalon Orchard to Bridie’s Farm, but we weren’t 100% sure on where we/our guests would have to enter the site as we’d never been to the area before. Now would probably be a good time to mention that the weather was over 30 degrees due to a heatwave so the walk to the location was a struggle.

That evening, we booked a table at the Queen of Cups restaurant. This restaurant is in the centre of town and serves amazing food – the theme is modern Middle Eastern and, having now eaten there twice, I can honestly say that the food is top quality.

Glastonbury Handfasting – Saturday 21^st June 2025

We chose this day as it was the summer solstice. For me, this day holds importance as the sun is representative of positivity, strength and power and, given it’s the day with the greatest number of hours of daylight of the year, it seemed fitting. Glastonbury is also a special place for me – having enjoyed all things spiritual from a young age, I first had the opportunity to visit on the way back from a trip in 2022. I fell in love with the town instantly as I felt really at home – both with the energy and the spiritual theme of the place.

We woke up in the Travelodge and, before we needed to check out, we went up to the town to get breakfast, look around the shops and meet a couple of friends who’d arrived in the morning to give extra time to explore.

At around midday, we knew we needed to move our things from Travelodge to the next hotel (which we’d be staying at that night). We’re so grateful to the friends who helped us move our things by literally carrying our bags with us through the streets (we’d already taken the car earlier that day and were worried that, if we moved it, we’d never get another spot as parking is limited). Once situated in The Crown Hotel in the centre of Glastonbury, Mike and I went to the butchers next door to get a burger for lunch from a BBQ they’d set up outside the shop. It was so good but at this stage, I was getting a little too nervous to want to eat much.

After eating, I went back up to the room to begin getting ready. I took a quick shower (despite having showered that morning already) as the heatwave was still blazing on outside and I felt so hot. Friends were arriving in the lobby downstairs but two close friends came up to the room to hang out while I got ready. They got some photos of me -and later Mike when he came upstairs-, had a glass of champagne with us and helped me to get my flower crown on securely. This part of the day honestly feels so special to me – I think it’s because it was just so unplanned and unscripted, yet it felt so nice in the moment.

Once ready, we left the hotel to drive to the ceremony site in the back of our friends’ car. She – very adorably- put on ‘Going to The Chapel of Love’ during the drive which was both sweet and so funny. On arrival, we headed to the ceremony location, which was on farmland, and greeted the Priestess and her assistants.

Our ceremony consisted of several parts – I’ll bullet point them for easy understanding:

• Guests were welcomed and a bit of information was given
• We faced North to call in the energy of the Air element and also took this opportunity to invite our ancestors to the circle (we were stood in a circle of flowers with our guests around us). After this, we were smudged with incense.
• A brief speech was given on how we met.
• We called in the Fire element from the East. For this, we placed our hands over a candle lit from the Flame of Avalon to take in its energy. A new candle was also lit from this flame for us to take home. Here, Mike and I also gave readings on what love means to us.
• We called in the energy of Water from the South. For this, a chalice was filled with a  50/50 mix of water from the White Spring and the Red Spring in Glastonbury to symbolise the coming together of the sacred feminine and sacred masculine. We then drank from the cup.
• We then said our vows to each other and exchanged gifts – I gave Mike the previously mentioned sword and he gave me a ring.
• We then called to the Energy and power of Earth from the West. This was the point where our hoop and wand hand tying began. The Priestess tied the first few cords and then invited our guests to come up one at a time to tie ribbons onto it. This was a representation of their blessings to us.
• As guests exited from tying on their ribbon, they were then given cake and mead – a traditional feature of handfastings.
• As the ceremony drew to a close, we signed our certificate of handfasting (reminiscent of a legal marriage certificate) and participated in a flower exchange (a symbol of give and take in marriage).
• Thanks were given to the elements, and the circle was broken as Mike and I jumped the broom.

