Cicily Bridal are delighted to be able to share this week’s “I Chose Cicily” real bride blog post. The lovely Natalie has kindly shared details from the beautiful day itself, the proposal and of course how she came to choose her fabulous Jesus Peiro wedding dress!.
Real Bride Natalie says “I Chose Cicily!
How did you meet your soul mate and how did he propose?
We actually ‘met’ way back when we both attended our local Sunday School. We didn’t really become friends until our University years, when we bumped into each other on a night out in our local town. James eventually plucked up the courage to ask me out, and we’ve been together 5 years now.
James took me away for a surprise trip for my birthday last year. I knew we were going on a plane and somewhere a bit chilly, but didn’t find out where until the airport. He’d booked us to go to Iceland (good job I’d packed lots of layers!!)! He proposed on our second day there, whilst during the ‘Golden Circle Tour’ overlooking the breathtaking Gullfoss Waterfall.
Where was your venue and why did you choose it?
We wanted to get married where we both grew up in Mid Wales. James’ family own a farm, so it was no question that we wanted to have our venue on their land. We opted for Tipi’s, as we wanted something different to a marquee, and they certainly give the wow factor. 
Describe the style of your wedding?
We both wanted to avoid anything too formal or traditional, as felt that wasn’t us. We wanted to project as much personality into our wedding as possible, and most of all wanted our guests to have a fun & relaxed day. We ended up having a festival theme, having personalised wristbands as our wedding favours, our favourite bands as the table names, and a local band playing in the evening, followed by fireworks.
I wanted everything to be colourful. We had help with our decorations, with my mum helping make paper cranes, tying coloured ribbon around jam jars, and my auntie creating large paper pom poms. I wanted to create as much of the décor as possible. It was hard work, but paid off in the end.
My dad did so much work for the wedding, mowing the field, setting up electric, putting laser up lighters under the trees, putting up J&N directions signs. He was non-stop for 3 days straight, he said he enjoyed it, though think he was glad in a way when the day was over haha.
How did you find shopping for your wedding dress? (Would you do anything differently & Do you have any advice for brides-to-be?)
I went into dress shopping with an idea of the style that I was looking for. I went to bridal shops in Hereford, and also boutiques in London. I liked a couple, but nothing really stood out.
The National Wedding Show was coming up, and wanted to go along with my mum and sister. There were lots of dresses to try on, and lots of crazy brides-to-be everywhere. The stand that really stood out, and was definitely more my style was the Cicily Bridal boutique. I tried on several dresses and separates, though one stood out – a gorgeous Jesus Peiro dress, dress number 6018. We went to lunch and mulled it over with mum and Rach, and decided I wanted to try it on again. The second time I knew that I loved it, and decided to say ‘yes’!
I wouldn’t say that I’d do anything differently. I went to lots of different designers and boutiques. I would say to brides-to be to enjoy the experience, as you’ll never do it again (hopefully).
How did you accessorise your dress…Veil, Headpeice, belts etc?
I wore a floral crown, a beautiful long veil made of the same light, floaty fabric as my dress.
Having ‘ummed and ahhed’ over what shoes to wear, I decided to go for silver, and wore glittery silver Michael Kors heels, matched with a simple silver bracelet from Lisa Angel.
What shoes did you wear?
Silvery glittery court shoes from Michael Kors.
What lingerie did you choose to wear with your dress (to help with the fit)?
In the end, I had my support fitted into my dress, which was good as didn’t have to worry about a stick on bra slipping, and knickers from ASOS wedding range.
Who did your hair & make-up on the day?
Our hair was done by Victoria-Lynn Hair, a local mobile hair dresser. I decided on relaxed waves and loose plait for myself. Two bridesmaids had loose waves, and two had up-do’s. One of our little flower girls had a waterfall braid. All had gypsophila in their hair.
Make up was done by Sami, from the Boutique in Hay-on-Wye. She did a fantastic job of our make up. I didn’t want anything too heavy, and it looked very good.
Which florist and cake designer did you use?
Rose Cottage Floral Creations was our florist. Vikki did a great job of all our flowers, and really answered our ‘vision’ of what we wanted. All of the bouquets, flower crown and buttonholes were beautiful, couldn’t have asked for more. They also provided flowers for us to include in our jam jars as centre pieces on our trestle tables.
Which Photographer did you use?
Our photographer was Clive Nolan Photography.
We opted for documentary style photography, as think it really captures the vibe of the wedding.
What was the grooms outfit, did he get to choose it!?
James wanted to wear a tweed suit. After trying on many suits, we stumbled across Jackie James, a suit shop in Carmarthen, which sold the exact suit that James wanted.
He went for a Mark Darcey navy tweed suit, for himself and groomsmen, which looked great teamed with tan brogues. James went all out and went for gorgeous Barker brogues.
What did your bridesmaids wear?
The bridesmaids wore stunning dresses from the ASOS wedding collection. My mum likes to take the credit for these, as she sent me the link suggesting them. The girls loved them, and they looked great.
My nieces, our flower girls, wore little Monsoon dresses. I wanted to avoid traditional ‘white’, and opted for a lilac, and mint green, which both worked so well with the bridesmaids and flowers. They also wore cute little white ankle socks, and shiny silver shoes from Next.
What was the best moment of the day?
There were lots of great moments. Though I think both our stand out memory was arriving at our reception. Walking through all our guests, having confetti hurled at us. It was so much fun, and great to see everyone so happy.
Would you do anything differently?
We ended up having a long day the day before setting up everything. We only had one day to create a venue, and time goes fast! It was tiring, so would advise trying to get as many people as possible to help you set up.
Myself and bridesmaids ended up arriving to the church 40 minutes late (which James likes to remind me at every opportunity!). Everything was running on schedule, with everyone having hair and make up, but time seemed to just slip away, so would have allowed an extra half hour or so earlier to ensure we had enough time and also take more photos before leaving.
Where did you go for a rest!? – Honeymoon!
We went on a mini moon to Scotland. Dumfries & Galloway area. We hired an eco-cabin on a loch, and it was so peaceful. We had our own kayak, so spend days on the loch, in our hot tub and we also went on a long zip wire overlooking the Scottish coast!
Looking back at your day, how would you describe it?
It feels like a bit of a blur now, as so many things happened and we talked to so many people. We both loved it, and heard from our guests that they had such an amazing time, which means the world.
What advice would you give brides to be?
Planning and organising a wedding can be stressful, especially if (like us) you have to literally create your own venue from scratch. But I’d just say try to enjoy it, and the day itself try to savour each moment, as the day literally flies by in a flash!
