A farmer’s wife whose wedding boutique business started eight years ago after diversifying and selling their dairy herd has been named the best in Wales.

Angela Jones, of Castle Brides, says it is “very special” to be recognised as Wedding Boutique of the Year at the Welsh Wedding Awards.

She said: “To be up against boutiques from Swansea and Cardiff, it’s a little bit overwhelming. It’s a massively hard industry and we’re proud to be a thriving rural business.”

The Castle Brides team includes Angela’s sister Linda plus Heidi and Amelia. The business began in Bishops Castle, and grew “from strength to strength” after moving to a converted barn across the border to Powys at Lower Aston Farm.

“We’ve worked tirelessly to get to where we are. We love what we do and enthusiastic about what we do,” Angela said.

“We’re not just a boutique selling pretty dresses; we know the industry inside out. People feel confident to talk to us about style advice.”

Angela’s brides-to-be have travelled far and wide, from Mid Wales to the Middle East, to try to buy dresses for their big day.

“One bride-to-be, whose parents live down the road from here, flew in from Switzerland to get her dress. A Bahraini woman saw her dream dress on a blog and found that we were were the only two boutiques that had it in stock.

“But also local families and the farming community; they are all massively supportive of a local business. If they decide to become one of our brides, it’s the icing on the cake. It’s such a special time in someone’s life.”

The business started eight years ago when Angela and her husband made the difficult decision to sell their dairy herd.

Angela, who trained in fashion and design specialising in bespoke wear, needed to stock wedding dress labels to set up her business.

“The dairy cows turned into wedding dresses. It broke my husband’s heart selling them. His grandparents and parents were dairy farmers, but we couldn’t earn enough from milk prices.

“People admire that as a farm business, we’ve diversified into a successful bridal boutique.

Speaking about winning the national wedding industry award she said: “It’s overwhelming that we’ve been recognised by our customers to earn this award. It’s worth all of the hard work.