Your Devon and Cornwall Wedding - March/April 2021 (Issue 30)

REAL WEDDINGS 27 SETTING THE SCENE The couple chose the Harbour St Ives hotel and spa as their venue because St Ives is their favourite place to visit in Cornwall. “The hotel overlooks the bay and the view is so beautiful, even when the weather isn’t great!” Stephen says. “We hadn’t planned on having a large wedding before the Government restrictions were imposed, we were originally inviting 50 loved ones, so the property was perfect for us because the rooms were the ideal size to fit our 15 guests and we liked the layout.” The couple's beach theme meant that Stephen could wear shorts, even in October! All of their details followed this theme. “We had white cotton bunting, hearts made from driftwood placed on the tables, glass lanterns lining the aisle and a fantastic cake topped with edible sand and Cornish crabs!” Stephen describes. “To transport us both to the chapel for our blessing after the ceremony, my parents had booked us a VW Campervan because we both love them.” A na and Stephen met at university in York. “We started talking online and then went on our first date which was a walk around the castle walls in the city centre," Stephen tells us. "We met up again the following day so it went well! Even my pasty addiction wasn't enough to put Ana off!" The couple became engaged during a trip to Cornwall. “We both love this part of the world and had enjoyed holidays there since we were children so this was the natural choice of location for me to propose in,” Stephen tells us. “We had spent the morning at Dairyland Farm Park with our nephew (Ana had also secretly wanted to go!) and I had organised a surprise for her when we got back to the cottage where we were staying. It had a hot tub overlooking St Michael's Mount so I had asked mum and dad to leave out a bottle of champagne, chocolates and strawberries for us. After countless guesses as to when it was going to happen, she was completely surprised when it did!”  “Because Ana was around 20 minutes late, I did begin to question whether or not she had changed her mind!” — Stephen “The biggest thing that stood out for us both was that, despite all the setbacks, our friends and family still made the day feel very special and almost like it had been planned this way from the start. It was perfect and, looking back, we wouldn’t change a thing about it.” — Stephen