I always wanted a rustic outdoor feel to our day and knew I needed a space big enough to accommodate all of our guests. When we visited Lakeside Venue, we knew it was perfect. Louise, the owner and coordinator, was a dream to work with and gave us a really personal experience. Our table plan was quirky and different. It was two slim doors that we painted ivory and added gold decal stickers. Within the panels, we screwed little hooks and hung vintage keys that had the guests’ name tags attached. The tags were made by the very talented Nikki from Nikki Swift Designs. She designed and made all of our wedding stationery. It was also a real conversation starter and everyone took their keys home. It was a lovely touch and worth the extra time. It was also a nice thing for us to do together in the lead-up to the wedding. For the centrepieces, we decorated large gold hoops with fairylights and fresh flowers. We assembled and wrapped these in the weeks leading up to the wedding, but a bridesmaid and I finished them the night before. She even stayed up past midnight, whilst I was sleeping, to take them to the venue so they were as fresh as possible. I love flowers and knew exactly what I wanted the day I got engaged. My sister-in-law and I made all the bouquets, buttonholes and top table flowers. I purchased all the blooms from Whittingtons in Cardiff a few days before and stored them in the bath at home until we left for the venue the day before. We wanted our guests to feel special and have sentimental takeaways from our day, so we created favour boxes. These included a personalised candle, a scratch card, chocolate, a small bottle of alcohol, a bag of personalised M&Ms and a mini jar of Nutella with our names and wedding date on. We opted for a four-tiered cake made by Becky from Orla’s Cake Boutique. It was an elegant design with pearlescent ivory buttercream with both real and hand-painted florals trailing down the sides. 36
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