Zoë and Hugh’s Wonderful Wedding Fiesta!

Zoë and Hugh told us that they wanted something a little less conventional when they chose Pickwell Manor for their wedding day, and as I love new ideas, I was so excited to work with them to see their wedding become a reality.

Hugh proposed to Zoë on the vibrant coast of San Sebastian.  They were keen that their wedding should reflect their journey as a couple.  This meant bringing the Spanish Fiesta to Pickwell Manor but with a twist of Holland (Zoë is half Dutch), a bit of London (where they met), and a good measure of southwest tradition (where they live now)!  

The Friday was all about decorating.  Zoë and Hugh are very creative and they come from creative families.  Here are their parents, Frank, Helen and Maya organising the favours - homemade damson jam - made by Rob, Zoë's Dad! 

Meanwhile, Abi (Zoë's sister) made the AMAZING wedding cake, here she is prepping.

Creative Groom Hugh was in our apartment 'Bliss',  which temporarily become the arts and craft nerve centre!

Zoë, Maya and Rob were in charge of making sure the Ballroom looked colourful and happy for the wedding Zoë and Hugh had planned.

Here is the awesome Rob (Zoë's Dad) on bunting duty!

And then Kelly from Offshore Blooms arrived to put the finishing touches to the tables - planted herbs and the biggest hydrangea blooms I've ever seen!  The Ballroom looked beautiful.  Zoë and Hugh hired in orange napkins to fit their theme and these long tables to create the Spanish banqueting feast atmosphere.  But more on the feast in a bit....

On Saturday Morning....

Super Abi put the wedding cake together.  Zoë and Hugh had requested a "Naked Cake" - something honest and beautiful.  Zoë had sent Abi a picture of a cake which she quite liked as a guide...  No one knew Abi would literally recreate the cake...That's why I say Super Abi!

And voila! Here it is:

Kelly arrived in the morning to deliver the bouquet's all beautiful and fresh, as you can see - Zoë and Maya were thrilled!

And here is why, the bouquet's were stunning - such bold and bright colours, perfect for a late Summer/early Autumn wedding.

Hugh LOVES to surf. As a joke, he left his wetsuit hanging next to the Brides dress, for a split second I thought he might actually be getting married in a wetsuit!

Wetsuit removed, Hugh and his best boys went for a morning surf and at Pickwell, we got a first look at the dress.

                                      Zoë is friends with a hairdresser and make-up artist. 

                              They came all the way to Pickwell to help our bride get ready.

And then she was ready! Here is beautiful Zoë with her lovely and proud father Rob.

Zoë and Hugh really made every moment of their wedding meaningful and special to them and their families.  Zoë always said that her best friends would be with her, and walk up the aisle with her and Rob.  So lets meet Abi, Rishi and Baber, the bridesmaid and bridesmen.

And just before the walk to the ceremony!

All guests were upstanding for the Bride as she walked up the aisle to 'Chan Chan' by 'Buena Vista Social Club', played by the brilliant Jon Boyes a Spanish guitarist.

Zoë and Hugh had a beautiful and moving outdoor ceremony, married under our Rose Arbour decorated with their wedding theme.

Their guests showered these newlyweds with natural petals as they walked down the aisle together as husband and wife. 

I'll take a little break now and share with you Zoë and Hugh's Wedding invitation. We saw Hugh at work earlier in this blog, but here is their wedding invitation he drew!  A mini Pickwell!

It opens up to describe their wedding day:

As the invitation details, after the ceremony, guests were treated to an afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches and these scrummy scones.

Zoë and Hugh cut the wedding cake and soon after guests had a glass of refreshing Pimms or Corona in hand.

Guests enjoyed chatting away, sharing stories about Zoë and Hugh and catching up, with beautiful Spanish guitar strumming in the background.

There was a village fête atmosphere in the Italian Garden -  

Some guests took to Chess...

Others played Croquet... meanwhile others played....

HOOK A DUCK!!!

We can see Zoë and Hugh's lovely photographer here in the background, Mark Gawthorne of Evolve photography 

So good was he at getting everyone together, a group photo was taken just before guests were called into dinner.

