Planning your Wedding in Devon and Cornwall

Planning your Dream Wedding in Devon and Cornwall

Your Wedding day is going to be one of the best days of your life. Marrying that special someone has to be a dream come true! A whole day filled with special moments between the two of you and celebrating lots of fun times with family and friends. Before you can live your perfect wonderland, you may be wondering where to start when planning your wedding in Devon. We understand how preparation for a wedding can be stressful and a lot of work, so we have collected together some helpful top tips.

First of all, you may find creating a checklist to be useful. This will be a list where you write everything you will need to do before your big day. We recommend saving and keeping a backup of this list using a computer program such as Excel or Google Docs.

Here are some ideas you may want to include on your checklist:

Announcing your engagement (and to tell your family first)
Set a budget and talk to your friends and family about contributions.
List and send out invitations to your guests as well as choosing who will be your Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
Book your venue, caterer and any entertainment such as musicians and party games.
Research suppliers, such as florists, lighting and decoration hire.

Your Devon Wedding Dream while keeping within your budget

Your Wedding is set to be the most memorable and fantastic celebration. Whether you have been dreaming of this day for years and years, or you are changing your plans and are now going for it. Wherever you may be, it can be easy to forget about prices and go full on into making expensive arrangements. So, setting a budget at the beginning will help you to understand how much money you will put into your Devon wedding in total as well as knowing how much you have to spend on each section when planning.

Once you have chosen the overview price you are aiming to stay within, this will help you divide the amount into sections. For example, you can split prices into each category, such as an amount for your venue, decorations and outfits. You can read more of our tips for creating a budget on our blog, Setting A Budget For Your Wedding Day.

Picking a date for your Wedding

Choosing a date for your wedding is another point to consider. Try to think realistically for how long planning should take and start by having an aim. Later in your preparation, you should have a clear idea on how long it will take to get everything together and when bookings are available for your venue as well as others such as entertainment hire for the evening and booking a photographer.

When choosing the date, you could start by thinking about what dates are important to you. You may choose a special date, or a holiday such as Christmas or Halloween. Also consider if the weather may be a factor to take into consideration. For example, if you are planning an outdoor wedding in Devon, is there an available date for your venue in the summer or out of the rainy season? Will the location be warm enough for your guests? Additionally, are there any local events happening at the same time, such as a football game or concert that may lead to any issues on the day such as traffic or local hotel rooms for guests being fully booked? You may also want to think about your guests and family’s availability and check that they don’t have a holiday booked or an event already planned on this date.

Choosing your Wedding theme

The next thing to consider – which is likely the main thing on your mind – is what kind of wedding and theme you would like. Every Wedding is unique and personalised to you; your special day.

There are so many kinds of weddings that you could have. Here are some ideas:

Religious – choose a local church that is special to you
Destination – pick a beautiful or your favourite location. However, consider the journey and if your guests are able to travel to this location.
Elopement.
Informal wedding.

Think about what you love, or what you have always wanted. Is there a theme you would like your wedding to be? Would you go for a rustic theme, with natural colours and silver with a woodland base. Maybe choose an outside location to match, such as a Vineyard or marquee. Or perhaps a beach wedding? This location is perfect if you love the seaside and you can choose a closeby venue as well as suitable summer-style outfits.

Another theme you could go for is a Fairytale wedding. These can have a dream-like or magical look. Perhaps you have a favourite movie that you would like your wedding to be inspired from? Another idea you could incorporate is that decorations are created and handmade by yourself and family and friends. This could cover everything from tabletop decorations, to picking flowers and hair care. A benefit from this would result in your expenses being lower.

Choosing your perfect Devon Wedding Venue

One of the first things you may think about when searching for your perfect venue is the location. Are you planning a destination wedding or are you having your ceremony local in Devon or Cornwall? Will your wedding reception also be in the same area? You also need to find out if the venue has all the facilities and accessibility you and your guests need.

When searching for a venue, there are a few things you may want to take into account, including:

Location. Is this venue easy to get to and will your guests be able to travel to this destination? There may be a need to book a form of transport if there is no or limited parking available.
Capacity. See how many people the venue can accommodate as well as how much space there is to hold anything you plan, such as a room for a DJ for the reception.
Is anything provided at the venue? Some venues may provide essentials for your wedding that you can book, such as caterers, waiters, tables and chairs. If the venue does not provide these, you can easily hire them, although this may add an extra cost onto your budget.

We also would recommend that you visit your venue (if this is available) once you have confirmed your choice, as you will be able to see in person if there is the space you need and to plan where your decorations can go. This is also a good idea if the venue was a recommendation and you have not visited before, as you and your partner may have different interests and so you can make a decision together.

Choosing your Wedding Suppliers

It is a good idea to include all the items and suppliers you intend to hire from onto your checklist. If you have visited your venue or have a floor plan, this will help you to understand how many rooms and how much space you have for everything you plan and hire.

You may want to organise supplies such as:

Florists – flowers for venue decoration, making flower crowns, buttonholes and Bridesmaids’ bouquets
Wedding cakes and/or cupcakes.
Musicians – bands or DJs.
Hair and make-up Artist/s
Photographer/s

We highly recommend you book a photographer/s for your wedding. The day will be packed full of so many amazing memories you will cherish forever. Your photographer will capture every special and heartfelt moment throughout your big day, so you will forever have your memories framed and treasured.

