Life’s better with YOU BY MY SIDE

Jack and Ashley couldn’t wait to celebrate their nuptials at Hensol Castle Images courtesy of When Charlie Met Hannah

Jack and Ashley met when they were children. “The first time I ever laid eyes on Ashley was when we were in year five,” says Jack. “It was at our school Christmas play where Ashley got the lead singing Robin Goch. As I sat watching him sing his little heart out, I couldn’t help but think, ‘wow you are so full of yourself!’ I didn’t like him at all; it was probably jealousy because all eyes weren’t on me. Then he moved away, and I thought good riddance! A few years later, he came back to our high school. I hadn’t noticed him until my second year of sixth form. I remember him walking in one day, and we locked eyes for the first time in years and needless to say, my feelings towards him were slightly different. What can I say? I love a man with thick Elvis Presley sideburns! I invited him over to my best friend Abbi’s house, which led to us staying up all night talking about anything and everything, and the rest is history.”

Ashley surprised Jack with a trip to Paris as a Christmas gift. “I’d always wanted to visit,” shares Jack. “It was a couple of months before the trip that I made the decision that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Ashley, so I thought what better time to propose? I had planned to do it on the top of the Eiffel Tower, however, I completely underestimated my fear of heights and was feeling faint and having heart palpitations at the top of the tower! Fair to say it wasn’t the best time to declare my love for someone. When we finally made it to the ground, we found a nice spot on the grass in front of the tower to lie down. We chatted for a while as I plucked up the courage to finally get the ring out and ask him to marry me. He was in complete shock as we’d always agreed that he would be the one to propose (someday). We both cried tears of happiness and enjoyed a lovely meal out in the evening to celebrate.”

Setting The Scene

“We chose to get married at Hensol Castle because the building and surrounding grounds are stunning,” adds Jack. “We decorated the space with wisteria trees and placed candelabra on the tables. We also incorporated eucalyptus into our table plan, flowers and place names.” The couple’s bridesmaid made their big-day bake, it was semi-naked and decorated with flowers.

Dressed To Impress

“We wore matching suits from Dyfed Menswear,” explains Jack. “Our fathers and the best man also wore the same. It was charcoal grey with blush-coloured ties. Our seven bridesmaids and one maid-of-honour all wore ruched bodice floor-length dresses in a blush colour which looked stunning!”

Time To Celebrate

“We had two types of entertainment for our evening guests – we hired a company to turn one of the function rooms into a Las Vegas casino, with our photo printed on the fake money,” recalls Jack. “We did this as our original wedding was booked in Las Vegas, but due to Covid, we had to change our plans. The casino was a big hit with all our guests as they’d never been to a wedding with one before. Our second piece of entertainment was drag queen Jolene Dover. Ashley and I love drag and couldn’t have picked a better performer. Jolene was absolutely amazing, singing live, doing comedy and getting the crowd involved. She really blew us away and all our guests said she was outstanding, and they didn’t see it coming! She was so good that my mother-in-law hired her for her 50th birthday party a couple of months after.”

Memorable Moments

“I seemed to be a lot more nervous than Ashley was, but once we were at the altar and saying our vows, the nerves seemed to float away and everything just felt right,” says Jack. “We asked one of our closest friends (and bridesmaid) to perform a reading during our ceremony. She chose the most perfect reading, which truly captured the essence of the day filled with love and happiness. It was wonderful getting to see everyone face-to-face and thank them for coming.

“One of our favourite and least favourite parts of the day was when our guests threw the confetti,” adds Jack. “Everyone thought it was hilarious to throw the confetti straight into our faces, rather than up in the air for it to graciously fall down onto us. It hurt a bit but made for some very funny photos!”

Honeymoon

“With the worries of Covid not completely gone away, we opted to have our honeymoon in the UK,” explains Jack. “We started by flying to Edinburgh and staying there for four nights. Edinburgh is stunning and was snowing when we arrived, which added an extra bit of magic to our trip. We then travelled by train to York for two nights. York is a beautiful city and has a lot of history within it. It also has a quirky alleyway called Shambles with shops all the way down. It was the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter series, which was cool! We then made our way to Liverpool for three nights for the last leg of our journey. We drank and ate a lot in Liverpool and ended on a high. We loved exploring the city on electric scooters and having a dance in The Cavern Club, which is famous for being the place that started The Beatles’ career. Even though it would have been nice to go abroad for our honeymoon, it made us appreciate the lovely locations and things to do that are on our doorstep!”

JACK AND ASHLEY’S CONTACTS

Venue and catering, Hensol Castle, www.hensolcastle.com | Photographer, When Charlie Met Hannah, www.whencharliemethannah.com

Grooms’ suits, Dyfed Menswear, www.dyfedmenswear.co.uk | Bridesmaids’ dresses, ASOS, www.asos.com | Hair stylist, Victoria Paints Hair, www.instagram.com/victoriapaintshair | Make-up artist, Blushed by Meg x, www.instagram.com/_blushedbymegx | Cake, Nee’s Nibbles, www.instagram.com/neesnibbles | Flowers, Wild Meadow Floral, www.wildmeadowfloral.co.uk | Entertainment, Jolene Dover, www.instagram.com/jolenedover