Your South Wales Wedding - July/August 2020 (Issue 74)

De Courceys Manor provided the catering, and it was a real highlight of the day. The starters were a choice of Mediterranean vegetable tart or pork belly, the mains were roast lamb or chicken, and for dessert, guests could choose from sticky toffee pudding or Eton mess. We were able to bring in our own drink, so we chose champagne that had been my grandfather’s favourite and asked the venue to stock up on Iwan’s favourite beers. Our flowers were supplied by Best Buds by Samara. Iwan had worked with her in a previous job, so we knew she was a good choice. We didn’t have any idea of what we wanted so she helped us choose the blooms and we were really happy with the results. She even incorporated my grandma’s horseshoe from her wedding into the main centrepiece, which looked great. We purchased our cake from The Cake Cwtch. We thoroughly enjoyed the tasting session and chose a Victoria sponge, chocolate and lemon filling. My grandma still had some of the decorations used on her wedding cake more than 60 years ago, so we incorporated her silver shoe ornament into one of the tiers. We found Blush & Gold on Etsy and asked them to create our table plan. We named the tables after bands that we’d seen live together. We placed the original tickets into frames and placed them on the tables. We spent a few weeks visiting wedding venues around South Wales, but De Courceys Manor immediately stood out. Not only was it beautifully presented, but from day one, all of the staff were passionate about delivering the best experience possible. They were accommodating and appreciated the importance of the day for us and our families. I’m half Japanese and Iwan is Welsh, so we wanted to incorporate elements of our heritage into the day. We started with the readings, my mum read a Japanese poem and Iwan’s mum read a Welsh version. The ceremony was performed bilingually, and my cousins made lots of origami that we placed around the venue. We used these for our favours which we paired with Welsh cakes. 38