Fun & Colourful DIY Pom Pom The Wholehouse Wedding

Just you wait, WWW readers Charlotte and Jake’s The Wholehouse wedding in Wales was a total feast for the eyes.

They had a multicolour pom pom theme complete with DIY wedding decorations, stunning outfits and so much fun! From the sand pouring ceremony, to the smoke flares, bright bold colours and the Converse, I have a funny feeling you’re going to adore this day.

Thanks ever so much to Katherine And Her Camera and Natasha Jay Photography for sharing with us these totally beautiful images of one very special celebration indeed.

Charlotte and Jake On WWW

I took loads of inspiration from WWW when I was planning my wedding. There was actually one of your real wedding posts in particular (Playful Rainbow Wool Pom Pom DIY Barn Wedding) that inspired me hugely! You can probably tell from some of the photos… Pom-poms galore!

The Wholehouse Wedding

The Proposal

Jake proposed to me on top of the cliffs at Limeslade Bay in the Mumbles, Swansea. It was a wonderful moment, as Jake got down on one knee and asked me to marry him with my grandma’s engagement ring, in the place that meant so much to me and my family.

“Limeslade” then ended up being the perfect choice for our new joint surname – but we kept it a secret until the day of the wedding, revealing it to all our guests during the ceremony!

The Vision

We wanted our wedding to be fun, more than anything. We started coming up with ideas to make the whole day entertaining, and decided on some fairground games and a twmpath (barn dance/ceilidh) in the evening.

My original dream was to have bumper cars, but unfortunately, the HGVs wouldn’t fit down the tiny country lanes!

The Venue

We were so lucky to have found The Wholehouse. It had only been open for wedding bookings for a couple of weeks when we first enquired, but after we went to visit we just knew it was the place for us. Not only was it perfectly situated in the beautiful Brecon Beacons, it was also such a fun and fabulous looking place!

The accommodation is chock full of colourful touches, while maintaining an absolutely luxurious feel. The barn itself was a blank canvas yet still had so much to work with. We borrowed all the chairs and tables, and the stunning lighting gave it a really rustic feel. I also fell in love with the giant pink cow in the courtyard!

The Ceremony & Music

I persuaded Jake to have his own entrance (because why the hell not?!) so he walked in with his mum to The Zephyr Song (Red Hot Chilli Peppers), which is a favourite of theirs. I walked in with my mum to a choral rendition of I Believe in a Thing Called Love (The Darkness), arranged by the amazing Rechoir.

We then had a humanist ceremony with Sian, who is the most spectacular and thoughtful celebrant! She helped tell our story in the most beautiful and entertaining way, and then performed a sand blending and handfasting ceremony with us. Having a celebrant really made the whole ceremony more memorable, enjoyable, and fun.

After the ceremony we enjoyed an amazing feast from Pickled Pumpkin, all based around our love of curry! They also provided burgers and chips in the evening, as well as the bar. Josh and the team were spectacular.

In the evening, Cat’s Claw provided the music and entertainment with their twmpath and it was absolutely amazing! I know a load of our guests weren’t overly keen on the idea of dancing but almost everyone got up to dance at one point or another – it’s just so infectious! I cannot recommend a ceilidh/twmpath/barn dance band enough, and Cat’s Claw were really spectacular.

Your Photographer

Our photographers on the day – Tash and Will – are good friends of my sister, who is also a wedding photographer! So we knew we were in very capable hands. They were both so lovely, and went totally above and beyond to enable us to capture every detail that we wanted on the day. We are both a little awkward in front of the camera usually, but Tash and Will made it all seem so natural and easy, it wasn’t awkward for a second.

My sister then edited all the photos for us and they are just stunning, we could not be happier!!

The Styling & Decor

After choosing The Wholehouse as our venue, I knew I wanted the wedding to be as colourful as possible. We loved the colourful chairs provided by the venue, and went along with that theme throughout the rest of the day.

Most of the decorations were DIY. Both our families and friends spent most of the day before creating all those paper pom-poms and putting them up around the barn. My dad made all the wooden candleholders for the tables which we filled with colourful candles (The Colour Emporium).

He also helped me, my sister and my mum make hundreds of woollen pom-poms for various decorations. My favourite were the headbands and crown that I made. It was much easier than I thought, just using some florist wire.

Our florist, FloralNess, made the bouquet and the buttonholes, and then let us arrange all the flowers for the tables in some of their eclectic range of glass vases which really suited the overall aesthetic. Vanessa regularly provides all the flowers in The Wholsehouse so it was lovely to work with someone who totally knew the vibes we were going for.

Jake and I commissioned the Limeslades sign from All Frills Studio, which is run by Alice who actually designed the huge mural on the side of The Wholehouse barn!

We had a brownie cake, and all our guests said how absolutely spectacular it was – we couldn’t agree more! Peaky Brownies Bakehouse let us design the cake to our own specifications and it tasted as good as it looked.

Shout out to Flutter, Darlings for their amazing confetti and Enola Gaye for the colourful smoke grenades!

Your Outfits

I got my dress from a local boutique bridal shop (Olivia George Bridal) who are very inclusive and welcoming. On the day, I paired it with a leather jacket I already owned (Joe Browns), a pom-pom crown I’d made, earrings from Fat Pom Poms, and a pair of pink Converse. In the evening I changed into a more dance-ready two-piece from Heritage Clothing.

Jake wanted to have pink incorporated into his outfit, so I found a lovely waistcoat from Marc Darcy which ended up matching perfectly with the suit we found together in Slaters, along with his tie. He was also really keen for us both to be wearing Converse, so he got himself a yellow pair. That way, I was wearing his favourite colour, and he was wearing mine!

We ended up encouraging everyone to wear Converses and it brought the wedding party together beautifully.

The Honeymoon

We’ve not been on honeymoon yet but are hoping to go somewhere to see the Northern Lights.

Memorable Moments

During the sand blending ceremony we had a bit of trouble with one of the sands not wanting to come out because it was still slightly wet, which you can probably tell from the looks on our faces!

We also managed to completely mess up one of the smoke grenade shots by facing the wrong way, meaning the wind blew it all back on us rather than blowing elegantly away as a backdrop… We learned for the second one though so the photos of just me and Jake are great!

Advice For Other Couples

Have a ceilidh! Ours was so amazing, and everyone truly loved it, it really made the whole evening such a huge amount of fun.

Don’t be scared of doing a bit of DIY. I loved all the personal touches we brought to the day thanks to the fact we all got stuck in and gave it a go!

Take a moment to yourselves. Away from everyone else – even your photographers. Jake and I grabbed ten minutes to walk with each other to a secluded spot where we could look out over the Brecon Beacons and just enjoy being married. It was one of my favourite moments of the whole day.

Oh, what a delight!

Charlotte and Jake, thanks ever so much for sharing your glorious The Wholehouse wedding story with us.

Further Reading