Victoria + Adam
THIS WEDDING MAKES A SPLASH WITH SILK SOURCED IN INDIA AND A TIPI ON CROYDE BEACH…
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELEANOR JANE PHOTOGRAPHY
eleanorjaneweddings.co.uk
Wrapped in ribbon, a surfboard marked the spot on a Cornish beach for Victoria and Adam’s engagement. “Adam drew me a treasure map to follow to find a surprise. It led me to a little cove along the coast near Lizard and there, waiting on the beach, was the surfboard I’d wanted so badly a few months ago. Someone had beaten me to buying it – little did I know it was Adam! He got down on one knee and as I said yes he turned me around – our families were running down the beach to us with Champagne! He had let them all in on the secret and they’d been able to watch the whole thing from a spot further up the beach!” A more than apt proposal for a couple who were first introduced by friends at their university’s surf club.
When it came to her wedding dress, Victoria wasn’t afraid to do things differently.
“I decided to buy the fabric for my gown while we were travelling in India on a surf trip.”
I purchased the silk in Jaipur from a women-run co-operative where the profits go towards building local schools. My amazingly talented seamstress and friend Rada then made my dress, inspired by photographs I’d seen in a wedding shoot on a Cornish beach. I loved every minute working with her, she was so accommodating of the little bits here and there that I wanted to tweak!” The gown featured a relaxed design with lace capped sleeves, lace embellishment at the bottom of the skirt and a relaxed, bohemian style.
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The bride accessorised her bespoke gown with a beaded floral headband, a chapel-length veil embellished with pearls and jewelled at sandals, perfect for this couple’s beach wedding.
And there were no challenging shopping trips for Victoria, because she let her bridesmaids choose their own dresses!
This laid-back bride also encouraged her girls to pick out all of their own accessories. “They all looked amazingly beautiful in their own styles,” Victoria tells us.
Adam looked dapper in a suit sourced from Topman that balanced the formalities of a religious church wedding with their relaxed beachside location and tipi venue. Tie pins added an extra dimension.
“Croyde has been a very special place in our hearts for years and feels like a second home to us.”
If we’re not at our home in Bristol, nine times out of 10 you’ll find us enjoying the surf in Croyde. We wanted our friends and family to enjoy a slice of what we get up to and see the place we love the most.”
The bride’s father walked her down the aisle as their usher strummed Pachelbel’s Canon in D at their ceremony in St George’s Church, Georgeham. “We played Ben Harper’s ‘Give Me Your Forever’ as we signed the marriage register.”
In keeping with their mutual love of the sea and their Cornish proposal, guests were treated to traditional Cornish pasties on arrival at the reception tipi. Chilled out cooking continued to be the culinary theme, with the newly married couple choosing to serve up paella and a barbecue for the wedding breakfast, with wood-fired pizzas in the evening, too.
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“All our decorations were homemade. We had stars lit by fairy lights sourced from our time in India; flower garlands wrapped around the tipi posts which were made by Adam’s mother, and we made all the painted signs ourselves, too. Even the whiskey and cigar table and glitter stations were homemade! Adam’s mother and grandpa grew all of the flowers themselves, creating everything from the buttonholes to the table centres.
“His mother also made our wedding cake – we’ll be entering her for Great British Bake Off next year because it was the tastiest cake EVER!”
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Even the wedding favours were homemade, with Victoria and Adam gifting each guest a wine glass that had been carefully hand-painted with their name.
The speeches were a resounding success with the father of the bride, groom and best man all standing up to say a few words. “Adam raised a glass of Absinthe to absent friends and the best man shared illustrated experiences with the bride and groom using a 6ft flip chart with a face hole cut out for Adam!” Victoria laughs. The bride’s father also took inspiration from the traditional tone of a best man’s speech for his, sharing fun and a few embarrassing tales of the bride growing up.
The entertainment, like the décor, was a family affair.
“The Ratdogs were our band for the evening, made up of one of our ushers on lead guitar and vocals, a friend on bass and the father of the groom on drums!”
The brother of the groom then played some jazz and the party culminated in a fabulous DJ set by none other than Miss Radisa – my dressmaker! The dance floor was raving until the early hours of Sunday morning. The Ratdogs covered ‘You’re The One’ by The Black Keys for our first dance.
Eleanor Jane did a great job and captured all the moments for us and our friend, Dale Adams, a professional video editor surprised us with a film of our wedding too! Old habits die hard, because even though we hadn’t asked him to officially be our videographer, he just couldn’t resist getting all those special moments on film for us.”
Once the festivities had drawn to an end, Victoria and Adam swapped surf for turf, travelling to Tuscany, the Italian wine region well known for romance, for their idyllic honeymoon.
C E R E M O N Y St George’s Church, Georgeham
R E C E P T I O N Tipi, for similar try Events Under Canvas
D R E S S Bespoke by Miss Radida
G R O O M Topman
E N T E R T A I N M E N T The Ratdogs
V I D E O G R A P H E R Dale Adams
