Tn the beggining
Amy and Jon’s love stoiy, which began when they were studying for their A-lcvels, was put on hold when they went to different universities,but within a few years they were bock together for good. “On my 25* birthday, in March 2009. Jon proposed at a cottage in Brecon where he’d taken me for the weekend.” Amy says. “We kid discussed getting married, but the moment itself was still a surprise!”This must be the place’I”he village of Kington St Michael,with its beautiful church and village hall, was the ideal spot for the laid-back, old-time celebration Amy and Jon dreamed of. “Weddings can often feel so similar, but we knew we could be creative without having a huge budget,” Amy says. On the wedding dresses with color day, 60 guests joined tin: couple for a traditional ceremony followed by a classic cream tea – saved on vintage crockery the couple had collected – and a wedding breakfast of porchetta, baked potatoes, salads,and huge strawberry and raspberry trifles for dessert.
Birds
The venue was a blank canvas for us to decorate and from the start we knew how we wanted it to look.”says Amy. I/>ng tables and wooden
folding chairs instantly cteatcd a relaxed feel, while wooden letters propped up on the piano, bunting,an old I “nion Jack flag, and jam jars filled with peonies and roses set the mood. Tables were named after famous couples (think Victoria and Albert, Romeo and Juliet, Elizabeth Rennet and Mr I>arcy…). As a graphic designer, Jon designed all of the stationery, and used a motif of bunting and birds on everything,from the Save The Dates to the orders of service.
Something old,new and blue
searched high and low for a dress as unique as the day itself and found it in the most unlikely of places: eBay. “It was a handmade lace dress, very simple, wry fragile,with no labels so I had no idea how old it was,” she says. Bridal designer.Alison Miles brought the dress to life by creating an ethereal silk underiayer and a cream sash. “She embroidered an A and J inside a heart in blue thread for my something blue.” A floor-length veil, hairtxind of antique lace and .Accessorize pearl jewellery were Amy’s finishing touches.
Drink me
“We made our own summer-berry gin for I lie speeches,” says Amy, who placed blackberries, strawberries and raspberries with sugar inside
bottles of gin, removed the fruit after three months and left the gin to mature. At the wedding, the boozy berry infusions, along with clderflowcr cordial and cloudy lemonade, were placed in bottks labelled with luggage tags and stamped with an alpha!)et stamp from Cox & Cox.Tin baths filled with ice, bottles of lager and cider kept the crowd going while a I)J – hired as a wedding gift by Amy and Jon’s friends – kept the danccfloor packed. “All the guests said how different our day was, which was just what we wanted!” says .Amy.