Showing posts with label Sea-Side. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sea-Side. Show all posts

Thursday 28 March 2013

Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Cornish Wedding: Gary & Lian - Portrait Pictures

This Cornish wedding has me longing for some sunshine and the seaside! The lovely Gary and Liam celebrated their big day at The Carbis Bay Hotel in St Ives. Liam was seven months pregnant, and looked amazing in her silk Tiffany Rose dress - definitely a great option for maternity wedding dresses. With tonnes of wedding pictures to show you, I've split the wedding into three - these are the imaginative portrait pictures by Keith Riley Photography. I love all the beach shots {didn't they have fab weather for autumn!}, in particular the No.29 beach hut picture {they got married on 29th October}. Gary and Lian’s happy place is an upside down pear tree - whenever they are apart they say to each other “meet you under the upside down pear tree”. So, Keith and his wife, Neda, bought chalk with them so Gary could draw a tree on the beach hut! Doesn't it look fantastic, and such a wedding portrait idea.




We met at a nightclub in our home town of Southend on sea. The first time I saw Gary was when he was dirty dancing with a bar stool trying to impress some other girls. For some bizarre reason I found his dancing attractive and went over to talk to him later on.


When we were all outside leaving we were chatting and he gave me his business card to which his friend said you don't want that, and gave me his train ticket instead! Later on that night we talked on the phone until Gary fell asleep under his dining room table.




Gary was going to propose to me whilst we were in New York. He had booked the table, set the house up for our return as an engaged couple, and even asked my uncle's permission. Unfortunately we never made it to New York, as snow left us stranded on the run way at Heathrow airport and eventually our flights were cancelled.

He proposed to me at home in the front room the next day while the rugby was on, which was still incredibly special, as we are both rugby fans! Even though it was not how he planned it, his proposal was off the cuff, real and honest from him.



We chose our wedding photographer by doing lots of research online. We knew we didn't want a traditional wedding photographer, and the typical line-up style of pictures. We liked Keith Riley Photography as his website showed a diverse range of work, including tattoo photography!


When we met Keith and his wife Neda, we completely jelled with them. Their work and ideas were brilliant, and we now consider them to be friends, who we'll always go and visit when we are in Cornwall.



♥ Want to see yellow-themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more autumn wedding ideas? ♥
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Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Cornish Wedding: Gary & Lian

With stacks of creative wedding details and mustard-yellow wedding theme, you can't fail to fall in love with this sunny seaside wedding. Gary and Lian celebrated their big day at The Carbis Bay Hotel in St Ives, and with its gorgeous views over the bay, it was always going to be a special affair. All the wedding details fit perfectly together, and I'm head-over-heels in love with the pretty wedding flowers - a mix of formal and wild arrangements. Miniature daisies are definitely my favourite flower for 2013. Lian was lucky enough to be seven months pregnant on her big day, which meant a change of wedding dress, but she ended up preferring her Tiffany Rose maternity gown over her original choice. Teamed with Aldo wedding shoes and unique Etsy jewellery, she looked fabulous on her wedding day. I'm also seriously impressed by Gary's dapper Ted Baker suit and Liberty London mustard-yellow tie. Huge thanks to Keith Riley Photography for his beautiful wedding pictures. Don't miss the Portraits and Reception Details, coming later this afternoon.

We got married in Cornwall, which is our spiritual home, and somewhere which has always felt like home. We were lucky enough to find the wonderful Carbis Bay Hotel in Carbis Bay in St Ives. It was so beautiful. As soon as we drove down the hill to see it we knew it was something special.







Gary's wedding outfit came from Ted Baker, tie from Liberty London, shirt came from the Savile Row Company, cuff links from Mulberry, hankerchief from Aubin & Wills and deer brooch from Etsy.


I had my first wedding dress made by a local dressmaker I have used in the past. I didn't want a traditional wedding gown so we designed something which was classic, but different. Five months before the wedding we were lucky enough to find out I was pregnant, so my dress had to be changed!


I found a company called Tiffany Rose who specialise in maternity wear and bought one of their wedding dresses. In actual fact I massively preferred my maternity wedding gown to my first - it must have been fate! My shoes came from Aldo as I wanted a particular mustard-yellow shade, and they happened to have them. My jewellery was simple and classic, and came from Etsy.


We chose our wedding florist from doing research online {from home in Essex}, and then going to see them in person in Cornwall. We decided to use Anna Sawle of Wedding Flowers in Cornwall because she seemed to completely understand what we wanted, while having lots of her own ideas as well.



