Spring Time Devon Wedding. By Chris Fishleigh

Wow it’s Wednesday already before we know it it will be the weekend, yay for Bank Holiday weekends and short weeks! Today’s wedding comes from Devon and is full with spring time cheer. Set in a gorgeous Country Hotel with a real ‘do it yourself’ ethos, the bride and groom were able to bring in their own chosen suppliers and have the wedding they wanted not what the venue dictated. Hats off to Muddifords Court for having such a relaxed policy. Big thanks to Chris from Chris Fishleigh Photography for the images.

‘An amazing day surrounded by family and friends. Better than we ever thought it could be.’

Anna and Matt who were married on 20th April 2013 at Muddifords Court Country House in Devon. ‘As soon as we viewed it, we loved it. It had everything we wanted – a relaxed atmosphere in the countryside and it had the flexibility to allow us to tailor our wedding to exactly how we wanted it. We had 80 guest to the day and 120 for the evening, it took 15 months to plan.’

How they met
We met at work and were introduced by Anna’s sister and have been together for 6 years.

The proposal
I (Matt) knew that Anna didn’t want a big public proposal, so secretly put decorations and candles around the house .The ring was hidden in a big bouquet of flowers.

Why did you choose your photographer?
We knew Chris well through family and were impressed by his previous weddings so we felt relaxed and comfortable in his presence.

The dres
Dress by Marylise, Shoes by Rainbow and hairpiece

The suit and bridesmaids
Grey 3 piece suit bought from River Island and the Bridesmaids dresses bought from Coast.

Theme or colour scheme
We had Spring Colours but tried to stay away from one colour theme.

Personal / DIY / Decoration
The bridesmaids had learnt how to make paper pom-poms so we filled the rooms with these, fairly lights and the tables were decorated with flowers in jam jars with. We also had homemade bunting in the courtyard. All the decorating was done by family members.
We had a framed picture of grandparents who sadly couldn’t be there. Matt drove with his father to the wedding in a classic Austin Healey Sprite that was restored by Anna’s father in preparation for the wedding. Matt and Anna drove away at the end of the night in this and it was a lovely feature at the venue. Matt’s mum also made the wedding cakes, including sugar paste flowers from scratch. The whole day was a family effort.

Food
Because of Matt’s love for cricket, we decided to centre the main meal around a 3 course ‘Cricket Tea’. We worked with our caterer, Field to Fork Catering, to create this. We then had a Hog Roast in the evening.

Entertainment
A string quartet during the afternoon and a Disco in the evening, again both tailored to suit our personal music preferences.

Flowers
Creams, Greens and Yellows including spring foliage and cream roses

Special moments
The ceremony was intimate, enjoyable and emotional and the speeches were a real crowd pleaser. Driving away in the car to cheers was great.

Advice
Involve family as much as possible – we could not have done it without them. No matter how nervous you think you will be, you will definitely have a fantastic day. Start planning as soon as possible as this will make budgeting much easier.

Biggest surprise
We woke up to clear blue skies and a beautiful spring day which just added to the occasion and highlighted the beautiful venue.