Love ast first swipe

Posted by Kelly Andrews on 30 June 2023

We met how a lot of people tend to meet nowadays, on Tinder," says Abbey. She and Andrew were both students at the time and in Abbey's words "rather socially awkward homebodies," so the internet seemed the perfect place to find love.

She continues, "My favourite thing about Andrew was how easy he was to talk to. There were never any uncomfortable pauses or lulls in conversation. In fact, we haven't stopped talking for the past six years!"

Happy couple Andrew proposed on Christmas Day in 2018. The pair were opening presents and Abbey unwrapped a Build-A-Bear, one of her favourites as she has quite the soft spot for teddies. As she pressed the bear's hand, out came Andrew's voice asking her to marry him! She turned around and there he was, on one knee with an engagement ring. "I was so, so shocked, but thrilled," Abbey remembers.

As the couple live in Spain they chose their venue purely on merit of its photos online. In fact, they spent weeks browsing the internet to find their dream venue and discovered many beautiful locations, but none were able to meet their requirements when it came to personalising their day.

As soon as they saw Pennard House though, they fell in love. Happily, it offered everything the pair wanted from onsite accommodation, complete flexibility and best of all, says Abbey, "There was no seven-page list of hidden extra costs." When they were finally able to see it and meet the staff in person, they knew they'd made the right decision. "The team are beyond amazing, and every part of Pennard House has such wonderful hidden treasures, from stunning décor to beautiful gardens," Abbey explains.

Read on, as the bride tells us more about the gorgeous wedding day...

I wore Organza by Galina. I orignally went into the shop wanting a completely different style with lots of detail, pearls, the lot! However, after trying on what I thought was my dream dress, I hated it. I felt like I was a walking garment and not me. I adored the simplicity of the gown I chose as it was so comfortable and I felt beautiful in it.

Andrew wore a classic style Hugo Boss suit all in black. He paired it with an emerald green tie, which created a very modern look and worked really well.

I wanted to keep my accessories simple and opted for my family rings, some moon and star clips in my hair to match my daughters' dresses and my name necklace.

I was so nervous in the morning, which I wasn't expecting, but as soon as we were together again it was such a relief. We spent the whole day in a bubble of joy. It was almost like a high, as we were so overwhelmed to have all the people we love most together to celebrate with us.

Bridesmaids My bridesmaids both wore blush-coloured dresses in different silhouettes as it was important to me that they choose a style that made them feel confident and happy.

We knew we wanted a U-shape table layout so that everyone could be together and enjoy each other's company. I'm so glad we were able to achieve this as being able to sit down and see all of our loved ones after being apart for so long was a wonderful feeling.

Everything came together so seamlessly. We were absolutely gobsmacked when we walked upstairs and saw how everything had been transformed. We have to thank our wonderful stylist Holly for our styling and décor as she brought our vision to life.

My décor inspiration involved lots of candles, foliage and simple styling for the tables and Holly managed all of this beautifully. We chose green foliage with hints of white florals throughout, some standing glass vases with floating candles and other larger candles.

We booked Pitch Up and Play to help us with our little ones and we are so happy we did, as our babysitter, Meg, was beyond incredible and our little ones fell in love with her instantly. The set up, including toys, roll play activities, messy play and crafts could be used by all of the kids and was a massive hit.

Wedding breakfast Our wedding breakfast was delicious and went down a storm. Denise from Taste Somerset was amazing to work with and helped me pick our menu. Both myself and Andrew are fussy eaters, so we wanted home comfort foods and were over the moon with how it turned out.

For signage we chose a modern, minimalist design, which featured on our welcome sign, seating chart and order of the day and complemented the foliage décor.

I knew from the moment we started planning that I really wanted a dessert table instead of a traditional wedding cake. Our wonderful caterers at Taste Somerset put this together and it was amazing. We had a selection of brownies, bite-size cake squares, a doughnut wall and cinnamon buns.

For the adults we booked The Little Red Bus 'Rory' VW Campervan photo booth and I can highly recommend it. They had so many fun props and were brilliant at getting everyone to laugh and enjoy themselves. We opted for the photo album as well and thoroughly enjoyed looking at everyone's photos and messages afterwards.

All of our suppliers deserve a very special shout out as we couldn't have done it without them. Every single person involved went above and beyond to ensure the day ran smoothly and were beyond lovely.

With the kids There are so many moments that still make me teary eyed with happiness. If I could relive it all again I most certainly would.