Vibrant, Graffiti Warehouse Wedding at The Boiler House, Cardiff

graffiti, warehouse wedding cardiff_0001

Alternative, Industrial Venue…

Today’s wedding is colourful, fun and filled with personal touches! The epic Boiler House in Cardiff, run by MMU suppliers Alternative Events, provides an awesome backdrop with professional graffiti adorning the walls. A really unique space for an alternative wedding!

Over to Tanya & David to tell us more about their big day…

Tanya & David…

Colourful, Fun Graffiti Warehouse wedding at The Boiler House, Cardiff. Photos by Maria Farrelly

Tell us how you met and got engaged…

We met through boredom! We lived in separate flats in the same block of flats in Cardiff Bay – our flat mates were mutual friends, but we had never met one another. When both our flat mates went away on holiday, we were separately exchanging texts with them saying how bored we were. Tanya’s flat mate, Bexs, suggested she drop in on me to say ‘hi’. Tanya did just that… the following weekend we went out for drinks and the rest is history!

We got engaged whilst on a group holiday in Ibiza – we were out there to celebrate our friends’ joint birthday. Whilst we were there it was our 5 year anniversary. David booked the ‘Amante Table’ experience at the gorgeous, beachside Amante Restaurant, near Santa Eularia. We had our own little beach hut away from the main restaurant and had the most amazing 5 course meal. The waitress brought my dessert spoon out and placed the ring on the table next to the spoon. I was in complete shock and just burst into tears. David got down on one knee next to me, whilst the rest of the restaurant started cheering loudly. Afterwards, we returned to our villa to celebrate into the night with our other 16 friends!

What were your main hopes for the day…

Our main aim for the day was for everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves. We hated the idea of having a formal hotel / country manor wedding where the order of the day and food was dictated to us by the venue. That simply wouldn’t have reflected who we are as a couple. Most of our fondest memories together are of times when we have partied with friends, dancing and chatting nonsense into the early hours! We wanted our wedding to be exactly that…

Was your favourite part of the day…

Although it’s extremely hard to choose one particular aspect of the day, we both agreed that reading our vows to each other was one of the most special moments. We had both written our own vows, and again wanted those to be personal to us and include a few little laughs. Many of our guests also commented that this was their favourite part of the day. Aside from this, the speeches and dancing with family and friends were up there.

And the food! It was incredible. We were stuck with what to choose to offer for dinner as we didn’t want a formal sit-down meal. Jodie recommended the two lovely gentleman (Tom and Gwyn) from Potted Pig, our favourite restaurant in Cardiff. We met them a couple of times before the wedding and came up with a ‘British Picnic’ theme – they were so accommodating and helpful and the food on the day was unreal! We could not have asked for more from them!

How was your day unique…

Not many people have their reception in a warehouse lockup on an industrial estate!

What was your budget…

Our original budget was approximately £10,000. But, as you read in so many other wedding blogs, we did go over that slightly and eventually came in at around £14,000

What was your biggest expense…

Aside from the catering, which included the buffet, a pizza van, and ice cream cart, our biggest expense was our photographer. When we first started looking at options, Maria Farrelly was the one photographer that really stood out to me. Her website and images of previous weddings she had photographed were exactly what we were looking for – quirky, different, fun. We met with a couple of other photographers initially but thought we would then arrange a meeting to see what the fuss was all about. We got on like a house on fire straight away, especially as she got the Prosecco and beer out as soon as we arrived for our first chat! And the photos turned out amazing!

How did you save money…

We saved on the smaller details such as the table favors, save-the-dates, and the table plan. For the table favors, my dad had made a large amount of Blackberry Gin which we then decanted into mini demijohn bottles. He used several bags of blackberries that we picked from our garden and froze throughout the summer. Jodie from the Boiler House also used some of these to make our welcome drinks which knocked a bit of the cost off. I painstakingly made the table plan the day before the wedding from an old pallet that had annoyingly been lying around our garden for months.

What was it like working with your photographer…

Maria was brilliant. We had met up just before the wedding to go through everything, and as much as I am very organized, she helped us massively by going through a timetable of what will happen throughout the day from the very start to the bitter end. All our guests loved her, and we are both extremely pleased with our photos.

Advice to any couples about to get married…

I read this piece of advice pretty much in every wedding blog I had read… and I read a lot!! But I really would stress for you to take some time out with each other after the ceremony. Emotions and nerves are high, and I spent a lot of time worrying about making sure I had spoken to all of our guests (which is important), and I really wish I had spent some time alone with David (before getting a bit too tipsy!).

And for brides who want to go to a Wedding Fayre that offers something a bit different, with loads of independent businesses, I would highly recommend the Most Curious Wedding Fair. I fell in love with just about every single vendor there!