You may also want to hire a make-up artist who can apply and style your hair and make-up as well as your bridesmaids and guests. They can help you look super glamorous and adds sparkles in your photographs.

Weddings are all about you and your partner. So every element and decoration should not only be your own choice, but they should also reflect your style. When thinking about what flowers you would like at your wedding, there are so many different types and colours to choose from.

When you are first looking for flowers, you may want to recognise what is available depending on the time of year your wedding is planned for, as some flowers pop up in certain seasons.

Think about your favourites.

Do you have a favourite flower that you would love to see at your wedding? You could pick a type that is personal to you. For example, a family member’s favourite, or a flower you received from your partner on your first date. Colours may also stand out to you. Do you want your flowers to match or contrast the theme of your wedding? If you don’t have a type of flower in mind, you could find one that will match your bridesmaid dresses, or pick a few different colours that will look great with each other.

Flowers are great for venue decoration, corsages or buttonholes. They also look splendid as a table centrepiece and have a lovely, fresh scent. Along with your decorations, you could add additional embellishments such as ribbons and candles.

Designing your Wedding Cake

Finding a supplier who can design and make your wedding cake is another thought you may be contemplating. You can speak to cake designers and see examples of what they have created previously to get some ideas. If you are designing you own cake, you may want to consider:

Flavours and filling. Is chocolate your favourite, or would you like jam and cream?
The Colours of your wedding cake – why not choose your favourite or ones that match the theme of your wedding.
The theme of your cake. You could go for a traditional white cake, or have a creative handmade design with you and your partner’s names or initials in the icing.
Any decorations on your cake that you will love. You could base these off your theme, such as having mini sugar paste flowers or nature and leaves if you are having your wedding outside. You may also consider glitter or having fresh fruit or pieces of chocolate on the top.
How many tiers you would like your cake to be. As an alternative, you could go for cupcakes.

Your choice of Music

Choosing the music that will be played on your big day is another selection from your list. You do not have to worry about hand picking every song you would like to be played if you form an agreement or playlist ideas with your musician. If you are thinking about hiring a band or DJ, you may need to first find out what is allowed at your venue and if there are any restrictions. For example, if you were planning on hiring someone to play a song while you walk down the aisle, are you allowed to hire a musician or can you hire the church’s organist? If your venue has an outside area where you hoped a band could play, are there any rules on noise if this area is close to a public park or private land?

After you have these acknowledgments, you can now further look into your options. If you hire a musician to play while you walk down the aisle, would you stick with tradition and have the organ play or would you like another type of instrument played such as a romantic harp or violin? Alternatively if you are hiring a band to play outside, is there a stage area or will you need to hire any additional equipment?

If you have found a band you are considering hiring for the event, listen to their demo or songs recorded with your partner if you both like their genre. You may also want to think about if their music is suitable for your wedding and if your guests would also enjoy this. You could also ask your family to listen and find their opinion. If you hire the band for your reception or evening party, you and the musician/s could come up with an upbeat playlist that is perfect for dancing to.

Travel and Hotel hire

Even if your wedding venue is local or not, you may want to consider if you need to hire vehicles to transport your guests to your venue. Depending on how many people this will cover, you could hire a bus, stretch hummer or limousine.

You may also consider hiring a vehicle to transport yourself and family members. You could choose any vehicle or hire one such as hiring a limo or a vintage car. If your venue is by a harbour, you may even hire a boat, where you can take a romantic trip just after getting married. This is perfect if you have a seaside or beach wedding. If you are trying to saving money, you may know a friend who would be happy to let you borrow their vehicle. You can decorate your car by adding some ribbon across the front as well as some flowers.

If you are having your wedding at a hotel and also need to book accommodation for your guests, check the options for your hotel as you may be allowed to hire the whole hotel for your wedding and your guests. An advantage about booking a hotel for your wedding is that you can arrange and book essentials, such as tableware and caterers.

Thinking about your theme – are there any decorations that would match your ideas and venue? You could add covers or ribbons on chairs in your colour theme, or decorate tablescapes with ornaments and candles.

When booking entertainment, you may need to take your venue or hotel into consideration as to what options are available and if there is enough space to hold your choice. For example, you could book a game of mini golf for one room, or outdoor mini games such as ring toss if there is lots of free space outside.

Your wedding choices

Remember that your wedding is entirely personalised to you and your partner. You can hand pick all your favourite decorations, flowers and colour themes. If you find the preparation stressful at all, try speaking with your family and friends and ask if they are happy to support; they are likely as excited as you are! Your wedding planning should be a fun experience and there are so many great options and choices in Devon.

We hope you found our wedding planning tips useful and we are currently taking bookings for Wedding Photography in the Devon and Cornwall area. You can view our unique style by browsing our online galleries here. To book or find out more information, feel free to contact us at:
Email: hello@prostory.co.uk
Phone: 07894 019493
Facebook: Pro-Story Photography