Before guests entered the Ballroom, they were able to see Hugh's hand-made table plan. I was very excited to see that Pickwell had become it's own tube line! Each table was named after a significant place to Zoë and Hugh. And as Hugh aptly put it, the underground only has fond memories to people who no longer have to use it - I would have to agree!

Zoë and Hugh decorated the sideboard in our entrance hallway for guests to leave cards of congratulations.

The Bride and Groom entered the Ballroom last to much applause from their guests 

The Ballroom was filled with cheer and chatter, as wine was poured.

And a beautiful sharing tapas menu was served.

Due to the sharing nature of the meal, I was unable to take pictures of each of the different dishes, so you will have to take my word that they were each beautifully presented and tasted like a piece of heaven.  Zoë and Hugh combined some crowd pleasers with some adventurous tapas.  It was wonderful to see everyone tucking in, trying and enjoying every element of the menu. Our wonderful caterers Guess Who is Coming to Dinner really excelled themselves.

With full tummy's it was time for my favourite bit of a wedding - the speeches.

First was Rob, who shared funny stories about Zoë when she was little!

Hugh's heart melting speech included a reciting of a poem he had written especially for his new wife. Literally, not a single dry eye in the Ballroom.

Best Man Steve continued the theme of making guests teary....  only this time, tears of laughter as he showcased some, ahem, hilarious photo's and a video clip of Hugh!

Hugh's brother Paul arranged a sweepstake on the best man's speech - all the proceeds from the sweepstake went to St Francis Hospice, a charity very close to Hugh and Paul's hearts.  Here the "high five" moment when table "Streatham" won!

After dinner, it was time for a fiesta - in the form of a Ceilidh.

Here are Zoë and Hugh performing their first dance!

Doe-sey doe-ing...

And then everyone joined in!

While guests worked off their dinner to the ceilidh, other guests discovered the Photo Booth props!

Just as everyone danced up an appetite, an evening selection of delicious local west-country cheeses were served for everyone to graze on.

The evening drew to an end, as our newlyweds danced their last dance,  and their guests clapped and cheered!

Zoë and Hugh, you have been a joy to spend time with and are a dynamic and extraordinary couple.  Your wedding has been a vibrant and fun weekend - one that reflects the kind, thoughtful and loving people you are. We wish you every happiness in your adventures together as husband and wife.

 Come back and see us again soon!

xxx

Rachel and Jamie's wedding- A golden feast for the eyes.

One of the things I really love about doing weddings, is to watch a couple's journey unfold. They start with some wonderful ideas, which then develop and evolve over the months of preparation. Then we watch, as the couple arrive at Pickwell, and marvellous things come out of the cars and start to be assembled into something beautiful, that express who they are as a couple. It is such a privilege to be part of this journey!

Rachel is so creative and her attention to detail is second to none! She had thought of everything, every corner of the house and every moment of the wedding had something delightful in it. 

These were all the orders of service and the confetti for the church -lovingly hand made.

This is Rachel's wonderful friend and Bridesmaid, Karen, who worked her socks off despite being 5 months pregnant!

The flowers from Deryn at 'Twigs' were spectacular! The reds, pinks and purples brought the golden colours of the wedding extra vibrancy. 

Rachel's marvellous Dad, Peter, had been working hard behind the scenes for months making blackboards and the table plan board (to name but a couple). He was set to work on hanging the gold picture frames using fishing wire and pins from the cornices. No easy endeavour!

Karen's husband lent a hand to this tricky balancing act.

And here is his support team drinking coffee (Jamie the groom and Jamie's mum, Sue)!  

Rachel then hung these hand made paper flowers on the frames to great effect!

I am sure you will agree they made quite a feature!

I loved the simplicity, yet effectiveness, of this 'Oh Happy Day' hanging behind the top table.

The table names were of historic families who have lived at Pickwell Manor. St Aubyn de Pickwell was Lord of the Manor from 1254 to 1294.

Whilst, half of the tables had these wonderful gold containers of flowers as the table centre piece....

  the other half had these spectacular candelabras. I liked the red 'dangly bits'. Deryn informs me that they are better known as Amaranthus.