Following the ceremony, we headed to Wearyall Hill with our photographer – Mike Jefferies. Mike produces some incredible landscape photography as well as photographs many of the town’s local events. When I first saw his images, I knew I had to try to contact him and was so fortunate when he agreed to help us out.

We didn’t do anything overly posed for our photos as we wanted to keep it simple and capture the day exactly as it was. Overall, I’m really happy with them and I love how relaxed we all look.

Once the photos were done, we all went to The Crown Hotel’s restaurant for a meal together (besides a couple of guests who had to leave by this time).

We remained at The Crown Hotel overnight in the Bruce Springsteen room – a lovely room with a view over the town. Breakfast the next morning was also amazing.

The Days In Between

On Sunday 22^nd June, we travelled home from Glastonbury. Mike and I went to work as normal Monday to Wednesday of that week. I finished half day on the Thursday to head to a nail appointment with Bleedinbeauty. Thursday 26^th was also mine and Mike’s 13^th anniversary together although we had no plans for this due to how excited we were for our legal marriage on the coming Saturday.

1 Day Before – Friday 27^th June 2025

I don’t remember much about what we did during the morning on this day, but I know we spent a long time meticulously packing everything we would need for the hotel stay plus the wedding itself. Even though we were staying local, I didn’t really have the headspace to be ok with forgetting lots of important things.

In the afternoon, we checked in at the Heronston Hotel in Bridgend. Mike and I have been to this hotel several times in the past for afternoon tea or spa days, so we know it decently well. Its proximity is also close to the wedding venue, Cobbles. Unfortunately, our stay at the Heronston on this occasion left us unable to recommend it in the future. As I already provided my feedback to the hotel at the time, I won’t be addressing the specifics here, but I just wanted to mention that.

For the afternoon, we had a massage, chilled out by the pool for a bit and then went to get ready for dinner. We had a decent meal at the hotel restaurant (included in our room rate) and then headed back to our room to relax with a glass of champagne (we picked this up at a local speciality wine shop a few weeks prior) before getting some sleep.

Our Legal Wedding Day – 28^th June 2025

We woke at around 6:30am on the morning of our wedding day. While tired, I don’t think I could have slept any longer due to all of the nerves and excitement. We quickly showered, dressed and then went for breakfast. Due to the aforementioned nervousness and my tendency to feel horrible from eating heavier foods, I stuck to fruit and herbal tea.

On arriving back to the room, I changed into my special ‘getting ready’ pyjamas from Pretty You London. I’ve already written more about these here (advertisement, gifted product).

Kay from Bleedinbeauty arrived at 8:30am to begin my makeup. We did almost exactly the same as my trial with the only amendment being using my Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation as I’ve found this to be a failsafe option in every scenario.

Somewhere between 9 and 9:15, Amber arrived to do my hair. As mentioned earlier in this post, Amber works at The Hair Studio in Llantwit Major, but her and Mike go way back as they went to school together. It felt lovely to have both Amber and Kay there – two very professional and skilled women but also such genuine individuals. I can honestly say that my nerves were almost completely gone during the getting ready portion of the day as things just felt so at ease.

At 10am, our photographer and videographer team arrived – Louise and Leanne. They immediately began organising our ‘detail’ photos. I’d already prepared all of the items in one spot for them to take (my shoes, the rings, mine and Mike’s fragrances, my lipstick, an invitation etc). Once my face and hair was complete, they also took shots of Kay and Amber doing the final touches as well as Mike putting on my necklace for me.

In what felt like a blink of an eye, it was time for me to get into my dress. Mike was sent outside for this part. Something I want to mention here is that nobody really tells you that your bare chest will be on display to a room of people – fine, as I was comfortable around those present but not something I’ve ever heard talked about on other wedding platforms! Amber helped do up the many buttons on the back of my gown and we got some photos of this as well as me spraying perfume and posing with my bouquet. Once we got the shots, Mike was called back in for our first look. Some photos and videos were also done of this.

