Bride and Bride and Groom and Groom Weddings - Weddings in Wales at Craig y Nos Castle

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Bride and Bride and Groom and Groom Weddings

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Craig y Nos Castle same-sex Wedding Ceremony and wedding party

Craig y Nos Castle is delighted to host LGBT weddings and we now have plenty of experience in Groom and Groom and Bride and Bride weddings, which are of course no different from any other wedding. You may want to add a few tweaks of your own.

Some same sex couples do ponder on what to wear for their wedding so we're adding a slide show below to give you plenty of ideas!


There is also a subtle change required for the seating in the Wedding Ceremony. In traditional Ceremonies it is customary for the bride's family to sit to the left and the groom's family to the right. With two Brides or two Grooms, a solution is to have each side allocated to your names, as opposed to a 'his and hers' seating plan! Or just let everyone pick a seat wherever.

Our wedding planners will be able to advise and plan with you both on such matters as the order in which each of you walk down the aisle, who carries the rings etc.

Same Sex marriages have taken place legally since March 2014. Interestingly, the first same sex marriage was in 1680, when Arabella Hunt married a 'James Howard', however this marriage was annulled two years later when it was discovered James was in fact a woman named Amy.


Same Sex Weddings in Wales

It was not until 1971 that same sex marriages were specifically made illegal. This was overturned by the Civil Partnership Act in 2004, legalising 'civil partnerships' from December 2005. Same sex 'marriages' became legal in 2013 (Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013).

Craig y Nos Castle has had quite a few same sex marriages over the years but we do get some Couples asking if we do them, so this page has been added to showcase some of our lovely Same-Sex couples and their wedding ideas.


Craig Y Nos Castle was the setting for
Adam and Tim’s
Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
wedding

Featured in Your South Wales Wedding August 2023.

Images courtesy of Our Beautiful Adventure Photography
T im and Adam met in Oxford in 2011 at an event organised by their  university’s LGBTQ Society. “We shared a love of music, film, and  video games, and I immediately thought he was kind, handsome and funny,” says Adam. “We hit it off, and shortly afterwards, Tim asked me  out for a coffee.”
Adam popped the question on Christmas Day in 2020. “It was our  first Christmas together after almost 10 years of being apart on the big day,” shares Adam. “Christmas is Tim’s favourite holiday, so I gave him the ring as his final present, dropping to one knee as he opened it. The inside of the band was engraved with our initials and, in a nod to our love of video games, I placed it in a box resembling a chest from the  Legend of Zelda franchise. It had been an incredibly difficult year for  Tim, one that made us keenly aware that tomorrow is not a given. We  had been discussing marriage for a while, and it felt like the right time to take this exciting next step.
SETTING THE SCENE “Tim is Welsh, and we liked the idea of Wales being the focal point of  our celebrations,” explains Adam.

“Craig Y Nos Castle is a delightful  mix of gothic and whimsical and is situated in the beautiful landscape of the Brecon Beacons.

Offering on-site accommodation, stunning views, period décor and a gloriously ornate Opera House, we knew immediately that it was a perfect fit for what we had in mind.

The staff were incredible, anticipating everything we needed and providing a strong sense of reassurance on the day."
The couple chose the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party as the theme for their big day. “We used bunting in the conservatory for our wedding breakfast to amplify the theme,” continues Adam. “Our welcome sign was created from a mirror using white paint, custom stencils, and an easel. The order-of-events was designed to resemble a Wonderland signpost and was made from recycled cardboard.” Instead of wedding favours, Adam and Tim donated to the charity Mermaids and provided details about the charity on the back of their  place cards.
Our centrepieces were thrifted teapots, filled with flowers, atop a  fanned stack of books,” recalls Adam. “We used dried moss and MDF  discs for the bases and added teacups, flowers, 3D-printed mushrooms,  and pocket watches to the book ‘steps’ for interest. My mother took the  lead on our flowers, putting everything together over two days in our base of operations in Blaenavon. “My sister is a wedding cake designer, but owing to the recent arrival  of our second nephew, she was unable to be with us on the day,”  adds Adam. “To get around this, she created a stunning, three-tiered  showpiece with hand-painted details and a ‘floating’ top hat.”
Craig Y Nos Castle provided the catering for the day. “The wedding breakfast was an afternoon tea, and each guest received a three-tiered cake stand with a delicious assortment of sweet and savoury treats,”  says Adam. “The evening buffet was popular and included a good variety of hot food and salad options. Some of our fondest memories of weddings involve freshly made pizza, so we also hired Flour’d Up, a mobile pizzeria, to complement the buffet offering. This proved incredibly popular with our guests and allowed us to accommodate multiple dietary requirements.”


Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Venue
Enjoy a Homely Welcome and Friendly Service at Craig y Nos Castle
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