Sian & Owen’s Real Life Wedding

Laura Gadd | February 7th

What started in Italy and came to the castle, its clear to see it was meant to be..

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

It happened in Lake Garda, Italy. Italy was our first holiday together and therefore a special place for us. We had booked the trip to Italy in Feb 2020, just before the pandemic hit and thankfully it was one of the few places we could still go to in the September.

What was your first step in planning your wedding, did you use blogs/magazines etc?

We received a beautiful, personalised wedding organiser as an engagement gift so this was used a lot during planning for the wedding, as well as an Instagram wedding collection and Pinterest boards

What were your wedding “must have’s”?

Aside from a venue we both loved and was exclusive for our special day, the only real “must-have” was Owen definitely wanted a band.

Wedding budget: how did you organise your wedding budget?

We had a general idea of how much we could/wanted to spend on our special day and had a bit of understanding from recent family weddings. So we knew how we wanted to distribute the budget to make our day perfect.

How did you find your venue and what made you choose it?

We found the venue via a Google search for ‘Castle Wedding Venues’. We first saw it via a zoom tour as we live in London but then came down for an in person visit as we both loved it.

We were just blown away by the venue it had that ‘wow’ factor and that it would be exclusively ours for the big day was perfect. When we saw the ballroom at that point we knew it was the one.

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

Our theme was elegant with a white, green and gold colour palette. We felt like the venue was impressive enough and didn’t need too much decoration. We did buy a few lanterns and some white rose petals to scatter down the aisle along with a sweet table which the guests enjoyed.

We chose the venues candle package which even for a wedding in May, stood out and added that little bit extra.

Did the venue provide any memorable extras or nice personal touches that stood out?

We were just blown away by the dedication of our wedding manager Simon. He made sure everything was perfect for us on the day and in the run up to the wedding by making sure he understood exactly what we wanted.

Our guests were so impressed, and said how it was the best wedding venue they had been to. From everything to the castle itself to the food. The surprise downstairs was also a hit!

Describe your wedding attire and favourite accessories

I felt like my dress was just perfect for the castle. I always said I would never buy a dress on my first visit to a shop. But it was the last one I tried on and I just knew and on the day I felt like a princess.

My veil was from the bridal shop I bought the dress from – Gillian Roberts – and I felt like it added to the bridal feeling for me. I kept it on for most of the day and night.

What did your partner wear?

We first found Owen’s suit on a whim a good year in advance of the wedding. We felt the light grey was a nice summery suit colour and went well with the champagne colour of the bridesmaid dresses.

Tell us about your Bridesmaids, Groomsmen and their outfits

I found the Bridesmaids dresses in House of Fraser as part of the BIBA brand. It was just the perfect champagne colour I was after for the bridesmaid dresses.

We knew we wanted Owen as Groom, to be slightly different from the groomsmen so he wore an ivory tie, whereas the groomsmen and fathers wore champagne ties to match the bridesmaids. As the bridesmaid dresses were bought from the high street, we were concerned about finding ties to match but we couldn’t believe how well it all came together.

What was your ceremony like?

The ceremony was magical. We had music piped throughout and I walked down the aisle to ‘The One’ by Beth. It was the song that was playing when we visited the venue and could just picture us both getting married at the Castle so we felt it had a lot of meaning.

We also had two readings by my brother and Owens dad which was a really personal touch

Tell us about your drinks reception and wedding breakfast

It took us a long time to decide on the food as it all sounded delicious so we attended a dinner date evening to get a taster of some of the options and would definitely recommend other couples to do this especially if they are not sure on food options.

In the end we went for Terrine, Beef tenderloin and it had to be Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert as it is Owen’s favourite. We also went for the Slow Roasted Feast for the evening food.

The food went down so well with guests and got so much positive feedback.

Did you have a band or DJ for your evening reception? Did you have a first dance – what song did you choose?

We had a band – Electric Soul Club for our first dance. My favourite song is ‘Have I told you lately’ by Van Morrison, so the band kindly learn the song for our big day. We were quite nervous about the first dance but on the day it was magical underneath the chandelier in the Main Hall area.

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

Enjoy every moment, even when at times the planning can seem stressful or overwhelming. You will wish you could be doing it all over again once it is over.

Did you go on a honeymoon or mini-moon?

We went to Santorini for a minimoon straight after the wedding for a bit of relaxation and we are going to Singapore and the Maldives in February for our full honeymoon.

“If we could do it all again, we’d…”

Do it exactly the same!