Carl and Jonny were married at De Vere Tortworth Court in the orangery, and it was the romantic centrepiece of a truly magical day. I’d describe it as being emotional, intimate and incredibly personal, and the start of an absolutely giant party.
With a group of close friends and family, Jonny and Carl were married in the sun-filled orangery. It was decorated subtly with light pastel florals by Maciej from Flowers Evolution and on every chair was a personalised fan, a pen, and some pastel paper. We created the ultimate celebratory confetti – paper planes covered in messages of goodwill for the guys, and some excellent pictures, which were thrown at the end, as a nod to the aviation history in both their families.
Jonny and Carl got ready together in the main suite at Tortworth, then relaxed with their parents before coming down to walk the aisle with their mums, which had me in tears even before we started. Their lovely dog Jess was with them throughout. They wore lego daffodils, and had a Lego themed-cake, to reflect their love of Lego and Carl’s Welsh roots.
This was a particularly enjoyable ceremony for me because I felt like I knew Carl and Jonny so well by the time I came to write it. They were truly invested in the process, making time for dinner and detailed conversations with me, so that I could really understand what their love story looked and felt like for them. Together, they have found a way to preserve and grow each other’s true, authentic self, and we wanted to reflect that. So, the ceremony was deeply personal, very romantic, and at times, truly funny, because that’s what Carl and Jonny are.
Their friend Paul played a selection of music on his violin which further accentuated how intimately special this ceremony was, and all friends and family were visibly moved when we talked about the importance of acceptance and Carl and Jonny’s own personal missions to support their LGBTQIA+ community. Our grooms kissed, hugged, laughed and cried, and scooped up Jess for extra moral support, there was no formality, just affection and emotion for us all. Another friend read a piece focused on the happiness of being comfortable with your partner, and it was extra special.
After vows and rings that had us all sighing with the sheer emotion of it all, because they poured their hearts into their vows completely, and repeated them with absolute conviction, we signed our certificate, overseen by Jess of course, the married men left the orangery in a cloud of paper planes, straight into the drinks reception.
what i loved about this wedding
- The closeness between everybody – the absolute joy that this day was here and that it was theirs and theirs alone. We all felt it, it was like being at a personalised festival
- The details – from the scattered references in our ceremony, to the incredible NOW! CD cover wedding table favours and tequila disguised as poppers, everything was so well thought out
- The paper plane confetti worked so well, I loved picking up each one after the ceremony and realising it was a guest book, a multi-versed love poem, and a series of very private jokes all at once
- Carl and Jonny’s families, particularly their parents and siblings and nieces. They were wonderful to spend time with
- Special shout out to working with venue manager Elvis and finally meeting Maciej the florist, both talented and ultimately flawless executors of their craft, as well as strong LGBTQIA+ wedding suppliers
- The dancing. The Chapell Roan. The joy. The tears and tears of laughter in the speeches
- The getting ready together – walking in to that room and finding such a calm and loving atmosphere was delightful
- The Grooms. Looked. Incredible. An absolute vision of happiness and style.
what carl and jonny loved about their ceremony
“Where to possibly start with Eleanor other than thank you so much!
We first started chatting with Eleanor in summer, and immediately we hit it off, over food, drinks and shared love of music and life. Eleanor has constantly gone above and beyond to ensure that we had the most amazing celebration. Writing such amazing ceremony and helping us to formulate the idea of throwing paper airplanes inside the orangery with messages from our amazing guests.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, 🥰 you will be part of our lives forever (unfortunately for you!)”
what Carl’s mum thought about the ceremony
“Eleanor made my son and son in laws wedding a perfect day. She listened to what we all had to say about them and made it into a wonderful experience of laughter, love and joy. We all cried at times but it was in a good way. I would recommend her to anyone who is getting married.”
(thank you Tina, this was so lovely to receive!)
If you want to write your own vows like Carl and Jonny but aren’t sure where to begin, you can download my wedding vow-writing guide here, for free.
All pictures courtesy of the Grooms, by the brilliant Cam and Beth at Bright Sight photography
