Emily & Richard
Emily & Richard
Ceremony and reception venue: Pentillie Castle & Estate - a ceremony under the Wisteria-clad Pavilion followed by a marquee reception in the grounds.
We met … at King’s College London University, at a hockey club bowling social.
Your first impressions of each other:
Em about Rich: Friendly, cute and intelligent.
Rich about Em: Beautiful, enigmatic and fun.
How did your proposal happen (when and where)?
In the sand dunes at Holywell Bay, in August 2020. Our dog Leo was on standby, waiting at the bottom of the dunes to celebrate with us. Rich had planned to take me to Paris, but covid-19 restrictions prevented this. The Cornish proposal was even better, and just perfect (as Cornwall is Em’s home).
Length of engagement:
1 and 3/4 years.
In three words, how did you imagine your wedding day?
Fresh
Fun
Pretty
How did you choose your venue?
We viewed different venues up and down Cornwall, but Pentillie Castle was a clear winner from the start. We fell in love with it instantly, from the drive towards the castle, to the beautiful rooms and gardens.
Often the aspect that makes a wedding original to the couple is the detail/theme – tell us about the special details of the day and how you implemented them (colours, theme decorations, centre pieces, favours, photo booths, DIY etc).
We had, very generally, a blush pink theme for the day. Our flowers were supplied by the amazing Three Acre; we loved the natural style of her flowers and the beautiful arrangements. We chose blush pinks and whites, including sweet peas and roses, and added some brighter pink flowers like peonies too. We had a beautiful hanging foliage installation in our marquee to add some natural decoration, and a feature in the centre of the marquee, which we hung clear baubles and tea lights from. We had some milk churns with flowers by the entrance, and bud vases and jam jars decorating the tables.
We kept the tables simple; round with white tablecloths, grey napkins and white crockery, but accompanied with gold cutlery and cut-glass wine and water glasses from Keeping it Vintage. In between the flowers, we had cut-glass candlesticks with pink candles and gold geometric tea light holders. We also printed some stickers with our initials and placed these on some simple candles around the marquee and castle, and also placed the stickers on our favour bags, which included homemade biscuits and chocolate pasties.
Hatch Marquees installed fairy lights and festoon lighting within the pleated lining of the marquee. The end of the marquee had a clear roof, which was great for letting extra light in the day, but it provided a cool effect at night with the lights too.
We had an instax camera and a photobook for guests to snap and stick in the pictures and sign.
We had an Aperol spritz and champagne reception with lawn games like croquet, giant Jenga and giant connect 4. This featured an ice cream bike from Moo Maids of Zennor. We then had a cheese board in the evening, and sparklers to finish.
Were you inspired by anyone on social media? Pinterest/Instagram etc?
Yes! 3acreblooms, madewithlovebridal, hatch_marquee_hire, Pinterest and Instagram adverts.
Please give a brief account of your wedding planning story i.e., priorities, highs & lows, challenges etc…
Our main priority was to secure a date and venue, as you can’t book anything unless you have this in place, for obvious reasons. Once we had found the beautiful Pentillie, the next priority was the food. As our caterers were highly sought after, booking them was required sharpish! The next big thing to book were the flowers, photographer and marquee, again as dates and availability were becoming limited.
For Em it was then hair and make-up. We booked suppliers over a year and a half in advance and a lot of them were very busy with dates already by this point, we would recommend booking your favourite suppliers as soon as possible to avoid missing out.
The biggest challenges we faced booking and planning a wedding during a pandemic, was the difficulty to visit suppliers. We improvised with zoom meetings and postal cake deliveries – not a bad parcel to receive during lockdown! As restrictions started to ease, it became easier to organise hair and make-up trials and dress fittings, but it took some logistics to timetable as we live in London and were planning a wedding in Cornwall. Luckily, we visit regularly as Em grew up in Cornwall and her family is here.
Highs were the excitement of planning our special day together, and the excitement and enthusiasm from all of our suppliers made it such a joy to work with them and help us bring our vision to life for our dream wedding. Chrissie at Pentillie was a huge help in co-ordinating our plans and ideas, and making them a reality.
What food did you choose for your day, wedding breakfast and evening buffet, and why?
We are big foodies and so found White Radish were the perfect fit, with their beautiful presentation of canapes and dishes, and fresh local ingredients, which tasted divine!
Canapes – Lollipop Scallops wrapped in pancetta (a clear winner), Harrisa Lamb Rosemary Skewers, Pumpkin & Sage Arancini, Leek & Thyme Tartlets and Pork Belly with pink lady puree.
Starters
Newlyn Crab, Whipped Avocado & Shaved Radish, Lemon Thyme Mayonnaise
Twice baked Cornish Cheese Soufflé, Wild Rocket Salad, Herb Oil
Chicken Liver Parfait, Caramelised Onion Marmalade, Toasted Brioche
Main
Maple Glazed Duck, Chicory, Dauphinoise Potatoes, Port Wine Jus
Grilled Sea Bass, Fennell, Piccollo Tomatoes, Crushed Cornish New Potatoes, Salsa Verde
Spring Garden Pea & Mint Risotto, Chargrilled Asparagus, Tomato Confit, Parmesan Crisp
A Trio of Mini Desserts
Cornish Strawberry Cheesecake
Belgian Dark Chocolate & Salted Caramel Torte, Cornish Clotted Cream
Classic Lemon Posset, Fresh Raspberries
What was the song for your first dance, and why?
"You are the best thing" by Ray Le Montagne - we loved the brass intro (our band had a 3 piece brass section, so knew they could really make the most of it) and we felt the lyrics fitted well with us
What was your favourite part of the wedding?
Celebrating with our loved ones, especially on the dance floor!
What was the most important investment for you? For example, food, drink, clothes, honeymoon?
Food and drink was important for us, ensuring our guests enjoyed the food and had plenty of good quality Cornish food and produce to eat and drink throughout the day. The setting and location was also important, Pentillie has such beautiful grounds and our guests were able to enjoy the stunning views over the River Tamar, it helped that it was a such a lovely sunny day too.
What is your top tip for other couples?
Book your suppliers and venue as early as possible. Try to have a rough idea of themes and look for inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest. Most importantly, enjoy every moment of planning your special day!!
Suppliers:
Photographer: Freckle Photography
Videographer: Devon Flair
Bridal Hair: Hair by Emma C & Ellie Hawksworth Hair
Bridal Make-Up: Fiona Miller MUA
Brides Dress: Made With Love Bridal – St Ives Bridal Boutique
Brides Shoes: Rainbow Club
Grooms Outfit: Dapper (Surbiton, London)
Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal
Groomsmen Outfits: Dapper (Surbiton, London)
Flowers: Three Acre
Marquee: Hatch Marquees
Venue Décor: Keeping It Vintage (now Out of the Ordinary Event Hire)
Stationery: Kate Yung
Caterer: White Radish
Ice Cream Bike: Moomaid on Wheels
Catering Supplies: Abbotts Event Hire
Cake: Red Robin Pantry
Music: Super Band
“To Chrissie,
Thank you!! We’ve just received our photos from Emma and they are just beautiful, we both can’t thank you and the team at Pentillie enough for making our day so perfect and wonderful in every way! A huge thank you again to you Chrissie, you truly went above and beyond for our whole weekend, and made it so special, thank you.
Best wishes,
Emily & Rich”
Our Weddings Manager would be delighted to show you around Pentillie! To book a time to suit you, please click here, call 01579 350044 or email weddings@pentillie.co.uk.