At each place setting sat a gold 'charger' (under plate) giving a golden 'wow' factor! Inside the favours boxes, Rachel had hand made some scrabble cuff links for the men (with their individual initials) and wine glass stem tags for the ladies. Another wonderful idea from this scrabble loving couple.

The side board in the hallway was very welcoming. I loved the stacks of gold covered books;

Auntie's wonderful card box;

and the Minstrels!

On each of the windowsills down the hallway, Jamie and Rachel had put collections of family wedding photos. I really loved this celebration of their families.

How cute are these two!!

The 'R & J' was a definite theme, appearing on everything from room name tags, to the napkins. A number of large gold ones were dotted around the house. 

Ahhhh!!

Rachel's very talented sister, Alison, made this stunning cake (and helped make a number of other things too). Here she is adding the final touches to the cake on the wedding morning.

After Friday's wonderful work, of turning the house into a golden 'feast for the eyes', the wedding weekend began. After the church rehearsal, Friday night was spent with everyone having dinner at the Kings Arms. Then on Saturday the fun of getting ready began and more gorgeous flowers arrived!!

This is Rachel's bridal bouquet.

And this is Jamie Bott, their photographer, just about to photograph it. We do love working with you Jamie, you are always so relaxed and lovely to have around!! There are some super photos already up on his Facebook page.

Eve Ashby is the wonderful make up artist who worked on a photo shoot here for Wed magazine a couple of years ago. She is not only great at what she does, but she is so nice to have around too. She seemed to really put Rachel at ease.

Stephanie and Charlotte from Tangles in Braunton were a the great wedding hair team!

The gorgeous girls!!

And the very beautiful bride!! The ceremony itself took place at Georgeham church, I wish I could have been there as it sounded wonderful. Rachel was part of a gospel choir at university, who all sang at the wedding. I can't wait to see the video footage from Pete Cox who did the videography.

On their return from the church, everyone gathered around the new 'husband and wife' for a  group photo.

Then they all relaxed in the sunshine...tennis anyone!? The fun was only disturbed by the occasional pause for a delicious canape or another drink.

Then it was time for guests to find their seat for dinner. Such a great idea to have everyone's photos on the table plan. It made it all feel very personal.

May I introduce you to Alex, the wonderful MC. He really had a way with words.

Rachel and Jamie are passionate foodies (me too!!) and wanted their guests to have lovely food that could be shared and talked over.

 Everyone started with a mezze platter shared between two.

Then the fun began! Rachel and Jamie chose a person from each table to carve a joint of  'Devon Sirloin'. Here we can see Rachel handing out the chefs hats and pinnies ready for carving.

Didn't they look lovely!!

Everyone had such fun carving the meat and discussing which bit they wanted. Peter did a smashing job of carving on the top table, well done Dad!!

Rachel asked Lee, our chef, to cook her mum's Chocolate Roulade recipe for pudding, another lovely personal touch. Mandy did tell me later that she was not sure her's 'had ever looked that good'. I am sure she was just being modest!

Again, there was a lovely sense of sharing and theatre as guests served out their own Pavlova or Chocolate Roulade. It was all great fun!

After the speeches...

the room was transformed for dancing!

I love the ballroom full of twinkling candles.

Rachel's sister Alison made this brilliant neon sign adding to the atmosphere.

Cutting the cake....

lead seamlessly through to the first dance, awww so romantic!

The dance floor was packed....

unsurprising as the band 'Celebrity' were great. I have to say the photo on this weblink does not do them justice!! Rachel and Jamie had first heard them play at a friends wedding 3 years before and loved them.

Wonderful fun was then to be had in the 'Beach Hut Booth' photo booth in the hallway.

Guests were then encouraged to stick one copy of their photo into the guest book. Rachel and Jamie, you are going to have some fun looking back through these!! There may even be one of me and the catering team at the end of the night, hehehe (check out their facebook page for a giggle)!!

Sparklers were a twinkly end to a magical day!! Rachel and Jamie, I felt so privileged to be part of your wedding journey. I am so delighted that this won't be the last we will see of you, with Jamie having already booked in to come back for your anniversary. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Wellen we wish you sooooo much happiness!!