At Treseren, we have been incredibly lucky to host some truly wonderful small weddings, with some truly wonderful people. Our second ever wedding at Treseren last summer 2019 saw Cathy and Mike tie the knot here after nearly thirty years together, with the most important and closest people to them present. From the moment this family arrived, we knew their wedding and time here was going to be special. It was brilliant getting to know them all, witnessing their joy and happiness and playing a small supporting role in this wonderful family occasion. We were genuinely sad when it was time for them to leave, but we are so happy that they are returning for another very special celebration in 2021. If there was ever a joyful story to tell in lock down, this is it. We asked Cathy if she would mind doing a Q & A for our blog, but she went one step further and composed a whole journal piece about her wedding experience at Treseren.
Here it is, unedited in Cathy’s own words:
It took Mike and me thirty years to decide to get married, but it took us three days to choose Treseren as our venue. It would have been even less, had we not been away in the West Country at the time, in an area with really patchy mobile signal. But having seen the website, and eventually managing to speak with Emma, by standing on a stile and waving my phone around frantically to get a signal, we knew it was the place for us to finally make a proper commitment to each other.
Both of us had been married before, and having followed convention for our first marriages, we were determined that this time it would be a wedding that was truly ours. A celebration of who we were. No white wedding dress or morning suit, no formal flowers, no posed photographs, no best man, and no speeches. Only the most special people in our lives, our two daughters, their partners, and our two grandchildren. It might be thirty years since we first got to know each other on the train from Paddington to Reading, but Mike was still the rugged, romantic man I fell in love with. No-one can carry off a ruffled, gothic shirt in the way he can, and I’d always wanted a historical-style wedding dress. When we found out that Treseren was built for the captain upon whom Ross Poldark was based, everything seemed to fall into place. With Emma and Paul’s help, our Poldark-themed wedding became a reality.
With only eight of us, we could all be together, there was no rushing from one venue to the next. Treseren became our home for those magical few days. Emma took all the stress and worry away, nothing was too much trouble. She even made special gluten-free brownies and granola, so Michelle, who is a coeliac, could have the same as everyone else.
Paul captured the spirit of our wedding day with the most beautiful, informal photographs. Watching them as a slideshow brings back such happy memories in a way that traditional posed wedding photos can never do. Jake and Lucy, our grandchildren, picking flowers and arranging them for the ceremony. Alison and Michelle, our daughters helping each other get ready. Simon and John, our son-in-law and future son-in-law, having a sneaky beer before the ceremony. Lucy, pulling me through the archway because “We’ll be late!” when she heard the strains of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I just called to say I love you’ startup. Jake clutching the ring boxes tight, just in case they jumped out of his hands. The ceremony itself, when Mike and I found out that although we had written our words separately, we had said exactly the same thing. And afterwards, the fun and laughter while having champagne and Emma’s amazing canapes in the sunshine out in the garden.
All those beautiful, special memories Emma, Paul, and the whole of the Treseren family helped to create. Paul even taught us how to be ‘Bat Whisperers’ in the evening while we toasted marshmallows over the fire.
And now, we are all looking forward to coming back to Treseren in July 2021. Michelle and John fell in love with Shepherd’s House, Emma, Paul, and the Treseren family. So much so they cancelled their original wedding venue, so that they too could celebrate their marriage at the ‘homestead under the stars.’
I came to Treseren as a bride, I’m returning as the mother of the bride. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll come back as the grandmother of the bride.
Our sincere thanks to Cathy for writing this for us.
