The Wedding of Josh & Emyr

A stunning Welsh countryside location that positively oozed inclusivity and Pride was the winning combination for avid ramblers Josh & Emyr.

Tell Us All About ‘The Before’ – How Did You Guys Meet?…

“Tinder! We matched over the summer of 2018 but didn’t get around to meeting in person until October, after a slow few months of messaging. When we finally did meet the connection was instant – a true ‘love at first sight moment’ – the rest is history.

We Love History Here At The Barns! We’re Dying To Know, How Did You Pop The Question?

“Well…we both love the outdoors and shortly after we met we went to Malham, in the Yorkshire Dales, for a walk. Three years later, we went back and little did Josh know that there was a surprise planned! However, like all the best surprises it didn’t *quite* go to plan. I (Em) clumsily slipped on some rocks whilst getting down on one knee and somehow managed to open the ring box upside down, as I tried to ‘style-it-out’ oops! Luckily, Josh who isn’t easily deterred still said yes. And we enjoyed a sandwich and some Baileys coffee from a flask in the sunset to celebrate. Followed by a night spent luxuriating in a Spa hotel in the Dales”.

We’re SO glad you found us! How Did You Stumble Upon The Barns?

Lots and lots of Instagram scrolling! We were both living together in Leeds when we began searching for our perfect wedding venue. However, I (Josh) am originally from Devon while Emyr hails from Anglesey. With our two families on polar opposite sides of the country, we decided the only sensible option was to search for wedding venues near the home we were buying together in Penymynedd, North Wales.

We weren’t too sure what we wanted, but knew we it had to be somewhere cosy with nice indoor and outdoor spaces. After stumbling across THB and realising it was just 25 minutes down the road we had the ‘right’ feeling.

How Did You Know THB was ‘The One’?

The entire package really, it’s hard to describe. After the first open day, we just knew. The location, in the gorgeous Welsh countryside, the barns, the bridge, and most importantly, the team’s enthusiasm and warmth made us feel incredibly welcomed from day one. We were blown away!

In the end, we only viewed THB – we just knew it was the one! We emailed a couple of other places and it’s not that we ever felt uncomfortable, but from start to finish, everyone at THB was so lovely to us.

They weren’t just accepting, or gay-friendly, but super excited about the whole thing and keen to help us celebrate and express ourselves however we wanted. Plus, seeing THB showcase their LGBT weddings online and on socials made us feel really comfortable and excited about the venue. As a same-sex couple, we feel that representation and visibility are incredibly important.

Absolutely. We couldn’t agree more – inclusivity is a topic very close to our hearts and we’re so thrilled that came across to you!

You Went Off-Piste With A Winter Wedding, We’re Here For It! What Do You Love About Winter Weddings?

We both love the cosier seasons, we first met in Autumn 2018 and now this time of year holds fond memories of getting to know each other on chilly country walks, wandering Christmas markets, and grabbing a beer after work in a cosy pub.

Plus we’ve been to A LOT of summer weddings and we’re both prone to melting in the heat so we chose a winter date in the hope of avoiding that!”

Now Onto The Décor, You Decided To DIY It In The End Right? It Looked Stunning. How Did You Settle On Your Theme?

Yes, that’s right! We supplied/made everything in the end with the help of one or two of our super-talented friends and family members.

In a nutshell, our theme was ‘rustic winter wedding’. Our aims were to compliment the cosiness of THB, to be as seasonal as possible and, where we could, use handmade, sustainable supplies and steer clear of any unecessary plastic.

We knew that autumn would have faded by the time our wedding date rolled around, so we leaned into the season opting for a more wintery colour palette of deep jewel tones and tied this together with neutral ivory accessories- it suited the aesthetic of the Barns perfectly!

We Just Can’t Let This RWS Pass By Without A Special Mention To Your Gorgeous Dried-Flower Floral Arrangements – How Did You Pull Those Off?!

We took heavy inspiration from the time of year for this aspect too! It felt like our wedding was right on the cusp of the seasonal change from autumn to winter. So for the tables, we chose a mixture of autumnal leaves, logs and pinecones, along with wintery evergreens and lots of cosy candles. It was a team effort with Em’s sister, Mum, Aunt and Uncle all putting a lot of effort into the design- not to mention foraging for all the pieces!

Em’s sister also became our florist for the day, putting together lovely arrangements with batches of dry flowers we bulk-bought off Etsy. Although it was a bit of work, we found dried flowers to be a cost-effective and more environmentally conscious alternative so we’d recommend them to future couples!

We opted for dried flowers, partly to reflect the feel of the season with fewer blooms around. But also to allow the bouquets and arrangements to be taken home by our guests as gifts/mementoes rather than being thrown in the bin.

Well, All That Hard Work Paid Off! Swoon. Did We Also Hear On The Grapevine That You Made Your Own Wedding Cake- Surely Not?

Yep, you heard right. Being something of a wannabe baker, Josh decided to have a crack at the cake himself (mostly just as an excuse to buy a fancy mixer). But he did have a LOT of help from his best woman, Zuzka.

We went for a rustic-looking semi-naked cake (definitely not as easy as they look). The top tier was blackberry crumble (with homemade blackberry jam). While the bottom tier was raspberry and white chocolate. We used fresh berries and sprigs of rosemary to decorate the cake once it was in place.

We also baked 90 cupcakes in the same flavours as the cake and some extra chocolate ones that were vegan. Plus the whole lot was gluten-free!