We celebrated our wedding ceremony in the conservatory overlooking the sea with beautiful blue sky and sunshine. The backdrop of the sea and beach was perfect.


We didn't have to buy many decorations, as the hotel is decorated beautifully and fitted with our theme easily. We had mustard and grey as our theme, because we wanted autumnal colours.




We chose our wedding photographer by doing lots of research online. We knew we didn't want a traditional wedding photographer, and the typical line-up style of pictures. We liked Keith Riley Photography as his website showed a diverse range of work, including tattoo photography! 


When we met Keith and his wife Neda, we completely jelled with them. Their work and ideas were brilliant, and we now consider them to be friends, who we'll always go and visit when we are in Cornwall.



♥ Want to see yellow-themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more autumn wedding ideas? ♥
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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Real Cornish Coastal Wedding: Julie & Ben - Part 2

Time for the beautiful reception pictures from this lovely Cornish coastal wedding. Julie and Ben created many of the wedding details themselves, as {like most of us}, they had to keep to a tight wedding budget. Julie DIY'd her wedding stationery, table plan, and her wedding favours, adding the personal touch that makes a wedding stand out from the crowd. I love the hedgerow themed wedding flowers, the simply billowing marquee, and the traditional English deckchairs. Don't miss Julie's fantastic advice for future brides, or Part 1 of this gorgeous wedding! Huge thanks to Alan Law Photography for these beautiful wedding pictures.

We tied the knot on the 30th of June 2012 at an amazing venue in Cornwall called Fentafriddle. We picked this date as it was my Dad’s birthday {who sadly passed away}, and we thought this would be a great way to keep celebrating the date.


We didn’t have a wedding colour theme as such. The bridesmaid dresses were gold and cream, and our bouquets were based around the hedgerow. Daisies featured throughout. We both just wanted it to feel natural and bright.

Choosing our wedding venue wasn’t about location, as we looked all around the UK. Our most important request was that it had to be relaxed and child friendly, and we wanted our close friends and family to be able to stay with us before and after the big day. Wedding days can pass so fast and you just want to cherish the moment for as long as you can. 

When we saw Fentafriddle we both immediately knew it was the venue for us. The view over the sea just takes your breath away.



Because the landscape of the venue was so stunning we hardly had to do any decorating. Flowers required were minimal and I wanted to make the table plan and centre pieces myself for that personal touch.


Each table was named after a place that meant a lot to us, so we had Canterbury as we both attended university there, Kentish Town which is where we first lived together, and the head table was of course Trebarwith Strand where Fentafriddle sits proudly. and will always be in our hearts.


A local florist in Delabole called Bruallen did our wedding flowers. The ladies there are just amazing. Neither of us knew anything about flowers and they immediately understood our requirements. All I knew was that I wanted an antique rose to feature in my bouquet and I wanted the flowers on the table to be loose, natural and bright. Our wedding flowers were just lovely and most of them came from various local Cornish farmers that very morning.


At first we weren’t going to have a wedding cake and planned just going to have a desert that could be cut in front of our guests. Our caterer came up with the idea of a giant pavlova with fresh berries, and not only did it look stunning, but the flavours were immense. 


I really do recommend our caterer. The quality of the food was superb and she was so laid back about the day which rubbed off on us, and the people she employed on the day were great fun. Her name was Fee Turner. But in the end close friends of ours had a cake made for us as a gift, and it was beautiful and was cream and gold. So you could call us greedy as we ended up having two cakes!


Our wedding favours were stones inscribed with paraphrases from the readings included in the ceremony. Quite often we’ll go around someone’s house and the stone will be used as a doorstop or sitting on the side and it always makes me smile. We also placed a small card at each table-place, including a poem by Dr Seus and a brief thank you on the back. The main reason for both was to add a personal touch, but I won't lie, keeping costs down was also a factor. 



In the beginning I really enjoyed planning our wedding. But nearer the time I did start to feel the pressure, and even though I don't regret it now, I did start to regret having to do some of my DIY projects - the table plan and favours!



My advice to brides would be....let others help when they ask, don’t panic if things go wrong on the day. Our generator packed up at around 11pm and when I walked back in the marquee on the verge of feeling emotional and stressed all I could see were lighters in the air and my guests singing Wonderwall {by Oasis}. This turned out to be an amazing way to end the evening. You just have to not let anything ruin your day, and remember it’s probably only a problem to you, and not to your guests.



