Aaron and Cariad were hitched at Willesborough Windmill in Ashford, Kent. They fell in love with it as the owners were super laid back and allowed them to do whatever they liked! Their day was fun, casual and all the colours of the rainbow.
“We actually got married on the weekend of our 10 year anniversary”, began the bride. “Our inspiration for the wedding was just to be unique and alternative. When we started planning a wedding we soon realised there was no way we could afford a venue big enough to house everyone we loved, so we invented this thing called The Wedding Tour. We got married at the windmill with our close, local family and friends and then we packed up all the decorations and took the reception on tour!”
“We had parties throughout the rest of the month, which was cool because we got to wear out wedding outfits a bunch of times and had four colourful wedding cakes! It was a bit more money on top (but nowhere near as much as a big wedding in a venue that asked for £3000 just for hire) and it was more tiring that we had expected, but we definitely got more quality time with guests and made a lot more memories than if it was just one day.”
“Our theme was ‘handmade rainbow'”, she continued. “It was also very casual with a focus on fun, there was no dress code we told everyone to wear what they wanted. We decided to do a very brief first look before the ceremony so we could walk down the aisle together with our wedding party (to Don’t Look Back in to the Sun by the Libertines!). It wouldn’t have made sense to walk down the aisle with my dad, Aaron and I were entering in to that marriage together so we wanted to go in to the ceremony together!”
They had plenty of DIY, including the cake and flowers made by grandparents, the stationery designed by the bride, a DIY playlist instead of a DJ or band and a temporary tattoo station! “Our tattoo artist designed us a page of custom tattoos and we had about a hundred temporary tattoos made up – everyone went crazy for them! Aaron ended up going around with a wet cloth and water applying these temporary tattoos, some little designs like Harry Potter lightening bolts and hearts, and some huge ones.”
“We made so much rainbow bunting, it took forever. But I love it and it’s a nice thing to keep and we can get it out again for special occasions. We made a table runner in each colour of the rainbow, and the chair backs were just rainbow ribbons strung on to a thinner ribbon and tied together with a bow. Instead of a guest book we had a wish tree, and the tags had prompts on like ‘Favourite memory of the bride / groom’ and #Song that reminds you of the bride / groom# so we didn’t get generic good luck messages but lots of really personal stuff.”
Cariad’s dress was a bargain from David’s Bridal (which she bought in New York) which she customised to make it more ‘her’. Her shoes were Irregular Choice. “I happened to to New York in November and booked an appointment because I find American shops to be much more plus size friendly”, she explained. “It was the first bridal shop I’d been in and I tried on four dresses and had my perfect dress within an hour. I couldn’t believe it when she told me it was only $600 I was expecting a lot more, and then on the day they took payment the exchange rate must have been amazing because it was about £370! I didn’t know that when you find your dress in David’s Bridal you have to stand in the middle of the changing rooms ringing a bell while all the sales assistants and customers clap, but it was worth it for the cheap and beautiful dress!”
The Gallery
Suppliers
- Photography: Storm Gunter Photography
- Venue: Willesborough Windmill
- Bride's Dress: David's Bridal
- Bride's Shoes: Irregular Choice
- Groom's Attire: Lanificio Cerruti at Moss
- Catering: The White Horse pub, Bilsington
- Rings: Glasswing Jewellery