I never thought I’d do this. I had never dreamed of getting married, it wasn’t even a maybe one day thing. Me and Dean have been together eight years now and we could have happily carried on forever without officially tying the knot but when he proposed to me with a ring made of quaking grass it was the biggest and most absolute YES that I had ever given anything!
It felt like we had found a thing worth celebrating. A thing to get dressed up for, to stand and declare in front of our family and friends. A thing to not be shy about. It was love and the world needed as much of that as possible. But the idea of throwing a party terrified me. Perhaps it was easier to nip to the registry office with a couple of witnesses, maybe go and sit in the meadow with a bottle of prosecco afterwards and happily remember how there was no stress, no expense and no organising for months on end?
But there was this flicker of an idea that grew and grew into something quite beautiful...
How about a wild meadow wedding?
We imagined walking up an aisle cut through the long grass, me carrying a bunch of wild flowers, to a ceremony under the big old oak tree with sacred words and singing. We imagined a beautiful tent surrounded by daisies, festooned in lights. There’d be kids and dogs and everyone playing out in the meadow together. We could see a colourful midsummer buffet, garnished with flowers and then there'd be dancing into the night.
We are so glad Andrea said yes! Wild Meadow isn’t a wedding venue. It’s a beautiful holiday cottage in a meadow that we had stayed in many times, run by our friends Andrea and Jonathan. When we asked, there was probably some sensible part of her that was saying something else but her heart said a resounding YES. She could see the vision too and she and Jonathan were excited about helping us create the magic. There had never been a wedding at wild meadow before and because of the trouble they had with insurance there never will be again! This would be a one off.
And so the day finally came when we walked up the grassy aisle for real.
When we found our loved ones gathered under the oak waiting for us with eager anticipation.
When my grown up children Ffion and Euan made everyone cry as they sung us up the aisle. They sung If You Could Hold Someone by Laura Viers but rewrote the verses for us.
And suddenly, there we were, in the dappled oak tree light with our dear celebrant Sian Allen who had created the most beautiful ceremony for us. It was the first time we had met her in person after doing all the planning on video chat and she was radiating as much 'glad to be there' as we were!
It wasn't hard to find Sian when we googled 'wedding celebrant Powys,' but honestly it was like the universe was just waiting for us to do the search so it could put us together because she was a warm, life loving spirit with a love for nature and for bringing everyone together in ceremony - everything we were hoping for.
As our rings were passed around on the beautiful quaking grass cushion that Hannah Shkandrij made for us, and 'warmed' by our friends and family Sian asked us to take a moment to notice the sounds of this beautiful summers day.
I will always remember the gentle breeze through the leaves, the sheep sending their congratulations from across the valley, the sound of my beating heart...
In Sian's words, "From the solidity of the oak and the tremulous delicacy of the quaking grass – every living thing has its own song to sing, all we have to do is listen".
And from that quiet and attentive space we spoke our special words to one another.
Sian had tucked them in the beautiful wild flower book that Suzi had found in the village one year, just one of the many tiny seeds that bloomed into this special day.
I beamed as Dean declared his love for me.
And he made us all laugh. His humour is just one of the many things I love about him.
And then with our rings, that were full of everyone's love and magic words, we made our vows.
We did it! We were marrried! It was time to C E L E B R A T E!
Tumbling down the hill in a shower of colourful flower petals was a good place to start.
There were many hugs and lots of fizz
There were many hugs and lots of fizz
and it was so lovely to see everyone together in our special place, friends meeting family, strengthening old bonds and forging new ones.
There was a beautiful tower of strawberry cupcakes made by my sister,
there was pressed flower shortbread like I'd seen on pinterest made by Suzi and Olive
and there were tattoos!
Domenique made them for us and by the end of the day everyone had one somewhere! We loved seeing our guests with 'Hannah & Dean' tattoos or with the one with our cat Willow sitting in our tree filled window. It was nice that she got to come to the wedding too.
and there were tattoos!
Domenique made them for us and by the end of the day everyone had one somewhere! We loved seeing our guests with 'Hannah & Dean' tattoos or with the one with our cat Willow sitting in our tree filled window. It was nice that she got to come to the wedding too.
We flew balsa wood planes down the hillside. Everyone sat in the sun on straw bales covered in my Mum's handmade quilts.
Domenique taught everyone how to make cordage out of plantain stalks and he made a giant rope out of grass so there was lots of skipping. Yes, we all did some good playing out!
As our first year of our long distance romance was spent writing letters AND because Dean recently became a postman we had a letterbox made on Etsy. We invited everyone to write us a letter that we won't open until our first anniversary. We had stickers and pretend postage stamps, coloured pens and we had a wild meadow stamp made which was very satisfying to use! Everyone got into it but I think Olive wrote us the most letters!
Our tent was so beautiful, handmade by a local firm called Bespoke Tents & Events. Given the sloping nature of the meadow it had the wonkiest dance floor ever and all the tables were propped up with chunks of wood but it was beautiful inside and my laser cut flower shapes looked lovely silhouettes against the canvas.
And our midsummer buffet was lovingly created by our friend Kate. It was a banquet that was so colourful and garnished in flowers and pomegranate seeds. Oh what joy and life it brought to the table. It made our mouths water.
And our midsummer buffet was lovingly created by our friend Kate. It was a banquet that was so colourful and garnished in flowers and pomegranate seeds. Oh what joy and life it brought to the table. It made our mouths water.
While everyone tucked into their third helpings we snuck off up the field with Ffion for our photoshoot.
Sarah came too with her camera. She had been filming since dawn and she was in her element.
It was lovely having a peaceful moment in the long grass and the foxgloves. I wrote a whole other post about this special bit of the day.
As dusk fell the fairy lights shone brighter and everyone, including the daisies seemed to glow.
It was lovely having a peaceful moment in the long grass and the foxgloves. I wrote a whole other post about this special bit of the day.
As dusk fell the fairy lights shone brighter and everyone, including the daisies seemed to glow.
And we danced into the night, loving every minute but also wishing that the day wasn't going to end soon. We wanted it to last forever.
Love song
one golden day in sultry June
mid summer
dancing feet
under the stars
a thousand flowers
infinities of love
I'm so glad we did it. Organising everything was a lot of work and overwhelming at times on top of every day stuff but life will always feel better because this day was in it. What a beautiful way to begin a marriage x
Celebrant - Sian Allen Magpie Ceremonies
Rings - Catherine Woodall
Embroidery on dress and cushion - Hannah Skandrij
4 comments
It looks absolutely wonderful, everybody looking happy, a most beautiful place to celebrate .
Very happy wishes Ursula xx
What a wonderful day and such beautiful photos, love the ideas of the tattoos and posting letters for your first anniversary and the buffet looked delicious! You were so fortunate with the weather too.
Thank you sharing it all with us and every happiness to you both.
I enjoy your posts each week, thank you. Your delightful wedding has been a joy to watch and I almost felt part of. It was reminiscent of our son’s wedding on his wife’s family vineyard (a very small one)in New Zealand a few years ago!
I would love to visit your shop on an open day, but don’t drive far these days
(over 80!) I would also like to order some window film but don’t have the confidence to get the measurements correct! But I will be ordering a bunch of your wild flower cutouts when I can decide which ones to choose!
Thank you for your continuing inspiration. Best wishes in your marriage, Chris
Ke
Congratulations Hannah. Love your work have followed and purchased from you for some years now. Always adore your work. Despite floods and fires you have thrived and I’m so pleased you have married your special person. Looks like you had a fantastic celebration ❤️