A Romantic Coastal Dream

Gemma and Adam had the most gorgeous wedding, with the biggest number of guests that we have hosted at Pickwell Manor this year.

It was amazing to feel how much love, laughter and intimacy there was in the house. It really was a testament to the chilled, thoughtful and genuinely lovely people Gemma and Adam are. 

Gemma and Adam have travelled a lot, and their favourite places are some of the most beautiful beaches around the world, so their table names included their favourite beaches.

We were delighted that of all the beaches, their favourite is our very own Putsborough beach – and was the name of the Top Table!

Clever Gemma worked so hard making all these beautiful table decorations.

Instead of favours, Gemma and Adam decided to make a donation to a charity very close to their family Hammer Out Brain Tumour.  Our brave Bride and Groom have even done a Skydive to raise over £2,000 for the charity.

They also gave each guest these really cute Rock Sticks personalised with their names on – what is a beach without Rock?!

When guests arrived on Friday from different parts of the country, Gemma had made a welcome board, with guest’s names and which rooms they are staying in.

Guests could offer advice for the newly weds.

And then came the Wedding rehearsal…  Not sure Gemma was too thrilled when bridesmaids Charlie and Emma decided to practise their walk in their heels in the Thriller style… 

On Saturday morning, little bridesmaid Lilly practised her best bridesmaid smile.

Meanwhile Faith practised beating Daddy at Chess!

A beautiful Wedding dress was revealed; a really romantic, classic dress and THAT beautiful veil.  For more uses for a veil keep reading…

 Matching shoes to really set our coastal bride on her way into marriage.

Gemma and her bridesmaids have a “before” photo..

And then all the bridesmaids were ready… 

 

Gemma meets the Registrar (still not ready). Our most chilled out bride was having a great morning – getting ready for your wedding day should be savoured after all!

Gemma’s big sister applies the final make up touches...

And then we get the first glimpse of our beautiful bride and her best girls.

The flowers were by Kelly from Offshore Blooms. 

Look at the gorgeous Buttonholes below (Ok, you’ve guessed correctly that this photo, and a few others, are not mine – they were taken by Gemma and Adam’s wonderful photographer Pete Cox). 

Final pre-marriage boys shot!

Guests took their seats and the Little Bridesmaids made their way in..

The Harpist Tessa Billington, played the Bride into the Ballroom...

and then our Bride and Groom met at the Altar to be married.  The ballroom twinkled with candles and rose petals dusting the floor and the lily’s made the ceremony feel like a magical meeting – there was a lot of love and good cheer in the room.

If there was ever a couple who wanted an outdoor wedding it was Gemma and Adam, we literally held our breath until the final moment when mother nature said, “they are to be married in an intimate ceremony indoors.”

Gemma and Adam’s gorgeous son Frankie was the ring bearer (again, Pete, not me)

And here we are… Meet the NEW Chapman’s!!

After a romantic and intimate ceremony, everyone headed outside where guests welcomed Gemma and Adam with confetti.  The confetti was also dried and prepared by Gemma!

What other purpose does a Brides veil serve… You can do the limbo under it!  

Demonstrated expertly here by Frankie in the Italian Garden!

So here is Pete Cox (with the camera); he has worked at Pickwell a few times now and knows the house well.

He really knew where to go to get the best photographs of our couple in the atmospheric mist…. Awwww!

Another great photograph from Pete of the best girls and Adam’s men in front of the Rose Arbour.

Adam’s stag do was in Amsterdam no less…. and here they are; here come the boys….

Now I must introduce you to a really special person – Jan Harvey (on the left); Gemma’s wonderful and amazing Mum.  She helped Gemma and Adam pull their day together and helped me make sure everything was perfect!!  We love you Jan!

Pre-dinner final adjustments– this is where bridesmaids are so amazing!

So for the Wedding breakfast, bread and oils were on the table, and Gemma and Adam offered a choice of three different main courses; Lamb, Chicken or Beef with seasonal vegetables. Here is the delicious Lamb.

A trio of dessert – homemade cheesecake, Devon scone, and chocolate brownie with a dollop of ice cream. Well done Lee and Kris!

The Cake Table was decorated with these beautiful cupcakes Gemma's friend (Cat Bird) made and brought with her from London in the morning!

And look what Frankie left on the Bride's bouquet!

Best Man Dan pulled out all the stops with a PowerPoint presentation – Adam took it on the chin!!

Meanwhile, the children had a party of their own…

Gemma had created a cool game of eye spy and photo quest – each little guest was given a sheet of things they had to look out for and a “kid camera” to take photos – such a great idea to keep children entertained.

Eye spy: THE BRIDE AND GROOM!

Guests headed outside for something so exciting…. Nope it’s not little Lilly’s wedding plans… although aren’t they cute?!!

The bridal bouquet throw! Whoever catches it, is next to be wed…. Such a gorgeous tradition - shame I missed finding out who the lucky lady who caught the bouquet was! (I wish I could take photos like this)

More of Gemma's creative skill was in the homemade photo-booth props, this with the Polaroid camera was a lot of fun in the Pickwell Hallway!

The first dance, played by the Kent-based band Boogie Nights, was actually for Gemma and Frankie…

And then the Groom joined the Bride on the dance floor for the second dance!

At every moment of the whole wedding, Gemma and Adam made sure there was something everyone would look forward to and really enjoy.  The sparklers were a real treat in the evening and enjoyed by all. 

 

The best bit however, (and I think all the guests will agree) is this:

Adam’s “Running man…”

Adam's "Twist and Shout"

"Adam's Moonwalk"

Congratulations Gemma and Adam.  

