• Time from Carmarthen to Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Venue: 57 minutes

• Distance from Carmarthen to Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Reception Venue: 42 miles

1. Carmarthen population: 14,648.

2. Carmarthen is the oldest town in Wales. When Camarthenshire was a Roman province, Carmarthen was the capital of the Demetae tribe, known as Moridunum ('Sea Fort'). The fort was built AD75. Carmarthen has one of only seven surviving Roman amphitheatres in the UK and one of only two in Roman Wales (the other is at Caerleon).

3. Carmarthen castle was built around 1105 but was destroyed by Llywelyn the Great in 1215. The castle was rebuilt in 1223 with a wall around the town. Carmarthen was one of the first medieval walled towns in Wales. In 1405, the town was taken and the castle was sacked by Owain Glyndŵr.  

4. Franciscan Friars (also known as Grey Friars, or Friars minor) lived in the town from 1284 on a site now occupied by the Greyfriars Shopping Centre. The Friary was dissolved in 1538 and the buildings were gradually dismantled.

Other Carmarthenshire castles include: Carreg Cennen Castle, Dinefwr Castle, Drystwyn Castle, Kidwelly Castle, Laugharne Castle, Llansteffan Castle, Llandovery Castle, Newcastle Emlyn Castle

5. . Arthurian Legend has it that Merlin was born in a cave outside Carmarthen, giving the name to the nearby Merlins Hill. Legend also stated that when Merlin's Tree fell, so would the town of Carmarthen, so when the tree died, it was dug up and placed in a museum.

6. In C.16th and C.17th centuries, Carmarthen was an agricultural town and woollen producer.

7. Sir Thomas Picton from Haverfordwest was the most senior officer to die at Waterloo. The monument spire in Carmarthen is known as Picton's monument. The original Picton's monument was erected in 1828 in Picton's memory. Despite Picton's military prowess, he was also a slave merchant, slave owner and a cruel torturer. As colonial governor of Trinidad he was known as 'the beast'. At a high-profile trial in London, he was accused of forcing 13-year-old Louisa Calderon to stand on a sharpened spike while suspended from the ceiling. This unique form of torture was dubbed "Pictoning" at the trial. He was extremely harsh in the punishments he meted out to slaves in Trinidad and executions and torture were commonplace under his regime. Picton's monument could not withstand the weather and become dilapidated and was eventually replaced. The monument you can see today was built in 1847.

8. Carmarthen has its own football team, Carmarthen Town F.C., founded in 1948. They play in the Welsh Premier League.