Jenna & Bailey
A Dream Destination: Jenna and Bailey’s Cyprus Wedding Adventure
Wedding Singer Jenna Bay and partner Bailey jetted off to Cyprus for a three day wedding weekend extravaganza like no other!
Together since school, Jenna and Bailey live in Huddersfield. A wedding singer by trade, Jenna has played witness to hundreds of weddings over the years; now it was her turn to sparkle!
It was on a holiday to Majorca in 2022 that Bailey, ‘the king of winging it’ in Jenna’s words, popped the question. ‘He’s too chill to think about everything and didn’t make a set in stone plan’, Jenna said. The couple stumbled across the stunning Eglesia Nova Catholic Church in the village of Son Servera during a day out. Bailey made a decision in that moment to pop the question, which worked out perfectly as a photographer happened to be there to capture the romantic moment.
Bethan explained how there are woods you can walk through just five minutes from the couple’s house; the perfect location for their engagement story. ‘John had planned to go on a normal walk up to the woods, look out at some of the pretty viewpoints. He scouted out a spot overlooking a reservoir, got down on one knee and popped the question’, Bethan says. Bethan had no idea John would propose during the walk; when she said yes, the pair went
back home and celebrated in the garden with some fizz.
As a wedding singer herself, Jenna knew from the start she didn’t want a UK wedding as she didn’t want it to feel like work; ‘I knew I wanted to be abroad, which was the right decision when we chose Cyprus as I’d never been there, so felt like a real bride’.
The happy couple decided on a Cyprus wedding which followed a legal ceremony in the UK at York registry office. Their abroad wedding venue was the Liopetro Venue situated in the stunning Aphrodite Hills. ‘I just found the venue on Instagram, it was really nice and simple, which meant we could dress it however we wanted as it was a blank canvas’, Jenna says.
The wedding would be a full weekender with all the couple’s close friends and
family attending.
From finding the venue to the big day, the happy couple had an 11 month planning timeline. ‘We booked Hooton in the January and got married in the November; we had no issues, prioritised the main things and tried not to get too hung up on smaller details’, Bethan says.
The Planning
Jenna and Bailey’s wedding planning ran smoothly, aside from a few language barrier issues that were easily sorted out.
Jenna’s bridal dress was from Hoops A Daisy Bridal in Huddersfield local to where they live. She fell in love with a heavier satin dress so the shop altered it to make it a little lighter, and the pockets didn’t go unappreciated either!
When shopping for wedding suits, Jenna & Bailey went to family run Joshua Adams Menswear in Cleckheaton.
Asking about their experience there, the pair couldn’t say enough good words about
the team.
‘From the first day we went right up until after the wedding day, they couldn’t be happier for us. You genuinely feel like you’re their only clients; all the groomsmen got their suits from there, I joked with Stephanie the owner that she’d kitted out half of Cyprus in Joshua Adams. I think because it’s family run, we felt that they really cared about us; when Bailey came out in his suit, his face was lit up, you could see he felt amazing. Stephanie made the whole experience so fun and special, recommending a three piece tuxedo to Bailey. She even had the buttons made black to match and tailored it so it was a better fit for him. Stephanie recommended braces and bow ties to me which I was unsure of, but they looked absolutely brilliant. When I was struggling to find a veil, Stephanie even offered to make me one! I now recommend all the grooms I work with to go to Joshua Adams for their suits’, Jenna says.
Entertainment was a big deal for the happy couple, what with Jenna working in the industry.
‘I didn’t want to be performing at my own wedding, so I flew The Undercover Waiters out to Cyprus’, Jenna says. Jenna and Bailey had gone away ahead of everyone else to sort out final wedding bits; they were away for 10 days, with guests dropping in as the week went on.
‘One thing we found in Cyprus was that people couldn’t do enough for us’, Jenna says.
‘One night we’d booked to go to a traditional taverna, the owner was buzzing that I’d brought so many people, she got live dancers in and a band and we were all smashing plates.’
