DIY Cornwall Wedding - Tanya & William

From the moment I turned up to Tanya’s bridal prep and saw the bridesmaids already dressed in their red-rose floral mini dresses and with face gems adorning their made-up faces, I knew that I was in for a treat. Tanya and William planned everything to be exactly as they wanted it, from the décor to the celebrations and everything in between - it was clear that this wedding was about celebrating love, personality, and everything that made Tanya and William unique.

Prior to the wedding, when I asked them to describe their wedding in a few words, their response was ‘Romantic, tacky valentines! We don’t want perfect and clean, we want everyone to love and have fun and get drunk!’ And when asked the most important part of the day they stated ‘Getting married and kissing!’; They genuinely could not have summed it up more accurately!

Penryn Town Hall is a quirky, unusual little building which lies in the middle of the road, literally! The inbound traffic passes one side of the building and the outbound traffic the other. It stands quite magnificently in the middle of the roads with it’s tall clock tower looking out over the small town high street. Inside, it opens up into a large airy tunnel shaped space, almost like an elegant air raid shelter which has been spruced with white (maybe magnolia) paint and a lot of love and attention. This was the perfect setting for the two to say their ‘I do’s’ and start of the first lot of kissing as a married couple!

The most ‘normal’ (and I use that term as an irony) part of the day was our trip to the beach. There was nothing usual about this wedding, however, a trip to the beach with any couple on their wedding day is fairly usual for me. The most noticeable atypical part of this trip to the beach was how busy it was and how we had to walk, with Bride and Groom dressed up in their finest, through the car park and the crows gathered at the beach to find a quiet spot on that sunny Saturday afternoon. 

One of my favourite parts of this beach shoot was when I asked Tanya and William to get into a ‘kitchen cuddle’ style position. This is one of my tricks that I use to prompt you to do something that feels familiar to when you are at home and relaxes you both into each other’s embrace for some cute photos. The idea is that one of you, typically, the groom, gives the Bride a cuddle from behind, similar to that if they were in the kitchen either cooking or washing up, hence the name ‘kitchen cuddle’. This pair, being far from typical, gave me one look and switched positions, with Tanya, all 5 foot of her cuddling William (6ft plus) from behind and almost simultaneously announcing ‘That’s better’ before bursting into laughter! My favourite was to get photos of a couple and some of my favourite photographs from that day!

I was glad to stumble across some brightly painted pink benches where I snuggled the couple up on as if they were on their sofa at home.. much more their vibe of images and the colours to match their overall wedding palette! 

The reception was held at Ponsanooth Village Hall. ‘Where?’ you may ask! Exactly! It was the unknown, even to the couple prior to their hunt for the perfect wedding reception venue. But I could see in a heartbeat why they chose this venue. The floor to ceiling stained glass windows just lit up the room from every angle. Tanya, being a creative, had spent months and months sewing, stitching, collecting and designing and had decorated every part of the venue, tables, window sills and ceiling with home-made - in her words ‘tacky’ or in my words ‘intrinsically kitsch’ – décor. The hundreds of hand sewn valentines hearts littered the ceiling while the table centre pieces consisted of hand made doilies and napkins with vases and candle sticks found and re-loved from charity shops and car boot sales. 

The food was incredible. Hands down and genuinely the best wedding food I have eaten; a mezze style feast by the Chopbox Kitchen. The entertainment, Loveny Male Voice Choir, had every person in the room, smiling and singing Cornish shanties with passion and fervour. I could go on all day about this wedding and the things that I loved about it.

Oh my days and I haven’t yet mentioned Nigel, Tanya and William’s cockerpoo who was just in his element during the reception!

You will see from the pictures, that with most of Tanya and William’s day that on paper the ideas are somewhat out there, a little eccentric and maybe even on occasion questionable. But in reality, Tanya and William had a clear vision that became so wonderfully unique and distinctive that this wedding really was one of a kind and I will always feel so lucky to have been a part of it.