If you're having a marquee always request to see your order up and in working order long before your wedding. We were unfortunately disappointed with the quality of ours as it wasn't what we had ordered. But again only Ben and I noticed, guests were none the wiser. Don’t place too much emphasis on your wedding shoes if you're wearing a long wedding dress. No-one really notices details like this! Enjoy your day, as it’s one of the only times in your life you are surrounded by everyone you love! I don’t think I stopped smiling from the beginning to the end. 


Our wedding photographer was Alan Law. Both his profile and gallery attracted me to his work as we wanted someone that would be able to take natural photos, which is exactly what he did for us on the day. He also stayed late past the first dance, and fair play to him, as the drink had been flowing all day and at points the dance floor was quite intense. The result was we loved our pictures and we couldn’t have asked for anything more!


More Posts Like This One
Real Summer Countryside Wedding
Real Pretty Marquee Wedding

♥ Want to see seaside weddings ideas? ♥ Or how about more summer wedding ideas? ♥
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Monday 25 February 2013

Real Cornish Coastal Wedding: Julie & Ben

Even though it's freezing outside, this gorgeous Cornish coastal wedding is bound to warm you up, and get you inspired for your summer weddings. Julie and Ben celebrated their big day seconds from the sea, and a stunning {if windswept beach}. They didn't plan a particular wedding theme, but let their natural, bright wedding venue do the talking. I love Julie's elegant Lusan Mandongus wedding gown, with its sexy scooped back, and her simple up-do, while the flowers girls were super-cute in Monsoon. Julie's stunning bouquet included blooms collected from local Cornish farmers the morning of her wedding, and her florist found inspiration from the hedgerows - LOVE! Huge thanks to Alan Law Photography for these beautiful wedding pictures. We've got lots more reception shots to publish tomorrow - don't miss them!

My wedding dress was brought from a wonderful shop in St Albans called Satin Bow Bridal. The dress is a Lusan Mandongus gown called Gem and I just loved the low cut back. But it was tricky to find suitable underwear!


Both my hair accessory and my back drop necklace {perfect with my wedding gown} were from Chez Bec. My shoes were from Girls of Elegance and were called ‘Gwen’. But to be honest far too much effort went into picking the shoes, as no-one saw them and they got completely trashed from the soft ground.


We tied the knot on the 30th of June 2012 at an amazing venue in Cornwall called Fentafriddle. We picked this date as it was my Dad’s birthday {who sadly passed away}, and we thought this would be a great way to keep celebrating the date.


Choosing our wedding venue wasn’t about location, as we looked all around the UK. Our most important request was that it had to be relaxed and child friendly, and we wanted our close friends and family to be able to stay with us before and after the big day. Wedding days can pass so fast and you just want to cherish the moment for as long as you can. When we saw Fentafriddle we both immediately knew it was the venue for us. The view over the sea just takes your breath away.


Both of the adult bridesmaids' dresses were from House of Fraser, made by Anoushka G {both bought on sale}. The little flower girl dresses were from Monsoon. The top of the dress was gold crochet and they both looked adorable.



Poor Ben was left with the last of the budget so instead of buying a wedding suit or hiring one out we thought he should buy a suit that he could continue to use at work. It was a Charles Tyrwhitt suit and the colour was dark chocolate.


We met in Ibiza seven years ago at the Hed Kandi closing party {the same night Ben fell down some stairs, and only realised in the morning he had a broken leg!}. Unfortunately I only found out he was interested in me via my friend at the airport on the way home, and I was disappointed she hadn’t told me earlier! The same friend later went to a house party back in the UK and Ben just so happened to be there, and he asked her to pass his number onto me. I wanted very much to find out more about him, got in contact and the rest is of course history!


Ben proposed on New Year’s Eve 2010, right before we were going to enter into the Hogmanay Street party in Edinburgh. He got down on one knee and I presumed he was tying his laces so I walked a little further on. When I heard him call my name I couldn’t believe what was happening, and I think in shock I kept saying ‘really?’ for a good few minutes. Once I pulled myself together I gave him a big hug and said ‘of course I will’. At the time we didn’t have enough money for an engagement ring so he brought me a fabulous keepsake ring broken into three which is meant to represent the past, present and future.

Our wedding photographer was Alan Law. Both his profile and gallery attracted me to his work as we wanted someone that would be able to take natural photos, which is exactly what he did for us on the day. He also stayed late past the first dance, and fair play to him, as the drink had been flowing all day and at points the dance floor was quite intense. The result was we loved our pictures and we couldn’t have asked for anything more!


More Posts Like This One
Real Seaside & Sweetie Wedding
Real Nautical-Themed Wedding

♥ Want to see seaside weddings ideas? ♥ Or how about more summer wedding ideas? ♥
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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.
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