We so loved your wedding at Pickwell Manor, and meeting both your families and your lovely friends. 

We raise a glass to wish you love, laughter and much happiness in your life together! 

Anne and Tim's wedding- greens, whites and some woodland magic.

We recently hosted the most gorgeous wedding of Tim and Anne. Tim is from Canada and so had family and friends flying in and 2 of the bridesmaids flew in from Brazil and Ireland. So all in all an international celebration.

 

 

They had some wonderful ideas for keepsakes, from the wedding guest finger print tree above to....

 

these anniversary bottles. Guests write messages and put them in a bottle for you to read on your anniversary. What a lovely thing to read messages from your wedding on your 20th Anniversary!!

 



These gorgeous hearts hung in the windows and the jars were hand tied around the outside with jute string.  These jars on the windowsills were designed to hold the bridesmaid's bouquets.
 



 

These simple decoration details allowed an undisturbed view of the garden in the day, whilst in the evening (as you will see later) they gave the most gorgeous candlelight.

  

 

Each table was named after a place from their travels together. You can really see the work that went into these jars for the flowers.

 

 

This was a brilliant idea! A site called 'wedpics' allows all of your wedding guests to upload their photos directly from their phone using an app (or from your computer later). Their suggestions in the form of a  'photo scavenger hunt' gave everyone lots of ideas for photos to upload.
 



 

 

Tim especially loves his coffee and each man at the wedding was given a bag of his favourite coffee beans as a favour. The  most wonderful aromas exuded from the bags around the room.

 

 

 

The tables looked gorgeous. I loved the hessian table runner and the slice of tree trunk under the flowers and candles. It all gave a rustic, relaxed light feel.

 



 

At the beginning of last year we teamed up with the amazing shoe designer Emmy Scarterfield of 'Emmy' shoes.  We gave a pair of Emmy shoes to brides who booked at the designer wedding fair. So here are Anne's gorgeous 'Emmy' shoes. I am so jealous as they are completely lovely!! Anne was delighted with them and said the whole experience of choosing them made you feel very special and treated. Thank you Emmy!!

 



 

The bride and groom 'chick' motif were a little extra theme and appeared on all the stationary even the door signs (and later the cake).

 



 

 

The fabulous bouquets, button holes and corsages were by Kelly from 'Offshore Blooms'.

 



 

 

So with everything ready it is time for the men to have a 'scotch' and steady the nerves!!

 



 

Croquet provided a welcome distraction in the build up to the ceremony (and I'm sure the Scotch helped give a steady hand!?)

 



 

 

Anne looked so beautiful in her dress... last buttons and she is ready for her 'first glance' photos.

 

 

A tradition from across the pond 'first glance' photos are done before the ceremony. We cleared the garden of guests and Anne and Tim met for the first time on their wedding day. It was so so romantic and they loved having that bit of time together to connect before the ceremony. A great idea that I think needs to become a new British tradition.

 



 

After hoping for an outside ceremony and much moving in and out of chairs the naughty drizzly rain brought us inside. Despite Anne and Tim's aspirations to be outside, the gorgeous view and the woodland stumps down the aisle truly brought the outside in. The atmosphere was warm and intimate.

 



 

There was not a dry eye in the house. The mums read a poem together, which was very moving, and then Tim and Anne did their own vows. Oh gosh so many emotions! Love, laughter, intimacy and true friendship were all so evident, wow!

 



 

The very happy couple as confetti rains from above.

 



 

 

JJ, the MC for the day, did a splendid job and looked the part in his kilt.

 



 

 

Dinner time!! Linzi, Anne's friend who is a baker, made these utterly delicious and beautiful macaroons as the table plan.

 

 

I will just take this opportunity to introduce Joseph Yarrow, their lovely and very talented photographer. He previously photographed Kat and James's wedding at Pickwell and we were delighted to have him back. James gave me some very helpful photography tips, one of which was to always wipe my iphone lense. Ironically in this photo I clearly didn't and it has a visible smear.....I feel ashamed!!

 

 

Crab tower starter, mmmm!!

 

 

Then onto  Devon beef (or pan seared salmon) with vegetable bundles and dauphinoise potatoes. I am feeling hungry just looking at the photos!! I need to thank Patrick Kua for all of the best photos on this blog post. He was one of the guests and a brilliant photographer (check out his blog at http://www.thekua.com/rant/)

 

 

The speeches were hilarious. I love it when bridesmaids give a speech, as it is good to hear some extra funny stories about the bride too!!

 



 

Then outside for Eaton Mess on the terrace...

 



followed by coffee by candlelight and an amazing Canadian biscuit called  'Naniamo Bars' (Lee our chef followed Tim's recipe). It was delicious, a bit like caramel shortbread with a chocolate coconut base, yum!!

 



 

Whilst the guests finished their pudding, the bridal party headed to the footpath for photos with a backdrop of the sea including panoramic views of Hartland to Morte Point and Lundy Island. Later they had these rather dramatic photos taken on the way back up the drive. 

 



Cutting the cake kicked off the evening celebrations.

 



 

 Anne loves cheese and this cheese cake was magnificent. Local cheeses specially selected by Lee (our chef), topped with the cutest bride and groom chicks....

 

 

and little pottery mice.

 



 

Another mouth watering photo by Patrick!

 

The ballroom looked magical and cosy in the candlelight.

 



 

JJ hits the dance floor with kilt a twirling!!

 

 

A thoughtful and kind gesture to tired feet!

 



So many were very grateful and looked fab!!

 



Anne and Tim what lovely friends and family you have!! Such a gorgeous weekend, we so enjoyed having your wedding at Pickwell Manor!!