Katie & Paul

When we share the wedding of a florist, we always know we're in for a treat. Katie and Paul's flower filled big day is no exception. The colours, the textures, the sheer volume of blooms...honestly, there's just so so SO much pretty! Katie runs business Blackberry & Bloom, whose flowers and styling we love, so it's no wonder her wedding day was gorgeous. Our lovely couple chose the magical Nancarrow Farm as their venue, you can see from the images how striking the barns are. Those beams covered in greenery make the most incredible backdrop to Katie and Paul's outdoor ceremony. They were blessed with a sunny day too, which made everything look even more wonderful, although with the dramatic Cornish skies and Nick Walker's photography - they were always on to a winner!

The Bride

Katie The Bride: I had a very clear image in my mind of what I was looking for in terms of a wedding dress but found the whole dress shopping experience a bit of a struggle. I took the advice every bride is given, I went to my local bridal shop, Tilly Mint, and tried on as many different styles made from as many different fabrics as I could get my hands on just to be sure. Thankfully, after a recommendation, I found Candy Anthony. I chose an entirely satin dress called ‘Rachel’ with a little sparkle around the neckline and a belt with a bow. I bought a bargain veil from Amazon and because of the detail on the dress, I didn’t wear any jewellery except my beloved Anna Sheffield engagement ring. Shoes wise, I’m not normally a bling kind of girl, but I had this insatiable need for sparkly shoes for my wedding day. The peep toe heels were Kurt Geiger and the flat pumps were New Look - they were so comfortable!

The Groom

After a lot of searching for the perfect tweed, we found a beautiful blue/grey 3-piece suit in Walker Slater in Covent Garden. Paul’s quite subtle in his taste so didn’t want anything too patterned but they had so much choice and along with his shoes from Barker, he looked so handsome on the day.

The Venue

Paul’s from Devon and with my Cornish heritage we knew we wanted a West Country wedding. After searching for venues online, we found Nancarrow Farm and fell in love with the website & locally sourced ethos. The team at Nancarrow were wonderful from initial enquiry through to Sunday clear up. They worked their absolute socks off!

The Decor

We wanted to stick with a rustic/woodland style to match the venue without going too kitsch and vintage and I wanted fresh flowers to feature heavily. I had a vision for the venue styling, which was often a challenge to explain. We’re quite a DIY family, my brother, Josh, is a carpenter and my Dad is a collector of things that could be useful one day, so we made a lot of things ourselves. I really struggled to find the cake stand I wanted so Josh made us one, my Dad sourced the pallet for the old photos and lots of tree truck and wood slices. I also found a fair few lovely things from Box & Cox Vintage Hire, and Gemma even made the perfect frame for my table plan idea.

The Flowers

I run a wedding and event floral design company, called Blackberry and Bloom, so flowers were always going to be a major part of my day. I knew I wanted colour, and with my sister in a plum bridesmaid’s dress, I tried to stick to a late summer colour palette. I saw David Austin Kate in a bouquet at work 6 weeks before the wedding and knew it had to play centre stage, along with other beautiful blooms and lush foliage. We had vintage milk churns full of flowers to line the aisle for the ceremony. For the reception, the tables were pretty skinny so I went for jam jars but I knew I wanted a statement piece, so we made a 12ft indoor meadow to run along the front of top table. My friend Serena made the bouquets on the morning of the wedding. I couldn’t have wished for anything more, she had even managed to include some of the locally grown dahlia’s which were already at Nancarrow. My late grandmother’s wedding ring was tied onto my bouquet with trailing silk ribbons from Lancaster and Cornish.

The Wedding Party

I found a dress for my only bridesmaid, my sister, from Lindy Bop. Vintage isn’t really her style so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something I knew she wouldn’t wear again. The best men, usher and my Dad were all in matching suits from Burton, and I made all the pocket squares from fabric bought online.

The Entertainment

We wanted the whole day to be relaxed and not over organised so we hired Giant Jenga from Box & Cox Vintage Hire and had marshmallow toasting over a fire. We booked HitPinch to play the evening, after seeing then play a pub in Newquay, and it was such a great party.

The Food

We had canapes with our gin fizz drinks reception, and beef for the main course. Sticky toffee pudding is a favourite in our family so that was the obvious choice for dessert. Paul made the wedding cake which was available alongside pasties from Philp’s for our evening food.

The Photography

I can’t recommend Nick Walker enough, he’s such a genuinely nice guy to deal with beforehand and to have around on your wedding day. So many of our guests have told us how they just completely forgot he was there all day, and we have the most amazing set of photographs to remember our wedding day by.