Lizzie and Mike married in May at the Polhawn Fort, Rame Head. Prepare for a lot of photographs today folks, these are amazing and stylish images from RMW sponsors Craig and Kate. As I looked though image after image of sun drenched glamour and by-the-seaside vintage chic I just wanted to be transported to the Cornish coast, so to satisfy my craving I have filled this post to the brim with summer pretty. Mike and I live in Reading, originally both from Chichester, but we have both always loved Cornwall, so we thought, why not get married there. It certainly proved to make planning everything even more difficult, but when we went to see the Fort, we were sold, don’t need to look at anything else. The English Weather is alway unpredictable, but we totally lucked out. we got married smack bang in the middle of a gloriously sunny week which had torrential rain either side of it. I wore the Kristene dress by Claire Petitbone. Bought from Exquisite Bridal Boutique in Lymington.
I knew I didn’t want a traditional style gown, Claire Pettibone’s vintage inspired, feminine dresses are all so gorgeous, but the Kristene was the one that stood out to me, with it’s victorian style lace edging. Natalie was super helpful and so friendly. She really made me feel relaxed every time I was there, amazing service. I wore a custom made 20’s style cap veil by Helen Martin tied into a knot at the back in white tulle with lace edging. My shoes were amazing gold Manolo Blahnik sandals with 4.5 inch heals which I tracked down and purchased from the US store Barneys. They are very vintage in style, and although gold, quite understated. I knew they would be prefect with my dress. I had a last minute booking with Bells Brides to do my hair along with my 2 bridesmaids and mum. I knew that I didn’t want a formal up do as it wouldn’t be in keeping with the style of my dress and veil. I went form a more relaxed and bohemian hair do, loose curls, a bit of back combing, with the side sections pinned back and toned of hair spray.
We had gone down to Cornwall to visit the fort and meet with some of our suppliers. We were staying at a gorgeous B&B and the owners mentioned they were getting married in November. We had been trying to find a florist and they recommended Rosemary Jane Flowers run by Tamsin Mcbride, who had just started up her floristry business again. We contacted her the next owning, and within a couple of hours we had met up with her at the fort. Tamsin was amazing, she really listened to what we wanted and got super involved in coming up with ideas for schemes and recommending what flowers would be suitable. We had a quite a mix of flowers as the look was pretty and vintage, but the 2 focal flowers were : Both flowers were brought into the other arrangements. The table displays were a super pretty mix of sizes displayed in vintage style cut glass vases and tea light holders, just dotted down the centre of the long tables with a larger display for the top table centre peice.
Tamsin also provided additional vintage looking roses for the cake. The whole look was just stunning, even better than I could have visioned. It complemented the venue, the theme of the day and was exactly what Mike and I wanted, not too showy but beautiful and very us! There was no colour scheme as such, through the magenta pink from our tea towel invites was picked up in touches throughout the decoration. We wanted a mix of very natural colours to run though everything to go with the vintage style. Finding a dress to suit my Bridesmaid was going to be tricky, one is petite and dark, the other a tall leggy blonde! I found a floor length dusky pink / taupe gown which they both looked gorgeous in. The draped satin material and cut really emulated a glamorous 1930’s style. We decided not to go with Morning suits, and in keeping with our relaxed approach for the tone of the day, we decided that the grooms men should just wear nice suits, no need to match each other.
Mike had been looking for an excuse for years to get a bespoke suit made up by a very cool tailors we know in Brighton called Gresham Blake, now he had one. He opted for a super sharp, 60’s style slim cut 2 piece in a petrol blue which was vivid without being to bright. It fitted like a glove and he looked amazing, very suave! We met Craig and Kate at The Alternative Wedding Fair in London where they had a stand. Their work looked amazing, exactly what we had been looking for, and it was really great being able to talk with them. We kind of made our minds up there and then that they needed to be our photographers. One issue, They are based in essex, we were getting married in Cornwall. I figured I would give it a go and emailed them a couple of days later. Luckily they also love Cornwall and were really excited about the shooting at Polhawn Fort, so decided to tie doing our wedding in with a little holiday. The more I looked into their portfolio, the more I knew these guys were going to do a great job, and they certainly didn’t disappoint, They were brilliant.
I hated the idea of us and all or guests spending half the afternoon posing for shots, but this isn’t their style. They were really lovely, up for what ever we wanted to do (including the little trip down to the beach along a rather treacherous path), and half the time we didn’t notice they were there. All of our guests commented on them. What I really loved is that they seemed genuinely excited by it all. The final shots speak for themselves, when we finally saw them, they totally blew us away. Craig and Kate really captured the setting and emotions of the day. I Couldn’t recommend them enough. We went for a three tiered style victoria sponge with butter cream and fresh strawberries and raspberries. We had been wondering what to do for a cake, we knew we wanted something which would look fun, easy and very us. We found a picture of what we wanted online, just a case of finding somebody in Cornwall to make it. We found Nicky Grant, sent her a picture and explained what we wanted and it was no trouble at all.
Nicky did a beautiful job with the cake, dressing is with fresh berries, real roses and little white chocolate curled roses. There is no hiding with a Victoria Sponge, it’s got to taste good, and we were confident it would, so we decided to also make it into our desert, serving it with fresh strawberries, cornish clotted cream, candlestick ice cream and raspberry coulis. I ate the lot! Whilst at the Wedding fair we also heard the band Plastic Pantomime playing. We knew that we wanted a band as we love live music, but it can be a bit of a minefield. These guys were playing an acoustic set and sounded great. They offered a really good mix of styles and did all the stuff we wanted. We scored again, because they sounded immense! As good as any live band (and we’ve seen a lot). They did a great set, a bit of something for everybody and were super fun, certainly not run of the mill wedding music. For our first dance we chose Beach Boys ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’. I loved the Beach boys music since I was a little girl when my parents played it, and this is a song we both absolutely love.
The sort of song that makes you feel all warm inside without being too gushy. We had a bit of a strawberry thing going on with the day (fresh strawberries and jam in the cake, strawberry and champagne cocktails) so when I saw that Nicky Grant made these strawberry shaped white chocolate lollies, decision made. They also doubled up as place holders by tying a luggage tag with guest names to the stick. I also made Macaroons. there were several practice runs, with Mike’s work colleagues as my guinea pigs. The inside of the Fort is so full of character anyway, but to bring a bit of spring time fun we hung bunting around the archways. Tamsin’s Flower displays made the tables look beautiful. The eclectic mix of vintage vases and tealights worked perfectly along with the mismatch of vintage side plates which gave a nod to the vintage party style without being too OTT. Our little sweety table was also a fun addition, which of course also tied in! I didn’t really want chair covers so I thought I would look into hiring some wooden chairs instead, which didn’t require dressing.
I happened to come across Virginias vintage Hire. Virginia has a big selection of old, beaten wooden folding chairs. shabby would be an understatement, but their distressed look was totally chic! Mismatch colours, peeling paint. they suited everything else down to the ground, way better than chair covers. She has a bunch or treasures and props for hire, all equally as cool. We tried to bring our personality into the day by making as much as possible. from the Favour boxes and name tags stamped with our little logo from the invites, to the tissue paper pompoms, sign by the gate, to the lemonade bottles. These little details were probably more special to Mike and I than anybody else, but we feel that our wedding was very ‘US’, and people really picked up on that and we wouldn’t have changed a thing. Boutique – Exquisite Bridal Boutique Florals – Rosemary Jane Flowers Photography – Craig and Kate Vintage Hire – Virginias vintage Hire Can we pleeeeeeeeease have a summer now please thanks.