Large-scale weddings - from festival weekenders to luxe country house extravaganzas - are big news in wedding world right now. But, at the other end of the scale, the intimate do is having a quiet moment of its own.
While poring over Pinterest, ticking off tasks on the to-do list and making paper pom-poms into the night are part of the whole wonderful wedding experience for many couples, there's a rising movement amongst others to simplify the process and steal away to exchange vows in privacy. Here, we meet three couples who reveal the story of their unique celebrations.
"Everything came together like the pieces of a jigsaw to create the loveliest and least stressful day imaginable."
Joyce and Ed travelled from Ireland to the far tip of west Cornwall to marry at BoHo Cornwall. Joyce shares their magical elopement story
"We had been together for 17 years and engaged for seven, with two children and a third on the way. Every time we'd thought about making wedding plans something else was on the horizon and we'd kept putting it off. It was a case of now or never before our third child arrived and it would be more difficult to get away by ourselves again. We thought our best chance of doing this was to keep it low-key with a short time between planning and the actual day itself. We also wanted the wedding to be just about us and to minimise distractions so we could really enjoy our day, which had been so long coming!
We made the decision to just go for it in November 2016 and, when we came across BoHo Cornwall, we instantly knew it would be perfect for us. We loved the fact that, apart from offering the intimate ceremony we wanted, we would also have the place to ourselves for the duration of our stay. And we were looking forward to seeing the beautiful landscape of Cornwall which was so easily accessible - we flew from Dublin to Newquay.
Part of what made the wedding preparations so easy was the list of recommended vendors Maya and Tom at BoHo Cornwall supplied us with. We both had a therapeutic massage by Fiona Lockhart on the evening of arrival and Indulgence Catering provided us with a gourmet hamper so that we didn't need to worry about preparing food during our stay. We booked photographer, Adam Gibbard, and make-up artist, Joy Faull (one of Sally Orchard's team), and Amanda Taffinder did the flowers. My dress was handmade in Israel and purchased through Etsy (etsy.com) and Ed bought his suit in Ireland.
The day began just as it continued - full of relaxation and calm! We stayed in Ochre, a sanctuary of comfort and tranquility with lovely views of the surrounding countryside. Maya and Tom delivered a beautiful champagne breakfast and, after Joy had done my make-up and we'd enjoyed some time to ourselves, Adam arrived to take some photos of our preparations. Ed then went to the main house and I got dressed. Ed was escorted to another room while I readied myself at the top of the spectacular staircase for my entry. I walked in to 'Heartbeats' by Jose Gonzà les and it was an incredibly powerful moment seeing each other for the first time. We had a humanist ceremony conducted by The Guild Of Cornish Celebrants and Tom and Maya witnessed our vows, although we had been legally married in Ireland two days earlier (due to the law for giving notice making it difficult to have a legal marriage in England).
Once the ceremony was over, we spent a few hours having photos taken in the house, on the beach and at Botallack mine. We then returned to our studio until it was time for a delicious meal at Ben's Cornish Kitchen in Marazion.
The planning, communication with Maya beforehand, our warm greeting and hospitality at the hands of Maya and Tom, the landscape, accommodation and ceremony all came together like the pieces of a jigsaw to create the loveliest and least stressful day imaginable. I can't recommend the experience highly enough: the day was just about us, which is how we wanted our special day to be and the second round of fun started when got home and broke the news to our delighted families and friends."
Adam Gibbard
"It was just about us and our son. It was perfect and full of fun - no stress at all."
Vinca and Oliver said 'I do' at Lower Barns, with their young son and dog in tow. Vinca reveals all about their perfect weekend
"We decided to elope as we wanted a small wedding. We have been together for 25 years, so our families and friends think of us as married anyway, but we wanted to make it official. We knew that even if we had a small wedding it would get out of control, so we told our parents and siblings and a couple of close friends that we would be eloping but didn't tell them where or when. We are throwing a big party for our 25th anniversary of being together so that made it easier for anyone who was disappointed at not being at the actual wedding!
