What’s happening on the Wedding Scene in Wales?

Where did you go to Get Wed in Wales in 2018? What did you do? How much did you spend? These are among the questions we were pondering at the end of 2018, so we decided to send a questionnaire out to scores of Welsh wedding venues, and this small-but-beautifully-formed-infographic is the result! Let’s not pretend that this is in any way conclusive “evidence” of what our gorgeous Welsh couples have been up to in 2018. Rather, this is a snapshot of what a relatively small section of our venues saw within their businesses that year.

So, let’s have a look at the findings, what were you, the great Welsh wedding public, doing last year?

Church or venue?

According to “Get wed in wales”, half of you got married in church. This is an obvious choice for people of faith, of course! This 50% church wedding figure is sometimes echoed when I go to wedding fairs, it’s an easy way for me to find out whether someone may need my services for their wedding, “Church wedding? Yes? Ok, you don’t need me!” Fron Farm Yurts have their own de-consecrated chapel, so give me a shout if you want the best of both worlds!

LGBTQ

I hope it would go without saying that everybody can get Wed in wales to whoever they wish at our venues! Harriet and Lise were married on the borders of Wales and England in Shropshire. It was a great day, attended by many of the people they’d met through their joint interest in dancing, and it involved many of Lise’s Danish traditions within the festivities. I loved how much of themselves they put into their ceremony, a truly wonderful, loving couple. They spoke highly of me, too (just saying!) – their testimonial can be found if you scroll down here

 

Outdoors – do we dare??

Well, I’ve officiated a number of outdoor weddings, and mostly we’ve been lucky! However, there was that one time …. but, it was in October, and I did advise against it. Bride and groom insisted they didn’t mind a soaking but I’m unsure their guests felt the same! I’d always suggest that you have an alternative venue. Kim and Mark held their wedding on beautiful Penbryn beach. But, had the weather not held up, their ceremony would be at Hammet@Castell Malgwyn, where they had their reception. I’d say, if you love being outdoors, have your ceremony outdoors. At a licensed venue if you want, but anywhere you like is fine with me.  There’s plenty of choice here in Wales and I can help with the search!

Symbolism!

Being a celebrant, I love a bit of symbolism! I’ve blogged elsewhere about sand pouring , hand-fasting and candle-lighting  but the list goes on and on from there. It’s great to see this becoming more popular in personalising a ceremony. Mind you, you don’t have to use extra symbolism to create a great ceremony, Emily and Jason  were happy to simply exchange wedding rings which had been blessed by their family, and that ceremony was spectacular! Their video is here 

Pick a day, any day….

The least surprising result of this survey is that …Saturday’s the most popular day for a wedding … “No shit, Sherlock?!” Don’t forget, if you have me lead your wedding you’ll get the time you want since I only perform one a day. And, I’ll even work public and popular holidays to ensure you get the ceremony you want and deserve! (I may, I’m afraid, charge extra, it’s only fair if you want me on New Year’s Eve or Day, for instance!) Garod and Kirsty were wed at Rhos-y-Gilwen,a memorable event for all who witnessed it.

Themed Weddings

These are pretty unusual, mind you, if you’re on a beach, or in a castle, you hardly need any extra themes! I just had my first themed wedding – it was “Narnia” – held at The St Pierre Hotel in Chepstow. Fabulous day, and I was delighted to find ways of weaving aspects of Narnia into Sam and Steve’s wedding ceremony’s story! Don’t take my word for it, their review is on Hitched! In the theme of “Get wed in Wales” – I’m available all over the country!

Small is beautiful!

Smaller weddings are becoming more popular. The beach weddings I held had relatively small numbers. The sense of intimacy, the love felt for the couple, is tangible when you get it right. A very memorable wedding was Hannah and Alistair’s.  They rented a holiday house which was very luxurious and slept sixteen comfortably. The ceremony was in the Summer House in the garden on a November evening at twilight. Candle-lit and very up-close and personal, it was gorgeous. I’ve some ideas if you need a hand finding great places to rent all over the country.

 

HOW Much???

£6,800 is, of course, the average spend for the venue only, not the entire wedding! The wedding mentioned above, in the rented home, was comparatively inexpensive since it was out of season, and the guests helped pay for the venue since they were all staying there. Bride, groom and families self-catered – jobs a good ‘un! The price of venues within this survey varied greatly, from £700 to £15,000.

I’m often asked about my costs, especially since here in Wales the registrar service tends to be less expensive than in some other areas of Great Britain. I’m confident that in using me you get far more than you pay for! I saw a survey recently which quoted the amount spent on the officiant/celebrant as 2% of the total cost!! Less than the flowers! Given that your guests will leave a celebrant led ceremony saying “Wow, that was amazing!” having shed many a tear of joy, this has got to be money well spent….

Whenever you hold your wedding ceremony, I hope you come here to this beautiful country to make your vows. There’ll be a great welcome for you and yours, “Hwyl Fawr”, for now!

Some of the venues who took part in this survey were; Nash point Lighthouse, Usk Castle, Fron farm Yurts, Portmerion Hotel, Talhenbont Hall, Holt Lodge Hotel, Stradey Park Hotel and Spa, West Usk Lighthouse,  Welsh Green Weddings