It’s cool, it’s pretty, it’s got teeny succulent plant babies as favours… Yes, if you couldn’t tell we’re very much in love with today’s sunny real wedding, set deep in the picturesque North Wales countryside. Let’s hear it for Charlotte and Keiran!
Beautiful Tower Hill Barns is all about the relaxed luxury. A dreamy barn venue that has successfully curated a blend of rustic charm and contemporary elegance, making it the perfect place for our lovely couple to celebrate their nuptials. And speaking of celebrations, big congrats due to Charlotte and Keiran as they’re currently expecting their first child! Talk about continuing the good times!
We caught up with Charlotte as she prepped for their exciting upcoming arrival and took her back to last year, chatting all things weddings, wildflowers and the most realistic (edible!) cat cake toppers we think we might’ve ever seen here at Loved Up North HQ!
With photography by Fox & Bear
Proposal
We got engaged in 2019. It was my birthday and Keiran told me he had gotten me something ‘small’ for my birthday. He presented me with a beautifully decorated box and a photo album which was a replica of the one used in the Pixar film ‘Up’, filled with photos of us throughout the years we’d been together. One of the pages was blank and had that day’s date marked in it, with a question mark in the middle of the page. When I asked about this page, he said he thought it would be nice to take a photo of us tonight for that page.
I then opened the box and found a nesting doll. I have a little collection of these already and he said he wanted to get me one to add to my collection. I still hadn’t twigged AT ALL at this point and just began opening the nesting dolls. Keiran was obviously very nervous at this point but I hadn’t caught on because I was too engrossed in seeing how small the doll went. Low and behold, I got to one of the smaller dolls and when I opened it, there was my ring! I looked at Keiran and he popped the question. I burst out crying whilst shouting ‘YES!’
My dad actually nearly spoiled the surprise earlier in the day when he was whispering to Keiran in the other room and I came through questioning what the whispers were about. Keiran said that my parents just wanted to surprise me with a birthday cake, and I completely fell for it!
Setting
We had a long engagement as we wanted to buy a house – we were still living with my parents at the time and finishing our nursing degrees. So we booked the wedding well in advance and eventually got married on the 4th of June at Tower Hill Barns, Llangollen. It was the only venue we viewed but we were absolutely sure we wanted to get married there. It had rustic charm and beautiful scenery around the venue.
Theme
We wanted rustic vibes. We’re really into our plants so the beautiful flowery fields around the venue were perfect. We also had succulents as our wedding favours in little terracotta pots that went beautifully with the vibe of the venue. (More on that below!)
We worked with a palette of earthy colours. My bridesmaids were in sage dresses and the groomsmen were in tweed suits. We wanted to carry on with the rustic vibes and felt the venue really complemented our theme.
Dress
I chose a beautiful A-line dress called ‘Kaya’ by Madi Lane. I purchased it from Bellissima Brides. I absolutely loved all the dresses by Madi Lane but Kaya really caught my eye because it had beautiful leafy details with flat sequins that sparkled when they caught the light.
Groomsmen
Keiran wore a brown tweed suit from Groom and the groomsmen wore grey tweed suits with brown waistcoats that matched his suit, also from Groom.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids wore sage green flowy dresses from Boohoo.
Beauty
Jennifer Gooding did my makeup, my mum’s and my bridesmaids, and a family friend did all of our hair.
Photographer
Our photographer was Fox & Bear. We happened across their website when looking for a photographer, and we absolutely loved the aesthetic of their photos and had to enquire. From the off they were so personable and chill which matched us perfectly. Neither of us are very comfortable in front of the camera and their relaxed approach to their photography made them a perfect match for us.
On the day Dewi really put us at total ease. It felt like we had made a new friend by the end of the day. He not only captured our day beautifully, he also got stuck in, taking stickers off my bridesmaids shoes and helped find the loop on the back of my dress to put my train on! Not to mention, he even took some photos for my friends on their phones too.
Styling
We went for wild flowers and had a few sunflowers thrown in there too. They are my favourite flowers and Keiran always buys me a bunch every year so they are very sentimental to me.
We then carried on the wildflower theme in glass jars and bottles, accompanied with wooden tea light holders on top of wooden log slices. Our floral supplier was Vivid Floral, who were absolutely fantastic and really captured what we imagined our flowers to be.
Favours
We wanted to keep it simple, so we had succulents in little terracotta pots for favours. We also used these as place names and had little wooden sticks poking out with each person’s name written on them. My dear friend Hayley grew each and every one of the succulents by hand and perfectly placed them in their pots for the wedding. She is the plant queen!
Cake
Keiran’s mum organised our cake through someone she knew. It was a three tier cake, decorated with thyme and berries and on top were our two cats, sculpted out of icing. The cake was strawberry champagne flavoured. We really liked the taste and both aren’t really fans of traditional fruit cake.
Dining
We’re both vegetarian so we had the vegetable pie and we chose chicken for our guests because apparently everyone likes chicken, according to our meat-eating friends. We then chose a brownie for dessert because everyone with a mouth likes brownies – and it was so delicious! For wine, we chose a mixture of white and red wine to suit everyone’s preference.
Entertainment
We chose a band for the evening who played classic tunes and something everyone liked and knew and could have a sing song to.
Special touches
We had disposable cameras dotted around the venue for our guests to capture the night. It was hilarious having my nieces and nephews trying to comprehend how to use one. They couldn’t quite understand why they couldn’t look at the photos like you could on a digital camera.
Thanks to
Tower Hill Barns was absolutely fantastic. Our wedding organiser Georgi was fantastic from the moment we met. She gave me a big hug and really put me at ease. She ensured the whole day ran smoothly and we could just enjoy our day without any worries.
The whole team was so professional and really helped make the wedding our own. It was truly a magical day from start to finish and we owe a lot to Tower Hill Barns for that.
I also really want to highlight how amazing Fox & Bear were. The quality of the photos are absolutely outstanding. They really captured our day in a way that lets you relieve the whole day through the photos. Pictures of our family and friends that we will treasure forever.
Honeymoon
We went to Amsterdam on a short city break. I had never actually been abroad until this holiday. It was absolutely amazing and I’m officially a jet setter now!
Best Bit
My favourite part was seeing Keiran’s face at the end of the aisle. I was so nervous all morning but soon as I saw him, I felt completely at ease. It was easily the best moment of my life.
Top tip
Our advice to another couple would be to try not to get overwhelmed by all the organising. It will all come together on the day. It’s such a magical day, so enjoy every minute of it. Have the wedding you both want! Don’t do things to please anyone else, because the day is about the two of you and the two of you only.