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Welsh country house wedding

Meghann and Joe - A Welsh Country House Wedding Venue


Amelia Mortimer
Amelia Mortimer Updated:
10th of March 2023

Joe and Meghann first met in their teens and became good friends, but lost contact after going to university. They hit it off when they got back in touch years later and tied the knot on 27th July 2021 at a stunning country house. After COVID-19 changed their planned destination wedding they had their heart set on the beautiful Oldwalls Gower in Wales.

After a year of being together, the couple went to Dubai on holiday to celebrate their anniversary. Joe secretly chartered a yacht from Dubai marina and hid Meghann's parents downstairs in the yacht. He put an ‘out of order’ sign on door so that Meghann didn’t go down there, as if she knew her parents were in Dubai, she’d know something was up. Joe pretended that he didn’t know where they were going, so they jumped into a taxi to the marina to ‘go for food’ and then went onto the yacht. After a few drinks and some photos by the Burj Al Arab, they sailed to the Burj Khalifa where Joe popped the question. Meghann's parents then came upstairs to surprise her and congratulate them both!

Meghann and Joe - Oldwalls Gower real wedding. Photographer: Marc Smith.

Image by Marc Smith

The Venue

After originally planning to get married in Mexico, Covid meant their abroad wedding was cancelled twice, so Joe and Meghann made the choice to get married in their home country of Wales. Meghann's mum suggested visiting Oldwalls, as the pair had previously seen their brochure at a Wedding Fayre and knew it was a stunning venue. After a fantastic meeting with their wedding consultant, Claire, they booked the venue there and then.

Meghann says, "We completely fell in love, the open plan, grounds, everything. It’s just amazing, and it’s constantly updating and improving to an amazing standard. You felt special from the moment you walked through the doors. Even amongst Covid, we felt looked after. It really is the little things and attention to detail with them, even to offering you a drink as soon as you walk through the door. Every single time we visited the venue, you were made to feel welcome. Going from an abroad wedding to a home wedding, all throughout Covid, was stressful, but we had so much support. We were really overwhelmed at first having to speak to different vendors, but straight away Oldwalls gave us a pack, with information on local vendors and we discussed ideas and options with our wedding coordinator. Our coordinator really helped with the planning and the team was always on hand to support us."

Marc Smith Oldwalls Gower Wedding of Meghann and Joe

Image by Marc Smith

The Theme

Meghann and Joe wanted their special day to be intimate and romantic. They opted for a classic, clean look, with simple whites and greens. This was very different from the original colour scheme they'd planned for their Mexico wedding, with rose gold and blush pink tones. However, they fell in love with Oldwall's signature, classy look and wanted their wedding theme to match perfectly.

The Fashion

Meghann picked out two gorgeous wedding dresses for her special day, both from bridal boutique Eva Ashley. She picked out her first wedding dress four years ago, which she intended to wear for their Mexico wedding. She fell in love with the beautiful fishtail design by Riki Dalal.

When it came to their first wedding being cancelled, Eva Ashley opened an outlet store, so Meg convinced her mum to go and have a look to cheer them up. She just wanted to try on some dresses to feel that wow factor again and ended up walking away with a second dress, by Eddie K Bridal! Meghann says, "I felt amazing. For me I never thought I’d wear a princess dress – I wanted to make the most of my body type with fish tail. I know it sounds like a cliché but I felt like a princess. My second dress was much lighter in the evening, and allowed me to dance throughout the night. I loved both, they both had such different vibes, and again, the venue influenced the dress. Oldwalls is the type of venue that needs a dramatic dress. In turn this heavily influenced the suits, so we decided to go for black tie. Oldwalls is the perfect venue to carry a black tie wedding."

Joe and his groomsmen originally had Camel suits from Moss Bros. which were meant for their wedding in Mexico. When they saw Oldwalls, they decided to go for a black tie dress code. Joe wore a dashing Mark Darcy Tux from Practical Tailor, which he plans to wear again for future special occasions.

Meghann was joined by her Maid of honour, Elisha, and her five bridesmaid, Kate, Charlotte, Hannah, Kirsty and Kimberly. They all looked radiant in sparkly rose-gold dresses.

