Thinking of throwing out the rulebook and holding a highly personal celebration? Meet the couples who did it their way...

FUN ON THE FARM
When Lydia and Mat's original choice of venue cancelled their wedding with only eight weeks to go, they turned their initial horror into an opportunity to throw, as a friend described it: "the weirdest wedding ever - in a really good way!"



"We ended up deciding that we really wanted something completely different," explains Mat. "We considered having the party at an art house cinema ending with a classic film from our childhoods, such as 'The Princess Bride', but, having looked at what we could do at Pennywell Farm in South Devon - from mini pig racing, falconry and tractor rides to a petting zoo - it became a no brainer!"



They were then faced with pulling everything together in a very short time. "After two weeks of mad dash planning and lots of help from local businesses, we managed to scramble together an unbelievable event," says Mat.



Their wedding day started with an intimate civil ceremony in the Rose Suite at Boringdon Hall in Plympton to the atmospheric sounds of Cornish flamenco guitarist Jon Salfield. With the vows taken, Lydia changed into her second wedding dress in preparation for the main blessing ceremony at Pennywell Farm.



Their guests were assembled surrounded by all manner of baby animals. "The blessing itself was a blast with birds fluttering in and out of the barn and a very vocal sheep that joined in whenever everyone else was speaking or singing! Our hymns were 'The Bare Necessities' and 'Jerusalem'," says Mat. The newly-weds left the barn to 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', as Mat says: "to start us on our adventure!"



Then the farmyard festivities well and truly kicked off: go kart and tractor rides, falconry and owl displays, miniature pig racing, donkey and pony rides, quad biking, a bouncy castle and more, rounded off with a delicious feast in a yurt. "Everyone was so relaxed and just spread out, eating, drinking, chatting and getting involved with the attractions," says Mat.



He also had a special photo shoot in store for his bride: "Lydia is a fan of comedy wedding photos so I arranged a zombie wedding photo shoot." As a GB wheelchair athlete in fencing, Mat's sponsor hand made a sabre for the cake cutting, which they also used to accessorise the photos, along with his Olympic torch, a bullet belt and zombie head!


 
Reflecting on their daringly different do, Mat says: "Everyone had an amazing day. We had a blast designing the wedding. It was just so much fun!"

Peacock Dreams Photography www.peacockdreamsphotography.com

BEGGED, BORROWED AND BEAUTIFUL
On setting their wedding date for their twelfth anniversary, Sara and Paul embarked on an epic mission to throw the wedding they've always dreamed of - at a fraction of the cost. This meant some shrewd purchasing, and a whole lot of collecting and crafting her way to w-day for DIY bride Sara.



"When asked what my 'colour scheme' was before the day, I always felt slightly panicked that my answer was usually "erm...there isn't one". Should I have a colour scheme? Am I doing it wrong? Our day didn't really start with a theme; we wanted it to be quite casual and eclectic; it was more of a gradual evolution as I started planning," she says.



Sara tirelessly hunted for the perfect details that came in under budget and drew upon her creative flair to make everything else - even the bridesmaid dress! "The colour and fabric I had in mind (grey/blue chambray) isn't a very common or cheap fabric in the UK so in the end the dress was made out of our duvet cover from H&M!" she laughs.



Their church wedding was followed by a barn reception at Coombeshead in Lewannick - a blank canvas they dressed with homemade details; think pompoms, jam-jars, old milk bottles and containers decorated with garden twine and filled with blooms, and bunting. "I used to work as a lingerie designer and a lot of leftover fabric used to get recycled," says Sara. "I made bunting out of old nightwear fabric that I had collected."



The eclectic assortment of crockery and cutlery was sourced from car boot sales and flea markets. "The cutlery was tied together with leftover strips of fabric from the duvet cover dress." She even put some of the leftover teacups to good use: "I made some of the teacups into candles with wicks and wax I bought on eBay - teacup candles are easy to make and look so pretty." She also spent many hours making the paper pompoms that hung from the ceilings: "I bulk bought tissue paper and then made a few of them every night for what seemed like forever! They took hours to pouf up the day before the wedding but looked brilliant on the day."



Her inventive idea for the name cards also went down a treat. "I bought fruit teabags (they gave off a lovely fruity smell) and replaced the standard cardboard dunking tabs with my own name tags for each guest. They took a while to cut out with a scalpel but it was one of the details I was most pleased with and lots of people commented on them."



Sara also designed the stationery and Paul made jam-jars into lanterns with thick wire so that the flowers could be hung from the ends of the pews in the church, while tea lights in jam-jars lining the aisle created a magical atmosphere. The wedding car and a Polaroid camera for the DIY photo guestbook were also borrowed, while Sara's godmother made a delicious wedding cake.



Reflecting on her homespun wedding, Sara comments: "There isn't anything we compromised on; everything was exactly as I had imagined thanks to a bit of creativity, determination and shrewd shopping."


