With over 15 years of experience between them, our wedding team will ensure your wedding day is the most perfect day.
Always professional and willing to go the extra mile, Laura and Katie will be your dedicated wedding co-ordinator and will help you through the whole planning process from the early stages to the final details. Dewi and Georgia will be on hand on your special day to ensure everything runs smoothly so you can relax and spend the day enjoying every moment with your family and friends.
Laura Jenkins - Sales Executive
How did you get into this career and how long have you been in the industry?
My cousin had her own events company, I was curious as to what was involved. It was around the same time I was looking at University courses so read up on the events management course and it seemed really interesting.
I’ve been working as a wedding coordinator in the Vale Resort/Hensol Castle for 3 ½ years, prior to this I worked in a Cardiff hotel for 3 years.
What do you love most about your job?
I love to see the joy and excitement on newly engaged couples faces as they start their new journey together, makes all the hard work and planning worth every second.
Why did you choose to get married at Hensol Castle?
It’s a beautiful venue and I know we would be well looked after. We had a good look around at other potential venues in the area before making our decision, but none of them compared to Hensol Castle.
What are your favourite parts of the job?
Meeting newly engaged couples, seeing the excitement on their faces about booking their potential wedding, then following their journey up to their big day.
Katie Luckett - Sales Executive
What would your most important pieces of advice for couples be?
1. Enjoy the Wedding planning journey. It might feel like it’s ages away when you booked 18 months / 2 years in advance but its amazing how fast it flies round. Planning shouldn’t be stressful. Set yourselves a realistic budget with around a 5-10% contingency as there are always little costs that crop up that you’ve not thought of & you don’t want to start married life in debt! Get yourself organised with a wedding planner (or App if you are more technology savvy!) & plan little bits at a time. Make sure you start with the big things then work your way down, this way hopefully they will all link in with each other! It’s always handy to have a wedding email address so that you can both access all the communication you’ve had & keep everything in one place.
2. Enjoy the wedding day itself. This sounds like a really obvious one but it’s surprising how quickly the day can go! When the day is here, don’t stress about the little things. If you’ve forgotten a sign that you wanted to put up or you’ve not put your table sprinkles out, you can’t change it, just go with the flow, the guests won’t know they are missing! You don’t want to look back on your wedding day wishing you had spent more time with guests or enjoying yourself just because you were worried about something that you can’t change & no one but you will notice.
What does your typical day look like?
There’s never a typical day, everyday is different! Some days I can be on a viewing or a detail appointments all day, others I can be in the office answering questions & ensuring all details for a upcoming wedding are correct & in place ready for the big day! Some days I will be doing a mixture of both. Every day is a surprise!
What you do like to do in your spare time?
Myself & my fiancé have just brought our first home & relocated from Hertfordshire near London to Pencoed in October 2018 so a lot of my spare time has been taken up with decorating the house & making it our own! I attend a weekly adults Ballroom & Latin dance class as I used to dance when I was younger but had to stop when I finished school, so it feels great to get back in to dance! I also love baking, experimenting in the kitchen & going out for walks to enjoy the beautiful surroundings of countryside or seaside. I also have a pet bird called Mojito who is a Conure (type of small parrot) & I spend a lot of time with him too.
Georgia Dodd - Events Supervisor
How did you get into this career and how long have you been in the industry?
I started as a food and beverage assistant in the events department in the autumn of 2014. In 2016 I was promoted to team leader and assigned to work full time at the castle. Just under a year later I was promoted to supervisor and still currently hold this position. From the age of 16 I’ve wanted to work in the hospitality industry and here I am.
What do you love most about your job?
What I love most about my job is being able to play a role in someone’s wedding, as much as it’s someone else’s I always refer to them as mine. It gives me great satisfaction knowing my job is done and the couples dreams fulfilled.
What would your most important pieces of advice for couples be?
1. Steal a moment with your new spouse - Try to get some time together after the ceremony to embrace the fact that you just got married!! moments like these don’t happen everyday so embrace it together before with family and friends. The day will fly by, trust me. Don’t let the stress your guests enjoyment take over on the day
2. Your wedding will be one of the most cherished days of your lives together, embrace it and enjoy it for what it is. You’ve put years of planning into creating a day you won’t forget. Of course you want your guests to enjoy but It’s all about you and what you want your wedding to be not what others think and expected.
Dewi Harris - Events Assistant Manager
How did you get into this career and how long have you been in the industry?
I started at the Vale Resort over 4 years ago as an Events Assistant straight from Secondary Education. I worked my way up to a team leader and then a few months later a Supervisor. I then left the company for 8 months to work at the Hilton Hotel Cardiff. After 8 months I was offered a new position at the resort as Resort Assistant Events Manager.
What do you love most about your job?
My job is different day to day. I could be running a Dinner, Conference, Wedding or even looking after a sports team. But I love running a wedding because I feel that I am part of one of the most important events in someone’s life.
What would your 3 most important pieces of advice for couples be?
On your wedding day take 20 minutes to yourselves. A wedding day fly's by and you need sometime together.
Don't worry about your wedding day, let me and the team take the stress away from you.
Always rely on your mum and dads for good advice.
What does your typical day look like?
My typical wedding day starts with opening up Hensol Castle and preparing it for the arrival of the wedding guests. In this period I have to make sure that all the requests on the Function sheet have been fulfilled and we have completed the tasks to the high standards. I have to brief all the staff and make sure they are aware of schedule for the day. When the guests arrive for me its all about making the day run smoothly, so I try and make sure that people are in the right places at the right time. When the wedding breakfast ends its time to liaise with the external providers on where certain items are going to be placed and then to help the team set up ready for the evening reception. Shortly after we will swiftly move on to the cake cutting and first dance. Then my day finishes as the evening buffet goes out.
