Glasshouse Wedding At Anran In Devon

This beautiful glasshouse wedding at Anran in Devon will have you seriously swooning. The details, the fashion choices and the venue itself are all utterly gorgeous. Images come from the wonderful Paige Grace Photography, whose dreamy style works perfectly for this idyllic location. We also have the film from The Wild Bride which is absolutely worth a watch, save it for your tea break, turn it up loud and enjoy!

Wedding Party Fashion

Emma & Mike: Having grown up in Leicestershire and with my family still living in the area, I wanted to get my dress from a shop local to my family home. Cicily Bridal has been recommended to me by people not only from the area but people who had travelled there on recommendations themselves. Lisa couldn’t have been more helpful and recommended dresses that would suit my figure. I didn’t have any preconceptions of what style of dress I wanted so they gave me tons to try on. It just so happened that the first dress I tried on was ‘the one’. I was sold on it the moment I did my first twirl in it because it floated like something from a dream. I knew when my mum welled up that I was already sorted. Mike’s suit was a Belgravia cut from Dunhill and his shoes were a half brogue, Loake Strand, in Burgundy. We bought the waistcoats from eBay as we always wanted tweed waistcoats for the groom and ushers to fit the theme of the wedding but didn’t want to go overboard on the budget. Mike wore some rose gold Dunhill cufflinks to match his wedding ring. His wedding ring was particularly special. Mike’s mum passed away when he was six and around the age of 10, his Dad gave him a gold necklace that his Mum had once gifted to him. Mike had stopped wearing it during university when the clasp had broken but we had always said if we got married we would have it recast to make his wedding band. Since the gold is quite an old variety (red gold) it has a more rose colour, which makes it even more unique and special.

Glasshouse Wedding At Anran In The Heart Of Devon

We love Devon and, one day, intend to move there and set up our forever home. It is special not only because my parents live there but we got engaged during a visit to Salcombe, overlooking the sea at Bolt Head. We knew from the moment we got engaged that we wanted the wedding to be in Devon. The type of venue we wanted was somewhere in the countryside, surrounded by trees and greenery. As I have imagined my wedding over the years, I have always wanted to be married under the stars so had researched clear topped marquees but that didn’t feel right because marquees weren’t natural enough. The ‘other half’ of me wanted to be married in a barnwith lots of exposed brick (having grown up in a gorgeous barn conversion in the countryside). We came across Anran by speaking to a friend at work who had also been married in Devon. I hadn’t come across them on any wedding websites or google searches but I had seen photos she had taken and it seemed perfect. As soon as we arrived at Anran for the first visit we knew that this was the place we wanted to get married. The surroundings were perfect, green and lush. The glasshouse where the reception would take place had a glass roof (through which the stars could shine), but at head height, it became an exposed brick barn. There was a courtyard for the champagne reception and another hut (a converted pig run!) for the after-party. It was perfect and every time we visited over the following months we became more and more sure and very excited.

Botanical Themed Wedding

We knew quite early on that we wanted a botanical feel to complement the decor of the glasshouse with its tropical plants and outdoorsy feel. The colour scheme came quite early too, we decided on pastel pinks/greys/purples. This helped to narrow things down particularly when it came to bridesmaids' dresses, flowers and all the little details in between. We used photos from our engagement shoot to create ‘photo reel’ sparkler holders. We spent many an evening having pyrography parties with my closest friends who helped to burn the names of 120 guests onto log coasters than my sister-in-law’s Dad had hand cut from some trees he had felled. My mum took the reins on creating a family tree which had photos of all our missing family, friends and pets. We mostly used things we had around the house, adding the occasional shop-bought items for special effect. I had always said I wanted the dinner to feel like a feasting meal from Harry Potter where food magically appears on the table and candles float overhead whilst people eat. That led me to look up suspended candles - we bought around 50 glass baubles, which my uncles and friends hung using fishing wire lines and placed electric tealights inside. It takes a village! I had been warned against hay bale sofas because they are incredibly uncomfortable. Fortunately for me, my parents were about to throw out some old outdoor furniture cushions, so I asked them to keep them to place on top of the hay bales, we threw some bed sheets over the top of them and bought some Ikea blankets to make it look inviting and it served as the perfect place for some of the new mothers to rest and for people to take a quiet moment with a cup of tea.

