Branislav and Georgina’s Slovak Themed Cornish Wedding by Josh Harkon

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you are all well and happy and have enjoyed a wonderful bonfire weekend? We had an amazing weekend! We were out Friday, Saturday and Sunday at different events and I have to say we had an absolute ball. Considering last year was so rubbish we certainly made up for it this year! I hope you managed to enjoy yourselves too?
Today I am taking you to my home county of Cornwall for today’s absolute delight of a wedding. It was submitted to me by the lovely Emma of Sams Cornwall, an old friend of mine from my days living there. Sams were responsible for the reception food and as always they did an amazing job! Sams has to be my favourite place to eat EVER!! If ever you are in Cornwall you must check them out, I highly recommend them! This wedding is so full of character. Bran and Georgina are a real fun loving couple and this is reflected in their truly wonderful wedding day. So many smiles and so much laugher, a real delight of a wedding. Big thanks to Josh Harkon for the photos.

Worth the wait & full of love, thanks to everyone involved.

Branislav and Georgina were married on 2^nd August 2021 at Pengenna Manor- Trelill, Wadebridge with the reception at Royal Cornwall Yacht Club in Falmouth. ‘We met in Falmouth where we both studied at the Falmouth University. So we knew we wanted to get married in Cornwall and we wanted places that had a relaxed atmosphere and a rustic setting. Pengenna truly embodies Cornwall’s beautiful countryside and The Yacht Club has the stunning views of Falmouth harbour, capturing the Cornish seaside feel.  We originally had up to 80 guests for the ceremony and 120 guests for the reception, but due to the pandemic we ended up with 50+ guests for the ceremony and around 60 for the reception, It took 3 years to plan.’ 

How they met
At University (with a little help from a popular dating app) we have been together for 6 and half years

The proposal
Also in Cornwall, at Praa Sands beach, by the time the proposal took place, the secret was out and practically all of Georgina’s family and friends knew before her, so bit of added pressure, but guess it went well, as we’re here now haha

How did you allocate your budget?
We wanted plenty of food and booze (otherwise it’s not a party! Especially as Brano is Slovak, and Slovak weddings are heavily centred around there being a big feast, with generous amounts of alcohol provided), so this was our main priority.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We choose to splurge on transport to take our guests between the two venues. We wanted to do it in style and as such hired King Harry’s coaches, a vintage travel company. We also travelled separately in a VW campervan (Cornwall VW Wedding Hire). You could say this wasn’t exactly necessary, but it made the day more special as all the guests travelled together and had a lot of fun laughing and singing on the buses. Our biggest saving was all the different parts of the day that Georgina and her family were able to create themselves. This also gave us the most freedom of the planning process as we were able to create exactly what we wanted for our invites, menus, decorations, signs, lawn games and even tambourines for the bridesmaids. Our wedding was also bilingual, so every invite, menu, sign was in both languages. Brano translated everything and this way we knew we were being inclusive of all our guests, but it also represented the two of our families joining.

How did you choose your photographer?
We did a lot of research into the type of photographs we wanted. We really wanted someone to capture the atmosphere of the day without having posed photos. We saw Josh’s photos and we thought they were stunning so we reached out to him.

The dress 
I’d prefer not to say as I really don’t like the emphasis on what a woman wears to her wedding. I had a simple dress which I loved and it represented me more than a big puffy silly thing that would be over the top for me. My mum made my veil though, which was beautiful floral tulle, which she edged with traditional Slovak ribbon.

The suit and bridesmaids
Suit – Tweed & Groom who are based in Elsecar, I was very happy with it, as the pandemic limited our options, I didn’t have the chance to explore a variety of outlets, but Tweed & Groom were amazing to help me pick just the combination I needed, so I am very thankful to them.
Bridesmaids – I had 6 bridesmaids, who were absolutely amazing, but also had very different styles and tastes. All I can say is it was a challenge for all of us haha (again especially when all the shops were closed until only 4 months before the wedding). It was a miracle they found a dress and even then the dresses nearly didn’t arrive in time! We can laugh about it now, but it was a challenging process to say the least!

Theme or colour scheme
It changed quite a few times during the process. In the end it was white, dark green and mustard.

Flowers
I had a beautiful white bouquet from Vintage and Bloom and she also made our boutonnieres.

Decoration 
We used a lot of traditional Slovak ribbon in our decorations, which has a beautiful flower pattern. Our theme was definitely floral and this really tied everything together. We used the ribbon on our bunting and as part of our table decorations. I even had some on my veil, as I’ve already mentioned.