  
Neil Hanson Photography www.nordicpics.co.uk

COSY DO FOR A FEW
Smitten by memories of their first holiday as a couple in Cornwall, Rebecca and Dave decided to return to the county to tie the knot with a very small party in tow. "We both have very big families and it was a hard decision not to invite everyone - but we wanted to make the day just about us and our three children so our wedding turned out very differently to the one we had imagined when we first got engaged, long before we had the children!" says Rebecca. "We invited my mum and Dave's brother Chris as witnesses, and Chris brought along his five-year-old son, Charlie. That was it!"


 
They booked an idyllic cottage for the week and relinquished any wedding planning worries. "After we decided not to have any other guests, the pressure was off to plan a large scale or detailed wedding and we knew we would be able to really relax and enjoy the day being just for us," explains Rebecca.





They did incorporate a few traditional details, including Rebecca's divine Jenny Packham dress and a chauffer driven campervan to take Rebecca and their three children to the ceremony at Lamorran Gardens. Rebecca carried a wildflower bouquet while their little daughters Amelie and Ana's excitedly waved flower girl wands.




 
"The gardens were stunning and, thanks to the beautiful sunny weather, it felt like we were in the Mediterranean!" comments Rebecca. Their son Sebastian walked Rebecca through the gardens to the cupola overlooking the sea where the ceremony took place, while Amelie stood with her parents as they took their vows. "It really was all about having children around!"



After the ceremony, they toasted their marriage with champagne and canapes in the gardens before cake and ice cream at The Hidden Hut on Portscatho Beach. "This was such a beautiful place to sit and watch the day fade. I almost forgot I was wearing such an ornate wedding dress after sitting on the beach all afternoon!" The children paddled in the sea and made sand angels before returning to the cottage for wedding cake as the tide came in. "We then played games in the garden and fed the horses in the paddock instead of an evening reception!"


 
"The day was truly about us as a family and what makes us happy, and that meant not following a typical wedding day, but making sure the important things were perfect," reflects Rebecca. "The little super8 video our photographer made really sums the day up - a blur of children, sunshine, laughter and the sea."



Emma Case Photography www.emmacasephotography.com

TANDEMS, TEACUPS AND GLITTER
Having both grown up in South Devon, Amy and Duncan now live in Exeter; they envisioned a wedding celebration close to all their family and friends spliced with vibrant, personality-filled details.



Amy channelled Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz', wearing a made to measure '50s style frock, with a birdcage veil sourced at a vintage fair. "I wanted a fun dress that wouldn't restrict me from having fun on the day," she says. Her glittery red Dorothy-style shoes and bouquet of red flowers added a pop of colour, alongside flawless make-up and pillar-box red lips, expertly applied by Jai Prettejohn at The Event Studios.


 
The couple wed at Holy Trinity Church in Exmouth and opted for a novel mode of transport for their departure: a tandem bike. They rode down to the seafront in the sunshine to the amusement of passersby. "Being passed by a bride and groom on an extra long bike must have been rather surreal, but we found it really funny. When we got to the busy seafront, people began to cheer - it was great!" recalls Duncan.



The reception took place in a marquee on the lawn at Exmouth Cricket Club where a fish and chips feast went down a treat. "Neither of us are fans of wedding cake and we wanted to serve something that we both loved - what could be better than a good old fashioned English cream tea? We built a big tower of scones that became our cake, which were served alongside local jam and cream." In the evening, a hot food van from the local fun park served bacon baps as an alternative to a traditional buffet.



The tables were brimming with an eclectic array of crockery, which looked pretty as a picture alongside origami flower and table centre decorations, which were lovingly handmade by a friend. "We also used a lot of things from our house to decorate the tables, as the odd and eclectic mix of bits and bobs helped with the tea party theme," says Duncan.

Entertainment came in the form of magician Duncan Norris, who moved from table to table, wowing guests with his tricks, and acoustic duo 'Dog and Donkey'. 



He has words of wisdom for other couples about to set off on their wedding planning journey: "Design the day around what you like. If you don't like big formal occasions, don't have one. Cut out the elements you don't like and replace it with bits you do."



"We didn't want lengthy photo sessions, so we didn't have one. We didn't fancy hiring a car just to take us half a mile down the road, so we did something fun instead - the tandem bike became the feature of the day and made it really special," he continues. "Also, we didn't want a formal dinner with long speeches, so we had fish and chips and a cream tea. We never really aimed for a theme, but as we pulled so much stuff in that we liked, it had its own sort of theme anyway."





"Call in a few favours," he advises. "If your friends are talented ask them to be involved. The contributions of friends and family really added to our day."

Dan at The Event Studios www.theeventstudios.co.uk/photography/

words Rebecca Matthews

Copyright Wed magazine 2013