Jessica and Josh’s Real Wedding at Priston Mill in Bath
Hosting a stylish and cosy winter wedding in January, to beat those post-Christmas blues has got to be the best way to start the year! Jessica and Josh thought just the same when they tied the knot on Saturday 14th January 2023 in the Tythe Barn. We caught up with Jessica who told us all about their winter, countryside wedding.
Why did you choose Priston Mill as your wedding venue?
We choose Priston Mill near Bath as our wedding venue because the moment that we walked into the Tythe Barn we were completely blown away. We had seen photos, but nothing compared to walking in there and seeing it in person - there are no words to describe how amazing it is. The minute we saw it we both just knew it was the one for us!
It was the first and only venue we looked at because we knew nothing would even compare and I personally didn’t want to waste any time looking at alternative wedding venues as I had my heart set on Priston Mill. The whole place is incredibly scenic and beautiful, you just feel so relaxed and calm while you are there.
We knew we wanted something modern but with character and Priston Mill was exactly that! It was so homely and cosy but stylish and elegant. Just everything we were after; it ticked every single box for us and more.
Tell us about your wedding dress and the big day fashion
For my wedding dress I had my appointment at Find a Dress Bridal Wear in Chippenham with the lovely lady Nicola who owns the shop, and she was incredible from start to finish. She helped me so much and made me feel amazing every time I visited. She has every single style available and overall, I had a wonderful experience there.
At my first dress appointment, I tried on the exact dress I had been picturing in my head but I didn’t feel like I thought I would trying on this dress. It’s so true what they say, you end up picking the complete opposite, which in my case was exactly that!
When the second dress come out (the one I ended up chosing), on the hanger, I was not convinced but I tried it on and when I walked out I just knew this was the one. Even my family and friends who attended the dress fitting were crying and gave me the complete opposite reaction to the first dress, so I knew they all agreed how special this one was.
I felt so incredibly confident and comfortable in it, and it was very surreal! I knew I didn’t want anything sparkly, glitzy and lacey but more elegant, stylish, timeless and classic. I wanted to look back at our wedding photos in twenty - thirty years’ time and still love my dress.
When it came to Josh’s suit I tried to step back as much as I could as I wanted Josh to wear what he felt most comfortable in. Luckily enough he had the same idea as I did, and went for a dinner tuxedo and wow, I’m so glad he did! Again, something that just went with the vibe and style of the wedding. It couldn’t have been a more perfect fit and overall look. Everyone complimented how great he looked!
Tell us all about your hair and makeup!
So my sister in law Natasha who is a self-employed hairdresser kindly did my bridal hair and the entire bridal party. It was never an option to have anyone else for hair as she is confident in what she does and also incredibly good at it. I wanted something very elegant and classic to match the vibe of my dress and the day in general and Natasha went above and beyond to make sure it was exactly that! She even made a pocket in my hair so my veil would sit perfectly and would occasionally stop me to check my hair and kept it perfect throughout the day. All my bridesmaids looked incredible, the little flower girls also looked beautiful. I can’t thank her enough for what she did.
The bridesmaids and flower girls had navy dresses as I felt it was the appropriate colour for the time of year being a winter wedding. I also wanted the little flower girls to match (I didn’t want to stick to traditions) and it ended up working out perfectly.
We had the most incredible lady, Bridal by Bex for our makeup and wow she was incredibly talented. I found Bex on Instagram and after the trail I couldn’t get over how insanely talented she was. She was faultless and I would never use another make-up artist again!
The Decor
Josh won’t mind me saying that he didn’t have much say in the decor department and just let me do what I wanted, thank you Josh! I had originally picked some bits for the decor but after the planning meeting with the team at Priston Mill I decided that less is more. Priston Mill is so stunning that it spoke for itself, and I didn’t want to take anything away from that. An incredibly talented family friend helped me bring this vision to life and my word it was spectacular.
I originally wanted lots of foliage and greenery, but we ended up with pampas grass as I felt it gave that timeless, elegant touch.
Seeing the little snippets our incredible photographer Ryan took of them just made me burst with excitement and how incredible, and fitting for the venue they looked.
