Lauren and Ali faced much turbulence during their wedding planning journey – and their micro-wedding in a Georgian country house in Cornwall was far from the huge celebration they had planned in Wales. Despite all of the unknowns, Lauren and Ali kept a brilliantly positive attitude throughout – they simply wanted to celebrate their love for each other with their closest family and friends.
On the wedding morning, Ali and his groomsmen headed off for a morning surf, while Lauren and her bridesmaids enjoyed a glass of champagne as they prepared for the exciting day ahead. Lauren looked stunning in her Jenny Packham dress (and they agreed, naming her Jenny Packham bride of the week on Instagram) and the autumnal flowers were matched perfectly with the groom’s mustard yellow tie and pocket square. Integral to the day was a visit to Holywell Bay, a place close to the couple’s hearts, where their photographer captured the most romantic shots – Lauren’s outfit completed with her favourite leather jacket to beat the Cornish autumn chill.
Words from the bride –
The proposal
We got engaged in a place called Kaikoura in New Zealand. Ali had booked this amazing glass cabin overlooking a valley for my birthday. As soon as we’d un-packed I was sitting on the deck enjoying the view with a glass of wine and out he came!
Choosing the venue
We had originally planned a much bigger wedding celebration in August and in Wales but this just wasn’t viable with the COVID-19 rules and regulations at the time. We discussed our options and decided that we still really wanted to get married in 2020. The venue we had booked was closed and were moving all weddings to the following year resulting in us having to cancel.
When we began looking for other venues, we choose to look in England and in particular the South West. At the time, England were in front of Wales in terms of what they were allowing, and the South West had relatively low numbers of coronavirus cases. The rules were 30 people including registrars, photographers, the couple, and guests.
We stumbled upon Treseren after searching google for small intimate wedding venues. Having lived in Cornwall together, it is a place that holds lots of special memories for us and after reading the reviews, looking through their gallery and scrolling through their real weddings journal we fell in love. After speaking to Emma the super human host and owner of Treseren, who made us feel so at ease and filled us with confidence even with the ever changing rules and regulations, we managed to set a date.
‘Even though this wasn’t the wedding that we originally planned it was the best day of our lives! It has been a privilege to have our special day here and Treseren will be in our hearts forever.’
The Dress
My dress was Cassiopeia by Jenny Packham – I had already found the dress on Pinterest and chose the wedding shop as I knew they stocked it. What drew me in was the delicate botanical embroidery, I wanted something very natural and boho looking that I felt comfortable and could move freely in.
Natalie and her seamstress Anna at Exquisite Bridal in Winshester were amazing. Trying on dresses in front of people with everyone looking is quite daunting but they made me feel so beautiful and comfortable.
Highlights of the day
Saying our vows to each other and listening to Ali’s vows to me. Hearing those for the first time and the commitments that he had made himself made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world and for those few moment it felt like we were the only two people there, in a bubble full of love. I will remember those precious moments so clearly for the rest of my life.
Ali’s highlight was going to the beach – a place that we feel at our happiest and having time to ourselves where we could mess about and process all the excitement of the day so far.
Words of wisdom for couples considering a small wedding
If anyone is thinking of having a smaller more intimate wedding, it’s the best choice they could make. Even though all our guests were not there in person I have never felt more loved. I would not change our day for the world and all that matters is you and your partner. We also live streamed the ceremony via Zoom so even though the vast majority of our guests weren’t able to attend in person, they were able to watch the stream online live or the recording afterwards. We had people watching from Canada to Germany and it was so lovely to see them all. Some had made a real effort and dressed to impress.
We were thrilled to see Lauren and Ali’s wedding feature on Love My Dress, visit the blog yourself here.
Credits –
Photography – Art by Design Photography
Flowers – Tide Flowers
Hair – Hair by Emma C
Catering – Chef Natasha
