Sarah and Richard met at a pub in Cornwall. After chatting they found that they had grown up in neighbouring villages, their Grannies had known each other and Sarah’s mum had taught Richard at primary school!  They met again a few weeks later at Richard’s brother’s wedding reception, and when Sarah moved to Cornwall permanently their romance started after they spent all evening chatting at The Paris Hotel during a village carnival.

The Proposal

Richard took Sarah out for a meal one Friday in September 2009, although Sarah almost cancelled as she felt tired (she was 4 months pregnant at the time) and full of cold. During the meal Sarah was telling Richard how it felt strange that she was a pregnant teacher and was wondering if her class at school would think it weird her being a ‘Miss’.  Richard then took his Granny’s diamond ring out of his pocket and said “Well let’s change Miss to Mrs then”.

“It felt like something out of a film – almost like it had been scripted!”

Hen and Stag Parties

Sarah and Richard’s son Louis was born in February 2010, and by the time the hen and stag parties came around Sarah and Richard had bought, moved in to and renovated Richard’s childhood home, and Louis was 6 months old.

Sarah’s hen do was in the local pub (easy to organise with a 6 month old baby) and the theme was 1980s. Louis was highly amused by Sarah’s friends getting ready to 80’s tunes in the kitchen, putting on their makeup and backcombing their hair, before he was handed over to Richard who was babysitter for the evening while the girls went and had fun in the pub.

Richard and his stags went paintballing followed by a pub crawl around Falmouth, organised by his brothers who were also his best men.

The Bride and Groom’s Outfits

Sarah had decided that she didn’t want to go dress shopping straight after having Louis, but was unaware that some wedding dresses can take longer than 6 months to order.  By the time she set off with her parents to start shopping she soon realised she was going to have to buy off the rack as she had left it too late to order a dress.

A few days later they went to County Cream in Truro. Sarah was delighted with how well she was treated by the friendly and helpful staff, who didn’t mind the nappy changing and bottle feeding that was going on behind the scenes!  After trying on a few dresses Sarah’s dad suggested she try on a two piece with a full skirt and bodice, and when she came out of the changing room Sarah was overwhelmed by her family’s positive reaction.  The dress was bought, well within budget, leaving Sarah with enough money to get a tiara and veil too.

Richard’s suit was bought from Moss Bros.  After looking into hiring cravats and waistcoats the overall opinion from the groomsmen was not to bother with anything fussy. Richard and Sarah were in Truro arranging Richard’s wedding ring and noticed there was a sale on at the Moss Bros store. Richard chose a dark grey Italian wool suit and pale lilac shirt, all for less than half the price!

Flowers

After doing some research Sarah found that hydrangeas were a recommended flower for a September wedding, and they were also significant as they were a flower that reminded her of her Cornish Granny, who sadly passed away during the time the wedding was being planned.  The flowers were organised by Flowers by Clowance, and Sarah and Richard decided on blue/lilac hydrangeas with ivory roses.

Sarah had a large hand tie with Akito roses, hydrangea blossoms and sparkly jewels, her bridesmaids had matching smaller hand ties, her sister had a wrist corsage with a sparkly wristband, the buttonholes for the groomsmen were cream roses with hydrangea blossoms, and Richard wore a lilac rose.  They chose not to have table centrepieces at the wedding reception, but they had some beautiful arrangements in the windows and on the walls of the church that all tied into the cream and lilac theme.

The Ceremony and Reception

As he had been married before, Richard wasn’t sure about having a church wedding, but it felt so right to Sarah to be married in the church she had grown up in and if possible have Louis baptised at the same time. It was the first time that the vicar had done a wedding and christening service at the same time.  The ceremony was attended by around 100 guests, including lots of lovely chatty babies.

The reception was held at the The Paris Hotel in Coverack, the place where Sarah and Richard first met and fell in love. It is situated on the harbour of the picturesque fishing village in Cornwall, a few minutes’ walk from the church.  The wedding breakfast was a hog roast followed by ice cream cones, and 100 extra guests joined them for the evening reception where they enjoyed Cornish pasties.

The Cake

As it was a joint celebration there was a wedding cake and a christening cake, both made by Sarah’s brother-in-law’s mum Anne. The wedding cake was a tradition fruit cake decorated with lilac hydrangea blossoms, and the christening cake was a chocolate and almond cake. Anne also made cute figurines of Sarah, Richard and Louis to sit on top of the wedding cake.

The Photographer

The wedding photographer was Donna of Donna Sharpe Photography, who is married to Richard’s brother and has known Sarah since they went to school together.  Sarah’s favourite picture was taken outside of a picturesque cottage.  Sarah and Richard quickly sat on the chairs outside of the cottage and had a few quick pictures taken before continuing their procession through the village.

Wedding Details

Sarah and her dad decorated the hotel with balloons banners and streamers, and Sarah decorated lots of Louis’ baby food jars with ribbons and placed tea lights in them, which were then used as twinkly lights in the pub garden. There were also paper lanterns that were lit and sent out to sea – with permission from the coastguard of course!

Memories

“Walking through the village surrounded by my friends and family, holding my husband's hand as he carried our beautiful baby boy! Perfect!”

The Wedding Community

“It was very helpful to look at ideas for hairstyles and makeup, but I do wish that I had used the website much earlier than I did because there are such fab ideas for flowers, colours, themes and dresses. I also loved reading the real wedding stories - they were very inspiring for ideas.”

Tips and Ideas

“Choose a colour scheme as early as possible!”

Bride’s Top Tip

“Learn to delegate! You can't do everything - decorating the venue a few hours before walking down the aisle was a bit too much!”

Groom's Top Tip

“Have a drink with your mates in the pub before walking down the aisle (but only make it one!).”

Best Buy

“My wedding dress - off the rack and for a very good price leaving more in the budget for a tiara and veil!”

Money Saving Ideas

“Call in friends and family who have special skills to help. We had our cakes, photos and lots of the decorative flowers for free.”

Bride’s Beauty Tip

“I wasn't able to sunbathe in the summer - having a baby, renovating the house... so I relied on a very gradual fake tan moisturiser that slowly built up a very natural even colour, and I didn't have any obvious strap marks on my shoulders from swimming costumes or t-shirts (I used Boots’ own and it didn't leave any streaks or patches even on my elbows and hands).”

Photography: Donna Sharpe Photography

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