We’re Honestly Astounded That You Managed To Fit All That In The Week Before Your Wedding! But What’s More Shocking Is That You Didn’t Stop There, Did You?

Haha, yes the experience of making the cake ourselves did perhaps add some slightly unnecessary stress to the preparation! However, thankfully after a slightly disastrous practice weekend, the actual bake went smoothly and ensured that we weren’t bored during the days before the wedding!

However, if that wasn’t enough, we also created a cheese tower. Thankfully the cheese proved a bit less stressful though. We found a lovely little cheese shop in Prestatyn (The Little Cheesemonger), where Gemma sorted us out with some delicious local cheeses- worth it!

That’s fair, there’s no additional effort we won’t go to for cheese. 

So We’ve Talked Finer Details. But The Most Important Thing Is – How Was Your Day? Let’s Start With The Wedding Morning…

Both of our days started bright and early – we still had things to transport to the venue (i.e. decorations, cakes and Mums) so there wasn’t much time for nerves! We were both just excited really. It was lovely to finally be living the day we’d spent so long planning.

We chose not to see each other before the ceremony. Em got ready in the Makeup and Dressing room with his groomspeople. We were served a fantastic continental breakfast to start the day off right. And by the time I arrived, the girls were already there, hair and makeup were full steam ahead, fizz was popped, and the tunes were on. It was a nice, fun atmosphere.

Did I hear right that your November ceremony was held outdoors?!

Yep! Despite a frosty start, the weather was glorious for November and we got the green light for the outdoor ceremony we’d had our fingers crossed for ever since we found out that there was some wiggle room in the registrar’s strict March – October only policy.

Luckily, we’d had the foresight to warn all of our guests to bring layers and wrap up just in case – we’re known for dragging people on cold and rainy walks so it was quite ‘on-brand’ for us! We did reward guests with a nice warm mulled wine afterwards though- we’re not monsters!

Well… as long as there was mulled wine! How did it go?

Perfectly! We were initially worried that the civil ceremony might be a little bit boring/formal but with the option of writing our vows, picking readings, and having a musical performance we felt able to put our own stamp on it.

It helped that our registrar Lois was incredibly friendly and helpful. She took into consideration our desire for a bilingual ceremony to honour Emyr’s Welsh heritage and as a Welsh speaker was able to seamlessly integrate this into the ceremony.

That’s lovely. Would you say you stuck to tradition, or did you decide to mix it up a little?

We chose to mix things up by combining certain traditions with some of our own ideas. For example, we both wanted to walk down the aisle and decided that our Mums should walk us down. They both enjoyed that part and performed their roles beautifully! However, we didn’t have them give us away. The tradition feels a little outdated to us and it’s one that we were happy to lose!

It Wouldn’t Be THB If We Didn’t Talk Food. We’re Curious… How Did It Go Down?

We just knew the food would be phenomenal as we attended a tasting event in July, and it was flipping lovely. Given the time of year, we opted for a Christmas dinner to complement our theme and evoke festive spirit. You can’t go wrong with a nice roast!

But every course was amazing, and every one of our guests has claimed ours is the best wedding food they’ve ever had.

The evening food was also amazing! We didn’t get to eat much at the time because we were still so full and busy chatting and having a boogie. But everyone loved the hand-stretched pizza – particularly the hungrier evening guests!

And Equally Important Is the After-Party, How Was It?

Amazing – the dancefloor was packed all night! We are lucky enough that one of our groomsmen Wil is in the band ‘Coastline’ along with another friend Sarah. So it was quite a personal booking. They played the song for our first dance, ‘You’re Still The One’ by Shania Twain (despite us being late to our own first dance thanks to an impromptu outfit change). And from there provided banger after banger. The dance floor was packed. The exact party atmosphere we wanted. We’d 100% recommend them (and not just because we’re biased!).

As the evening wore on Josh was all up for just disappearing, but I (Emyr) made sure we smiled and waved our way out. We ended on such a high, and it was absolutely the right way to end. We’re now big fans of the advice that you should always leave a party while everyone is still having a good time!

Sounds Like A Banger! How Was Your Wedding Planning Experience Overall?

Honestly, we had such a positive experience every step of the way. From all suppliers and everyone involved actually, but from THB in particular. Both Rachael and Georgi were lovely. They were happy to give us ideas, or take ours onboard and run with them. Nothing was too much and we felt like they put 100% into every aspect.

We’d seen examples of past same-sex weddings at THB so we knew we’d be in good hands. But the term “inclusive” doesn’t do them justice. We love that you promote the same-sex weddings that you host and think it’s such an important thing to do.

Is There Anything You’d Do Differently?

We don’t think there’s anything we’d do differently if we had our time over. We’ve been to a few weddings and received plenty of tips and advice, but overall we’re so happy with everything we organised, everyone we booked and how the day went.

That’s So Lovely To Hear. Do You Have Any Advice To Offer Future Couples?

1). Get a spreadsheet on the go asap – We started ours as soon as we booked the venue and used it for absolutely everything. It ended up having 17 tabs and functioning as our external brain for a few months, but it worked.

2). Keep in contact with your wedding manager – Crafting incredible weddings and thinking of absolutely everything is their job, it’s what they’re good at so let them do it.

3). Stay grounded – It’s so easy to lose yourself to ‘wedding fever’ but try to keep sight of why you’re getting married in the first place.

Heading for more real #THBWeddings