Hattie and Martyn hosted the most amazing DIY, multi-location Wedding of Dreams including a classy celebration at Pencarrow House and a marquee on their family farm
It has been a couple of months since Hattie and Martyn’s wedding but this blog is one that I have been absolutely itching to write and share with you all.
I first met Hattie and Martyn at a wedding fair way back in 2023. Hattie described their wedding to me and from the outset, their wedding sounded like my kind of wedding! Over the next couple of years, I bumped into Hattie at more wedding fairs and even in random places like the Royal Cornwall Show. Each time we had a chat and caught up and I genuinely was getting more and more excited for their wedding day!
The couple also booked me for a pre-wedding shoot which was in itself an event. We headed up to Pentire Point in Cornwall for a stunning golden hour session and it was a dream to chat to them on the walk up to the point and find out so much more about them both and also get to know Nelly, their black Labrador a little better too! They used these photos on their wedding day for the front covers of their Wedding Post newspaper (which mostly got used as fans to keep their guests cool!!) and also as décor in their marquee – such a lovely touch.
A Surprise at the Ceremony
With the wedding drawing closer and as with all of my couples, I arranged to meet Hattie and Martyn to discuss their day in detail. This can often be done on zoom but as I wasn’t familiar with the farm, I jumped at the chance to visit them both and see the spaces that they were planning on using for their celebrations.
Having grown up being happiest in a pair of wellies and in a field or on a farm, I was in my element and despite the very grey weather, I could see exactly their vision. Martyn was busy trimming the hedges on the lane up to the farm in preparation for the wedding the following week and as Hattie and I walked and talked she mentioned to me that their legal ceremony was in Bude that following Monday. I truly believe that the stars had aligned and this was meant to be as I was in the area on that day anyway and so of COURSE I was going to take my cameras along and photograph their legal ceremony too.
As with all legal ceremonies, this was short and sweet however there were some elements of the ceremony that really were super special. Hattie wore her mum’s wedding dress that she has got married in some 35 years earlier and she looked an absolute picture. As if that wasn’t enough, Martyn’s mum also wore her wedding dress that she had got married in to Martyn’s late father the very same year that Hattie’s parents were married. It was a very special affair with just Hattie’s mum and dad and Martyn’s mum present and after exchanging vows and rings, we headed out to the canal for some confetti and some couple portraits of the two of them.
Air B&B Bridal Prep
One of the things that I really loved about this wedding is that there were so many different elements to the day that Hattie and Martyn REALLY wanted. Hattie wanted her bridal prep with all of her best girls and so she got an Air B&B that was suitable for what they needed. There was a wonderful buzz, with hair prep in one room and make up in another, bottles of fizz being popped and Hattie’s mum and dad popping in from time to time to join in the banter.
Groom Prep on the Family Farm
Martyn chose to get ready at home, on the Farm with his boys (which was a good job after the eventful night before impromptu stag do they had had at a local pub!)
My second shooter, Thomas Hare was on hand to capture some moments of the boys getting ready but also zipped across the farm to the marquee field to get some detail shots of the landscape and the set up inside the marquee. When your wedding is in many different locations, having two photographers to cover different areas is always an advantage as it means that not a moment will be missed and some of the moments that each of you may not see or may forget in the run up to the ceremony will be captured and a nice surprise when you get your gallery back.
For example, the tractor and trailer that took the guests from the farm to Pencarrow Manor for the ceremony.
Pencarrow House Ceremony
By the time Martyn and the guests had arrived at Pencarrow and Hattie was on her way, the sun was high in the sky and it was an intense 33 degrees. We often think of contingency plans for inclement weather but how many of us think of a Plan B for the hottest day of the year – and I mean SERIOUSLY HOT! I arrived to find every guest, including Nelly the dog, huddled under the shade of one of the only two trees out on the front lawn and to a serious conversation about whether if they jumped in the fountain now, they would dry off for the ceremony! I’m gad to say that they voted not in favour for this and the ceremony got under way with some coaxing the guests out from under the tree.
Hattie and Martyn’s Pencarrow ceremony was picture perfect. I think a ceremony on the farm would have also been beautiful but they chose this venue and this element for a reason. A classy affair where their vows could be heard by their loved ones in stunning surroundings (and where Nelly the bridespup could then swim in the fountain) followed then by one hell of a party back at the farm in the marquee.
Family Farm Marquee
As far as entrances go, this one was amazing. Hattie and Martyn drove in their old Land Rover up to the marquee field where all their family and friends stood waiting for them to drive through the specially built stone wall gateway (complete with wedding plaque) through a tunnel of waving and cheers to the front door of their marquee.
It was beautifully decorated inside and out by Hattie and her friends and family but the absolute icing on the cake was the view that the field looked over. Words cannot describe the view and to make it even more significant, it is also the final resting place of Martyn’s late father who was there to party with them in spirit.
Outside First Dance
Despite the radiating heat from the sun slowly easing as it began to fall, the heat inside the marquee was still at record levels. With the addition of more guests arriving for the evening, a quick decision was made to rather than cook them all in the marquee to watch the first dance, to take the dance outside. In all my years of photographing weddings, some with and some without first dances, I was yet to photograph one outside by my gosh, it was sublime! With a complete circle of guests creating a dance floor space, Hattie and Martyn rolled out the most wonderful choreographed dance to the dulcet tones of Hattie’s best friend and bridesmaid, Esme who sang while her dad played guitar. Yep… real a goosebump moment indeed and the joy of recalling how this played out at the near end of their wedding day as the sun set.
Golden Hour
Of course we got a golden hour at this wedding. It was just the most perfect day and what better to end a day like that than with a perfect sunset!
What I admire Hattie and Martyn for the most is planning their wedding EXACTLY as they wanted it. They knew that a proper decent knees up at the home farm was needed and the importance of using that particular field for their day. They also knew that they wanted the grandeur and class of a nearby stately home for their vows and one that they can also return to in anniversaries and years to come. They wanted to celebrate the significance of their legal ceremony with Hattie wearing her mum’s dress and having just their parents there. I love that no matter how many different places or elements or ideas that this couple had for their vision of their day, they just made it work. But made it work in the most spectacular and one of a kind way that I think they, and their guests (and certainly I will) be talking about for years to come!
