Rosa and Tom’s ‘Full of Laughter’ Homemade Welsh Wedding by James Richard Photography

Happy Wednesday everyone and how are you all? Today is my last day of the summer holidays before Dexter goes back to school. Nik and I both took the day off yesterday and we had a lovely day. Today it’s my turn so we are off for the day together. The last 6 weeks have been great, I have really enjoyed them, but I am now looking forward to getting some routine back in my life and cracking on with the blog and getting some plans made. On with today’s wedding and we have the delightful Rosa and Tom on the blog, sharing their gorgeous homemade colourful Welsh wedding. It’s a magical day filled with so much fun. Rosa and Tom are a wonderful couple. So full of laughter, you can tell they have so much fun together, you really get a feeling of warmth from them and can tell they are truly loved by everyone around them. Big thanks to James Richard Photography for bring the wedding to life for us.

Our wedding was relaxed and personal, full of laughter. 

Rosa and Tom were married on 6th July 2019 at Tall Johns House, Llangasty, Brecon Beacons. ‘Tom grew up just down the road from the venue, we both love going to Wales to visit his family. It’s so beautiful, it was always going to be where we got married. When we first saw the venue, it was in the middle of the renovation with a digger in the middle of the barn and it was pouring with rain, but it just felt right. We had 130 guests and it took 18 months to plan.’ 

How they met 
We met on Tinder back in Autumn 2014, our first date consisted of several G&Ts on a school night. From that day on we never looked back!

The proposal
We snowboard every year in Meribel, France. It’s a place that we love. We were on holiday with a group of friends, the weather was terrible, white out snowstorms every day. There was a break in the clouds and a view of the valley appeared – Tom seized the opportunity to pop the question to the cheers of our friends just down the mountain. Turned out he had been carrying the ring around in a shopping bag all week, terrified he was going to drop it.

How did you allocate your budget?
We weren’t terribly organised with our budget, we knew that great food and a good party were priorities so that and the venue were our big spends.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
Our big spends were the food and venue. My dress was not a ‘real’ wedding dress so I made big savings there. Apart from the bouquets and hanging floral hoops we arranged the flowers ourselves which saved on the flower budget. My mum made the cake and friends and family brought home made cakes and biscuits for dessert. I also spent about a year making pompoms which ended up everywhere!

How did you choose your photographer?
We found our photographer James on Instagram – Tom is a designer so was very picky about the editing styles people used, James was the only one he liked! I spoke to James on the phone and knew immediately that we would get on like a house on fire. I didn’t even bother getting any quotes from anyone else!

The dress
I bought my dress online from Sezane, they don’t traditionally make wedding dresses but I loved the dress. Lovely and simple, made from beautiful silk. I had it altered locally so it fitted like a glove.
My shoes were my grandmothers, vintage cream suede, the most comfortable heels I’ve ever worn. I’d been planning to wear them at my wedding for nearly 10 years.
My earrings were little mountain ranges that I found on Etsy – they matched the cufflinks my parents gave to Tom. I wore the necklace Tom gave me on the morning of the wedding, a beautiful delicate bee.

The suit and bridesmaids
The boys suits came from Slaters and the girls dresses were Phase Eight in the sale – the dresses were called Rosa, it was meant to be!

Theme or colour scheme
Our themes were quite loose – we collected gin bottles for our flowers, everything was brightly coloured and were we could we had a mountain/ski theme. My mum collected retro ski wear for our homemade photo booth.

Flowers 
My brief for Jo was bright coloured and seasonal and she definitely delivered!

Decoration 
We had big hanging floral hoops in the barn, but otherwise we just let its rustic feel be its own decoration. We strung multicoloured pompoms on gates and trees around the venue for a bright festival style vibe.

Food
Our food was made by the pub in village where Tom grew up – The Castle. We had lots of dietary requirements for our guests and they did an amazing job. We had mezze style starters, followed by a traditional roast dinner. Pudding was homemade cakes as well as cheese and biscuits. For our evening snacks we had mini fish and chips in cones, tasty!

Wedding cake
My mum made a beautiful rustic style cake, topped with a border terrier just like our dog Pip.

Entertainment
Velvet Soul are a Welsh Funk & Soul band, they were excellent and kept the dance floor full all night. We saw in the small hours with a playlist made by my legendary brother in law – who also happens to be a DJ.

Who supplied the stationery?
Tom designed all our stationary including the seating plan, it really added the personal touch.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We had a friendsmoon with our best man and our witnesses in St Davids straight after the wedding weekend. It was great to wind down with our friends for a few days. We then went to Devon to visit Tom’s Nan who was unable to travel for the wedding. We stayed in a gorgeous little tabernacle with a woodfired hot tub.
In November we went on our proper honeymoon to New York – cocktails in The Rainbow Room with views of the Empire State were a highlight.

Special moments
All of it! Everyone falling about laughing when I walked up the aisle telling Tom to ‘get your shit together Griffiths’ when he cried. My sister’s speech – she had all of the girls from the hen do stand up and take part in the speech Dead Poet Society style. It was so empowering. Ski shots and dancing all night.

Advice for other couples
Try not to be too fixed about what you think the day will be like, it will evolve as you plan things and even on the day. Just go with the flow and enjoy being with the people you love.

Biggest surprise 
It sounds silly but what surprised us was how much we loved it all. We had never really intended to have a big wedding, it just turned out that way but it was wonderful to have so many people we love in one place.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue: Tall Johns House 
• Catering: The Giddy Pig (Castle Inn  Llangorse) 
• Flowers: Jo McGaughey 
• Glamping: Lulubell Tents 
• Make Up: Emma 
• Hair: Phillipa 
• Photographer: James 
• Band: Velvet Soul 
• Dress: Sezane  & Alterations

For more information on James Richard Photography go to

www.jamesrichardphotography.co.uk / www.jamesrichardphotography.co.uk/blog / [email protected] / 07530208178 / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER

Based in glorious Canterbury, I’m a natural wedding photographer who specialises in creative, emotive photography across the UK and further afield. I’ve worked with the widest range of couples imaginable: from the traditional to the truly contemporary. I love to work with couples who have created a day that’s unique and individual to them.