"We had considered having a beach wedding abroad, but as soon as we saw Ocean Kave's stunning seaside setting, we knew it was perfect for us," explains Jess. "It allowed us to have a relaxed and fun wedding reception, and the Kave's uniqueness provided the perfect backdrop to the romantic and informal ceremony we wanted."
Taking the waterside setting as the springboard for the overall look and feel of the day, the couple's family and friends pitched into help create their 'British seaside and fun' inspired wedding. A pretty palette of coral and blue was carried in everything from the bridesmaids' and ushers' outfits to the decor, which featured an eye-catching mix of flowers, lanterns, sand, candles and shells.
"My hair and make-up also fit within this theme: beach waves with a few flowers in my hair, and simple make-up," adds Jess.
The sun-spilled ceremony was a highly personalised affair, with the guests heartily singing along to 'Wonderwall' and the couple's self-penned vows providing particularly memorable highlights for the couple. The "amazing" wedding breakfast was another crowd-pleasing affair: the perfectly cooked beef Wellingtons proved a particular highlight.
However, their first dance stands out in Jess' memory for an entirely different reason. "Our first dance was terrible!" she confesses. "We were already dreading it but wanted to do something to get people on the dance floor so we chose an upbeat song and planned nothing! Unfortunately, this meant Alex decided to swing me round the dance floor and I slipped on my dress and fell into his arms - and not in a romantic Hollywood way! Luckily, we both found it hilarious and our guests quickly joined us on the dance floor. So, in a way, it had the impact we had wanted!"
Despite their minor dancing mishap, Jess and Alex were able to achieve their dream day by sticking to their vision, which they strongly encourage other couples to do.
"Plan the day that you want to have," says Jess. "We were lucky to have family that didn't try to influence what we did, and although some people gave us a few looks when we said we were going to get married in a cave, sing 'Wonderwall' at the ceremony and write our own vows, everyone loved it and we know we did absolutely everything to have our perfect wedding."
Photography Emma Case emmacasephotography.com
Venue Ocean Kave oceankave.co.uk
Dress Sassi Holford from Miss Bush missbush.co.uk
Groom's outfit Dress to Kill dress2kill.com
Bridesmaids' dresses Coast coast-stores.com
Hair and make-up Willow de la Roche willowdelaroche.co.uk
Cake Rectory Cottage rectorycottagecakes.com
Videography Loved Up Films lovedupfilms.co.uk
Entertainment Yazzy Chamberlain missyazzychamberlain.com
iRock musichq.co.uk/bands/irock
Copyright Wed magazine 2018
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