The Wedding Day
The night before the wedding, the happy couple and their guests enjoyed a beach party between Paphos and Coral Bay. ‘The atmosphere was incredible’, Jenna remembers as everyone was drinking cocktails as the sun set over the horizon; simply beautiful.
On the wedding morning, Jenna and Bailey parted ways from their shared villa and Bailey went to get ready at his mum’s villa. Jenna went to the Liopetro venue to get ready with her bridesmaids. One wonderful surprise was from Bailey’s sister who had just had a baby; she flew out to surprise the pair.
During her bridal prep, Jenna told how everyone was dancing; ‘With me being in the entertainment industry, all my friends are either singers or performers, so we were all singing and dancing to the Mamma Mia soundtrack and the whole wedding was basically Mamma Mia themed’.
As the wedding ceremony was due to begin, a double decker bus picked all the guests up and dropped them at the venue.
The ceremony was at 4pm, and was Jenna’s favourite part of the day as one of the couple’s close friends got to marry them. ‘We asked him to marry us as we wanted something personal. He’s been both our friends for 10 years and made a bespoke ceremony where he told our love story. He even got my sister to give a surprise speech which was lovely.
In the wedding industry, I see a lot of ceremonies and vows, so personalisation was really important to me. Our ceremony was unique and funny and just perfect for us’.
Following the ceremony, Jenna, Bailey and their guests enjoyed a Cypriot barbecue mezze, with guests commenting that it was the best food they’d ever eaten.
Jenna was still tucking into her food when the undercover waiters came out and surprised everyone, kickstarting the party atmosphere and starting up a conga. The pair also had a saxophonist and DJ for their entertainment; ‘we didn’t need much more entertainment as the wedding was so late in the day’, Jenna says.
The rest of the evening went by in a whirlwind as the happy couple and their guests danced under the stars. Their first dance was to ‘Take my Hand’ by Picture This. Jenna and Bailey even had a Mamma Mia flashdance performed by some of their wedding guests who had initially performed it on Jenna’s hen party. At midnight, the bus came and picked everyone back up to take them home. This was particularly memorable for Jenna and Bailey, ‘on the drive back, the bus was blasting music out and beeping everyone as they got off at their hotel. I was sat sobbing at the back saying ‘this is the best day of my life’, Jenna remembers.
The party didn’t end there; the day after the wedding the happy couple hired two boats for a huge boat party in the blue lagoon. ‘We had a groom’s boat and a bride’s boat’, Jenna says. Drinks were flowing and partygoers were swimming
and talking; a final sunset was enjoyed before guests
headed back home.
Aside from the wedding, Jenna, Bailey and their guests made the most of their time in Cyprus, with days out quad biking and nights out in karaoke bars. ‘All the guests had the time of their lives, it was a beautiful 10 days away and everything felt easy’, Jenna says.
The couple found Cyprus as a whole simply beautiful, with locals grateful to look after the couple and their guests.
Following their wedding weekender abroad, Jenna and Bailey had a night do back here in the UK at The Venue in Halifax. ‘It was like one big reunion with everyone dancing all night,’ Jenna remembers. ‘We even had an open mic with my guitarist and had guitar-aoke, everyone got up singing and we had our first dance again’.
When asked what advice they’d give other couples, Jenna says,’Always prioritise entertainment and food because that’s what your guests will remember over anything else – being a wedding singer I see the impact that live music has on guests, you get so many lulls during a wedding day and it makes a difference to have entertainment during those’.
It truly sounds like a wedding weekend to remember for Jenna and Bailey; they plan to go on honeymoon next year if they can tear themselves away from their busy schedule of attending all their friends weddings!
List of Suppliers
Legal Wedding Photographer: Francesca Bravo Photography
Photographer/Videographer: Clique Visuals
Entertainment: The Undercover Waiters
Suits: Joshua Adams
Dress: Hoops a Daisy Huddersfield
Venue: Liopetro Venue, Cyprus
Venue: York Registry Office
Florist: Frame Florist Cyprus
Stationery: Withlovefromx