This Beautiful Bride Wore a Chic Reformation Minidress to Her Intimate, 26-Guest Wedding in Wales

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We met on the (very sticky) dancefloor of an iconic Mancunian pub, The Star & Garter, dancing to You Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive and clicking immediately. After a few years of finding myself following a bad breakup earlier in my twenties, I’d only recently started dating again, but never really had much luck via online dating apps. The night before I met Justin, I had drinks with a friend and told her I’d sworn off dating and was very happy being single and enjoying my twenties—famous last words. We dated casually for about a year before making it "official". I was determined that I didn’t want to spend my twenties in a relationship, but soon I realised that with our weekly date nights and weekend cinema trips, we were definitely something more than casual!

Justin proposed two years later, on holiday in New York. He’d previously told me that marriage hadn’t ever been something he was interested in, so it was totally unexpected. We ate dinner at an incredible Italian restaurant in the West Village called Palma. It has an interior courtyard filled with candles and fresh roses growing up the walls—he later told me that he hadn’t planned the proposal to be there, but that as soon as he walked in, he knew it was the right setting. I adore Italian food, so it felt totally right to be proposed to over a bowl of pasta.

We chose the ring together when we were back home in Manchester. There’s an incredible vintage jewellery shop called Arthur Kay & Bro on Market Street, which I’ve never been able to walk past without peering in the window. It was important to me that we do it together, and Justin had wisely figured out in advance that choosing a ring for me would never be a solo mission or a surprise. I love rings, but had never really given much thought to what my engagement ring would look like, other than that I wanted something vintage. In the end, we settled on something totally surprising: a Victorian boat ring from the 1890s.

The night before the wedding, we dined separately with our families. My family ordered rounds of Cosmopolitans and Manhattans in the hotel bar (a nod to New York!) before we ate in the hotel restaurant overlooking the bay. I wore a black satin shift dress by Proenza Schouler, which I actually found before I found my wedding dress, paired with my Chanel classic flap bag and Manolo Blahnik heels with bows; a nod to the bow motif we used on our wedding stationery. I wear black 90% of the time, so it only felt right to do so the day before wearing an all-white outfit! Justin and his family dined at the nearby Castell Deudreath Hotel before heading to the pub, in classic Northener style.

I’m an early riser, so I was naturally awake at the crack of dawn. The first order of the day was to ice my face and use my Current Body LED Mask, after which I used a series of hydrating and sheet masks to prep my skin. Can you tell skincare is my thing?

The generous team at Laura Mercier very kindly provided a makeup artist for my wedding glam, the incredible Jessica Kohn. I had initially planned to do my makeup myself, but in the end, I’m so glad that I didn’t. I wasn’t nervous at all until the morning of the wedding, and would not have been capable of applying my own mascara! I had a trial day with Jess at Laura Mercier HQ in London a few months before the wedding, where we went through my mood board and finalised products and shades. The brief was classic and glowy, but with a bit of fun—I’m a beauty writer, after all. Jess applied crystal gems around my eyes and brows, which were super subtle but added a fun sparkle.

I love perfume, and I wore Byredo’s Eyes Closed layered with Essential Molecules Molecule 01. I wanted to wear something special that I could connect entirely to that day, but also something familiar that smelled like me. I spritzed both liberally through my veil so that it lasted all day.

I got so lucky with my hairstylist, Cassie, whom the venue recommended to me by the venue. She is one of those warm, lovely people who immediately put you at ease, which was essential, as I hadn’t actually had a hair trial! I had wanted to cut my hair into a bob for years, but decided to keep it long for the wedding, so we had options. In the end, I went for a sleek low bun, which worked perfectly with my dress and veil. Two weeks later, I finally got the chop!

I’d always pictured myself wearing a long, classic wedding dress, but when we booked the wedding in Portmeirion, Wales, I knew I wanted something different. There’s a '60s feel to Portmeirion, and so I chose to lean into that with a white satin minidress I found from Reformation. I had the dress tailored beforehand so it fitted me perfectly; it was light, comfortable and totally perfect. I paired it with a floor-length veil because I loved the idea of contrasting the lengths, and this definitely made the outfit feel more bridal and special.

Given the dress’s short length, I knew the shoes had to be perfect as they were completely on show. I had purchased some Jimmy Choo heels earlier in the year but wasn’t 100% sure about them, then, the week before the wedding, I spotted the perfect pair of Prada patent leather slingbacks, again with a tiny bow motif (mine are currently sold out, but the pair you can shop below are just as elegant). They arrived just in time and were so comfortable and easy to wear.

Justin rarely wears a suit, so he loved the process of choosing one and going for his fittings. He wore a black suit with a black tie (at my request!) and found an amazing pair of Dr Martens Oxford Shoes which felt much more "him" than a classic suit shoe.

We chose our wedding bands from a jeweller in Chester a few months before the wedding, both opting for plain gold bands. For my "something old" and "something borrowed", I wore my nana’s locket, which holds a photo of her and my grandad on their wedding day. She passed away during the pandemic, and she greatly impacted my life, especially in terms of my love for fashion and beauty, so I wanted her to be a part of that in some way. For my "something blue", the incredible Ashleigh at Bambi Nails gave me a sparkly blue French tip, which is such a fun way to elevate a neutral wedding nail design.