What did you eat?
We had a mix of English and Slovak meals for our wedding breakfast. The guests really loved the Slovak cheese board we provided and it was a great way for everyone to sample part of the rich cuisine Slovakia is known for.
Our reception we kept Cornish and Sam’s Cornwall created a selection of Cornish pasties, Crab bruschetta and scones and jam. It was amazing to watch our guests strutting around the dance floor pasty in hand!

The wedding cake
Red Robin Pantry created us a stunning semi-naked buttercream cake with fruit and foliage to decorate. It tasted amazing too!

Entertainment
We had a local band called The Stowes who played sea shanties at our drinks reception. It created such an amazing atmosphere, everyone loved it.

Who supplied the stationery?
I studied illustration at university so we couldn’t imagine going elsewhere for our stationary. It made it much more personal as well and we could put so much thought and detail into our invites, and menus. I also made our table plan, name cards and colouring books for the children. Brano translated everything as mentioned previously and we even had Slovak / English phrases on the back of our menus so the guests could join in our toasts in Slovak as well as English. ( Na Zdravie! )

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We had the most amazing few days after the wedding in Cornwall with all our family and friends (As a little mini-moon). We both love to travel as well though, so we are ready to jet off somewhere exciting next year once travel opens up.

Personal touches
We’ve probably already mentioned a lot of these already. A lot of Georgina’s family helped make the decorations and lawn games. Everything we booked or arranged had some personal touch to it. We really wanted to celebrate our different backgrounds and this really filtered into our day as well as the Cornish influences.
Brano’s family couldn’t travel in the end, but were able to send him some traditional clothing for his stag do and they sent us a Slovak flag, which was flown at the Royal Yacht Club.

Special moments 
The Slovak traditions were definitely a highlight and such great fun, especially for the English guests to join in. We had a toast at our wedding breakfast. The bride and groom are given two shot glasses (one is water and one is vodka ) and it’s a lucky dip. The one who gets the vodka is said to become the head of the house hold in the marriage. Georgina got the vodka!
We also smashed a plate at the evening reception. The tradition goes that each broken piece not swept up signifies a future child that the couple will have and the guests kick around the broken plate whilst the couple have to sweep them up. It symbolises the obstacles they will face in their marriage and how they must work together to overcome them.
The best part of the day though was the party; everyone was in such an amazing mood! Restrictions had only lifted a couple weeks prior and for a lot of our guests they hadn’t been out dancing in nearly two years. We had a cheesy playlist, there were Slovak shots and everyone was just loving life and being daft. It was hilarious! There were terrible attempts at break dancing, dance offs and drunken uncles dad dancing. We loved it!

What advice would you give other couples?
Don’t get stressed over things that are out of your control. Try to make the day as enjoyable for you and your guests as possible. And finally cherry pick the traditions you want to follow, there’s no point in doing something you don’t want to do or feel uncomfortable with.

Biggest surprise 
Firstly, Brano is a musician and he surprised me with a song at our drinks reception. It was brilliant, everyone loved it!
Secondly, my younger cousin wrote us a lovely poem which she read out during the speeches, I don’t think there was a dry eye after she spoke! All of our speeches were amazing and so heartfelt from everyone, it was so special and touching and one of the most memorable parts of the day. There was so much love in the room and we just felt so high on life! We also had some videos messages from our family and friends who couldn’t be there, which was again really touching and made us feel like they’re still part of the day.
Finally, the Royal Yacht club arranged for us to take a boat ride out on the harbour. It was nearly sun set and it was absolutely gorgeous!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue ceremony: Pengenna Manor 
• Venue reception: Royal Cornwall yacht Club Falmouth 
• Catering ceremony: Kerra’s Catering with Trevarno Marquee & Event Hire
• Catering reception: Sam’s Cornwall 
• Cake: www.redrobinpantry.co.uk
• Marquee: www.lpmbohemia.com
• Photography: www.joshharkon.com
• Entertainment: www.stowesmusic.co.uk
• Transport: Classic coach
• Transport: VW van
• Flowers: www.vintageandbloom.co.uk
• Hairdresser: www.hairbyemmac.net
• Barber: blackdoghaircutters.co.uk
• Suit: www.tweedandgroom.co.uk
• Rings: www.thequarterworkshop.com
• Accommodation: www.falmouthholidayhomes.co.uk

For more information on Josh Harkon go to 

joshharkon.com / joshharkon.com/my-work / [email protected] / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

My style isn’t in your face with a camera and a flash. Instead, I like to be a part of the wedding. I like to chat with the couple, their families and friends and really get to experience it with them. Once you become a part of their special day, you really capture their emotions. You understand what matters most to them. Anyone can have the cliche posing wedding photo on a beach, trying to get the ‘money shot’. But the photos that truly show your day are the ones where you capture those raw passionate moments which the couple don’t even know you’ve captured. The surprise when they view the collection of images is what being a wedding photographer is all about.