Gorgeous couple Emily & Harry tied the knot at Sharpham House in Devon last May. Theirs was a wonderfully relaxed, country style wedding with plenty of wildflowers – and truly, the floral styling is breathtaking! Harry’s mum arranged all of the flowers with help from family and friends. Emily told me she worked tirelessly in the run up to the wedding and in particular the day before to make everything look so beautiful.

“We went to a wholesale flower seller in Cornwall to purchase all of the flowers and used wildflowers in her garden to help decorate the tables. We had plenty of green foliage to bulk out the flowers and also add colour. In my bouquet were pale pink peonies, blue delphiniums, white freshias and green foliage. The wildflowers on the tables included buttercups and bluebells. We also used plenty of cow parsley and eucalyptus to decorate the venue!

The venue itself is a beautiful old house, so we didn’t need a large amount of decoration. We added a few touches here and there to make it look more festive and like a wedding!

Wedding photographer’s website:

https://emmastonerweddings.com/

We really wanted a photographer who would provide beautiful, natural shots and not lots of formal pictures. We found Emma’s website online and thought that her style really suited us.

Emma was absolutely fantastic. She took so many beautiful photos on our wedding day and turned around the final product really quickly. She had some lovely ideas for where we could have photo and took the time to meet us a couple of times before the wedding so that we could all get to know each other.

We were so pleased when we received the sneak peak from Emma – and it happened so fast, within a few days of the wedding!

See more from Devon wedding photographer Emma Stoner

Website: emmastonerweddings.com
Instagram: @emmastonerphoto
Facebook: @emmastonerphoto

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

Catering was recommended by the venue (South West Devon Hog Roast Company and the Kitchen Table). The flowers were all prepared by the groom’s mother along with a number of friends and family helping out the day before! Hair and make up were recommendations

What’s your top tip for saving money?

Doing as much as you can yourself! We were very lucky that the groom’s mother is so creative and had wonderful ideas of how the flowers could look on the day. Also by choosing a venue that is really flexible with what you are allowed to do means that you can save lots of money on alcohol, catering etc. We bought all bridesmaids and ushers clothing in the summer sales the year before our wedding. We also had friends who made the wedding cake which was then the dessert

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

Hair and make up – this was definitely worth it because I knew it would be too stressful to do on the day. Every penny we gave our cater was worth it – she was excellent and helped orchestrate the whole day. We also LOVED the band – The Drat Pack!

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

We used vistaprint online for invitations and orders of service. We printed and made the table plans ourselves and hand wrote all of the place names. We also made all of our table stands ourselves

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

Yes, I loved it!

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

Justin Alexander – I actually bought this from a shop called Something Old Something New in Caversham near my parent’s house. This shop only sell second hand or sample dresses and therefore my dress was about 40% cheaper. I was very lucky that my dress had just been delivered to the shop that day and was a sample so was extremely clean and in excellent condition!

Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!

LK Bennett gold sparkly shoes, very simple jewelry of only pearl earrings. I didn’t want a veil as I had flowers in my hair. These flowers were leftovers from my bouquet, just tied together and my hairdresser clipped them in with grips.

And what did the groom wear?

Paul Smith blue suit, with waistcoat. No tie but a pocket square made out of the same material as the bridemaids dresses (we bought one extra as they were so cheap in the sale!)

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

Beautiful dresses from Coast, sticking with the floral theme they were white with big blue, pink and green flowers on them. It was lovely that each dress had a slightly different pattern

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

We hired a professional for both

Wedding DIY

I loved all of the craft work! I was very pleased with the table plan we prepared, which was grey linen on a pin board attached to an easel. We then printed and hand ripped the tables and pinned on to the board – very simple! Also my husband helped make all of our table names. We used a template from an online blog which said “when we were 1” etc and then we had a photo each of when we were 1.

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

My 3 friends from university made our wedding cake. They practised for hours on end perfecting their carrot cake recipe, and it was the first wedding cake they had made! we wanted something quite simple but let them be creative and decorate how they wished.

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

We had a lovely string quartet for the ceremony and reception drinks. Sharpham house has a spiral staircase which was used for the ceremony and so the sound was amazing when they were playing. The evening band were called the Drat Pack and were a big hit with all of the guests! They were friends of the groom’s father so it was great to know that they were highly recommended. I couldn’t recommend them for a wedding enough! They mixed jazz with popular hits and got everyone on the dancefloor

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

Stay relaxed and enjoy the process of planning a wedding. It’s so easy to get caught up in the detail, remember to step back and get excited that you’re getting married!

What’s the best thing about being married?

Knowing that you are and always will be part of a team. Knowing they will always be there for you.

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

http://emmastonerweddings.com
https://www.thekitchentable.org.uk/
https://southdevonhogroast.co.uk/
Louisa at the hair lounge http://www.thehairloungetavistock.co.uk/
http://www.thedratpack.co.uk/
https://www.sharphamtrust.org/ceremonies/weddings-at-sharpham