Aisling and Liam met during their first week at dance school. “Liam was in his first year of the course and I was doing the foundation year,” says Aisling. “We met at a house party and were friends for about eight months before starting a relationship.” Liam popped the question at home after the couple had been together just over 10 years. “It was a huge surprise,” shares the bride. “I’d been away for the weekend and then went straight to work, but when I got home I found Liam had decorated our flat with candles, lights, rose petals and Polaroids of us throughout our relationship. I looked at all of them, and when I got to the last one, he kneeled down behind me with a ring.” SETTING THE SCENE “It was important to us that we found a venue that felt warm and welcoming and that we could create a day that felt true to how we are as a couple,” reveals Aisling. “We really liked how beautiful Tall John’s House was and that we had complete freedom to decorate it however we liked. “My sister, Greta, handmade all of the napkins for the wedding breakfast; they had green around the edges so that they’d match the green table runners,” adds Aisling. “She also made around 1,000 paper cranes, which we scattered on the tables and surfaces in the barn and hung from the ceiling. The cranes acted as a bonus wedding favour as lots of our guests loved them and asked to take one home. We also borrowed some handmade bunting that my friend Esther had made to decorate the courtyard area where we had our drinks reception after the ceremony.” The couple’s flowers were seasonal blooms from Love Lily Floral Design Studio in Abergavenny. “We chose my bouquet, three bridesmaids’ versions, six buttonholes and some flowers for the bridesmaids’ hair,” says the bride. “We also had some fresh blooms placed in empty gin bottles for the centerpieces. The flowers were all a mixture of lovely pinks, blues and purples.” The couple made their table plan using a chalk pen and an antique mirror. “We loved the mirror so much that it now hangs in our living room,” explains Aisling. “For our table names, we struggled to find anything that felt significant, so we ended up using a random word generator and then enjoyed hearing the guests theories for why we chose those table names.” For favours, Aisling and Liam gave their guests bespoke Sicilian chocolates from Khione in Cardiff. “Our cake was from Let Them See Cake in Cardiff,” recalls the bride. “It was two tiers; the bottom was lemon and blueberry, and the top tier was the best chocolate fudge cake I’ve ever had in my life! Sugarloaf Catering provided the rest of our food. I’m vegetarian, so we had a good mix of options. We had canapés after the ceremony, followed by a two-course wedding breakfast with either crème brûlée or tiramisu for pudding. Crème brûlée is Liam’s favourite dessert and tiramisu is mine, so it was important to us that we had both options available for everyone. Sugarloaf Catering also made hot dogs for our evening reception. The team was incredible and I’d highly recommend them.” DRESSED TO IMPRESS “I wore a Teresa Atelier dress that I purchased from Cardiff Bridal Centre,” says Aisling. “I was anxious about finding a dress to start with. I tried on so many different options and had such a positive experience. I chose my dress because I just loved all the details on it; the neckline felt super flattering; I loved all the buttons down the back and along the train and the slit in the skirt. My mum’s friend Sharon very kindly made my earrings and a necklace that were absolutely stunning. She’d also added in a little blue bead to the necklace clasp as my something blue. I had my greatgrandma’s engagement ring as my something old, and my friend Emily let me borrow the headpiece that she wore for her wedding as my something borrowed. I also wore a veil that had little sparkles and pearls on it, as well as white heels. The bridesmaids and I had our hair and make-up done by Jess Mac, who was absolutely incredible; she made us all feel beautiful 31 REAL WEDDINGS
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