Winter Wedding
Kate and Dean's magical December wedding
A Crisp Winter's Day
Kate and Dean had a magical Winter Wedding in December 2018. A beautiful church service followed by an incredible reception at The Mill Barns. Here is what the lovely couple have to say about their big day!
Part of the family
Dean and I met in late August 2016. We knew of each other through a mutual friend. Right from the first message we clicked. We were like teenage children staying up late messaging each other. We decided to meet up a few weeks later and went on a date to our local pub. We felt like we had known each other for years and realised we had so much in common, it didn't feel like a first date at all. We still make each other laugh everyday.
The most important thing to me was that Dean would accept and love my son Harry, who was 3 years old when we met. Dean and Harry became best friends straight away, their bond is like any father and son and they literally melt my heart everyday.
A Birthday Surprise
Dean proposed to me on my birthday, 14th June 2017. It was the best surprise ever. When we got home from a family day out, we took our French Bulldog Hugo for a walk down the lanes where we live. There is a small wood with a little bridge, I walked across, turned around and there was Dean on one knee, after asking him if he was sure, I said yes and returned to tell our families, it was magical and we still walk over that bridge weekly.
Wonderful Winter Wedding
Shortly after getting engaged, we went to view The Mill Barns. As soon as we got there, we were blown away and knew this is where we wanted our reception to be after our church wedding.
I can honestly say that planning a winter wedding was so magical and we were both so happy we ended up having a winter wedding. The Mill Barns looked incredible, the staff were amazing and it was so well organised, we never had any doubt that our wedding day would run smoothly. The venue does just speak for itself, our guests were absolutely blown away with it.
Glam and Cosy
We didn't want to have a 'Christmas' wedding but we still wanted to emphasise on the winter feel of our December wedding. We wanted to have some sparkle and for the wedding to feel cosy and relaxed. The biggest thing for us was that our guests would have fun and enjoy the day which all the feedback we have had suggests that they certainly did. We wanted it to be day for everyone to remember, after all we are only doing it once!
Beautiful Décor
The décor was so important to me and Dean completely left this to me, my mom and his mom. We decided we would rather use a company to decorate the venue to take the stress off us. We used a local company to us, Perfectly Unique Occasions and they were amazing. We decided to use the blossom trees for our centre pieces and the blossom tree flower arches behind top table, we knew they would look beautiful in The Mill Barns.
Handsome Boys
Dean and Harry went to Crichton Bespoke in Chester and had their suits bespoke made. Dean was always adamant he wanted him and Harry to have matching suits and something different to the rest of the groomsmen. I didn't have a clue what they had chosen and it was a complete surprise for me which was lovely.
The first time I saw them was when Harry was waiting outside for me at the church and Dean at the aisle, they both looked so handsome and it really bought a tear to my eye. There must have been some serious bribing for Harry to not tell me what their suits were like for over 6 months, I take my hat off to them.
Beautiful Bride
My wedding dress experience was wonderful. I bought my dress from Melanie at Muse Bridal in Newport. I actually ended up buying the first dress I put on, nothing else I tired on was ever going to compare to it. After been dead set I would go for a fitted fishtail I went for the complete opposite. I only took my mom and Dean's mom to my bridal fittings, every experience was magical, we would spend hours just chatting in the shop with Melanie. My dress was more than I could of wished for and I felt amazing when I put it on that morning, I think every bride will relate to that feeling.
Magical Entertainment
Entertainment was so important to us. After we had been to many weddings, we both said we wanted to keep our wedding guests entertained. We scrolled through the Mill Barns Dream Team and came across Christian Fletcher Magic and booked him. He added a real wow factor to our day and our guests still talk about him nearly 2 months later, he really is exceptionally talented!
The Perfect Photos
We choose Phil Barrett at PB Artworks as our photographer. As soon as we met Phil and saw his work we knew we wanted him to capture our special day. Phil has a really artistic approach to photography and we think is so unique, we haven't seen many wedding photos like his. Phil is so lovely and is genuinely interested in your day, he stayed in touch with us through the whole process.
Capture The Memories
We also wanted to have a videographer, Phil recommended Ollie from Floodgate Films. Again, we were so impressed with Ollie's work and booked him. Ollie was so lovely on the wedding day and we loved having him capture our day. Having received our wedding video recently, Dean, Harry, myself and our families have been in tears, it was absolutely perfect and nothing could of prepared us for how good it was going to be.
A Special Thanks
Dean and I would both like to thank our parents for everything they did and do for us. Harry for being the best page boy, Dean's brother who was best man and had everyone laughing at his speech. To our ushers and bridesmaids who kept everything under control and to all our guests who made our day so special.
We would also like to say a special thank you to our Events Manager at The Mill Barns who was amazing the whole process and to all our suppliers.