A Real Wedding | Mr & Mrs Sim

Jul 26

Married on 'May the Forth' in a beautiful Cotswolds barn our newly weds Guy & Julie reminisce their special day as they shared with us details from the engagement to the honeymoon!

Tell us about your proposal?

It was August bank holiday 2020. We were camping in St Ives, Cornwall, we try to go every year, it’s my favourite place in the world. As a child I went often with my parents so Guy knows how special it is to me, especially Carbis Bay beach. On the day in question, we caught the little coastal train from St Ives along to Carbis Bay but arrived early for our restaurant reservation so decided to go for a sunset stroll along the beach, this is where Guy popped the question. It was a complete surprise given that we’d been together 13 years at this point. Guy spent the evening filling me in on his months of planning over tapas and cocktails!

Tell us about your bridal party and how you came to choose them?

My girls! I had 5 Bridesmaids, 3 have been school friends of over 30 years and the other 2 are work colleagues that I’m super close to. I couldn’t choose a maid of honour as each of them are so special to me in different ways and brought different skills to the role of bridesmaid. They were the most amazing BMs a girl could wish for. From planning a fantastic hen party to running around after me on the day, I’ll never be able to thank them enough for everything they did. The multiway dresses allowed them to each express themselves confidently by choosing a style that they loved and suited them that they were comfortable in, one of them even remarked it was the most comfortable dress they’ve ever worn! (Fiona, Zoe, Kate, Kate and Jane)

Our 8 year old niece Ellena was our flower girl who broke the usual tradition of scattering petals down the aisle by instead giving out single stems to people as she walked, the guests loved this little touch.

Best man was Guy’s brother Adam, an obvious choice as he’s just the most reliable person we know and Guy’s groomsman Ben is his lifelong friend and business partner.

Bridesmaids are wearing our ‘Sage Green’ Classic Multiway Dresses

What made you choose your venue and tell us about your theme?

Well, I might need 2 pages just for this! The Great Tythe Barn was actually the first venue I visited, and after visiting a further 15, I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. Working in the service industry myself, I came at wedding planning slightly differently than some people would. Whilst the look and feel of the venue was super important, I also wanted to consider their experience, reliability, and flexibility. We had lots of ideas to personalise our special day and I wanted a venue that were able to accommodate our wishes. GTB were not only able to accommodate but actively encouraged us to get creative. They have been doing weddings for so many years that they said they love a challenge and really enjoy couples thinking outside the box, I just knew that it would they were the perfect match for us. Whilst it can be difficult to tick every box when looking for a wedding venue, GTB ticked the most important ones on ours, beautiful outside space, onsite accommodation and a joined together space that meant my guests wouldn’t become too spread out. The team at GTB were fantastic from start to finish, so responsive to any requests and genuinely made the whole planning experience easy and enjoyable.

Our theme was Star Wars!!!! Getting married on May the Fourth wasn’t a coincidence. Guy has been a Star Wars fan for over 40 years and more recently has brought me along on the ride. We wanted to personalise our day but do it subtly and in keeping with the venue. Thanks to a lot of research and guidance from our Wedding Stylist (Kirsten at The Little Wedding Helper) we achieved this successfully. Star Wars Lego figures holding place cards on the tables, hidden images on our invitations and on the day signage, confetti cones made out of Star Wars picture books, themed cocktails, props at the photobooth and little toys and ornaments subtly dotted around the barn. Everyone loved it.

What was your favourite part of planning?
I really can’t pick a favourite part of planning as I loved every minute. Venue visits, wedding fayres, Pinterest boards, meeting suppliers and being creative on my wedding Instagram page, it was all great fun. I know I was lucky that I had a pretty easy time whilst planning, but I put this down to my research into picking the right suppliers and can’t stress enough to people how important this is. Do your due diligence in the beginning and you’ll save yourself so much time and stress later on.

What was the hardest part of planning?
The most difficult part for me was choosing my dress. I found it incredibly over whelming, with so much choice and having no idea about what style I wanted. You’re led to believe that you will try a dress on and get a special feeling of it being ‘the one’. This didn’t happen for me. And right up until my final fitting, days before our wedding, I was having doubts. The bridal shop (Krystal Brides, Bath) were so kind to me, telling me not to worry and how lovely I looked and accommodating all of my alteration requests to make sure I was happy. My advice to future brides feeling the same way is have faith that on the day everything is so different, once your hair and makeup is done it really does all come together.

Both of your favourite moments on the day?
Both Guy and I have really surprised ourselves with this one. Before the wedding, we had said we weren’t looking forward to the ceremony itself. Standing up with all eyes on us is out of our comfort zones, but we loved it. It’s such a special moment. We had a civil ceremony and chose all our vows ourselves. We held hands through the entire ceremony, made sure to look into each other’s eyes when saying our vows whilst speaking slowly to really take the words in and make them meaningful, not just something to rush through. Our sister-in-law and niece both did readings for us, again an excellent way to personalise the day and to involve more loved ones in the proceedings.

Tips for future couples?
A big tip from me is to really invest in your photographer. A good photographer does so much more than just take photos. They will help to keep you to time from morning until night, they are wedding experts so can give you tips throughout the planning process as they’ve seen it all. They will help you get into your dress and dry your tears if needed.

I’d also say to brides to be prepared to completely loose your appetite. You hear so much leading up to your wedding telling you to make sure you find time to eat but no one seems to mention the loss of appetite you can suffer. I’m a total foody and took such care in planning our menu and couldn’t wait to enjoy it all on the day. But the adrenaline just zapped my appetite completely!

Ooooo, another one. Use your suppliers to recommend other suppliers. If they are comfortable working together on the day, it will help things to run more smoothly.

Anything either of you would do differently?
Not really! I spent so much time researching and planning that I’m very happy with how everything went. If I was to change 1 thing, I’d probably spend a little less time on the dance floor and a little more time chatting with guests, but I had a great time and loved dancing to our band and DJ so it’s not a bad thing.

Honeymoon plans if any?
We went to a beautiful treehouse in Devon for a minimoon the week after the wedding which was the perfect way to unwind and are hoping to go on Safari in Africa next year for the big honeymoon.