It’s been a while since I’ve blogged and I really wanted to share with you how we really do try to make each wedding as individual as possible here at Pentre Mawr and last weekend our wonderful couple, Sarah and Rafi took it to a whole new level! So much so that I asked them if I could use their wedding story for this blog. Please bear with me, it’s a bit longer than usual but worth the read for all couples thinking of getting married at Pentre Mawr or elsewhere.
So Covid happened and it left so many couples heartbroken when they couldn’t have their wedding on their chosen date. For personal reasons, some decided to have a quiet ceremony in their local registry office instead of having the day they hoped for, putting off the bigger celebration to a time when they could do just that. This is exactly what happened here on Saturday.
The day arrived, Sarah and Rafi’s true wedding. I say true because the legal bit was done, we believe a wedding is about declaring your love and commitment to each other with you’re your friends and family looking on. That’s exactly what they did on our Summer Terrace. Sarah’s Dad walked her down the aisle with her lovely Mum, baby daughter and her two bridesmaids leading the way.
They wrote their own simple but beautiful vows and their lovely friend Pauline, conducted the ceremony. There was lots of laughter and tears of joy. The ceremony followed the regular theme but was so relaxed. It should have started at 2pm. They also considered that the forecast wasn’t great for 2pm, but the legal bit was done!! So we could move it to earlier or later if necessary. As it turned out, it wasn’t the weather that caused the delay, but lots of little ones who needed feeding, changing or just settling down. Sarah walked down the aisle around 2.30pm.
You may ask why I’m bothering to tell you this. Over the last 18 months the couples we’ve managed to move successfully to a peak date, have struggled to get the wedding ceremony at the time they would have liked. I’ve had one bride in tears as she could only get a 12 o’clock ceremony because the registrars are so busy. There are a limited number of registrars and being rural they’re travelling great distances in order to do two and three weddings in one day. They must be exhausted.
More and more couples are looking at a celebrant ceremony, which you can have in any of the numerous locations at Pentre Mawr. Our Secret Walled Garden is ideal for your wedding ceremony or the beautiful white pagoda with views over the Vale of Clwyd for the outdoor wedding of your dreams. Or you can really go wild at our newly built pagoda overlooking the pond. You still have two beautiful indoor locations to relocate to: Two rustic Red Bricked Barns and two marquees to make sure that you have cover on the occasional days it rains in Wales! All locations give you the best of both worlds. Decisions decisions!
We all love a good party but the reason for the celebration is the ceremony and it doesn’t have to be the same as anyone else’s. In fact we think it should be totally unique to you while still keeping the traditions you believe in.
This weekend reminded me of several years ago we had a Christmas wedding where the couple were already married, they wanted a Christmas carol and reading at their wedding, but unfortunately it was not allowed at a legal ceremony. The bride at the time told us that they’d gone to their local office with two friends, who kept their secret for them as their witnesses. They said it was like signing for their house but not getting the keys till later in the week. On their wedding day they had the usual bridesmaids and groomsmen and a celebrant to conduct the ceremony. But most of all they had the ceremony that they wanted. It was wonderful.
I just wanted to share this with you and hope you have a wedding which is as memorable as this one was to us x
