Nikki + Kieran | April 2025
“The ceremony was everything we dreamed of and more and that’s all because of you. You thought of absolutely everything and made us feel so supported since the day we met you.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes as I drove towards Nikki and Kieran’s wedding venue. I’m not sure how any wedding will top a stone barn nestled in Snowdonia National Park, right in the mountains. I felt like Heidi. I felt like Maria. I felt like I couldn’t believe I was driving to WORK.
Photos by the super-friendly (and fittingly-named) Love Adventure Photography
I was greeted in the barn, when I arrived, by the friendly faces of florists Amy and her mum Karen from Fresh in Bloom. And Steve from the venue. All lovely, all chatty and welcoming. It’s a fun part of this job that you come into contact with so many different people, and always people wanting to do their very best, creative work. Cake-makers gently landing intricate bakes onto trestle tables, make up artists putting final touches to excited, rosy cheeks, florists sprucing up aisle garlands. It’s quite magical to observe a wedding come together.
The charming stone barn, set in Llyn Gwynant campsite, was already looking wedding-ready with the colourful flowers and setting off the stained glass windows, and white paper lanterns hung like stars across the beams. And a banner that read “We’re gonna know each other forever” from their favourite song by their favourite band [Bleachers]. Just gorgeous. And the vibes were chilled and gorgeous too, as guests got ready on site, many having camped the night before.
I’d hiked that morning so I felt legit.
It was a fitting location for an adventurous couple and, when it came to the ceremony, I told adventure stories from their time together, including that Kieran had proposed up Snowdon, not far from where we were celebrating their wedding.
I’m not perfect (haha); I make mistakes. In the candle-lighting ceremony I invited Nikki and Kieran’s sisters up to take part but then I accidentally lit the bride and groom’s candles. That was supposed to be their sisters’ jobs. So a quick laugh and a blowing-out of my error and we went again.
Nikki and Kieran were my second couple to request a polaroid at the top of the aisle, and this was my chance to redeem myself. And I did much better this time, the trick being taking it as a regular photo rather than trying to be in it as a selfie, dominating the entire frame and casting the main characters into shadow.
Imagine having a wedding photo like THIS
I left this gorgeous wedding (speeding back (at a legal speed limit) to fly to Zimbabwe on a family holiday) with a gift bag in hand from the sweetheart bride. It wasn’t until after the chaos of our holiday that I examined the contents properly and discovered that as well as a deliciously-scented candle and posh matches (love a candle, love posh matches) Nikki had also HAND-KNITTED ME a hot water bottle cover. With wool she’d bought from a trip to a Northumbrian town near me. Some people blow me away.
“Our guests absolutely adored her. So many people came up to us afterwards to say how wonderful she was and how perfectly the ceremony reflected us. She was a guiding light from start to finish and we’ll never forget how special she made our ceremony feel.”