A Fun-Filled Guernsey Wedding with a Pronovias Dress and Hidden Harry Potter Quotes

All of Beth and Tom's guests hopped aboard a ferry for an unforgettable adventure on the tiny island of Herm, featuring a delicious cheese tower and a family sing-along

We have included third party products to help you navigate and enjoy life’s biggest moments. Purchases made through links on this page may earn us a commission.

Hannah Watkin

4 December, 2019

In June, Beth and Tom got married in Guernsey and spent the evening dancing the night away with 120 guests.

The couple got engaged during a skiing holiday in Val-d’Isère. Tom proposed after nine years together by preparing a scrapbook full of photos and memories for Beth.

He pretended it was an anniversary present. But, on the final page, underneath a picture of the couple holding hands and walking through Central Park, NYC, he’d written the words, “Will you hold my hand forever?”

To truly cherish this moment forever, Tom had sneakily filmed the whole proposal using a GoPro camera attached to his helmet which he’d left in the corner of the room.

After an engagement of 15 months, the couple tied the knot in Beth’s hometown of Herm, a small island just off Guernsey. They even had their ceremony in the same church as her parents and grandparents!

Photographer: Chris Bradshaw

The Wedding Dress

Beth tried on nine dresses before she found the right one – the gorgeous Estambul dress by Pronovias.

“My wedding dress was a sleeveless evasé wedding dress in embroidered crepe with a V-neck. It was a delicate sheath gown with a semi-illusion bodice, beaded lace and a soft tulle skirt.

“I chose it because of the tears shed by my Mum, maid of honour (sister-in-law-to-be) and mother-in-law-to-be when I tried it on! I bought it from Teokath of London in Wimbledon.

“To wear with my dress, I borrowed my Mum’s earrings and had a beautiful headpiece!”

Bridal Beauty

As Beth was getting ready, her maid of honour gave her another scrapbook filled with photos and messages from her nearest and dearest. As you might expect, there were lots of tears!

“My hair was done by Toni & Guy in Guernsey and an old friend of mine, Danni Le Noury from Danielli Boutique, did my makeup.

“I chose to have my hair up with plaits, not something I’ve ever had before. The plan was to bring the bun down leaving it half up and half down. But, it was too hot on the day! My makeup was subtle and neutral, nothing over the top.

“My maid of honour was my sister-in-law, Carina. I also had two bridesmaids: Helen, who flew in from Sydney, and Sophie, my oldest friend. My niece was our flower girl.

“They wore skirts by StylishBrideAccs on Etsy. The seller even agreed to make a mini version for our flower girl.”

The Groomswear

Beth gave Tom a helping hand when the time came to choose his suit. He bought a grey, three-piece suit from The Groom’s Room Essex and his groomsmen hired similar suits too.

“Beth had to have something from Harry Potter in the wedding so we had a transfer on the base of each of our shoes that read, ‘After all this time?’ and ‘Always’ #ifyouknowyouknow.”

The Transport

Rather unusually, a chartered boat transported Beth and Tom’s guests from their ceremony to their reception venue on the small island of Herm.

“To get to the ceremony, we were lucky enough to borrow Beth’s Mum’s boss’ car. He’s the Governor of Guernsey and has a beautiful Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit III model, in a claret livery.

“The car was so special (knowing royalty have sat here!) and the guests from outside of Guernsey absolutely LOVED the boat journey. But, maybe that was thanks to the cans of Pimm’s and gin!”

The Ceremony

The couple tied the knot in the church that Beth was christened in, and that her grandparents and parents also got married in.

“We had a religious ceremony at St. John’s Church in St Peter Port. My Dad walked me down the aisle to Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. The whole day was pretty much sponsored by The Parent Trap soundtrack!

“We exchanged rings from a local Guernsey supplier, Becky Rowe Jewellery. My engagement ring was chosen by Tom and is an oval cut diamond on a platinum setting from James Allen. It’s perfect.

