Gill and Andy’s wedding is like a dream – the perfect beach location; breathtaking spots for those keep-forever photographs and the prettiest of seaside styling touches. They married at Tunnels Beaches in Devon, and chose Evolve Photography to capture their day and the fabulous Pumpkin & Pye for beautiful florals.

Gill’s bridal separates are exquisite – she knew she wanted a skirt and a top rather than a dress. “I tried on about 20 different dresses before I found a store that had a skirt and a top. I knew as soon as I put it on that it was the one! The designer was Karen Willis Holmes and the boutique I bought it from was Martin Charles Bridal in Peterborough. I couldn’t recommend Martin highly enough. He is incredibly talented and made my dress fit like a glove.

I decided that my dress was a statement enough and didn’t want it to be overpowered by lots of jewellery so I kept it simple. I had feather earrings which went with my boho theme and a bangle my mother had given to me for my something new with sapphires in it to match my engagement ring and wedding band.

My husband also wanted something a bit quirky. He wore a 3 piece blue suit, with a grey and blue tartan waistcoat. His groomsmen wore the same but without the jacket. They all looked great and it went perfectly with the theme.

Wedding photographer’s website:

http://evolvephoto.co.uk/

Mark was recommended by our wedding venue – The Tunnels Beaches. His pictures looked amazing, he had a great videographer that he worked with and his wife was our florist so it made sense to keep it under one roof. Our sneak preview photos are incredible.

Mark really managed to capture the feel of our wedding. He got some great shots of us all dancing as the sun set which everyone loves. When we saw our photos for the first time my husband and I were genuinely gobsmacked. Firstly at how quickly he had turned around the preview shots for us, and secondly at how beautiful they are. There is such a variation of photos in there, from romantic to fun, to quirky, to sentimental. I must have looked at them 100 times. All of our friends and family commented on how gorgeous they are.

Do take some time to find out more about Evolve Photography here:
www.evolvephoto.co.uk
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Our wedding flowers were by Pumpkin & Pye. I wanted floral crowns for myself and the bridesmaids and simple bouquets. We came up with the idea of babies breath for the bridesmaids and then a mixture of babies breath with pinks and blues for myself. Natasha did an amazing job, they exceeded all of our expectations and really finished off our outfits. I loved the flowers so much that I had some pressed and framed as a memento of the day!

Wedding venue:

Tunnels Beaches Ilfracombe

Wedding month:

April

Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?

Relaxed, fun, quirky and beautiful

Your wedding style or theme:

We had a relaxed beach bohemian theme

Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)

The venue provided recommendations for all suppliers

What’s your top tip for saving money?

I got multiple quotes for everything but didn’t necessarily always go for the cheapest. I knew in my mind what I wanted and what I didn’t want and just made sure I was sensible when making choices. Instead of a cake I bought a cake of cheese from M&S and decorated it with figs and grapes and bought chutneys and biscuits. This was about half the cost of a wedding cake and everyone loved it. I also decided to buy tubes of bubbles for everyone to blow instead of confetti, it provided great pictures, was something different and a fraction of the cost of confetti.

… and which elements of your wedding are you glad you spent more on?

Our biggest expense was the venue and the accommodation for our wedding party. When we originally viewed the Tunnels neither my then fiance or I could have imagined getting married anywhere else. It was us all over- relaxed, informal, fun, incredibly beautiful and they served BBQs! It was like it was made for us. We had so many comments on how different the wedding was and that was exactly what we wanted.

Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?

I got my stationery from vistaprint. I wanted a boho style and they were reasonably priced

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

My girls all wore a knee length nudey pink asos dress with lace detail on the shoulders and back. They are all slightly different shapes and sizes but it looked beautiful on all of them and they all loved it. My mother even managed to alter a size 6 version of the dress to fit my 10 year old niece so they were all in the same dress. They looked amazing.

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

I had a professional to do my hair and make up. I wanted a nice natural look for my make up. My hair I wanted curly to the side with a plait going through it. I had 2 of the girls from Tangle Hair & Beauty in Braunton come out to the house we were staying in. They also did a few of the bridesmaids hair and did a great job.

General styling – did your venue need much decoration?

The great thing about Tunnels Beaches is that the view is so incredible there really isn’t much decoration needed. The building itself already has lots of cute and quirky signs hanging up and lights everywhere that we really didn’t need to decorate at all.

Crafts and makes – tell us about any homemade elements of your wedding… did you enjoy them?

As we were by the sea we decided to have all of our tables follow a seaside theme. We made our table plan on a surf board. All the tables were named after something to do with the seaside and the place names we hand made with a cocktail umbrella in each one. It looked great. We have kept the surfboard and hung it up at home.

The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?

We went for a cake of cheese. Neither my husband nor I are big fans of cake but we love cheese. I bought it from M&S and then decorated it with figs and grapes. We bought an array of chutneys and biscuits. All of our guests really liked it and there wasn’t much left.

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

We wanted an indie rock band and that was what we got. I found a band local to Devon called The Sparks. They started off with our first dance – Oasis Wonderwall and then played a variation of music across 3 sets during the evening. They also provided a DJ service in between the sets and played some great tunes, everyone was up dancing.

Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:

Try to be different. I wanted my wedding to be original and not follow the norm. I wanted it to represent my husband and I. We had so many compliments on how fun and relaxed and different it was. I think it will be a day that sticks in peoples minds.

What’s the best thing about being married?

In all honesty not much has changed for us, but it’s so wonderful to have the memories of such a special weekend that we will cherish forever.

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

http://www.tunnelsbeaches.co.uk/
http://evolvephoto.co.uk/
http://www.pumpkinpye.com/
http://www.thesparksband.co.uk/
http://www.martincharlesbridalgallery.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/tanglesbraunton/about/