You may have seen one of our real 2015 weddings featured in the brand new edition of Wed Magazine this week. Jess and Chris got married here at Ever After in June last year. Although they live in London, Jess had strong family connections to this part of Devon and a Dartmoor wedding was a must for them. Jess and her sister actually used to ride past the venue as children so it was the perfect venue choice for Jess and Chris.
I thought I’d show a few more of the photos of this wedding taken by the lovely Dan Ward as a story of the day. It all starts in the morning with getting ready photos, the preparations are an important part as the excitement builds. Hair and make up were by local stylists Sisters Hair and Beauty.
Jess’s something blue were her gorgeous blue suede shoes which made a real impact with her made to measure Candy Anthony tea length dress, her something borrowed was the brooch bouquet her sister had made for her own wedding.
Although the wedding barn is about 10 steps from the honeymoon cottage where Jess got ready, she wanted to arrive at the wedding barn for the ceremony through the rose arbour. This meant getting to the bottom of the garden without being seen so my husband Steven drove Jess, her Dad and her sister in the car across the lawn to avoid being seen by the guests all sat outside the wedding barn ready for the ceremony! Jess said, “When I met Chris at the altar, everything just felt right at that moment and we both couldn’t stop smiling.” You can’t ask for more than that…
As the weather was dry on the day, the chairs for the wedding ceremony were set up outside the wedding barn. So long as the couple and the Registrar are inside the licensed wedding barn, the guests can be sat outside. The oak structure of the barn makes a lovely frame for the ceremony. Jess’s Mum created some simple flower arrangements for the oak beams and an arrangement for the Registrar’s table.
Instead of confetti, after the ceremony the guests formed an arch for a flag waving – a colourful alternative to confetti!
After the wedding ceremony, Jess and Chris led their guests down to the lawn for a drinks reception with lawn games. The guest book took the form of a finger print tree, a lovely reminder of the day which Jess and Chris have hanging in their home. Jess and Chris did their fingerprint in gold, all the guests were in blue.
Dan took Jess and Chris off for a walk around the garden for some photos with the gorgeous Dartmoor scenery as a fabulous back drop.
Jess and Chris had two cakes – and why not? The wedding cake was made by Jess’s sister and looked scrummy! The cheese cake was from Country Cheeses in Tavistock and definitely won the award for the tallest cheese cake of the Ever After year! Both cakes were cut by Jess and Chris and then taken away by the caterers for dismantling, cutting and plating up for the guests to have later in the evening.
Before tucking into a wedding breakfast of Cornish Crab cake, Ruby Devon short rib tip with mini oxtail cottage pies and 5 (yes 5!) mini desserts the guests heard the speeches which allowed the speech makers to relax and enjoy their food.
Chris had prepared a humongous play list for the day with different music for each section of the day. The evening ended with music and dancing to the playlist – the dance floor was full all night, Chris definitely knew what would keep people on the floor.
Although Jess and Chris only gave themselves 3 months to plan the wedding, I can vouch for the fact that Jess was very organised and very decisive. She knew what she wanted and she really got on with it!
So it is possible to organise a gorgeous wedding in 3 months. Don’t forget Parkinson’s law, ‘Work expands to fill the time available to complete it.’ Wedding planning is a bit like that, if you only have 3 months then that’s how long it will take to plan your wedding.
