The Wales Wedding of Peter & Chloe at Tall John’s House

The Wales Wedding of Peter & Chloe at Tall John’s House. This lovely couple got married in an elegant Georgian manor house. Located in the very heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Talented wedding and lifestyle photographer, Dust and Dreams Photography photographed the wedding of this lovely couple. Although Dust and Dreams Photography is based in South-Africa, she is available to travel around the world for weddings.

We are totally in love with Chloe’s pretty bouquet. The floral designs that hang down from the centre of the bouquet are such a classic and luxury look. It also works so well with the natural flow of her gorgeous wedding gown. A truly classic design that really fit in with the rest of this couples countryside wedding.

They had an intimate family-orientated celebration with close friends and family in such a picturesque location. At Vivacious Weddings, we love weddings that feel warm and hearty. This is exactly what this wedding is all about. Enjoy Peter & Chloe’s wedding and remember to share it with your family and friends.

Engagement:

I had been carrying the engagement ring around with me for the past 8 months, waiting for “the right moment”. We were travelling in Italy at the time and sharing a single suitcase. Which made for some very anxious moments during packing/unpacking. Chloe couldn’t understand why I was being so particular about how I wanted the bag to be packed.

We were staying in a little village called Esino Lario in the Alpine foothills. Around Lake Como and we decided to take a day and hike. I had the ring in my pocket, as usual, and was walking in front when we came upon the rock structure of Porta di Prada. I knew this was the spot.

After a quick photo, Chloe was keen to crack on with the hike and was frustrated when I asked her to stop and take a moment. The only thing I could think of to distract her was to ask for a snack.

“I have crackers, a peach or a cereal bar…”

“I don’t want any of those..”

“Well what do you want?!”

“For you to marry me..”

Wedding Dress:

Chloe created a list of things that she wanted in a wedding dress and, after hours of looking, only found one online that closely resembled what she had in mind. The shop in Cardiff only had one (which happened to be on their sale rack!) but it was 4 sizes too big. Thanks to some incredible seamstress wizardry, four fittings and multiple alterations – Chloe was able to get her dream dress.

Favourite Wedding Memory:

This is an unfair question, how do you possibly choose? Obviously, the moment when Chloe walked down the aisle. Or walking out of the granary through a cloud of confetti. Or perhaps it was the heartfelt speeches? However, it would not be a true Welsh celebration if it weren’t for the party – seeing everyone so relaxed and happy. Not forgetting Aunty Lindsay dancing to “Come On Eileen” with a mop… something that will become the stuff of family folklore legend!

Advice to other couples:

It does not have to be a 2-year planning process, we organised ours in 7 weeks. Before you start making choices, create a list of what is truly important to you and not what is necessarily traditionally “expected”. Stay true to this list and it will help with the budget, save you an awful lot of stress and give you the day you actually want. Listen to and accept the help of others but remember, above all, this is YOUR day and so make it what YOU want it to be.

Wedding Cake:

Chloe is a keen baker and was not going to allow anyone else to make her cake for her! This was, by far, her biggest project and spent hours planning it. It had 4 tiers – the bottom being a chocolate fudge cake, the middle layer was lemon drizzle (Peter’s all time favourite cake) and the top two were carrot cake. The cake was assembled and decorated the day before the wedding – we wanted to depict the story of our engagement in the Italian Alps and so the marble royal icing was homage to the granite cliffs surrounding Porta di Prada. The topper reflected our passion for the outdoors and even included Skye, our border collie, who usually accompanies us on our hikes!

Decor and Floral Design:

Throughout the preparations, we were determined not to have a theme colour as such however we were naturally always drawn back to neutral tones, green foliage and offset by pale blue.

As it is the 21^st century, Pinterest has a lot to answer for! Chloe collated a few ideas from other barn weddings, assimilated them and then proceeded to personally make them fit the venue. In fact, all the decorations were handmade by ourselves or friends – from the flower arrangements created by Michelle, a close family friend, to Chloe making her own wedding cake and 600 Welsh Cakes for favours. But, without obvious conscious thought, the whole process seemed to follow its own natural course and turned out to keep the whole “feel” understated and neutral – this really complemented the rustic barn setting on the day.

Given our different backgrounds, we tried to incorporate our travels and experiences into the day. The wedding cake was inspired by our Alpine mountain engagement, the table names were tales from our African adventures and, obviously, the Welsh Cake favours.

The Venue:

It was the only one we liked!… But seriously, it was perfect for us because of its rural setting and complete exclusivity. The setting is a Gregorian manor house in the heart of the Brecon Beacons, surrounded by rolling green hills and ancient gnarled trees. It is a small family-run business that made the whole process feel very special as other venues we looked at made us feel more like “just another number”. The venue did not provide set wedding packages which gave us the freedom to make the wedding exactly what we wanted it to be without any constraints. The venue also provided accommodation on site for our close friends and family, they also allowed us all to stay the night before as we all spent the previous day decorating and setting up the venue.

Tall John’s had a large, beautifully converted barn that facilitated the reception as well as a small intimate “granary” that was registered for weddings – this meant that we did not have to travel on the day.

Honeymoon:

We went for a two week camping holiday in Iceland. In the middle of winter.

Unsurprisingly we had the whole countryside to ourselves and never had to share a campsite with temperatures dropping as low as minus 12. We hired a 4×4 and explored as much of the country as we physically could before an Arctic storm snowed us in for 3 days. And then we had to turn back to make our return flight. The highlight of our trip was definitely going inside a glacial cave. In which, on a clear day, the ice turns an iridescent blue which is a stark contrast to the black volcanic sand!

Iceland is the most beautiful and harsh country completely ruled by the weather, we could not recommend it higher.

Musical Choices:

Christina Thomas, a friend of ours, provided the sound system and sang incredibly at the beginning of the night. The music choices were inspired by both our lives. So we had a truly eclectic ranging from Mapurisa by Andy Brown to Delilah by Tom Jones.

Our first dance was to Africa by Tyler Ward & Lisa Cimorelli (an acoustic cover of Toto’s classic). We wanted to choose something that reflected our adventures in Africa. But felt the original was far too cheesy and upbeat!