Real life wedding at Clearwell Castle

MCL: Tell us a bit about yourselves...

Millie and Ed: We are both from Newport but currently live in Caldicot. We met at high school when I (Millie) transferred to Ed’s school for sixth form. Ed had a girlfriend at the time but we became friends. We went our separate ways after school but bumped into each other a few years later and exchanged numbers. I work as a copy editor in Newport and Ed is a stay-at-home dad with our one-year-old daughter but works part-time on weekends. We got engaged in September 2013 after being together for just over a year. 

MCL: Did you always know what kind of wedding you wanted?

Millie and Ed: Neither of us had a ‘perfect wedding’ vision. I wasn’t one of those girls who dreams about their perfect wedding and has their dream dress and venue picked out by the age of ten. Ed never had much thought about a wedding either so we went into wedding planning with a very open mind, knowing only that we didn’t want to spend too much money and we just wanted to have a nice time with our friends and family.

MCL: How long did you take to plan the day?

Millie and Ed: Even though we got engaged in 2013, we didn’t start actually looking for a venue until March of last year. We thought the venue was the main thing to get sorted so we didn’t plan anything until that was confirmed. We planned all of the important things within a few of months. My co-worker planned her day in two weeks so we were certain we would get it all sorted in a few months. The main issue was budgeting - one payday we’d pay for decorations, the next we’d pay for suits etc.

MCL: Where did you have the ceremony and why did you choose that location?

Millie and Ed: We got married on January 5, 2016, at Clearwell Castle, just over the border in the Forest of Dean. We looked at a few wedding venues before choosing Clearwell. On our search we realised hotel weddings didn’t suit our style as we wanted something private and relaxed, we also wanted somewhere a bit quirky – a venue with character. We really loved Clearwell as it was in a small village in the middle of nowhere (yet still very close to the Monmouthshire border). It had stunning gardens (even in wintertime) and the building was breath-taking inside and out. It has the wow-factor. We also loved that everything was included in the venue – ceremony, reception, catering and lodgings.
Ed loved the rich history of rock stars who had recorded albums at the castle in the 70s. My sister and her partner even got to sleep in the room where Freddie Mercury had stayed! We also knew we wanted a ceilidh in the evening, as Ed is in a folk band, and so a suitable dance floor was a must. The downstairs of the venue is a re-purposed cellar and so it was nice to have the contrast of the traditional and classically decorated upstairs where the ceremony took place, and the more party-style of the downstairs for the reception.
Mainly we loved the venue because it was a grand castle – and who doesn’t secretly want to get married in a castle?!

MCL: How did it go?

Millie and Ed: We had a wonderful time. Our wedding party was quite small (32 for the ceremony, around 50 for the evening) and so it made for a close-knit day. It was great to see our families together and it was the first time that all of our friends met each other. Everyone had a wonderful time, the food was incredible and the party in the evening was great. 

MCL: Did you have a theme for the wedding?

Millie and Ed: As we were getting married in a castle, we thought we’d make the most of the venue and have a slight Harry Potter theme (nothing OTT because it runs the risk of looking tacky). The wedding party all wore little stag pins (in homage to Harry Potter’s stag patronus spell) and there were deers all throughout the day. We served Butterbeer as our welcome drinks and the teapots on the top of our cake stands looked like they were levitating so that also fitted in nicely.

MCL: Where did you get the dress, cars, cake, bridesmaids’ outfits, video, photography, flowers, menswear from?

Millie and Ed: As we were on quite a tight budget we pulled in a few favours from friends to help us with flowers and photos etc. All of the services we used were either friends or friendly local businesses, this made the day really relaxed and fun – nothing felt staged or serious.
For example, our friend Kelsey makes flowers from old book pages and cards so the bridal bouquets were made from book pages and the men’s buttonholes were made from Magic the Gathering playing cards. These were nice as we’ve kept some of the bouquets and use them to brighten up the house. The bakery we bought our cake from doesn’t usually do wedding cakes but the shop was special to us so we really wanted a cake from them. They made us a large cake and 30 individual cakes to match our blush pink colour scheme and they were delicious. Best butter cream we’ve ever tasted!
Dress: All About Eve, Newport. 
www.allaboutevebridalwear.com
Photography: Alex Griffiths. 
www.alexgriffithsphotographer@hotmail.com
Flowers: Kelsey Dobbs. 
www.etsy.com/people/kelseydobbs
Hair: Suzanne Hale. 
www.suzannehalemobilehairdresser.vpweb.co.uk
Makeup: Emma Whitmore; 07990073270.
Suits: Cayzers Menswear, Newport. 
www.cayzersmenswear.co.uk
Cake: Wren’s Bakery, Newport. 01633 255169.

MCL: What was the best bit of the day?

Millie and Ed: We both just looked at each other and said ‘the ceremony’ in unison, it’s cliché but it left us with a permanent grin for the rest of the day.

MCL: And the worst?

Millie and Ed: It didn’t snow!

MCL: Where did you go for your honeymoon? Was it a secret? How did it go?

Millie and Ed: We chose Stratford upon Avon to spend our first marital week together. We didn’t want to spend too much on the honeymoon or travel too far but wanted somewhere memorable. Stratford was the perfect place as it had a bit of history, great places to eat and lots of interesting places to visit. 

MCL: Anything else you think we should know?    

Millie and Ed: Married life suits us, and saying ‘my wife’ in conversation is awesome.