Haley and Kristian met while Haley was working at a pub in Neath. “I became friends with a regular called Ryan,” says Haley. “I didn’t know at the time that Ryan had a brother, so when Ryan walked into the bar one day and I asked him about his trip away to Butlins and he told me he’d just returned from Egypt with his girlfriend, I was confused! Later on, Ryan came in again and was dressed in a different outfit! It turned out Ryan and Kristian are brothers and looked exactly the same to me. It was then that Ryan introduced me to Kristian, and well, that was when our story began. We were both in relationships, so we just enjoyed being friends. Kristian was so nice to me and he became my best friend. He broke things off with his girlfriend and I called things off with my then-fiancé, and we remained friends. As I wasn’t ready to begin another relationship, we closed the door on us for a few months. Fast forward and I became seriously ill and ended up in the hospital. Kristian found out and was at my bedside in no time. He temporarily moved his job to Cardiff and moved in with me to help me get better and the rest is history.” Kristian surprised Haley by proposing in 2021. “We had booked a week off work and the weekend before Kristian was in Scotland with the boys,” shares the bride. “While he was away, I had the family around to stay. We were having Sunday lunch when Kristian called and told me to pack my bags as we were going away the next day. I managed to get the family to leave and I packed. Monday morning came and we drove up to a log cabin. We had been there twice already and we usually empty the car right away, but he told me to go straight in. When I did, there were rose petals on the floor, leading up to the stairs and out to the balcony. When I turned around, he was down on one knee, talking 100 miles an hour and the rest is a blur. It was perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing. I just wish that my nan was there to see it all and see how happy I am. My nan brought me up and she really loved Kristian. Apparently, before she moved into a home in 2020, he had told her he was going to marry me. She had dementia, so she would have forgotten, but the thought was there and that meant everything.” SETTING THE SCENE “Oldwalls Gower was the first venue that we visited,” explains Haley. “We took Kristian’s mum and he reminded us that we were just looking. After 10 minutes of being shown around, Kristian was asking about the deposit. His mother and I were speechless. Kristian never decides anything right away; he needs to reflect and discuss in detail. We left there having put a deposit down and knew it was the place for us. The venue was perfect. We wanted a big room to celebrate that was all in one building. I am obsessed with flamingos and the fact there was a flamingo on the door to the ladies room was the icing on the cake. It was just perfect. To top it off, the place was full of roses, which were my nan’s favourite flower.” For their favours, Haley and Kristian placed mints in a bottle that read ‘Mint to be’. They also gave their guests wooden hearts with their names on them, which doubled up as place names. “Our table plan was pictures of our cat, Olive, dressed in different outfits,” recalls Haley. “We also placed flowers from Bec Flowers on the tables. These were white roses to represent my nan, along with white and blue blooms.” The couple had a tree-inspired cake from Bryn Awel Creative Cakes with their initials engraved into it. “We also gave our guests belly pork, as I’m obsessed, and beef as the alternative for the main course,” reveals the bride. 41 REAL WEDDINGS
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