Play.Eat.Laugh.Sleep..Pickwell: Amy and Owen

Friday 18 May 2012

Amy and Owen

Last weekend saw the first of our 2012 weddings at Pickwell and what a wedding to start with. The weather was amazing, the guests gorgeous and it all looked beautiful.So here are a few of the highlights from Amy and Owen's wedding that I thought you might like to see.

The theme colours of the wedding were yellow and white with a relaxed summer garden feel. Lots of effort had gone into making their guests feel welcomed to their apartments. I really liked the daisy detail on the door tags.

Each guest had a little hand tied parcel of 'Love Hearts' on their beds. I do love a 'Love Heart'!

Then an itinerary allowed guests to know what was going on where through out the weekend. They also left lovely breakfast bits in the apartment kitchens for guests to eat at their leisure before the ceremony.

On Friday night Amy and Owen hosted a family meal in the Snug that was wonderfully cooked by Amy's dad. Then on Saturday morning, whilst Amy was getting ready in 'Affinity', Owen and his friends played 5 a side football in the sunshine.

The flowers arrive! Gorgeous jugs full of daisies, sweet peas, hocks and all things yellow and white.

The flowers were by Kelly at 'Offshore Blooms' , a wonderful local florist. Amy had been saving up jam jars for the flowers and the different shapes and sizes added to the relaxed, summer, care free feel.

Kelly placed a garland across the wedding rose arbour to draw in the flower theme.

The cup cakes by Lucy at 'Juicy Lucy Cupcakes' were a very important part of the table decoration and would later become a delicious pudding with clotted cream and summer fruit coulis, yum! Each cup cake looked like a real flower placed in a plant pot.....almost too good to eat.

Amy and Owen are currently living in Australia, so the table names were taken after their favourite beaches over there.

The tables looked wonderful, the cupcakes and the little packets of seeds on each place setting really enhanced the summer garden theme.

For the table plan each guest found their name on little tags and their table name was on the back. I thought the frame looked great.

After footy, the boys scrubbed up rather well. Owen pictured here having a quick sandwich and a beer before the ceremony. I would say to calm the nerves, but he was actually the most relaxed groom imaginable. He just seemed excited and expectant all morning and was just loving having all his fantastic friends and family around him.

Owen then met with the registrar before the ceremony to go through the final formalities.

Amy coming out of the main entrance ready to walk down to the Rose Arbour. Her dress was stunning and was complimented with a simple hand tied bouquet that smelled wonderful with sweet peas.

Amy walked down the aisle to Eva Cassidy's 'Somewhere over the Rainbow', I love that song.

After the ceremony they served sparkling wine, Corona, and pints of Tribute. What an afternoon for drinks on the terrace, no one would believe it was cold and raining a couple of days before.

The boys playing a leisurely game of croquet in the Italian garden.

Alex, one of Owen's friends, was an amazing master of ceremonies for the day. Alex and Amy's nephew Charlie introduced the speeches and Alex even managed to slip in a speech of his own as an introduction. I wonder if someone who had entered the 'speech sweep stake' had slipped him a fiver?!?

Instead of a guest book this message line was very effective and looked great in the Snug.

During the evening reception a photo reel projected in the hall provided great entertainment. Although there was a worry that all the pictures of Amy's beloved, but recently deceased, Bunny rabbit might bring back sad memories.

Then everyone danced the night away, the band were great and kept everyone on the dance floor all night. They were called 'The Mad Hatter's Tea Party' and although they all now live in London and Brighton they have local roots which provided them with an opportunity for a visit to the lead singer's mum. After the wedding they were heading back to her house for a home cooked curry and all seemed very excited about the prospect. What a wonderful day full of love, friendship, football, music, family and all manner of loveliness. Congratulations Amy and Owen!

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Our Story

Many people have asked what the story is, how did the Bakers and Elliotts come to be at Pickwell?

Are you sitting comfortably?

Tracey and Susannah became friends at 6th form college. Steve and Tracey lived in the same village in Sussex. Steve's dad was the vicar and Tracey's dad was Steve's scout leader. Even more wierd, Susannah's dad (also a church minister) and Steve's dad were friends, but Steve and Sus never met.

One summer Tracey took Susannah along to a youth summer camp. Steve was one of the leaders (read : heightened attraction) and a little later Steve and Sus got together. During their 6 on/off years they met Richard, a blue eyed boy from Guildford.

At a club night run by Steve, somehow through the dark and crowded room, Tracey and Richard bumped into eachother (if you have seen the shapes they pull on the dancefloor you would know how easily this happened)..

In the year 2000 they all got married. Tracey and Susannah were eachother's bridesmaids. They have remained firm friends ever since.

When Steve and Susannah came across Pickwell Manor, they knew they couldn't manage such a project on their own. They asked the Elliotts if they would give up their house, their jobs and their community to come and live and work with them and own the project together. They knew there weren't many people they could ask to do such a thing knowing they would still love each other by the end. So they all left everything in Sussex and came to Devon.

They moved on the same day in August 2008. It has been a crazy, wonderful, scary, emotional and beautiful experience so far. All of them would say they feel very ALIVE!

Since they moved they have run 51 successful and wonderful weddings (with more to come), many, many holidays, built or totally refurbished 6 apartments from scratch, updated carpets, painted white throughout, put in quite a few kitchens and bathrooms (including 2 baths on concrete plinths), changed much of the furniture, converted a laundry and have started to convert the chapel. Every year they also have a bonfire gathering in October, an Easter Eggstravaganza fundraising event, and anything else that is not-for-profit that they can fit in. Tracey has completed a dissertation and gone back to nursing for 2 days a week, Steve has started up a new company in London, Richard has mastered a lot of the running of the house as well as training as a coach, specialising in stress management, Sus has taken on the interiors and Tracey and Susannah have learnt weddings in at the deep end! All with 4 young Pickwellians by their sides.

"Our passion is for making life count. Our values lie in
friendship, celebration, valuing others, and social justice. We see Pickwell as a reflection of these things but also a place for rest, recouperation, laughter and conversation. We want to support charities and social enterprises to fufil their dreams and make a difference."

"We love Devon, we love the community here, we love seeing our children grow with nature and discovering the great outdoors. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes when we think about our life here, it is amazing".