Inside: A Magical Festival Wedding At Fforest

From years of near-misses at the same university to a chance dating app match and a seaside proposal outside a Whitstable pub, step inside Rosy and Aidan’s magical, festival-style wedding at Fforest.

The story so far

We met back in 2017 – we matched on an app without knowing we went to the same university. We had lived on the same road, and Aidan had worked at Jesters, the famous Southampton dive bar that I used to go to regularly, so no doubt he had served me at some point over the years. We met up in the Magic Garden in Battersea one Sunday and then didn’t go more than a few days without seeing each other ever since.

Poor Aidan carried an engagement ring around Mexico without that working out (after a series of unfortunate events), so the weekend after we got back, he took me to Whitstable (a place we love), where we sat outside the Old Neptune pub with plastic cups of wine and he got down on one knee. It’s a gold Art Deco-style ring with an emerald-cut diamond, shouldered by two baguettes on either side. It was designed and made by Jessie Harris.

Venue

We got married at Fforest. We fell in love with Fforest because of the vibe; it really has a magical atmosphere – it’s so special. We have been back since being married and still find it as magical as ever. Fforest were so flexible with all our ideas, and we really love that there are so many different spaces so you can really take guests on a journey.

We got married in the quarry, which is a dramatic slate backdrop. We wanted a real festival feel with our friends around us, and Fforest really fulfilled that dream. It has a little onsite pub, Y Bwthyn, which meant it was sold at first sight when Aidan saw it.

We had a pizza and pub quiz night the evening before, hosted by our good friend Joe Kettle, with friends and family back-to-back on the decks (Josh, George, and Ben). We also had a BBQ breakfast the day after to help cure sore heads. Fforest also has a cold plunge and sauna, and spaces to wild swim..

Fashion

My dress was made by Lisa Lyons Montgomery. She was so wonderful to work with. I wanted a plain white fabric with big ’80s puffy sleeves, a square neckline, an A-line skirt, a corseted top, and a big detachable bow on my lower back – and Lisa delivered exactly that. She also made me a replica mini dress for the evening change.

My something blue was a tiny blue bear pin that my second cousin made for me, which was pinned into the inside of my dress.

The shoes I wore on the day were Gucci, and my evening party shoes were Miu Miu. Aidan’s suit was from Tailor Made London, his shoes were from Duke & Dexter, and his accessories included a Gucci tie and Gucci cufflinks.

Jewellery

I wore a vintage gold snake-chain necklace and small gold pearl hoops from Astrid & Miyu, with my usual gold stacked earrings. I also had Celine sunglasses and a white pearl Shrimps bag. In the evening, I changed my earrings to a pink crystal drop pair from Jennifer Beyr to go with my Miu Miu shoes, and my bridesmaid – a make-up artist friend – Faye put lots of micro Swarovski crystals across my eyes.

Bridal party

We had bridesmaids in all different vibrant-coloured dresses to match the colourful feel of the rest of the wedding. They were from all different places – Sister Jane, independent Etsy tailors, and Georgia Hardinge.

The groomsmen all wore green linen suits from Suit Direct, each tailored individually.

The flower girls were in white dresses with a bow at the back like mine, paired with little leopard-print shoes.

The page boys wore dusty green jersey co-ords, orange bandana neckerchiefs, and little beige Birkenstock mules. We made our page boys “Ring Security”; they had earpieces and took their job very seriously – people were even getting ID’d by them for doughnuts.

We bought the groomsmen all engraved hip flasks and silk pocket squares.

We bought the bridesmaids embroidered bags, a piece of Murano glass (a vase, etc.) in the same colour as their chosen dress, and a scented candle in the same scent we had burning on the wedding day.

Tablescape

Luckily, my mum, Jane Le Bon, is a visual merchandiser. She works for museums and galleries but also styles stately homes at Christmas, so she helped us a lot.

We had different-coloured glassware, vases, and candles, lots of disco balls – we wanted a party feel rather than anything too formal; after all, it was a celebration of our love for each other. Like many, we love Glastonbury – it’s where Aidan first told me he loved me – so we used all the stage names for our table names, with the family in the Healing Fields and our naughty friends in the South Eastern Corner.

All our wedding stationery fell into the same theme, with vibrant colours and line sketches by my talented artist cousin, Tallulah Le Bon, and graphic designer brother, Louis Le Bon. Tallulah also painted our table plan.

Aidan has always worked in the beer industry, so we had our own beer brewed by Anspach & Hobday: “The Disco Ball & Chain.” The label was designed by our friend Ty Cochrane. We had personalised matches and playing cards as favours, too, as we love a holiday rummi championship.

We had our ceremony flowers created by Green and Wild Flowers, who did a beautiful job. My mum and Aunty Yasmin did the table and stunning cedar barn flowers – we picked them all up the day before, driving down to Wales from Covent Garden Flower Market.

Food & drinks

For our drinks reception, we had champagne and beer from Anspach & Hobday, as well as other breweries in Aidan’s career: Brick Brewery, Villages Brewery, Two Tribes, and Camden Town Brewery. We then had pub snacks from Serious Pig, bags of crisps, and oysters from Atlantic Edge Oysters – a nod to our engagement in Whitstable.

We love the food at Fforest, and we went for a menu of burrata starter, a main of BBQ’d Welsh hogget with potatoes and salads, and lots of wine, beer, and cocktails. Post-dinner, we went outside for Mr Whippy ice cream truck for dessert. There were doughnuts from local bakery CRWST, cheese from Caws Cenarth, espresso martinis, and margaritas.

Entertainment

My bridal party walked down the aisle to Fleetwood Mac’s “You Make Loving Fun.” I walked down the aisle to a family band – my wonderful cousins (Songbird Sound: Amber, Saffron, Tallulah Le Bon, and Benji Compston Le Bon) plus my brother Tom Le Bon singing Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” They also sang The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” in the ceremony.

Our band, Brother From Another, played an unplugged version of Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down the Line” when we signed the register, and we exited to Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True.”

We made our entrance to the wedding breakfast to Hooked on a Feeling by Björn Skifs & Blue Swede. Our first dance was Bob Marley’s Is This Love?, as we’d had one of our favourite ever dates at his house in Jamaica.

During the party, we had a set from the same family band that played at the ceremony (Songbird Sound + Tom Le Bon & Felix Archer, with my dad on harmonica and saxophone). They covered Sum 41’s “In Too Deep” – the first album Aidan and I both bought – and also slipped in “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Señorita” (Justin Timberlake), and “The Jean Genie” (David Bowie).

Beauty regime & wellness

My make-up artist was one of my dearest friends and bridesmaids, Faye Bluff. My hair was done by Keiron Justin Fowles; we went from a twisted low relaxed bun to my hair down and tousled.

I swear by the Dr Dennis Gross peel wipes – I used them the night before (even after more drinks than I had planned!) to still wake up with an exfoliated glow.

Honeymoon

We mini-mooned in Sardinia and honeymooned travelling Japan.

Advice

The moments spent alone together are the ones you’ll remember most clearly – so make time to protect them. Get married somewhere you can revisit and stay; it makes a special treat going back. Fforest opens year-round, and with its feast weekends, seasonal events and restaurant collaborations, there’s always a reason to come back. We visited for a quiet weekend, to soak up the sun for the last summer feast, and plan to return again this summer with our best friends. As our friendship group grows, with more and more kids, we are looking forward to taking them too. We love catching up with all those who looked after us on our special day, as well as the Tucker-Lynch family who own Fforest.