Neither of us wanted a long engagement, and we had initially planned to marry the following summer in New York with just a few close friends and family in attendance. We got engaged in 2019, so you know how that turned out! After a few years of postponing due to travel restrictions and family logistics, we decided to plan a UK wedding instead. It’s funny how much your tastes, ideas and opinions can change in such a short space of time. Plus, we had bought a house at that time, and in hindsight, I’m glad that was something we were forced to prioritise before the wedding. One thing remained the same: we both wanted a small, intimate wedding, so our final guest list was just 26 people.

A world away from the New York City Hall wedding we had initially planned, we chose Portmeirion in North Wales as our venue. It’s hard to describe Portmeirion to someone who’s never visited, but it’s a picturesque Italianate village built into the hills on the rugged Welsh coastline. I grew up on the other side of the mountains, and we had both spent time in the area as children, with fond family memories of the village. Plus, we knew it would look incredible in our wedding photos.

We aren't big PDA people, so we had classic vows and instead wrote each other a letter to read on the morning of the wedding. The ceremony was short, intimate and special—just how we wanted it. I walked down the aisle to Beck’s cover of Can’t Help Falling in Love, one of Justin’s favourite songs, but with a modern spin on it. We saw Beck perform together in our early days of dating.

Portmeirion is so stunning that there was very little we needed to do by way of decoration. Both the room we were married in and the one where we held the reception were big, airy spaces filled with natural light, so fresh flowers alone were the perfect final touch. I chose white tulips in single-stem vases for the tables, but was more concerned about scenting the space—again, classic beauty writer. I opted for Glossier’s You and Orange Blossom candles; the perfect combination for a sunny spring day.

The entire wedding was pretty DIY. I’m big on details, and once I have a vision or idea in my head, I’m not prepared to compromise! I designed the invitations myself on Canva, and we backed them onto illustrated postcards of Portmeirion so our guests could keep them as a memento.

We had two readings during the ceremony: a rendition of my favourite Shakespeare sonnet by my aunt, and my mum read an extract from Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love, which had the entire room in tears. We walked back down the aisle to New Order’s Age of Consent, which immediately lifted everyone's spirits again!

It helped that the day itself was glorious—blue skies and sunshine from dusk to dawn, which is highly unusual for Wales—and so many people who saw the wedding photos initially assumed we got married in Italy. The ceremony room was a beautiful wood-panelled space with open French doors along one wall. The sun streamed in, and there was a slight breeze wafting through the curtains—it was perfect. Afterwards, we hosted drinks on the terrace overlooking the sea, and it felt like the first day of summer.

I always joke that my mum was my wedding planner, but we also had the support of Portmeirion’s amazing wedding team, who really did go above and beyond and thought of every tiny detail. I had a really busy six months of work before the wedding, so my mum was very much in charge of bringing everything together.

One of my favourite moments was when we were on our way back from having some photos, just the two of us. We stopped at a headland across the bay from the hotel, and the sun was shining down on the terrace full of our friends and family mingling. We could hear their voices and laughter. It was magical.

Justin, my dad and my father-in-law gave speeches. In hindsight, I wish I had, too, but public speaking is not my forte, and I knew I’d have spent the day dreading it. My dad’s was a lesson in great speechwriting and had everyone laughing, crying and then laughing again, whilst Justin’s paid homage to the night we met, our dating journey and the ups and downs we experienced throughout the pandemic.

We wanted the reception to feel like an intimate dinner party. After drinks on the terrace, we had a four-course meal (a cheese course was non-negotiable for my foodie family). One of the perks of having a small wedding was that we didn’t have to have a set wedding menu; all our guests were able to choose their meals, and the food was incredible.

There was laughter and chatting throughout, and because it was a small group, Justin and I had a chance to speak to everybody. I loved seeing my friends from different walks of life meet each other and my family. It’s such a special part of a wedding which really stuck with me and made me so glad we hadn’t done our initial New York ceremony.

My mum is probably the only person in the world who totally gets my vision with very little direction needed, and she curated it perfectly, even hand-embroidering the napkins herself (naturally, our guests kept these as mementoes).

One of my favourite places in the world is Betty’s in York, so we ordered our wedding cake from there, and it was honestly so good that I still think about it to this day. We had a plain sponge and a chocolate layer to keep everyone happy, and we decorated it with custom figurines of our chihuahuas, Margot and Trudy, so that they could be a part of the wedding! We flew to New York for a mini-moon two days later and took some leftover cake with us.

Given the size of the wedding, we chose not to have a dancefloor or DJ. Instead, we had an incredible fireworks display followed by drinks in the hotel library with a playlist we’d worked on together of our favourite songs—mainly indie music and Brit pop, no duds! I was worried that a wedding without dancing might feel disjointed, but the day flew by, and before we knew it, it was 1 a.m.

I didn’t have a second look for the reception, but when we headed outside to watch the fireworks, I slipped on a Juicy Couture X Ganni velour jacket that I bought years ago, purely because it has mine and Justin’s initials on the back. It was perfect for the occasion, and photographed so well.

Bride: @thatgracegirl
Photographer: @gingerbeardweddings
Wedding Ceremony and Reception Venue: Portmeirion
Ceremony Dress: @reformation
Wedding Coordinator: @charlotteeliseevents
MUA: @mercier_mua_jessica
Hair: @cassiembridal
Nails: @bambinailss
Cake: @bettys
Wedding Playlist: Chill Wedding