Matthew and Josie put all of their trust into her parents and Dewsall’s coordinator when they confirmed their wedding venue from halfway across the world. But let’s be honest, they were never going to be disappointed with Dewsall Court!
Josie’s simple but stylish vibe is evident through her elegant decorative choices and beautiful wedding dress, but it was her laidback approach that really made their wedding day a day to remember. It’s easy to get distracted by the finer details and trying to seek perfection but couples mustn’t lose sight of why they’re getting married and inject some real fun into the occasion, which is exactly what Josie did! I think we could all take a leaf out of Josie’s book, ‘it’s your day, do it your way!’ she says... indeed!
Josie says…
We actually didn’t see our venue in person until we had already booked it! We were living in Toronto at the time and I put all of my trust into my Dad to view the venue and show us it via FaceTime. He was so blown away with it that we just decided to book it (obviously with my Mum’s seal of approval)!
We wanted somewhere that would be exclusively ours to enjoy a long weekend of celebrations and Dewsall Court was perfect.
I had a vision of the dress which I thought I wanted, long sleeves and a puffy skirt, however after a day of dress shopping I ended up in something completely opposite! I knew that the dress I chose was the one I wanted because as soon as I took it off I wanted to put it back on.
I like things to be quite simple and plain, so I didn’t wear a lot of jewellery. I wore plain silver stud earrings, my late Grandfather’s ring which I always wear and a bracelet Matt had given to me as a gift on the morning of the wedding. The back of my dress was lacy and detailed, so I had my hair up to show that part of the dress.
I had 5 bridesmaids and I liked the idea of them all being in the same dress, so we all went dress shopping one morning and managed to find a dress which suited them all! I was quite pleased to have only spent one day wedding dress shopping and one morning bridesmaids dress shopping.
Matt knows what he likes and so I left him to sort out his outfit and the groomsmen. All the groomsmen wore black tuxes and Matt wore a very dark navy tux, all from Hawkes Bespoke Outfitters in Cardiff.
Our florist, Love Lily, was absolutely incredible. We went for our first meeting and I briefly talked Emma through the style of the outfits for the day and she immediately understood what I wanted, probably better than I even did! I was absolutely blown away when I walked into the Wainhouse Barn, it looked incredible. The bouquets, buttonholes and corsages were amazing, so simple and pretty.
We had an outdoor ceremony under a canopy and we had flowers on the canopy and they were beautiful. I was so pleased! We also had a string quartet to play for the entrance and exit of the ceremony and the drinks reception which we were lucky enough to be able to have in the garden of the house at Dewsall Court, they were brilliant!
We kept our stationery simple, white and black and our favours were little bottles of sloe gin made by my Grandad.
We had a bespoke menu which we worked on with the catering team at Dewsall Court; it was difficult to decide what we wanted because all of the food on the tasting day was absolutely delicious! We also went for a soup sip, a little teacup of soup served before the starter and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.
We decided we didn’t want a cake, I thought about all the weddings I had been to previously and how I never really paid attention to the cake or the cake cutting, and also we didn’t want to stand cutting a cake and posing for photos so it made more sense to not bother!
We absolutely hate having our photo taken, so we knew we wanted a photographer who wouldn’t want us and our guests to pose for hours. As soon as I came across Ed’s work I absolutely loved it and I knew he would capture the day exactly how I wanted it, natural and entertaining!
We also had a videographer which was fantastic to get some more moments of the day, as well as great drone footage of the grounds.
From one bride to another…
I wouldn’t be able to choose the best part of the day because I genuinely loved every minute! It is true that it is one of the best days of your life and whilst you do want everything to be perfect, the day is more than just everything looking and being perfect, it is about enjoying yourself with everyone who is important to you and sometimes you can forget that that is the aim of the day when you get caught up in the planning!
Enjoy every single minute and if you are feeling like you don’t want something on your wedding day, don’t feel under pressure to do it just because it is the norm or tradition, it’s your day, do it your way!
Venue Dewsall Court
Photographer Ed Godden Photography
Dress Laura May Bridal
Dress Alterations Atelier Alterations
Bridesmaids Dresses Timeless Elegance
Suits Hawkes Bespoke Outfitters
Videographer Matthew Walsh
Hair Hair Comes The Bride
Make Up Ruth Rowberry Make Up
Florist Love Lily
Band Singles Table
Based on a weekday wedding in January. Includes accommodation, food and drink.