Marc Smith Photography Oldwalls Gower Wedding of Meghann and Joe

Image by Marc Smith

The Ceremony

After 4 years of planning, Joe and Meg were both thrilled and relieved to be finally tying the knot. "Everyone makes a big deal of the groom crying, but I’m not a crier," Joe says. "Meg had a horse and carriage and I could see that through the crack in the door, I wasn’t nervous but I was really trying to hold it together. I kept pacing and fidgeting. I felt completely calm and tranquil, it just felt perfect, pure joy. It felt right."

To make their vows extra personal, they did a mix of 'lovely-dovey' and 'funny', such as "I promise to share pizza with each other". Their song choices were also very personal. Meghann explains, "We walked in to A Thousand Years, as we did wait a thousand years! Then we walked out to Walking in Memphis, as it’s Joe's favourite song."

The Reception

Meghann and Joe opted for gorgeous white and gold, clear candelabras for their table centrepieces, and tall vases with white flowers and greenery. For the wedding favours, they chose Welsh cakes, together with miniature mason jars filled with cocktails which the bar team at Oldwalls put together for them; a fun treat for their guests!

Their stunning, classic wedding cake was made by Bella Cakes. Joe and Meghann worked with her, taking bits from several of Bell's other designs to create an incredible, unique wedding cake, keeping to their theme of white and green. They chose a different flavour for each tier - carrot cake, million shortbread, and strawberries and cream.

Joe and Meg had their first dance together as Mr and Mrs to You Are The Reason by Calum Scott and Leona Lewis. As their wedding was during the Covid restrictions in Wales, they didn’t have any evening entertainment. They were allowed a part-time dance floor outside, which was located under the lake house, situated in 50 acres of Oldwalls' glorious gardens. They had stunning views overlooking a lake and the Gower countryside. The couple also decided have a dreamy post-wedding photoshoot which the couple's photographer (Marc Smith) described as being "an epic way to end the night".

Meghann looks back on their special day with only good memories, "Nothing was too much, between Debbie, the venue manager looking after us, and every member of team there, we felt so special and our family felt the same. Every time I forgot where I put my prosecco down and lost it, the team were there with a fresh glass. I always had a drink in hand. Debbie made sure we had canapés when they came out for the guests. We had our own plate for us. There was such attention to detail throughout the day. Nothing went wrong. We felt so so special, and so you should on your wedding day. Oldwalls did it so perfectly. Even the next morning, at no point did we feel like we were being rushed out. We knew the team were cleaning but at no point did we feel we were in the way. We felt important and that was lovely."

Meghann and Joe - Oldwalls Gower real wedding with fireworks. Photographer: Marc Smith.

Image by Marc Smith

Their Advice

Joe and Meg also give some great advice to other couples planning their wedding, "Book Oldwalls!! Trust the team and whatever you can think of, know everything will be taken care of, even what you don’t think of. If you’re going to visit Oldwalls, visit all of their venues – we didn’t plan on seeing Oldwalls, and we’re so so glad we saw all their venues, just trust them. The day was perfect, I know it’s a cliché but we get to spend the rest of our lives knowing we had the truly perfect day for our wedding. Trust your team, when they say it’s going to be perfect, it’s going to be perfect. The standard that everything is done to, from the rooms to their the Rustic Retreat cottages, there is such attention to detail. You really feel the luxury."

Suppliers

Venue:

Oldwalls Gower Wedding Venue

Exclusive wedding venue set in beautiful Gower.

Swansea, Gower

£POA

Venues

Photographer: Marc Smith

Florist: Ruth Milton Jones

Dress designers: Eddy K Bridal and Riki Dalal

Dress shop: Eva Ashley

Videographer: Break Every Chain Productions

Hair: Kristin Davis

Make Up: Louise Williams

Cake: Bella Cakes

Stationery: Brogan Evans

Carriages: Kilvey Carriage Hire South Wales

Amelia Mortimer

About the author


Amelia Mortimer

Recently married and a photographer herself, Amelia has an extensive knowledge of weddings, planning and photography. A voluntary events planner for her church, Amelia has the understanding of what is needed to make an event amazing and the passion to match. She is your best contact for advice on religious ceremonies, wedding planning and photography.

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