Your Devon and Cornwall Wedding - July/August 2023 (Issue 44)

Felicity and Henry met online in early June 2015. “I had been on two other dates and wasn’t holding out much hope for the next one,” Felicity tells us. “I met Henry after being impressed by the fact that he was a chef (I hate cooking), and he liked how I was up for doing fun activities - it turned out to be third time lucky for me! We had a great first date, chatting over drinks at Lockyers Quay in Plymouth and agreed to meet two days later for breakfast because Henry was about to start working away in Dawlish. The next couple of months were spent enjoying longdistance dating and meeting up on days off before settling into being a proper couple once Henry was back at university in September.” Henry proposed in August 2020 by creating a fantastic pirate-themed treasure hunt. “It started with a letter from a real-life pirate queen ancestor and included clues that had me running all over the house and garden,” Felicity says. “He had a life-like treasure map made of sand and a set of coordinates that led us to Par Sands Beach near St. Austell. He had me looking around the beach for treasure before going down on one knee in a secluded spot in the dunes whilst I was distracted looking through my engraved brass telescope from a previous clue! The answer was yes, once I had recovered the power of speech and got over the initial surprise - I had no idea it was coming!” SETTING THE SCENE Felicity and Henry had their hearts set on a coastal venue in Cornwall because enjoying Cornish day trips by the sea is one of their favourite things to do. “We wanted a sea view and décor that tied in with our tropical theme,” Felicity tells us. “Once we walked into the ceremony room at Fowey Harbour Hotel, we both smiled at each other because we knew it was perfect! It was light and airy, the view over the estuary was stunning and there was plenty of space outside for gorgeous photos and for the children to play.” Henry made the couple’s table plan using a driftwood frame filled with white sand and Felicity wrote the guest names on fake monstera leaves to match the tropical theme.” It also doubled up as our welcome sign and the bridesmaids helped to switch the leaves around after the ceremony and before the wedding breakfast,” she tells us. “Our tables were named after Latin names and presented on large tropical shells that were placed on each table. I wrote each place name on a mussel shell and attached them to the ribbons on the wedding favours.” As their centrepieces, Felicity and Henry chose a white cake stand for each table with the top covered in monstera leaves and finished with a large tropical shell. A variety of coloured orchid and lily heads were scattered across the table which coordinated with their choice of flowers. “We had a tropical selection of artificial orchids, calla lilies and peonies in shades of purple, pale green, white and pink,” Felicity says. “We chose faux flowers so that we could keep my bouquet and Henry’s buttonhole after the wedding and I also had a sixpence from my mum in a charm holder gifted from Henry attached to a white ribbon wrapped around the handle of my cascading bouquet. Our beautiful bridesmaids carried smaller round versions and both of our mums had a corsage each which included a white calla lily and a purple orchid with a ribbon.” The couple’s favours were scallop shells (dived for by Henry’s brother), spray-painted rose gold on the outside, and filled with a tiny bottle of rum with a personalised label and sealed in gold wax. “These were in addition to a tiny treasure chest filled with white and blue personalised M&Ms, all tied up with white organza ribbon,” Felicity tells us. “We also had a treasure chest gift table decorated with white petals, empty rum bottles with lights inside and a globe guestbook. The gift table also had a 39 REAL WEDDINGS

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