If you tied the knot like Rachael and Jamie, we’d love to share in your celebrations .
To take part, just fill in the simple form at the end of this story. And if you’re from the South Wales Echo area, you will be featured in our newspaper, too.
It doesn’t matter where you married, as long as one of you is Welsh or you live in Wales.
This week’s couple live in Newport.
The couple
Jamie and Rachael Walkingshaw-McGuinness. Jamie, 30, is a sales adviser at Source Insurance in Penarth and Rachael (nee Murphy), 25, is a claims handler at Admiral. They live in Newport.
The venue
The wedding took place at Canada Lodge and Lake in Creigiau on March 17.
How they met
The couple met using dating app Plenty of Fish in June 2012 when Rachael sent Jamie a message. Rachael travelled from her home in Gloucester to Cardiff to meet Jamie, where he was living at the time.
She said: “It was rather nerve-racking as I had never been to Wales before. We went for food at TGI Fridays and the rest is history.”
The couple had their first official date a week later at Bristol Zoo, and began a two-year long distance relationship seeing each other every other week, before moving to Newport.
The proposal
The couple went to Jamie’s sister’s home in Llanrhystud, near Aberystwyth, for Christmas 2014. Jamie bought the ring four months earlier and was keeping it out of sight in his work backpack.
On Christmas Eve, at midnight, he told her she could have her present early. She said: “He blindfolded me and walked me up into one of the gardens, by the chicken coop, where he had put fairy lights all around the trees and even bought fake snow to scatter on the ground.
“When he was ready and down on one knee, he asked me to take off the blindfold and asked me to be his wife. I remember being so shocked but more so proud that he had gone to so much effort to make a memory that will last for ever.”
Photograph: QueenieWedding
The wedding
Because Rachael’s family are Irish, the couple held the wedding on St Patrick’s Day.
The couple only viewed one venue, Canada Lodge, and said: “We fell in love with it instantly, with its gorgeous views and tranquil location, we knew it was the venue for us.”
Rachael got ready with her three bridesmaids and Jamie got ready with his best man Doug.
The venue was decorated in a rustic fashion, with fairy lights hanging across the ceiling and bunting running across the top of the room. Florist Anne-Marie from Petal Power decorated the reception room using wooden centrepieces.
The food was provided by Spiros.
Rachael and Jamie Walkingshaw-McGuinness married at Canada Lodge and Lake on March 17
The evening guests arrived at 7pm, as did the photo booth which came with props including oversized glasses, hats and even a horse’s head. Rachael said: “They are photos which we could not stop laughing at.
“Our wedding day was absolutely perfect and it felt like we were in a dream the whole day. There’s nothing we would change and will enjoy the memories of that day for a lifetime.”
The honeymoon
The couple went on a mini-moon to Iceland in February, and are saving to buy a home together.
Also see: yellow bridesmaid dresses – queniewedding.co.uk
