Rachael and Josh met while he was completing his final year at Plymouth University and she’d just graduated from Plymouth St Mark and St John’s University. They were both working at a fast food restaurant in the middle of town, and whenever they were on shift together, everything would run perfectly – they were the dream team! “Josh is very quiet and laid back, where’s I’m not... opposites really do attract,” Rachael shares. Josh proposed in October, 2021. When he rebooked a stay at a secluded shepherd’s barn in Westbury-sub-Mendip they’d fallen in love with earlier in the year, Rachael didn’t suspect a thing. “We arrived, unpacked the car, brought the blankets outside and snuggled up looking out at the view,” Rachael tells us. Such a romantic spot to pop the question! Initially the couple planned to have an elopement-style wedding as they’d just bought and renovated a house and neither much cared for the idea of being centre of attention. So, Rachael began looking for suitable venues around the UK and Wales and eventually narrowed the list down to two in Bristol and set up visits. “The first one we visited was Berwick Lodge and as we approached via the long driveway we both fell in love. We met with Magdalena, one of the wedding coordinators, and were made to feel at ease straight away. No question or query was too much, and in fact, our plans changed about 1,000 times within the first month or so, yet still nothing was too much trouble,” Rachael explains. They set the date for 8th August, 2022. Here, the bride shares her memories of the big day... GREEN AND GOLD “Josh’s auntie surprised us with favours. They were personalised packets of wildflower seeds and Welsh love spoons for all our guests. “We wanted a rustic look, so our centrepieces featured hessian and thin ropes, with flowers similar to the bouquets and buttonholes. They also included Welsh slate and candles. I knew I wanted faux flowers so that I could keep my bouquet in the house after the wedding. Josh’s mum and I went to Homesense to look at greenery and white flowers, and after playing around with this combination, we added gold leaves taking inspiration from Pinterest. “For our place names my maid-of-honour took the design from our invitations and had it printed onto business cards, which were held by corks decorated in gold leaf. She’d collect these throughout our friendship, embarrassingly and impressively there were a lot of corks!” DINING DELIGHTS “The night before the wedding, Josh and I had the six-course summer taster menu with wine flight. When we initially booked the venue this was going to be our elopement-style wedding breakfast, but when the numbers increased we had to change plans. “A few weeks before the wedding we had a taster experience with the venue and knew we’d have to have the chicken as this is where our story started! We chose croquettes to start as they’re Josh’s dad’s favourite and sticky toffee pudding for Josh’s mum.” 40
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