Jamie popped the question on New Year’s Day in 2019. “He had asked for my mother’s blessing the summer before and had managed to keep it secret for a while,” shares the bride. “It nearly wasn’t a surprise as Jamie accidentally messaged my family group chat that morning to say he was about to propose! Luckily I didn’t see the message, so he quickly deleted it after my mum pointed out that I was in the group chat. He dressed up in a tux and covered it with a trench coat, so I wouldn’t notice, and we went for a walk to Porthcawl Common. We sat on the beach, and he asked me to take a photo of him and our dog, Odin. He walked to the cliff’s edge and put a white collar and bow tie on Odin to match his tux, then took his coat off and walked towards me. Much to my surprise, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.”
"Our cake was from Centre Stage Cakes and was a work of art," explains Jess. "It was decorated with flowers that matched Jan's floral arrangements, and nobody could believe they were made of icing!"
For their favours, Jess and Jamie gave their guests homemade Welshcakes and travel-sized hand sanitisers that were personalised with stickers from Vistaprint and Zazzle.
“After a lot of shopping around with my mum, we eventually bought my wedding dress from the lovely High Society Bridal Boutique,” shares Jess. “I ended up choosing a completely different style than I had originally envisaged by the designer Jesus Peiro. I loved the simplicity of the design, and I accessorised it with a floral veil from Pleser.”
“The bridesmaids chose full-length dresses from TFNC London which had a wrap front in a pale lavender colour,” recalls Jess. “Lorraine Stone Truly Scrumptious did the alterations and made matching face masks and shawls out of the leftover material. She also designed and made my mother’s beautiful dress.”
Jamie found himself in a tricky situation on the morning of the wedding. "He had a reaction to an insect bite the day before and woke up with a very swollen foot," shares Jess. "He sent me a photo saying he was struggling to get his shoe on! Luckily the antibiotics worked their magic, and he eventually managed to get his shoe on, although he had to wear flip flops for the rest of the day after all the photos were taken."
"We'd like to thank everybody that made our day special," Jess adds. "The church and all our suppliers were so patient with us while we tried to rearrange so many times. We can't thank Court Colman Manor and Alpine Marquees enough for putting together an amazing reception at such last minute. Our friends and family, including those who couldn't be there with us on the day, were so supportive, especially our friend and flowerguy who entertained everyone on the day and brought lots of laughter."
Bride's dress
Bride's veil
Bridesmaids' dresses
Cake
Ceremony venue
Flowers
Groom's suit
Hair stylist
Harpist
Make-up artist
Marquee
Mother-of-the-bride's dress
Photographer
Reception venue and catering
Stickers
Stickers
Videographer