When we decided to elope, we started searching for the ideal venue. We wanted the day to be fun and relaxed, not serious - a day to remember for all the right reasons! When we found Lower Barns we knew it was the place for us - we loved their styling, the fact that it could be just us, our son and our dog, and that Janie and Mike would be our witnesses. They were so accommodating and easy-going - they made it completely stress-free. It didn't feel like we were getting married because there was nothing to worry about!
I bought my wedding dress and shoes from two different vintage shops on Etsy (etsy.com) - I spent less than �300 on my outfit. Oliver wore a linen suit he already owned that we both loved and I bought Ansel a white linen shirt - so it was all very simple. Janie recommended a friend to do the flowers. I met her the day before and when she saw our dog, Elsie, she also made a small posy to go on her collar, which was a lovely touch.
We spent four nights at Lower Barns. We arrived on the Friday evening and met Janie and Mike who made us feel at home straight away. On the Saturday we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan and then drove to Penzance and had fish and chips at Rick Stein's in Porthleven.
We married in the 'Love Shack' at 11.30am on the Sunday. It was just us, our son, Ansel, the two registrars and Janie and Mike. We had our own music and Ansel read a poem that he had learnt for the occasion - he was also the ring bearer! Mike took some photos of us in the gardens. We then enjoyed a champagne cream tea and they had arranged a teapot wedding cake for us as a lovely surprise. We had a soak in the hot tub with Ansel and, by 4pm, we were walking the dog on the beach in the sun. It was a lovely relaxing day - just how we wanted it, no pressure from anyone. The next day we went bodyboarding at Watergate Bay and had lunch at Fifteen, so it was a really perfect weekend.
It really felt like our day and that it was about us and what we wanted to do, not what we thought we should do to keep family and friends happy. We never wanted a big wedding and so it was just perfect. It was about us and our son and was just really fun - no stress at all."
"We married on a near deserted beach in October and were blessed with spotting a seal and a rainbow after our ceremony."
Jane and Mark tied the knot on the shores of west Cornwall before celebrating with a small family group at Dreamcatcher. Jane, who runs Petite Weddings, reflects on their intimate wedding experience
"We decided on a really intimate wedding because we have both been married before and wanted something unique to our relationship. Also, already having children and a mortgage, we did not want to spend huge sums on one day - we have other financial priorities. What's more, you cannot really run a business called Petite Weddings (petiteweddings.co.uk) if you are not passionate about the concept of intimate weddings and practise what you preach! We decided on a beach ceremony near where we live in west Cornwall, before returning to one of our petite wedding venues, Dreamcatcher, for the celebrations.
The night before the wedding, all our 12 family guests met at our house for food and a couple of glasses of wine. The next morning, we all met up again at 2 Fore Street in Mousehole, with Mark and I going off afterwards to get ready. I had my hair and make-up done by Jo Chatterley with Mark to chat to - he's my best friend as well as my husband now! In the meantime, Jen from Twigs and Greens had installed flowers at our reception venue and dropped off flowers to Mark and I.
I wore a bespoke dress made by Celeste from The Victorian Tailor (victoriantailor.com) and I teamed it with a mink shawl from Etsy (etsy.com) and a pair of vintage 1950s' American boots from Net-a-Porter (net-a-porter.com). Mark wore a Paul Smith jacket and jeans accessorised with a vintage tie and waistcoat from eBay (ebay.com).
Our guests met at Pendeen Watch with our celebrant Danu Fox and Pen and Cam of McKinley-Rodgers Photography. They made a stone circle adorned with vases of flowers by Twigs and Greens. Then Mark and I arrived and we walked along the cliffs down to Portheras Cove for our wedding ceremony that we had written ourselves with help from Danu. The ceremony included jumping over the broomstick and the sword, signifying our union.
Making our vows on the beach in October meant it was near deserted. Although the day was misty, the skies brightened for about two hours while we got married and then we were blessed with spotting a seal and a rainbow after our ceremony! It was an adventure to get everyone down on the beach but so worth it.
After some lovely photographs, we headed to Dreamcatcher for our wedding reception: champagne and canapes on arrival with a three-course meal including spiced fish cakes, lobster curry and passion fruit cheesecake prepared by Indulgence Catering. We love fish and spice! This was followed by music and singing, and we then left for our wedding night at Chapel House Penzance."
Copyright Wed magazine 2017
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