The Photographer
When we got engaged and started planning the wedding it was no question that Ryan Goold was going to be our photographer. When it came to booking Priston Mill and deciding on a date I said I must wait first to confirm with Ryan, because if he wasn't available I would have moved the date to make sure he was! I couldn’t have our wedding day without him.
When Ryan arrived at the Bath Mill Lodges where we were staying at, he immediately lit up the room. He is just like one of your friends and we didn’t feel awkward having our photos taken - we were just having a good laugh and generally chatting and enjoying ourselves. He is just the most genuine human being and nicest person ever!
I feel so lucky we had Ryan to photograph our special day and trusted him 100%. He knew Josh and me were a little awkward with posed photos but he just managed to capture the most natural and amazing moments. He certainly went above and beyond and I’ll forever be grateful to him for everything he did on our special day! I couldn’t recommend him enough to anyone looking for a photographer! Thank you Ryan, so much for making our day so special!
Darren the magician
We booked Darren for our evening entertainment and wow is all I can say!
Our guests were completely shocked at how insanely talented and entertaining he was. Darren brought pure enjoyment to our evening and everyone still to this day keeps saying how unbelievable he was. We didn’t stick to tradition throughout our wedding, and we wanted something to entertain our guests and Darren definitely did that. He will always play a huge role in wedding and in years to come we will all still speak about how incredible he was.
When I mentioned to people, we were having a magician I think they instantly think like a rabbit in a hat vibe, but that was the complete opposite it was mind blowing and jaw dropping. Thank you Darren for making our evening magical and the memories we will cherish! If I ever go to any wedding now, I want to see Darren there!
What was the best part of your day?
I mean where do I even start? It’s so hard to pick an exact moment because we had so many. I know when people say it was the most perfect day but honestly hand on our hearts it truly was, nothing went wrong, and everything went so smoothly and in our case that is something that rarely happens!
A few moments that certainly stood out were when our little girl ran down the aisle to her daddy, when our guest Chris got up after dinner to sing and none knew. I love watching the videos back from that moment. Of course, the ceremony but I feel like anyone who has been married would say it’s the most verve wracking time but of course a favourite and main moment. However personally, after the ceremony is when we felt a bit more relaxed as the most important part is over. I feel like you can enjoy it more and really start to soak in everything.
Priston Mill played a huge role in making it all happen, from start to finish they were faultless and went above and beyond for us. The team were incredible and absolutely smashed it! The professionalism from all of them didn’t go unnoticed and they made the day run so smoothly. I would like to also mention our Event Manager Katherine. She is incredible at her job and I felt like she knew me so well and just delivered on everything. I trusted her 100% and throughout the day she was amazing! I felt privileged to have her as part of the process and having her run the day, I couldn’t have asked for anyone better and I’m so grateful and thankful to her.
Priston Mill, I couldn’t recommend you highly enough, I’m so gutted the wedding is over and I don’t get to come over and have planning meetings with Katherine and get everything sorted. I truly miss it but you guys are amazing at what you do and we are so lucky we got to have the most amazing day of our lives with you at Priston Mill, so thank you so much for everything.
Words of wisdom
To anyone planning a wedding if I learnt anything it would be do what you want to do, it’s no one else’s day other than yourself and your partners. Don’t try please everyone because you won’t, you will have the people that love you and show up for you and just enjoy every moment when you can. I know it’s so stressful at times but when your day comes, and you watch everything you have planned fall into place it will all be worth it. I truly learnt so much from planning our wedding and it opened my eyes to a lot of things and I’ll be grateful to that always. You won’t get this day back so truly embrace it, remember who the day is about and enjoy it!
Venue and Catering - Priston Mill
MUA – Bridal by Bex - Professional Bridal Makeup Artist | Bridal By Bex | Bath
Photographer – Ryan Goold - Bath, Somerset and Cotswolds Wedding Photographer (ryangooldphotography.co.uk)
Magician – Darren Campbell - Darren Campbell Magician | Magician for Weddings & Corporate Events Bristol
Florist – Pinkgin_and_Pencilcases – as found on Instagram.
If you are still looking for your dream wedding venue, we would love to hear from you to plan your big day! To come and explore please do contact our team on 01225 4230894 or drop us an email at hello@pristonmill.co.uk