“After the ceremony, we walked out of the church to This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) by Natalie Cole.

“We both really enjoyed the ceremony, much more than we thought we would. It was so personal, intimate and magical!”

The Reception Venue and Food

The couple chose a theme of simple greenery with dusty blue highlights, lots of candles, photos and some big balloons for their venue.

“Our reception was at The White House in Herm. We really wanted to show off Guernsey at its best and for us, that’s Herm. A tiny island about a 10-minute boat ride from Guernsey, there are no cars and a few small beaches. On a good weather day, it’s absolute paradise and you could be anywhere in the world!

“The best thing about our venue was that it is so close to the sea. It was important for all of our guests from the UK and Australia to see our little island at its best and we were so lucky to really show Guernsey off – the weather was perfect! Robert Leatherbarrow, the hotel manager, was amazing too.

“In the evening, we ate the most amazing BBQ and followed this with a cheese tower from The Cheese Shed. They were so helpful in shipping the cheese overseas to the Channel Islands for us – not many suppliers can!

“We also had a running old wine cork theme – both families were very happy to help collect them for us. Etsy provided lots of bits and pieces too.

“We also made some cute tower toppers from wine corks, dressed up as a bride and groom.”

The Flowers

Jemma Batiste from Tussie Mussie was in charge of arranging the couple’s flowers. They complemented the gorgeous natural surroundings of Herm beautifully.

“My bouquet was a relaxed posy of foliage, lots of eucalypti, powder blue delphinium, Vendela roses and thistle.

“The groomsmen had thistle with foliage buttonholes to match. We used a small amount of greenery in garlands on the tables as our venue décor. We also had some chandeliers up in the marquees, covered in greenery.

“Our table numbers were the years we’ve been together – 2008 to 2019! As our table centrepieces, we had white candles wrapped with twine and greenery, and a photo frame with a photo of us from that year.”

The Stationery and Special Touches

The couple chose stationery to match their theme of greenery with dusty blue highlights.

“Our save the date cards were little luggage labels with an image of Guernsey from Not On The High Street.

“Tom’s sister designed the invitations and the boat tickets for the journey from our Guernsey church ceremony to our Herm reception. They were AMAZING! We then had them printed by Printed.

“As favours, we gave our guests miniature gin bottles from a local supplier, Wheadon’s Gin. They definitely got the party started!

“I bought my bridesmaids a print from Etsy, a personalised cosmetics bag, and a pearl bracelet. Our flower girl received a personalised bunny from Etsy.

“Our groomsmen received a personalised barbeque grilling set each. For our parents, we bought champagne flutes.”

Entertainment

A shared passion of the couple is live music so they knew there was no other option than to hire a band!

“As entertainment, we had a live band – The Tommy Guns. The lead singer is a friend of a friend, and they were brilliant!

“There was also a very special appearance by Tom’s Dad which was one of our highlights. After the speeches and before the dancing started, he gathered everyone on the lawn for a big sing-along which was EPIC.

“Included in the band were Tom’s auntie and uncle and they’d brought along percussion and song sheets. They’d also written a song about Herm for us and sang all of our favourites. There was even a late-night rendition of American Pie on the dancefloor (with the actual band) where everyone went absolutely wild!

“Our first dance was L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole. A memorable moment for us was when everyone realised we had a routine for our first dance!”

The Honeymoon

After a fun-filled yet hectic wedding weekend, the couple decided to fly to Crete for a much-deserved rest!

“We knew we’d need something relaxing after the wedding weekend so we chose Crete. It was beautiful, so relaxing, great food and wine. The perfect start to our married life together!

“Our honeymoon is coming up this month. We’re spending one month travelling around New Zealand in a campervan!

“Instead of a gift list, we asked for contributions to our New Zealand honeymoon adventure, using Prezola. We’ve both always wanted to go to New Zealand and had lots of family and friends recommend it! We’re expecting great things from our adventure.”