I found Ever After ages ago through Instagram, and happily dipped into the wonderful vibe of folk in love marrying in this beautiful open air, riverside nook on the edge of my beloved Dartmoor. Last summer, Nicola published a new wedding plan – Ceremony Only Elopement weddings – which was exactly what we wanted: to marry locally, somewhere naturally beautiful. We also love that Ever After is an expertly run family affair, without any of the trappings of a corporate world.
Nicola swiftly hosted a socially distanced Ever After tour, and we booked our Spring 2021 wedding immediately, guided through the legal logistics calmly and expertly by Nicola.
As with most wedding couples through 2020/21, our plans had to change and were pretty much on hold until Feb 2021. We waited for the Gov announcement, after which the Ever After ninjas threw themselves into action, and created our perfect wedding in just over 6 weeks – extending our Ceremony Only into a full on Elopement wedding to accommodate a wedding breakfast for our party of 15. Even though it was not what we had originally planned, our day was just perfect; a wonderful, magical day, the birds singing, sun shining, surrounded by love, enjoying a decadent woodland feast in the most beautiful surroundings. All of Ever After’s organisation was skilful and discrete, seamless from top to toe – the timings, the music, the artistry of the floral decorations (bouquet and buttonhole were DIVINE!), the indescribable attention to minute detail, the care for us as a couple and for our loved ones who were with us, the delicious cake and Epicurean banquet, the heavenly tablescape, the ease with which our photographer coaxed the best out of two camera-shy introverts. I can’t think of a detail that I would now change.
My advice for anyone who wants a magical, intimate wedding in a woodland, riverside setting: trust Ever After – place yourselves in their expert hands – you will not regret it.’
This is what we would like to say directly to you, as concisely as possible (in addition to the above), without leaving out any of the words that need to be said:
Every wedding should be special – something has gone badly wrong if a wedding day falls down in any way. I’ve been to many weddings, and always cry because they are just so beautifully gorgeous. Our wedding at Ever After was nothing short of special. I cried at ours too.
‘Special’, though, doesn’t seem to stretch far enough to adequately describe the relaxed and magical intimacy of our wedding in the beautiful woodland dreamscape at Lower Grenofen. The expert organisation, both by email beforehand and in-the-flesh on the day, felt seamless. Each detail was deftly, artistically and (dare I say it) lovingly cared for: quietly and meticulously ensuring the music and ceremony timings flowed without hitch, just like the peaceful meander of the Walkham that day (unflappable even when Greg changed his mind from waiting in the barn for me to walking in with me just 3 minutes before the ceremony was due to start!); the hot water bottle and blankets waiting in the wedding barn to fend off a chill settling on my poorly mum; the ivy on the ceremony arch and majestic feast table freshly foraged from a tree by Flora the same morning; the professional ease which oozed from Sally as she ensured our loved ones enjoyed every morsel of their feast. Clare coaxed the best out of two camera-shy introverts – her photographs tell our story perfectly, and Amanda’s floral mastery is a wonder in itself. I have dried Greg’s buttonhole and my bouquet so that we might preserve an essence of their beauty. Our wedding breakfast and cake were an Epicurean delight thanks to Ollie and Harrie – delicious from canapes, through the entire feast to the mezze board that we dived into as dusk settled into darkness.
What sets Ever After apart is, I think, how very personal it is as it’s core in its ethos and approach to each couple. Like you say, Nicola, there is no cookie cutter wedding at Ever After – you ensure that every wedding is as individual and idiosyncratic as the couple who are marrying each other, expertly creating space for all of the love and fun and sunshine, out of which is borne the all-elusive enchantment which weaves and whispers through the very heart of Ever After.
We cannot thank you enough for our beautiful, intimate, happy, magical, fun-filled, love-filled, gorgeous day; we will forever carry it in our hearts.
Kindest,
Greg and Jeanette