Laura and Craig’s Travel Themed Beach Wedding. By Debs Ivelja

A few weeks ago I took you to to Devon to what is definitely one of my favourite wedding venues in the UK, The Tunnels Beaches. With the ceremony venue overlooking the ocean this venue really takes some beating with such an amazing view. I loved the venue so much that I am taking you back there today for the wedding of Laura and Craig. The couple chose things that meant the most to them, Travel, cooking and live music and focused their wedding around these elements and the results are beautiful. Captured absolutely perfectly by the incredibly talented Debs Ivelja I just know you are going to love this wedding as much as I do, watch out for those amazing views.

‘Best day of our lives, with smiles lasting all day, ours and everyone elses’

Laura and Craig were married on 7th June 2014 at The Tunnels Beaches in Ilfracombe, Devon. ‘The tunnels was initially recommended when we got engaged, by a wedding photographer friend who had recently done a wedding there. When we finally got round to starting to plan the day we realised it ticked a lot of the boxes on the sort of day we would like. We drove there and back in a day (from Portsmouth!), saw it in the pouring rain and still loved it, we booked the next day without looking at any other venues. We had a total of 80 day guests and 110 evening guests. It took just over a year to plan the wedding.’

How they met
We met through a mutual friend, who was a bridesmaid at the wedding. We’ve been together almost 6 years when we got married.

The Proposal
Craig proposed on my 31st birthday, when we were coming to the end of an 11 month round the world trip, on Gili T island in Indonesia. Craig suggested we go and watch the sunset on the beach, he had picked a bar at the top of the island the previous day. I was taking several photographs of the sunset and not really concentrating, without realising Craig was trying to ask a question! When I eventually put the camera down, he got down on one knee (higher than me because we were on bean bags), and I then clicked. He asked, I said yes, and it was an amazing way to finish a great trip together.

How did you choose your photographer
We loved the style of our wedding photographer friend (Cotton Candy) however she was always going to be a guest, so we asked for recommendations for people that had a similar soft, natural style. Debs was one of the recommendations, and after looking through her website we both decided that we really liked her style. The location was also ideal, so it was an easy decision. Thankfully Debs was available, so it was all very straightforward, and after seeing the final photos we were delighted with our choice.

The Dress
Justin Alexander. The shoes were Rainbow Club, Lydia.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
TM Lewin and Coast

Flowers
Can’t remember the exact flowers! They were very colourful and gerberas dressed the gazebo. We used Charlie’s flower shop in Ilfracombe, they were great and went out their way to help us as they had another wedding later on that day.

Food
BBQ

Entertainment
Michael G Moore, Piano Man – he is amazing and made the atmosphere on the day

Personal or Handmade Touches
The day was themed around what we love, travelling, cooking and live music. The favours for each table were different, and linked to the country.

Special Moments
It was all fantastic! Choosing a couple of highlights, after a morning of rain and on and off sunshine, the weather held long enough for us to get married outside which was great. Dancing away to the piano man playing with all our favourite people, watching the sun go down over the bay was pretty amazing, and Craig had organised fireworks on the beach as a surprise for me in the evening when it eventually got dark.

Advice to other couples
Don’t spend too long stressing or choosing the small stuff, keep the details personal to you, and if you can’t remember an element in any of the other weddings you have been to, then make the decision quickly and move on.
For the day itself – really try and get some time just the two of you, so many people had told us this but I didn’t really get it until after the day. It goes so fast, we had a couple of moments by chance and they are now very special memories

Biggest surprise
Difficult one, it was more overwhelming that we expected, but amazing at the same time. Having everyone you care about in one place was a really special feeling, and it was a great party. The sun kept on coming out at the best moments.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue – www.tunnelsbeaches.co.uk/weddings.html They worked so hard, especially Josh and his wife. They really made us feel like they were genuinely excited about our wedding, when I’m sure they have at least 5 weddings a week in the summer! The laid back atmosphere was great and exactly what we wanted for the day.
• Photographer – www.debsivelja.com All the guests commented on how great Debs and Caro were, and we loved them. They made our day easy and fun and have given us great memories to keep.
• Macaroons – www.juicylucycupcakes.co.uk
• Piano man – www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-G-Moore-the-Pianoman/227006618924?fref=nf
• Florist – www.charliesflowershop.co.uk

For more information on Debs work go to

www.debsivelja.com
www.debsivelja.com/blog
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