Michaela & Jon

I've never had the privilege of blogging a vintage pub themed wedding but today that all changes! Enter Michaela and Jon who said their vows at the very picturesque Beaconside House in Devon surrounded by their friends and family, ribboned chairs and a dash of sunshine. There's so much to love about this wedding. I'm smitten with the rustic florals in pastel hues which complement the palette table plan and hanging candy coloured lampshades. Yes folks you heard me right - there are actual lampshades hanging from the ceiling of the marquee and it looks lush! Another particular highlight has got to be the fact that both Michaela and Jon were walked down the aisle respectively by their parents. How lovely is that!

The Bride's Fashion

Michaela The Bride: I wasn’t really planning on buying the dress when I did - I just thought it would be nice to go shopping with my mum whilst I was visiting home. I actually tried on a couple others after I’d tried my one on but kept on thinking, ‘it’s not as nice as that one…’. When I put it on the second time THAT’S when I knew it was the one. I loved everything about my Maggie Sottero frock, especially the detail of the lace and the romantic look to it. Jon gave me a cute opal necklace (my birthstone) and I actually forgot to put my Jenny Packham earrings I’d bought. Jon’s cousin from Australia did my make-up and hair and made me feel like TWO million pounds!

The Grooms Fashion

Jon didn’t want his suit to be too formal so he invited his most stylish friend on a suit finding trip and they set off to find something slightly more festive. They landed on a suit with a grey check by Richard James of Mayfair accessorised with brown leather and dusky blue elements with personalised wooden cufflinks. On the morning of the wedding I gave Jon an engraved pocket watch, which finished things off.

The Venue

We knew we wanted to get married in Devon as we love the West Country and we wanted loads of our friends and family to be able to stay with us (especially as some had travelled half-way around the world). We also knew we wanted things to be fairly laid back, have nice outdoor space and to have a freedom to do what we wanted with the suppliers we chose. Some Googling later, hey presto! Beaconside House came out along with another front runner. We took Jon’s parents on a second visit to them both and we all just absolutely fell for Beaconside, and it was incredibly practical to have a marquee kitted out, ready to use - no hassle!

Colour Scheme

We’d joked quite a lot about doing a pub-themed wedding, as hanging out in pubs, enjoying good food and good grub with good company is one our favourite shared pastimes. It wasn’t until pretty late in the planning process that it actually happened! It sort of just came together from going for a relaxed but elegant, vintagey sort of thing. We started buying cut glass vases, decanters and traditionally styled lampshades from car boot sales and secondhand shops. At one point we just looked at each other and thought, ‘this looks like our favourite pubs’. And then beer mats and pub sign seemed like obvious details. Jon’s uncle actually made our bar!

Flowers

All I knew was I wanted something with wild flowers and totally unfussy. Tina was recommended by a flower nursery and took my vague descriptions and colours and made gorgeous bouquets, button holes and filled the glass vases we’d spent months collecting. Colour scheme wise, we didn’t want a matchy-matchy look, but for the sake of cohesion we went with dusky colours centred around blue and rose colours.

The Wedding Party Fashion

We didn’t want to make everyone dress the same; we just wanted everyone to be comfortable. We asked those in suits to wear grey ones, and those in dresses were asked to choose a colour each and wear a dress to match. The flower girls' dresses were spotted whilst out on a wander around town; a total double-take, I knew the girls would look so cute in them.

Ceremony

We were totally stoked to have been able to get married outdoors (in a British summer, no less!) in this gorgeous little wooded glade at the back of Beaconside House (we’d done the legal bit the day before). It was such a lovely atmosphere, with our friend Thomas playing music and singing on his ukulele before during and after the ceremony. The ceremony itself was all really specially and was led by an old family friend that allowed us to put a load of personal touches to it, including planting an oak tree. A friend read a modified version of St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and another read a poem she’d written especially for us, which was incredibly heartwarming. Music included ukulele versions of ‘When I Fall in Love’, ‘La Vie en Rose’ and ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’.

Entertainment

We had garden games during the day including a caber toss that went down a storm. The speeches were pretty entertaining too - we did away with formal speeches and instead stole a Danish tradition where anyone who wanted to say something could - there was a lot of laughter! Then in the evening we’d tasked a friend of ours, who we know will always bring the party, with making a playlist - and it was the playlist to end all playlists! We danced through pop, rock and metal until the wee hours (before things moved into the hot tub)!

Food

Seeing as we were in the West Country we had cream tea for after the ceremony and pasties for evening snacks. We love a good BBQ, so when we came across Eat with Englands and had a taster of their food that was that really. The menu had something for everyone. For pudding we had the wedding cake that Jon’s sister had made for us (it was a Christmas cake) and some other cakes and treats appeared from somewhere. And no one went hungry, either! We bought in two barrels of beer from Harbour Brewing Co, had bought in our favourite ciders and kitted out the bar with a wide range of drinks… so it was very much like being in a pub!

Photographer

We actually came across Helen’s photos during a venue search, and whilst it turned out the venue wasn’t for us we fell in love with Helen’s photos! When we called and found out she was available on our day… well it was just perfect. We had absolute confidence that she would capture our day perfectly - and she’s just so darned lovely to boot!