The Relaxed, DIY Wedding of Katie & Tim...

Relaxed, DIY Wedding of Katie & Tim at Pennard House as seen on Mr & Mrs Unique www.mrandmrsunique.co.uk

A Somerset Manor House Wedding…

Katie & Tim were married at the stunning Pennard House, who we are proud to have on our wedding directory of extraordinary suppliers. A beautiful Georgian Manor House set in secluded gardens and surrounded by meadows, woodlands and cider orchards, Pennard House is a real gem.

Filled with lots of homemade details, beautiful flowers and of course, dinosaurs, this wedding is a treat for the eyes!

Katie & Tim…

Tell us how you met and got engaged…

We met just under 10 years ago at University in Exeter, we lived in the same halls of residence, shared a lot of mutual friends and worked in the student union bar and it went from there…

Katie proposed to me after around 9 years together having grown impatient, my best-man and our long-time friend knew of both of our plans to propose to one another in 2016 but Katie just got there first. Katie (as a proud Welsh woman) proposed with a traditional Welsh love spoon.

What were your main hopes for the day…

For good weather so that we could get married outside and enjoy the grounds of Pennard House as we’d seen them on our visits, for everyone to enjoy themselves as much as we planned to and for the band to be as amazing as we’d heard they were.

Was your favourite part of the day…

Having stayed at the venue together the night before the wedding before getting ready separately in the morning it was great to see each other briefly in the house before heading outside to walk up the aisle together. Catching 10 minutes together to chat and munch our delicious reception canapes. The band in the evening were a real highlight that we know everyone really enjoyed.

How was your day unique…

The day was quite DIY and designed to our tastes: We walked down the aisle together rather than Katie being given away, we made our own bunting, arranged our own flowers for tables and coach-house decoration. The brides maids dresses were made by Katie. Tim’s suit was bespoke with especially embroidered buttons and the ties were produced especially to the colours we wanted by one of Tim’s work suppliers.

We made our own dinosaur-themed decorations and cake toppers and sourced dinosaur cufflinks for the grooms’ party. Giant jenga, croquet and hula hoops for the big kids to play with. Friends and the mother of the bride crocheted the hearts that decorated the aisle and wedding breakfast room. We made our own homemade flavoured gins for favours (Rhubarb, Blackberry and Sloe) and for spiking the reception prosecco (Damson). Our menu was designed by us with our caterers (pies for the wedding breakfast followed by falafels in the evening). DIY photo-both/questbook table with polaroid camera and props.

What was your budget…

We tried to keep costs in check by designing and making many of the elements of the day, leaving us to spend money on the parts of the day most important to us. The men’s clothing was sourced with a helping hand from Tim’s company and parts of Katie’s outfit and the bridesmaids’ dresses were made by Katie.

What was your biggest expense…

A combination of venue hire and catering, which felt was well worth the expense as both were amazing! We really couldn’t have asked for more from Pennard House and Caroline Gent Catering.

How did you save money…

We made almost all the decorations, table plans, bridesmaids’ outfits and invitations ourselves. Men’s clothing was sourced through Tim’s work.

What was it like working with your photographer…

Amazing, Clare was really easy to communicate with prior to the day and we got everything we wanted and more from her photographs. Clare was also amazing at dealing with herding family and friends for the few formal photographs we wanted and became quite attached to our MC’s megaphone as a tool for this.

From our pre-wedding conversations and Skype calls Clare really appreciated the unique-ness of the day we had planned and really got excited about the small, fun (sometimes silly) touches we had in our day.

Advice to any couples about to get married…

We got engaged and were then married 7 months later, don’t let the organising drag out and rule your lives. We have experienced many other friends and families’ wedding planning and know that it all expands to fill the time you allow it to. As long as you are relatively ‘on it’ and nail the ‘big stuff’ early on everything will tend to fall into place.

We had an amazing day, not only because of the planning put in and help we received, but also because on the day we just relaxed and let things happen, you cannot control every element of the day and some things may not go 100% as planned but as long as the main elements are in place and you both turn up on time(ish) then what else do you need?

Thank you for sharing with us! If you want to find out more about Pennard House you can visit their website here.