The Flowers

I am sure that fate played a part in all of our decisions when it came to the wedding and the florist was one example of that. I didn’t know much about local florists so I looked at some recommendations and wrote down a few names. It was only when we went to look at potential churches in the area that I was handed a flier by the local parish who recommended a company called TWIG. I was keen to get the ball rolling so I called the number as soon as we got home. To my surprise, my mum’s next door neighbour Suzy answered the phone. Mum had completely forgotten that Suzy ran a floristry company and we were delighted that we could use someone with connections to the family.

The Ceremony

The ceremony was actually my favourite part of the day, well one particular moment. I have never seen Mike cry but the moment he saw me at the top of the aisle was as close as he has come, the giveaway smile and the glint in his eye and slight shake of his head was so perfect and I will remember it for the rest of my life. One of my best friends did a reading in the church which she wrote herself and it was so personalised and special that it brought a lot of us to tears. It was so good that people had assumed that she had lifted it from a book (until they realised that every line was tailored to us).

The Entertainment

We had Yazzy (half lioness, half songbird) sing in the church and at the reception. I knew I wanted a female acoustic singer and after hearing her sing for the first time, I enquired about her availability immediately. She was incredible and again people were asking where I had found her and how well she had done. Andre Saxman Brown is a legend. We first contacted him on a recommendation from a friend who had used him for her wedding. He is a unique performer in that he plays his saxophone over chart tracks and dances with his audience as he performs. We had never wanted a traditional band on a stage thing and this felt interactive and in keeping with the rest of the wedding. People loved him and he made the dancing part of the evening go by in a heart beat, I wish it could have gone on for 3 more hours! He played alongside Bespoke Disco who are a really professional and modern DJ company. They met with us a couple of months before to make sure they understood what type of music we liked and they had bought in chocolate brownie as a treat whilst we chatted.

The Food

We used Anran’s preferred caterer, Cru Events. As soon as we met Hayley, who runs the company, we knew she understood what we wanted to achieve for the wedding breakfast. They put on a range of our favourite food in canapé form for the champagne reception. For the meal itself we wanted everything to be shared. Starter was a large antipasti board, followed by beef brisket with delicious salads and the second best roast potatoes in the world (Mike’s Grandma does the very best). Desserts were miniature favourites of ours and cake...oh the cake! Our wedding cake was designed by Emily at Queen Bee Cakes. We first tried Emily’s cakes when we visited for a pre-booking consultation. She made a lemon cake for the trial and it was incredible. We immediately made our booking and agreed on 3 layers. Victoria Sponge, Lemon and finally Raspberry and White Chocolate. The evening was finished up with a cheese cake and potato wedges with aioli and baconaise, just what the doctor ordered after a few drinks...

The Photography

I don’t know where to start when it comes to our photographer. Paige was everything we had hoped we would find in a photographer, someone we could laugh with and be ourselves around who we wanted to share those special moments with and ultimately whose style of photos matched the feel of our wedding. She is young, modest and has a heart made of gold. Over the following months we met up with Paige several times (and it feels like we texted most weeks). The engagement shoot was so much fun and Paige just laughed at how silly we were. On the day Paige delivered over and over again, she continued to surprise us following the wedding when she sent the sweetest thank you card with all of the amazing photos and presentation box. Paige is not only my favourite photographer ever but is also one of my favourite people..forever our family photographer...isn’t that right Paige? Katy was great second shooter on the day. Always there with a reassuring smile and caught some amazing photos of the groom, ushers and those side moments we didn’t get to see. We would definitely recommend katy!

The Video

We had The Wild Bride video our wedding. Once again we found a supplier who became life long friends (we are actually going to stay with them in October). We came across them online and again they asked to meet up in person over a cocktail in London to get to know each other ahead of booking. This was perfect for Mike and I who were a little nervous about the filming aspect of the day and how staged it would feel.. which, for the record, is not at all!

Special Homemade Touches

There were 2 things that our families built for us which are so special to us and we hope to keep forever (although we need to move to a bigger house). Infinite Flower Arch - my father in law built (and mother in law decorated) a flower arch in a continuous loop, to which we attached chicken wire so we could weave in a huge amount of foliage. The guests loved getting their wedding shots in front of it during the ceremony - a real Instagram favourite! We had leftover wood from it which we used to make signs to direct people to the venue. Hand Painted Door Triptych - my mum spent many an evening painting some old doors from our house in Devon. She recreated a bride and groom on a starry night which we was a concept from our wedding invites which we had designed with Hummingbird Cards. It was so special to have something so personal and handmade in a central point at the reception.