Welsh newlyweds reveal how they tied the knot at Channel 4’s Escape to the Chateau

A Welsh couple who got married at TV’s Escape to the Chateau after a lockdown postponement said their wedding turned out to be the ‘best day ever’.

Lynwen Evans, 56, and Geraint Davies, 58, from Ammanford, decided to book Dick and Angel Strawbridge’s famous French château Château de la Motte-Husson for their wedding after seeing it on the Channel 4 show and thinking it looked like the ‘ideal venue’. 

Upon arrival, guests enjoyed one of Dick’s famous hog roasts and on their wedding day, the couple admired the flower arrangements and unique decorations that Angel had made for them.

On meeting Dick and Angel and visiting the venue, Lynwen, a petrol station worker, said: ‘It was absolutely amazing. Best day ever. It was like visiting old friends, they were lovely.’ 

Escape to the Chateau follows the ambitious pair as they renovate the 45-bedroom property in France, which they bought in 2014 for £280,000. 

The hit show has allowed Dick and Angel to run a flourishing wedding business from the castle, now worth an estimated £2 million. They reportedly receive up to £38,000 per wedding. The average price comes out at around £19,000. 

Fans of the show will know that Dick and Angel like to incorporate French traditions in their wedding, including the regional tradition of having guests wave napkins above their head as the bride and groom enter the dining room 

The couple confessed they were big fans of the Channel 4 show before they started planning their wedding. 

Lynwen said: ‘We were watching the programme on television and we were looking for a venue to get married and thought it would be an ideal venue.

‘We love the place, we watch the programme all the time, so we just decided to get in contact with them to see if we could arrange it.’

The couple had originally booked their wedding for 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was postponed until July this year.

The whole day was a family celebration, with Dick and Angel’s children present and Lynwen’s grandson Max, nine, walking her down the aisle to give her away (pictured) 

The couple admired the flower arrangements and unique decorations that Angel had made for them (pictured, with the flower girls) 

Not letting the delay crush their spirits, on July 16 Lynwen and Geraint, a forklift truck driver, took 42 of their closest friends and family to sunny France via coach for the weekend.

The whole day was a family celebration, with Dick and Angel’s children present and Lynwen’s grandson Max, nine, walking her down the aisle to give her away.

Fans of the show will know that Dick and Angel like to incorporate French traditions in their wedding, including the regional tradition of having guests wave napkins above their head as the bride and groom enter the dining room.

Geraint and Lynwen’s wedding was no exception as Angel had embroidered napkins with guests’ names on – with the couple surprised to walk into the reception with everyone waving them above their heads.

Lynwen said: ‘That was very moving as we didn’t expect it.’

The newlyweds say they’ve now become known as ‘that couple that got married in Escape to the Chateau’ after people saw their wedding pictures on social media.

The big day was a heavily Welsh affair, with Swansea-based bus company South Wales Transport providing the coach service, Welsh singer Chris Summerill entertaining guests, and France-based photographer Ian Wallace, from Penarth, taking photos on the day.

Bev Fowles, 74, owner of South Wales Transport said the trip was a success and that Dick and Angel were a ‘great couple’.

Bev said: ‘They made our driver David feel so at home.

‘I’ve got another booking for December direct from the château.’

Having spent £280,000 on a dilapidated 45-room chateau in France in 2014, replete with moat but devoid of electricity and water, Dick and his wife Angel began the gargantuan task of making it habitable. 

After the wedding was delayed by two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lynwen and Geraint, a forklift truck driver, took 42 of their closest friends and family to sunny France via coach for the weekend

Geraint and Lynwen’s wedding extra special, with Angel embroidering napkins with guests’ names on

The resultant documentary — Channel 4’s Escape To The Chateau (ETTC) — which first aired in 2016 and enraptured the nation in 32 episodes, over seven seasons, has become one of the station’s most popular shows.

It has propelled Dick, an engineer, and wife Angel, a designer, to stardom.

A six-course wedding dinner plus canapes upon arrival, a cheese and meat table during the evening and an unlimited full bar for the day for the maximum 80 guests will set you back £20,000, a post-wedding brunch £1,600 and hiring the chateau for the weekend is £6,250. 

There have been spin-off ranges of flowers, home fragrance and soft furnishings, all capitalising on the couple’s skill and affable demeanour.

The big day was a heavily Welsh affair, with Swansea-based bus company South Wales Transport providing the coach service