Kate & Adam’s English Summer Wedding at Garthmyl Hall

So when the lovely Krysta, Wedding Planner behind For the Love of Weddings, got in touch to see if I’d like to feature Kate & Adam’s English summer wedding it was a big YES!

As it turns out, this gorgeous couple found their wedding venue – the mighty Garthmyl Hall – on our Venue Finder. From the beautiful country house setting, to the garden florals, hand-painted blue silk wedding dress and the very important words of wisdom from bride Kate – I couldn’t love this celebration more.

Kate says…

I did a lot of research on venues via Coco Wedding Venues and other websites, but I liked Coco the best because I thought every venue had potential for us, but then made it easy to narrow down our specific needs – lots of accommodation on site for our guests travelling from Northern Ireland and the US, and flexibility to make the day whatever we wanted chief among them. Garthmyl Hall ticked those boxes.

My dress was the Mae dress by Chantel Lauren. I knew I wanted something beautiful that I would never normally get a chance to wear, but I also didn’t want to let go of wearing colour so this dress was perfect! The hand painted silk on it is just spectacular. The colour of the dress then informed the colour of the men’s suits, and the basis of a lot of the design of the décor for the day. We went with ivory for the bridesmaids, because against the colour of my dress everything else seemed busy. We wanted them to look classic and also be comfortable, so each bridesmaid picked out their own dress from JJ’s House – using a website was handy as they were based across the UK and US. We also got the flower girls’ dresses from JJs House, and made ribbons to go around their waists with the offcuts from my dress alterations.

For hair and make up, the only thing I knew that I wanted was flower crowns for the flower girls – I have to admit that was some Meghan and Harry inspo!

My florist was Pheasant Botanica as suggested by Krysta and I was absolutely blown away by her knowledge, skills and design. I also loved how local she was to the venue, and that I could say the flowers were grown locally.

I really wanted to give our international guests a taste of the local area, which is a place they wouldn’t normally get to visit, so it was great to be able to reflect this in our florals.

The catering was Tallulah’s Catering, and everyone was blown away by their food. As a vegetarian and sometimes vegan (I’m trying!) having a menu that allowed for dietary restrictions whilst also tasting great was a must. Having seen my share of stuffed peppers, I was instantly excited by the variety on offer from Tallulah’s. On the day I had multiple people ask me who had catered because ‘that was not wedding food’.

As far as suppliers go, the biggest shout out needs to be for Krysta of For the Love of Weddings who went above and beyond for us. I started out planning this wedding from Belfast, and then moved to Los Angeles (where Adam and I are now based) six months before. We originally contacted her for design and styling but as things went on we realised we needed to rely on her for more than that. Then, my mum passed away 5 weeks before the wedding. Krysta was amazing, and she really made it so that we could still enjoy the day and took away so much of the stress for us. We always say that there was some destiny at play that brought us together.

So to that end, my words of wisdom are this:

From one bride to another…

Realise what is an investment in something you think you should have, and what is an investment in the experience you want for yourselves and your guests. For me, we didn’t do favours, because that’s extra luggage for our travelling guests and money that’s better spent behind the bar for them. It’s hiring Krysta and having a day free of organising and stress, instead of doing it yourself and finding yourself staying up late the night before to set out place cards.

Venue Garthmyl Hall

Photography Andrew Brannan Photography

Planning + Design For the Love of Weddings

Florals Pheasant Botanica

Dress Chantel Lauren Designs

Makeup Artist Hayley Thompson Bridal + Ariana Rose

Stationery Ivy Inks Paper Co.

Linen 88 Events

Furniture + Tablewares Tipples Bar

Caterer Tallulah’s Catering

Cake Sams Sweet Treats

Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Pietanic + Polly’s Parlour

Entertainment Groove Mavericks

Photo Booth Fotoauto