Rosie and Tom. I barely know where to begin. The sweetest of souls with the greatest proposal story. And what a day; a gorgeous summer wedding at Caswell House in the heart of the Cotswolds, and a total treat hearing Tom’s childhood memories at Caswell, before it was a wedding venue. A day brimming with fun and emotion and great company, it was effortless to shoot.

I’m so excited to share this one with you! Thanks so much for having me a long, you two!

How did you meet?

Rosie met Tom when he gave a presentation (to a really small group of people) at a Teach First training session. Tom met Rosie about three months later when they sat next to each other at a meal in Zizzis. And the rest is history… Other than to say that he was really keen right from the start!

Tell me your proposal story

It’s quite a story!! Tom took me away for a weekend in the Cotswolds as a Christmas present. In the morning, Tom made me dippy eggs and toast for breakfast, with the toast being cut in the shape of a Christmas tree. He looked pretty happy with himself… In the corner of a beautiful little cottage we had rented, was a Christmas tree with puzzle pieces hid in it. I collected the pieces (some of them had fallen into the water and expanded) and completed the puzzle (I’m really bad at puzzles so this was a challenge) to reveal a map of the local area with an X marking the first spot. We got in the car and made our way to Rollright Stones, after getting distracted by a tasty looking cheese shop and buying some rather expensive cushions and a throw (Tom seemed in a really great mood and normally I’d never be able to buy such expensive things!) We got to Rollright Stones where I was then told I had to find something. Looking round the small stones in a circle I found a small star with an engraving on it. At this point I knew it was a next level treasure hunt and started to get excited… The engraving had GPS coordinates and the clue for a scratch card. I typed in the GPS coordinates on the map, got back into the car and traveled to Broadway. The GPS coordinates led us to a very small convenience store that quite clearly didn’t sell scratch cards. When I turned to walk out the shop, Tom encouraged me to ask the assistant if they sold scratch cards, after the shop assistant looked a little surprised, confused and then remembered what he had been told to do, he pulled out a scratch card (made by Tom) from a drawer and gave it to me. I quickly scratched off the first line, no win, the second line, still no win and then the third line has three flowers in a row. We headed to a florist and I asked if they had any flowers for me, they gave me a huge bunch of beautiful Christmas flowers, I then burst into tears as I thought I knew what might be coming, in the card there was another clue to a local cafe. We went to the cafe and ate hot chocolate and a brownie. On top of the brownie a tower had been stencilled using icing sugar. This led to my final clue of Broadway Tower. After a 30 minute up hill walk to the tower holding a rather large bunch of flowers, we got to the top and Tom said I had to find a small black box. I very quickly located this which had a card inside it saying ‘Just say yes’ and then Tom got down on one knee! Quite a story eh?!

Why did you choose to have your wedding at Caswell House?

We chose to have our wedding at Caswell House as it’s Tom’s aunt and uncle’s farm which they then converted into a wedding venue. We spend Easter and Boxing Days there most years and Tom has many childhood memories of running around the barns filled with hay and old tractor parts, before they were converted.

What was it you loved about your outfits and accessories that made you choose them?

I LOVE everything that Vivi Embellish Bridal makes. Hannah recommended her to me. She is so thoughtful and really wants to get her product exactly right for you. She listened to my style, the look I wanted and my hair type and designed such beautiful hair pins for me. She sent me mock-up drawings of the earrings she was designing as well. She really went above and beyond in ensuring her product was exactly what I wanted and I loved them! They were super good value as well as so many wedding accessories are ridiculously priced!

Tell me about the vision you had for your wedding including your theme/colour scheme/styling/flowers:

I wanted peonies as I absolutely love them and eucalyptus. I love soft colours and got married in July so luckily had quite the pick of flowers etc.

What was your first dance and why did you choose it?

We had a ceilidh for the first dance as neither of us are good dancers and didn’t want people watching us awkwardly sway. With our friends, we videoed us moving around different chocolates to represent what we wanted our first dance to look like and sent this to our ceilidh band (who were rather surprised by the video and said they’d never had anything like it) anyway they were fab and did exactly what we’d demonstrated in chocolate form.. By the end we were both pretty dizzy however but it was the perfect first dance for us!

What were the most wonderful parts of the day for you?

Why did you choose Hannah Hall Photography as your photographer, and what was your experience of your photography on the day?

What would be your best bit of advice to other couples planning their wedding?