RUSH TO GET MARRIED IN GIRAFFE SHED
New venue fully booked before opening
THEY haven’t even opened yet, but they are booked for their first year, and are already fielding inquiries for 2020. The buzz around this new Welsh wedding venue started as soon as the first pictures were posted to Instagram.
“We weren’t planning on doing any [weddings] this year,” explained cofounder Hannah Evans. “But we were absolutely inundated with inquiries when our social media went live.”
Hannah is experienced in the industry, having been an award-winning wedding photographer for 10 years. Her husband and business partner, Neil was able to turn his hand to doing the bulk of the work on the build of the shed.
The couple grew up nearby. The shed is on Neil’s family farm, and they returned home from Cardiff after the birth of their second child.
Both Hannah, 37, and Neil, 40, studied in Cardiff, photography and electrical engineering respectively. They travelled the world post-university and settled in Cardiff before the mid-Wales move.
Neil is a third generation farmer and is back in the family business. Hannah was able to move her wedding photography business, but not long after they resettled the idea for a wedding venue began. That thought quickly turned into action.
“It was probably about 12 months ago we started to build and it really just came from a conversation and me saying that I wish we had our own venue here,” says Hannah. “We chatted to Neil’s parents, and everybody was on board.”
Hannah’s background in the industry was instrumental in how the building was designed. The pair looked to make use of the light to enhance the experience of the venue.
“Shooting up to 40 weddings a year, and seeing different venues, was quite good at seeing how people did it wrong and did it right,” said Hannah.
When working, it was festival weddings that Hannah enjoyed shooting the most and says she has taken inspiration from them. This type of wedding normally sees the catering done by food trucks and Hannah can’t wait to work with street food traders at the site.
When asked how she would sum up the feel of a wedding she is aiming for, Hannah said: “Alternative, relaxed, badass, festival, unwedding, and non traditional.”
Hannah believes their social media will ensure that people get what the venue is all about.
“We want our brides and grooms to really get what we are about. We want them to come in and put their own stamp on it, but understand it’s a farm at the end of the day,” she said.
The name and design came from a shed that had previously sat on the plot.
“There was a shed there originally, years ago. Neil’s granddad called it the giraffe shed, and nobody knows why. We think it had something to do with the windows,” said Hannah.
They used local builders on the project, but Neil, along with his father, did the bulk of the work on the shed.
When they started the build, they started posting progress on social media and it “blew up.” Straight away they were fielding inquiries from couples wanting to use the venue, despite it still being a shell.
The first couple that will use the Giraffe Shed is coming from California. The bride to be is from Cardiff, with her partner American and she found it through Google and Instagram.
Weddings at the Giraffe Shed get the venue for the whole weekend, costing £3,000 for the three days. While this means it will limit the number of times they will host guests, it means they will be able to focus on each ceremony.
The shed is licensed for 100 guests for the ceremony and 120 for the evening.
This year they are only hosting eight and will look to go up to 15 for 2020. They are also looking to shepherd hut accommodation for 16 guests next year. Others are free to camp on the neighbouring field.