Amrit and Ash celebrated their love with a travel-themed wedding at St Tewdrics House
Amrit and Ash met during their second year of university. “We were put into a group together in one of our seminars and slowly got to know each other,” says Amrit. “We eventually started dating the following summer. We have the same sense of humour and connected through music. We would often give each other recommendations, and when I had a radio show at university, Ash would send requests in. Once we graduated, we saved up and went travelling around the world for four months. We knew we wanted to be with each other forever, so we decided to move in together. Ash is from North Wales and I’m from the Midlands, so we agreed that wherever one of us got a job, we would move there. Ash got a job in Cardiff, and the rest is history.”
Ash proposed in 2019. “We had not long bought our own house, and everything felt settled,” shares the bride. “He took me back to our university, where there is a beautiful manor house in the grounds. We walked for about an hour in the freezing February wind. I love trees, and Ash kept stopping to admire them. I was on tenterhooks thinking, ‘is this it?’ but he didn’t ask! We walked back to the manor, and I was admiring the view of the fields when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and there he was on one knee with the most beautiful ring! He quickly asked me to marry him, and I laughed and said ‘yes’. It wasn’t exactly a surprise as we’d been together for seven years and I was highly suspicious when we arrived for the walk, but it was wonderful. I couldn’t stop staring at the ring and didn’t stop smiling for weeks!”
The happy couple booked their wedding for July 2020. “Due to the pandemic, our big day was postponed, and we were in limbo,” explains Amrit. “The whole country went into another full lockdown in January 2021, and when wedding venues opened with a limited capacity, we both decided we’d had enough of waiting. We booked to get married at Castell Coch in April 2021 with just two of my bridesmaids as witnesses. We surprised everyone by telling them we had gotten married! It was a magical, romantic way to do it, but we were really excited to have a big party with our friends and family in the summer.”
Why more couples are letting the coast shape their wedding day
For couples planning a wedding, the setting is increasingly becoming more than a backdrop. Research from WeddingDates found that 78% of UK couples consider location an important factor when choosing a venue, with more than a third specifically influenced by the view. Rockwater, the UK coastal hospitality brand with beachfront venues in Hove and Branksome, says this is helping reshape how couples approach weddings by the water. Rather than simply choosing a coastal venue and then planning the celebration independently of it, couples are increasingly allowing the landscape, changing light and relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces to influence the day itself. Rockwater has identified four of the key considerations shaping modern coastal weddings.
READ ARTICLE
New app launches to simplify one of marriage’s biggest admin headaches
Changing your name after marriage can mean updating details with countless organisations, from banks and subscriptions to official documents and employers. New app Name Change Navigator aims to make the process easier, guiding newlyweds through each step from one platform. Founded by Rebecca Dainton, Head of Product at Flutter UK & Ireland, the app was created to reduce the stress and mental load associated with name changes. It supports a range of naming journeys, including traditional surname changes, double-barrelling, blended surnames and other choices following marriage, civil partnership, divorce or personal identity changes. The launch comes as younger generations increasingly rethink traditional naming conventions, with technology offering a more streamlined approach to this often-overlooked part of newlywed life.
READ ARTICLE
Something old, something gone: The British wedding traditions on borrowed time
New Aspall research reveals the wedding traditions that are being dropped - from the bouquet toss and choreographed first dances, to the father-of-the-bride speech - and the modern alternatives taking their place. Speeches given only by men (36%), a choreographed first dance (34%) and the formal receiving line (30%) are among the wedding traditions that couples are keenest to ditch, a new study reveals. Wearing a veil, the 15-minute father-of-the-bride speech with no speech from the bride, and the traditional tiered fruit cake are also increasingly falling out of favour as Brits tie the knot, researchers found.
READ ARTICLE
One4all Gift Cards unveils wedding gift trend for Welsh couples
New research from One4all Gift Cards reveals that, above all else, people from Wales believe wedding guests are expected to give what they can afford. Almost half (43%) say this is the most important expectation when attending a wedding. Against a backdrop of continued pressure on household budgets, findings suggest people in Wales are taking a more realistic approach to wedding gifting, with affordability now sitting at the heart of what many believe is expected of guests. More than a third (36%) of Welsh respondents say they're unsure what the right amount to give is, highlighting how unclear modern gifting expectations have become. Guests want to mark the occasion and give something thoughtful, but many are weighing up what feels appropriate, useful and genuinely affordable.
