Garthmyl Hall Wedding, Melissa & Nathaniel

There are some weddings that stay in your mind... Melissa and Nathaniel's Garthmyl Hall wedding was one of those. On arrival the family were having breakfast and Melissa's Dad welcomed us, with coffee, pastries, helping unload the car and an anecdote of how initially he thought Melissa had booked a florist called Ivy Panty Hose and he called me that for the rest of the day. This memory still make me smile. As I'd only slept about 2 hours the night before I cannot tell you how much this cheerful welcome meant. Anyhow, I am really pleased to be able to share more with you.

I met Melissa and Nathaniel, first of all at their home in the midlands, on a snowy March day traveling back to Wales after a wedding in London. Melissa had already sent through her ideas and we chatted some more about what they had in mind for their wedding and the flowers. They both love 'country life' and wanted to include nods to this in their wedding.

Garthmyl Gardens

GARTHMYL HALL

Garthmyl Hall is a beautiful Georgian house near Welshpool, set in the rolling Welsh hills. The most important thing to Melissa and Nathaniel, was spending as long as they could enjoying it together, as well as with family and friends (and their dogs Hope and Roscoe). They stayed the night before the wedding and the day after at Garthmyl Hall so they had time to take everything in and enjoy it with those closest to them. Arranging a pub dinner and drinks the night before at the Nags Heads, within walking distance of Garthmyl, and a roast on Sunday was a relaxed way to continue the celebrations. Melissa said that as the wedding day itself flew by, they were so pleased they decided to make a weekend of it.

FLOWER & STYLING

For the flowers: the general style was pretty relaxed. Melissa loved protea, anemones and peonies. The wedding was at the end of anemone season and I managed to get a small bunch from the wholesaler. Apart from the protea, the rest of the flowers were quite country garden like. Gin bottles collected from their local pub on the tables. Then a hanging plank in the marquee which we dressed with summer foliage: sweet peas, protea, clematis, viburnum and astilbe as a focal point. For the top table, we reused the small aisle garlands from the church to add a bit more impact, creating a full length garland along the table.

More unusual details were dressing their Land Rover, which doubled as their wedding car.

Melissa told me that she loved the planning process and when she looks back at the photographs, the day was what she envisaged. They made a copper easel for the welcome sign and brought some additional candles, flowers and foliage to add to the decoration around the house. These kind of touches always make the day personal to the couple and it's a lovely way for families and close friends to get a bit more involved the day before; getting all these extra special touches in situ.

Also the favours for the wedding were brass picture frames that doubled as name places. The frames were prettified with a linen ribbon and rosemary. After the wedding Melissa kept some of the frames, and pressed some of the flowers from her bouquet, displaying them in as a little gallery wall in their home - such a special keep sake.

Spring Hanging Plank

THE DRESSES

Melissa's dress was bespoke and made by the team at Boho Bride Boutique, part of their Freedom Collection. This collection lets brides choose from key pieces and then adapt however they would like from fabric to shape and size. The final look was a lace bolero top over a simple gown for the day, taking away from lace top, and adding sash for the evening.

The bridesmaids dresses were from Rewritten and the dusty blue worked beautifully with the pops of pink in the flower and the thistles.

Not forgetting the chaps who wore three piece tweed suits. For the buttonholes, Nate gave me some polished gun cartridges, which with a bit of handiwork became a buttonholes holder.

MELISSA'S TOP TIP IS ...

"Don't sweat about the small stuff." Sound advice!

Thanks for sharing your special day Melissa and Nate. Photographs by Matt Willis.

If you want to discuss your own wedding flowers then do get in touch and we'd love to hear from you.