Helen & Sheppy

There's some serious lantern goals to swoon over this afternoon, all in delicious rainbow colours, making a real statement in the rustic marquee reception. Also adding the wow factor are the fabulous bright flowers. From the heart wreath and milk churns floral arrangements outside the church to the, rustic crate displays in the meadow, and not forgetting the delicious centrepieces in bottles and jars. The wedding party wear bespoke gowns and tweed suits which look perfect amongst the Devonshire countryside, with all the love and laughter captured between them and guests by Helen Lisk Photography. It's hard not to love this bright, cheery day.

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The Wedding

Helen the Bride: Assuming we are excluding the dear love that my husband and I hold for each other, the source of all the ideas, plans and visions from which our wedding day was established, nurtured, and executed was the reception venue – a lumpy agricultural field full of cows (and their pats) with grass at knee height. A field that was fortunately owned by the family and one that my mother had always thought to be a fantastic setting for a country wedding – fringed with accent trees, views of the rolling Devon landscape, and right in the heart of a whole load of family history. Obviously the cows and their pats would have to be evacuated.

Location

My husband and I are from the countryside and as we were getting married in the countryside our wedding could be nothing but simple, rustic and with a little class. So, cows removed and grass cut with plenty of time to grow again with the wild flowers my mother assured me of. Unless we were willing to risk the rain or the menacing easterly wind that can whip up the valley, our only option was to hire a marquee. We were sold on Hatch Marquees on first sight. As we were having a spring wedding we wanted our flowers to be seasonal; this meant lots of bright pinks, oranges, yellows, blues and greens.

Florist

Our florist, Caroline Hodges, interpreted our desires perfectly – gorgeously vibrant bouquets, apple crates and chimney pots exploding with colour framing the entrance to the church and marquee, hanging bottles each filled with a single stem, assorted collections of bottles filled with single stems as centre pieces, and a beautiful flower heart.

Colour Scheme & Decor

The flowers set the basis of the colour scheme throughout the décor. We had coordinating lanterns from The Hanging Lantern Company nesting in the ceiling of the marquee with festoon lights from Hatch weaving in between. Floral bunting from Zigzag Bunting decorated the bar area which was occupied by my Grandmother’s and Auntie’s conservatory furniture. On display were two fantastic blackboards, masterfully created by The Blackboard Guy, illustrating the seating plan and the order of the day. The bar area also accommodated the beautiful display of the delicious cake and ‘minis’ made by Jasmine Pillar of Sweet Buns, Plymouth. The field itself had pathways meandering through the long grass, trimmed with fairy lights supported by cast iron fence poles, leading to the marquee and to a fire pit which was encircled by hay bales acquired from a local farmer.

Food

My entire family are big on food so it was really important to us to make the food a big part of the day. We knew we wanted to keep it relaxed, but most importantly, we wanted it to be social. I was recommended Cornwall Chef by a friend and they offered exactly what we were looking for – fresh, seasonal and local produce tendered to the guests in the form of sharing platters. We were given a number of choices for each course that were served in the middle of each table for everyone to tuck into and pass around. Cornwall Chef also offers a complimentary tasting day which involved a delicious 3 course meal at their premises in Truro which also displayed various options of cutlery, crockery and glassware to choose from.

Entertainment

As for the entertainment, Sheppy and I knew exactly which band we would book as soon as we were engaged. We have been to watch The Diamond Geezers a number of times and each and every time they manage to have the dance floor jammed packed from the moment they start playing. They certainly didn’t disappoint this time either. Forget the specified wooden dance floor area – the entire marquee transformed a mass of bouncing, smiling, sweaty wedding guests – some even clambering on the tables to ‘throw their shapes’. The Geezers seemed to enjoy themselves too and ended up joining in on the after party well into the small hours of the night. We also put on some light entertainment at the reception to entertain our guests while we were off have all the family pictures taken. We live by the coast and Sheppy is a seaman so we saw it fit for the entertainment to be sea shanties. The Old Gaffers from Kingsbridge were a lovely group of seafaring folk who pitched their performance perfectly.

Ceremony

I would confidently wager that my journey to the church from my mother’s house was one of the shortest in history. Having grown up in a house situation directly below St Peter’s Church, I had always imagined myself slowly strolling up the path to the church gates. This is exactly what I did with my father and bridesmaids in tow. Sheppy arrived to the church with his Best Man in a borrowed VW Split Screen camper van from a friend which was then used to transport Sheppy and me up to the field.

The dress

I am fortunate enough to have a very talented Auntie who just happens to be a Designer who specialises in Wedding couture – Georgina Martin Couture. Georgina is brilliant at knowing exactly what will or will not suit or flatter all different shapes and sizes so I was happy for her to take the lead. My only request was that it remained simple but elegant. So, after numerous fittings and chopping and changing, that was the wedding dress, all 6 bridesmaids’ dresses, Sheppy’s fabulous tie and 7 pocket hankies sorted - all designed and made by Georgina. She even managed to churn out my mother’s dress and one for herself.

Accessories

As for the finer details, I borrowed my mother’s dropped pearl earring; my hair vine was by Les Accessories Barcelona from Lux Quisite Bridal Couture boutique in Bath, and my shoes were Roland Cartier from Debenhams.

Beauty

Sophie Beije from bySophie - my regular hairdresser and also my Cousin’s wife - did mine and the girl’s hair and a lovely local lady called Rachael Gaunt did all the make-up.

Wedding Party Attire

Sheppy’s suit was made to order from Victor Valentine and the groomsmen’s suits were hired from Moss Bros. All the chaps wore tweed Lloyd Attree & Smith waistcoats and the bridesmaids’ shoes were from Kurt Geiger.

Ceremony

The ceremony was beautifully conducted by the local Reverend Anne Legg and included our favourite Hymns that we both sang at the local primary school; Lord of all Hopefulness, Love Divine all Love Excelling, and One More Step Along The Way We Go. We had 3 readings, all eloquently delivered by people who are very dear to us; ‘Love’ by Roy Croft, the Collosions 3:12 (17), and ‘I Carry Your Heart With Me’ by E.E. Cummings. The processional music was an instrumental called ‘We Bought a Zoo’ by Jonsi, we had the instrumental of Florence and the Machine’s ‘The Dog Days Are Over’ entertaining the guests while we were signing the register, and the recessional music was a violin piece called ‘He’s a Pirate’ by Taylor Davis.

Photographer

On reflection, one of the best decisions we made regarding the wedding was our photographer. Helen Lisk captured the day to utter perfection. Upon our first introduction we knew that we had made the right decision. Helen immediately understood our ‘vision’ and took time to find out exactly what we wanted; asking questions that we would never have even considered. On the day, she was discreet, patient and a real laugh. The photos that Helen has since produced are completely gorgeous and classy. They take us back to our wedding day, as though we are reliving it, every time we look at them – and who doesn’t want to re-live their wedding day time and time again!