Inspiration

Bridesmaids in yellow dresses has been one of our favourite trends for this year. It's such a gorgeous, happy colour and despite what everyone thinks, there's a shade of yellow to suit us all. Bride Victoria has embraced mustard yellow, and a host of other jewel-esque tones for her relaxed and bohemian wedding by the sea. Victoria and Johnny love to travel and so their day is influenced by many different places, including their home county of Cornwall. The dreamy images come from the wonderful Ben Selway, who this pair are lucky enough to call a friend, and he has captured the magic of their day just beautifully...

Message In A Bottle Proposal

Victoria & Johnny: We first met 10 years ago at a surf competition on Porthmeor beach in St.Ives. Johnny was competing and I was photographing the event. He walked up to me after his heat and we started talking. The proposal was complete surprise. It happened on Christmas eve in the same spot where we first met on Porthmeor beach. We were walking along the shoreline on the beach and I found an old glass corked bottle and picked it up. I then noticed it had a rolled up piece of paper in it. I started to get quite excited at this point, thinking that I’d found a really old message in a bottle! As I started to read it I soon realised it was meant for me! Johnny then dropped onto one knee and held out a beautiful engagement ring.

The Photography & Film

We hired the extremely talented Ben Selway. I always knew if we were to ever get married that I’d ask Ben to take our wedding photos. There was never going to be anyone else. Ben is also a surf photographer and has been on many a surf trip with Johnny. So they knew each other already and therefore I knew johnny would feel comfortable with ben doing the photos. Being a wedding photographer myself, I’ve always admired Ben's work and love his creative and unique style. The film was something we weren’t going to have but turned out to be one of the best things we booked. I love looking back at our wedding highlight film, I’ve watched it so many times!

Coastal Wedding Venue

We wanted our day to be completely private. Prussia Cove gave us both stunning views and total seclusion. The only people to share our day were the people we wanted there. It was the only venue we looked at as we knew nothing else could compare. I’d walked past it many times on the coastal footpath so knew it was there, and I heard that they held weddings so we went to view it and fell completely in love with everything about it. It’s located in a secluded private cove, perched above the rocks by the sea. The house itself is quirky and beautiful with so much character and charm. It’s not what you’d call fancy or luxurious! It’s old and retains it's original furniture and features. There is no TV, no internet or phone signal – but this is everything we loved about it – it was just perfect for us!

The Bride

I found dress shopping quite difficult, as I’d seen so many wedding dresses before at all the weddings I have previously photographed! I knew I wanted something a bit different and as soon as I saw all the gold tassles and the beautiful details I knew it was the one. I was asked ‘what do you want people to think when they see you walk down the aisle’. I just said that I don’t really mind what they think. As long as I loved it and felt like Johnny would love it too then that’s all that mattered. It has ¾ sleeved ecru striped Cluny lace sleeves and has a v-neckline with a sweet lace insets. There is an open back framed by delicate lace fringes and gold Guipure dangles which create a beautiful movement as you walk. My mum and sister bought me a pair of gold Moroccan slippers to wear in the morning. I wore a long veil with gold accents on the trim. A gold headpiece, vintage opal earing’s that Johnny bought me, an opal necklace of my mums and a gold opal bangle which was my Nanas. I wore a gold kimono for some of the photos. In the evening I wore my mums vintage fur coat for photos.

Yellow Bridesmaids Dresses

My bridesmaids dresses were from H&M. I knew I wanted mustard yellow as that colour always reminds me of spring in Cornwall. High heels and formal dresses just wouldn’t of fitted in with the venue and isn’t my style. So all the girls wore different brown boots and kimonos. They also had flower head wreaths too.

The Styling

Gold, mustard, Jewel tones including deep reds, golden yellows, dark blues and purple. We have travelled quite a lot in Morocco and Bali and just love all the deep jewel colour tones they use in everything over there. The Cornish coastline and our travels inspired us along with just sticking to what we wanted the day to be like and making the day a reflection of us and what we love. I bought some Indian mandala fabric in all different colours and patterns and I made them into tablecloths, bought various brass ornaments and vases that I collected at carboots and charity shops, coloured pheasant feathers, flowers, coloured glass bottles with flowers in, red and gold chairs, gold candelabras with deep red candles, gold charger plates, red glass goblets.

The Food & Drink

On the pathway that leads to the house we left a treasure chest with a bottle of rum and shot glasses for the guests to have on their walk down to the house. We choose foods and flavours that reflected our travels, and also the Cornish coast. Cornish cheeses and cured meats to start, slow roasted lamb in Morrocan spices woth almonds apricots and mint, skewers of pollock and tuna, marinated mackerel with sticky date and lime. My Mum and I made the fruit cake about 6 months before the wedding and kept feeding it with whisky and brandy. My friend Gemma made the sponge tiers and decorated it for us. It looked and tasted incredible and we were so happy with it.

The Music

We had a duo of banjo and accordion playing before and after the ceremony, with an Irish punk band for the evening. Our friend Dougie also played the grand piano during tea and coffee in the lounge. We partied into the night and finished off the evening sat infront of the fire having a drink. Our first dance was by The Pogues – Love You Til The End. It’s one of my favourite songs from the movie PS I Love You. Jonny learnt to play it on the guitar years ago as a surprise for me so it brings back happy memories.

Wedding Favours

We bought everyone a small corked bottle and decorated them all individually. We then dyed some paper in tea to make it look old. Used an old fountain pen to handwrite personal letters to each guest. Rolled it up, tied it with string and popped it into the bottle.

Money Saving Tips

Try not to get too carried away with spending huge amounts of money. I saved money from buying my décor from carboots and charity shops. Also don’t be afraid to do something a bit different! Be brave, get crafty and create a wedding that reflects your relationship and personalities. We saved quite a alot of money by having our wedding in march, making our own cake and we made mini scones with clotted cream and jam for canapés. Renting a house also meant we could supply our own wine, champagne etc and had accommodation for most of our family. We also had the house for 6 nights so we had lots of time with our family and friends.
Fern Godfrey

Written by Fern Godfrey

Wedding Coordinator: Victoria Williams | Flowers: Art Of Flowers | Venue: Prussia Cove | Catering: Cornwall Chef | Make Up: Sally Orchard | Hair: Emilie's Pro Hair | Bride: Carina Baverstock | Entertainment: Black Friday Band | Leigh Delamere | Film: Dove Films | Gold Charger Plates: Inspire Hire
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