Colourful, festival-style Welsh wedding with music, games, and glitter – The Giraffe Shed

Bran and Matt’s Welsh wedding was special for so many reasons. One, it was a postponed wedding; two, they’d had a baby since their original date; and three, because they won it on an instagram competition we ran!

“Our wedding plans changed A LOT,” Bran says, “as when we were planning our first wedding (before Covid, before baby) we had huge wild ideas. But after we got the legal bit done in Cardiff and had a baby, our perspective changed. We still wanted a Welsh wedding all to be about fun and partying, but scaled back a wee bit! We were so so gutted that we had to postpone initially, but we couldn’t have asked for a better and more perfect day in the end.” “Though we had done the legal bit during lockdown, the ceremony was still so important,” she says. “Our friend led our bilingual ceremony, and we wrote our own vows and made promises. Also, being able to have our baby Gruff as a part of that was so special!” They decorated the space simply for their English and Welsh wedding ceremony, with two baby pink wooden chairs and a vintage Persian rug on the floor, and glass jars of flowers lined up on the windowsill behind them.

“Colour was also hugely important,” Bran explains. “We wanted colour everywhere, in all sorts of fabrics and textures!” Betty’s Flower Club certainly made this happen in the florals, with oversized bouquets bursting with bright blooms and greenery. In bright orange dresses her bridesmaids definitely got the memo, while Bran herself contrasted them beautifully in a gorgeous embellished E&W couture wedding dress. She accessorised this with a beaded bracelet reading GRUFF, the name of their son, and crystal pins reading MRS B in her loose pink dipdyed curls. Matt kept cool in a rust coloured suit and olive shirt. Another colourful element was the signage, which was all made by Matt himself, including the Welsh wedding welcome sign. This also included all of the signs for the numerous games they had on offer (more on those below.)

“Music played a huge role in our big party bash, carefully selecting records that meant something to us.” Bran says. This was reflected in their table plan, where each table was named after a different iconic vinyl record, and the ingenious table names, which were vinyl records that had been melted and moulded to stand upright. Also contributing to the overall festival feel of this Welsh wedding was all the games on offer. Amongst others, guests could treat themselves to piehole, sack racing, mini golf, and – the pièce de résistance – a piñata-style game called Bash Boris. “There was so much of US injected into the day, and we really wanted everyone there to enjoy the games. One, which was called Bash Boris, went down particularly well… but Boris didn’t last very long after a few good bashings!”

The entertainment didn’t stop there, though – oh no! Bran and Matt had so much else in store for their guests. To keep the kids occupied, they had a tipi full of games and toys (which also provided respite for some adults at some points throughout the day too, though it was a bit harder for them to get in there!) At the opposite end of the room to where the ceremony had taken place (and therefore where Bran, Matt and Gruff’s sweetheart table had been) was a dressing table where guests were welcomed to festival-ify their wedding outfits. This included a flower crown station, which Bran made the most of and looked resplendent in, and a DIY glitter bar. There were also temporary tattoos on offer, as well as a Mean Girls themed Burn book called the Bran book (genius!) The weather was perfect, the day was exactly how we’d visualised, food and drink flowing, ice cream outside on the grass with music playing. Real festival vibes.

What’s better than pizza? Pizza on your wedding day. Flour’d Up provided Bran, Matt and their guests with delicious woodfired pizza as post-game and pre-dancefloor fuel, aided by the cute heart-shaped welshcake favours at each place setting (the perfect Welsh wedding favour, if you’re looking for ideas.) On a splatter-top plinth, they also proudly displayed their gorgeous cake, which was covered in vibrant dried petals. Altogether, the day was everything they’d wanted. “The day was exactly how we’d visualised,” Bran says. “The weather was perfect, the food and drink flowing, ice cream outside on the grass with music playing. Real festival vibes!”

We had the best time hosting Bran and Matt’s Welsh wedding day, and would love to do the same for you. Whether you’re planning a festival-style wedding, have bright colours in mind or maybe are doing something totally different, you can get in touch We had the best time hosting Bran and Matt’s Welsh wedding day, and would love to do the same for you. Whether you’re planning a festival-style wedding, have bright colours in mind or maybe are doing something totally different, you can get in touch here to chat – we can’t wait to hear more. to chat – we can’t wait to hear more.