We already know what a total dreamscape this venue is, we snapped them up and they sit proudly as members of our handpicked supplier directory, The List. Now, we get to show you. Tyn Dwr Hall in North Wales is a unique, luxury venue. It has grand country house features with white, crisp modern perfection in its reception hall, comes with the use of a movie worthy cottage and wait for it... a glamping village! I mean hello!
This wedding has such a dreamy palette of dark grey, crisp whites, misty skies and the hues of a roaring fire. It is really romantic and the way that the Bride and Groom smile at each other is just lovely. Bride Katie looks sensational in a stunning Justin Alexander gown from Brides by Tina Louise. Photography by our friend Livi Edwards. You can swoon more of Livi's weddings here, and here, and here.
"There was no real theme to our wedding. We liked simple, classic with a vintage twist. My moto is effective yet effortless."
Katie the Bride: I wanted to look like me on my wedding day, so I chose everything in line with my normal styling choices. I’m not a girly girl and avoid sparkle so vintage lace fitted with me. My friend, Natalia, and her mum, Tina, sourced my dress from Justin Alexander. I knew I didn’t want a traditional wedding dress, so my dress fitted this perfect with long sleeves, appliquéd flower pattern, nude colour underlay and button detailing. I loved the uniqueness of the dress and it was just me! It was one of the first ones I found but went around the houses to make sure.
I made my great grandmother necklace into a headpiece over a veil and teamed it with my mum’s pearl earrings and pointed ivory heels.
My maid of honour, Lauren, did my makeup beautifully (so lucky to have a makeup artist as a friend!) and Sian Dutton styled my hair in line with a messy, loose style.
James the Groom: I always wanted to wear tails for the special day. I knew of an independent hire company local to us that I’ve used for previous weddings. Attire at Sandycroft had a huge choice of suits on offer. I was able to hire navy herringbone tails with ivory waistcoats, white shirts and patent shoes. I chose to wear an ivory tie, while the groomsmen wore a slate blue tie to compliment the bridesmaid dresses and the colour theme of the wedding. I gave the groomsmen matching cuff links and socks as a final touch to complete the look.
We wanted somewhere beautiful where all our family and friends could come and celebrate. Tyn Dwr Hall fitted this perfectly. We visited when it was still being renovated but when approaching the hall from the long drive we instantly knew it was the one! Amazing landscapes, beautiful architecture and big enough for everyone to stay! The Hall was an exclusive hire, we chose to stay for two nights, which we would recommend. We set up the venue, relaxed with close family and friends the day before the wedding and felt all ready for the big day. As well as the Hall, the grounds are beautiful, we encouraged the guests to spend their spare time walking around and enjoying the breathtaking views of the vast hillsides and old castle ruin. We can’t thank the staff enough at Tyn Dwr Hall as they helped us out with everything we needed from extra flowers to drying my dress after waking through a puddle!
Neutral colours, greenery and woodland tones guided our décor. We chose slate blue and incorporated this into our stationery, flowers and wedding party styling. These tones complimented the beautiful landscape of Tyn Dwr. My maid of honour, Lisa, designed all the stationary from invites to menus to badge favours, which included a sketch of the cottage at Tyn Dwr Hall by Robert Jones, the Best Man’s father.
Without a theme in mind, one thing that always kept coming up was the fact 2017 was our ten year anniversary so decided to name our tables after each year, giving guests a snapshot of something from that year on the menus. We’ve always loved DIY crafts and renovating and liked the idea of creating a unique seating plan, so we created a plan using a large picture frame, chicken wire, some old material as a background. We gathered photos of everyone attending the wedding, had small polaroids made by inkifi and got them to find their face for their place.
The flowers chosen had meaning to us and tied into the neutral and woodland tones. The flowers were sourced locally to Tyn Dwr Hall by Iris and Thyme. The cut glass vases (which we love) and candle centrepiece arrangements were designed and sourced by James and I and the lime oak wood slices were sourced locally and made by our friend, Phil.
The bridesmaids and I had a lovely day out to Manchester but unfortunately didn’t find anything suitable – slate blue is not a popular dress colour! We considered changing the colour then Reiss saved us and we found the perfect dresses that they all loved! We chose an ivory lace dress for my page girl to contrast with the bridesmaid dresses and compliment my dress.
We chose to have the ceremony at Tyn Dwr as we felt the church wedding wasn’t us. The ceremony was simple and intimate, which was perfect for us as we don’t like being the centre of attention. It was a nerve-racking time, especially when the entrance music started but it was lovely to see all our friends and family with beaming smiles when walking out as husband and wife. An extra feature that Tyn Dwr had was a bell tower which could be rung at the end of the ceremony. The kids loved this touch.
We wanted a relaxed atmosphere throughout the day which was achieved with the help of a pianist playing whilst guests arrived and during the drinks reception. The band we chose had played at our friend’s wedding, so we knew they would get everyone dancing! And the selfie photobooth was so much fun! We would say it’s a must for getting amusing pictures of your guests! As we had a few little people at the wedding, we filled the gardens with lawn games to keep them occupied.
The wedding breakfast was an important part of the day for us as we wanted our guests to enjoy some nice food and Wild Garlic did not disappoint! Unfortunately, James and I didn’t get a chance to sample the cake which was made by a family friend Abbie Barnes (the guests snapped it up), but it looked beautiful and was exactly what I’d asked for!
We opted just a photographer on the day and we were happy with our choice. We didn’t fancy people recording us all day so used cameras and go pro’s to capture the ceremony and speeches. This plan failed at the speeches but thankfully these were captured perfectly by on our guest’s phones. For photos, we wanted natural shots from our day, which fitted perfectly with Livi’s style. She was amazing! She captured all our precise moments and you didn’t notice she was there. We actually can’t believe how she managed to capture everything by herself, but she did.