Catherine & Josef’s Real Life Wedding

Laura Gadd | February 26th

From the top of the Eiffel Tower to the stunning Clearwell Castle..

Tell us about the proposal – how and where did it happen?

Joe had organised a weekend trip to Paris for my 30th birthday. Both my parents, his parents and my friend Stephen were invited. On my birthday we all had dinner at the Eiffel Tower, before going up to the top where Joe then got down on one knee and proposed in front of our party and a lot of strangers! Topped off with a glass of champagne as fireworks were going off in the distance!

What was your first step in planning your wedding?

We had no idea where to start as there is so much out there, but we knew what we didn’t want- a barn wedding and rustic décor. We knew once we had the venue, everything else would fall into place. Joe said that a castle would be his ideal venue… so that’s where it all began!

Inspiration: Did you use blogs or magazines for ideas?

I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and more time searching the internet for ideas.

What were your wedding “must have’s”?

We were very laid back about the big day and didn’t really have any must haves. We had hoped to find a castle, but the main aim was getting married! Oh and having Kodaline ‘The One’ as our first dance song

Wedding budget: how did you organise your wedding budget?

We ensured we kept note of the cost of everything from the start and made sure that we saved every month for it and paid everything as soon as we could just so that we were always ahead. We didn’t really buy anything that wouldn’t be used again and stuck to what we felt were the essentials. We didn’t want to go over the top.

Wedding venue: how did you search for a wedding venue?

I used websites such as google and hitched. It was lucky as I was searching venues and I just stumbled upon Clearwell Castle one lunch break and knew we had to view.

What made you choose your wedding venue?

As soon as we turned up, we just knew this was the place! It had the wow factor!

The staff were all lovely and friendly, and it still makes us laugh to this day that the lady who showed us round told us “Some famous guy stayed there once” who we later discovered was Freddie Mercury! We love Queen so that was a bonus!

Then when walking around, our song (The One) was playing in the background, that’s when we knew we had to choose Clearwell!

We also revisited in the month of October as we were planning an October wedding and loved all the colours of the trees. It was magical!

Styling your wedding: how did you personalise your big day?

We went with pale purple colour scheme as I’d seen a picture on Pinterest which I thought was just beautiful! We didn’t have any other theme and just tried to match all venue accessories to the colour.

Our cake was amazing- bottom tier was caramel flavour with salted Carmel buttercream, the middle tier was carrot cake with buttercream, the top tier was lemon cake with G&T buttercream.

The castle is so stunning that it doesn’t need anything added to it to look amazing!

Wedding photographer: how did you choose your photographer?

I was lucky enough to have worked with the best photographer I know! James Townley. He was amazing on the day, put everyone at ease and took wonderful photos. He was able to take a mixture of staged and relaxed photos. He also helped massively with Joe’s nerves as he was standing at the end of the aisle waiting for me. I would recommend him to anyone in a heartbeat!

Wedding suppliers: how did you choose your suppliers?

As we aren’t local to the castle, we relied on googling the area and looking at lots of reviews. We also used the recommended suppliers listed on Clearwell Castle’s website

Describe your wedding attire

I imagined a dress that was simple yet elegant, and something I felt would last the test of time. I imagined something full length with sleeves. I took my Man of Honour Stephen with me to look at dresses, and after trying on a handful dresses that I have chosen I hadn’t found the one. I began to think it would take a lot longer to find a dress than I’d originally thought.

Stephen then chose a dress and asked me to try it on. It wasn’t what I would have chosen but he insisted I try it. As soon as I saw myself in the dress in the mirror, I knew it was the one! It was simple yet elegant and would definitely look right in a castle setting! I didn’t want to take it off!

What accessories did you wear on the day?

I had beautiful ivory shoes with a hint of sparkle, a hair vine with gems and a full cathedral length bespoke veil. My something borrowed was Joe’s Nan’s diamond ring that his mum had lent me on the morning of the wedding.

What did your partner wear?

Joe wore a navy-blue Ted Baker suit from Slaters Basingstoke. He also wore his Great Great Grandfathers pocket watch.

Tell us about your Bridesmaids, Groomsmen and their outfits

Joe had two groomsmen and a best man. They had all been friends since they were kids and they all wore matching suits.

I had two Bridesmen and one Man of Honour. I met my Bridesmen at university, and I have known my man of honour for years! I had told them it didn’t matter what they wore as long as they were there, that was more important than spending money on a new suit. Luckily, they all wore blue too!

What was your biggest wedding splurge?

My dress! Second biggest spending was the fireworks… but they were so worth it!

What was your biggest wedding saving?

I would have to say the venue- such amazing value for money! Not that we saved money as such, but that we felt it was worth so much more!

We also made a one-off payment for all wedding stationery (invites, menus, save the dates etc) as we bought a pdf file including everything. Then we could update and print off more whenever we needed to.

What was your ceremony like?

It was different to what we imagined due to Covid. It was supposed to be 60 guests and was cut down to 15 three weeks before, but it was still so special. Although it’s sad that not everyone could come, we wouldn’t change a thing and are glad we didn’t postpone. At the end of the day, we just wanted to be married and that was the most important thing to us. We did hold a zoom call for all guests who couldn’t come, and they all dressed up in their finery for it. a

I walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of “Halo” by Beyoncé and walked down by myself. Despite this being one of the covid rules, I had always planned on doing it that way. I was so nervous but glad I did!

Tell us about your drinks reception and wedding breakfast

We can’t believe how fast the 10 minutes to ourselves went after the ceremony! We offered a few welcome drinks, from bubbles to cocktails which all went down very well!

For our meal we chose food that we like, as it’s easy to get lost in what other people want, but you can never please everyone. For the starter we had the Breaded Brie, mains we chose the Roast chicken breast and dessert we selected the Sticky Toffee Pudding (Joe’s best man makes the best sticky toffee pudding so this was a reference to him)

The speeches were brilliant, funny and very memorable… but probably not something we can share! We had five from Joe, his mum, my dad , Joe’s best man and one of his groomsmen.

Did you have a band or DJ for your evening reception?

Unfortunately, due to Covid we were unable to have the party we had planned or any loud music, so instead we had a lovely, chilled evening with everyone, playing a few games. It was very relaxed and really nice… we’ll have a party when we can! We were exhausted by the end of the night!

Tell us about your first dance – what song did you chose and why?

Kodaline ‘The One’. There was no question this had to be our first dance as it had been our song for so many years!

Based on your own experience, give us some top tips:

Do what makes you happy and not what makes guests happy. You’ll never be able to please everyone, so make sure you do what you want to do.

Also, keep the budget in mind and make sure you make a note of how much everything costs… it’s easy to get carried away!

Don’t panic, it’ll all be OK on the day!

“If we could do it all again, we’d…”

Do it all in the same way! Maybe not have quite so many drinks the night before…

Did you go on a honeymoon or mini-moon?

Due to Covid restrictions there wasn’t much travelling we could do! So, we stayed an hour’s drive from Clearwell, in a cute little shepherd’s hut looking out on the countryside. We then visited castles and drove around the Breacon Beacons before the Wales lock down came into place three days later!