By this point, we were at risk of running late if we didn’t head to the car to go to our legal ceremony. We chose to drive ourselves (well, Mike drove while I attempted to sit in the back given the size of my gown). The register office where our ceremony took place was in Barry – we wanted to go there as we felt Bridgend was a little too close to where we spend our day to day and we wanted our wedding day to feel more unique.

We chose the simplest of ceremonies as we did not have any guests in attendance for this. This was partly because we felt it would be too pressurised to have all eyes on us but also because we’d already done our ceremony of choice the previous week – the register office was just about making it legal on paper. Our photographer and videographer were our witnesses.

Following the ceremony, we drove the coastal route back towards the hotel, stopping at Southerndown. Southerndown has always been a favourite photo location for me – the walled garden is beautiful and like something out of a fairytale while you also have the opportunity to walk on the sand. If the tide is in, there are rocks to stand on so you are still able to get ocean views in photos. We spent a significant amount of time here getting lots of photos and videos and I’m honestly thrilled by them – it was always my dream to have the ocean in my wedding photos, but I also love the ones of us in the garden too.

After we finished in Southerndown, Mike and I headed back to the hotel to drop off anything we didn’t need (I’d taken ID to the register office as I wasn’t sure if I needed it for example) and freshen up a bit before heading to our reception. We had a small gap here of around 30 minutes which was really handy to gather ourselves, have a drink of water and for me to touch up makeup, deodorant and perfume.

My father picked us up to take us to the reception. He kindly brought us some champagne in the car which we opened when we arrived at Cobbles. My mother, grandmother and Mike’s family were already waiting for us there when we arrived so this gave the opportunity for some casual family photos before all of the other guests arrived (we staggered their arrival – family only from 3pm and everyone else from 4pm). We took some photos in front of the car then hid ourselves away inside the building, taking photos upstairs in the hayloft where all of the tables were set for dinner, as our guests arrived outside. As a side note, all the décor had been designed by my mother and looked beautiful – we also saved ourselves a fortune by going down the DIY route.

Not long after 4pm, all of the guests were lined up for us to do the confetti shot – this was really fun, but I did trip slightly on my dress as we walked out of the doors! At the end of this, we took group photos with everyone then headed inside for welcome drinks and canapés.

Shortly after this, we headed up into the hayloft for dinner. Our guests all seemed to love the grazing table we chose. At the end of the meal the most heartfelt speeches were given from 3 of our friends.

Following the meal, we headed downstairs to cut our cake. We used the sword and, much to the amusement of our guests, it was actually a massive struggle to cut (the sword isn’t sharp for safety reasons – think butter knife). For some reason, I also found this aspect of the day to be the most awkward as all eyes were on us while we tasted the cake.

At this stage of the evening, I was also a little nervous as we were about to perform our first dance. We had done a short practice in the bar area of Cobbles while guests were still on their way downstairs after the meal. At this point, I decided I needed to take off my shoes as I couldn’t feel when I accidentally stepped on the dress. Our first dance was to Everytime We Touch (Yanou’s Candlelight Mix) – Cascada. This song dates back to my teenage years, listening to the album in the car with my grandmother while on our way somewhere. Cascada was also an artist Mike and I bonded over early in our relationship – I was bullied for enjoying styles of music like hers, but Mike accepted that I love it and also enjoys it himself. Overall, the dance went well with only one minor hiccup on the final turn (Mike accidentally stood on my dress but we recovered it quickly). Our guests seemed to really like it which made me so happy given that we’d worked on it for 6 months.

Post first dance, the party got started. We had an amazing time dancing together, and Big Al, our DJ, totally got what we liked. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time on the dance floor at any other party. The night ended at midnight, and we headed back to the Heronston hotel in a taxi.

Conclusion

Ultimately, our wedding wasn’t just one day—it was a journey that began long before we walked down the aisle. The entire planning process, from the minor hiccups to the beautiful, unscripted moments, brought us closer together. We hope that by sharing our timeline, lessons learned, and supplier choices, we’ve shown that a wedding can truly be a reflection of a couple’s values, celebrated in a way that feels authentic to them.