Our Story
We met at McDonald’s Brixton after a night out! Ollie proposed towards the end of lockdown during a walk along the river with our dog. We then drank a lot of champagne and had a night celebrating in a country pub. I always knew I wanted a vintage ring and Ollie went to the lanes in Brighton and picked an emerald and diamond ring from 1913, he picked perfectly. It wasn’t long until our Cornwall wedding was underway.
Venue
My parents live in Cornwall, and we love being down by the sea. We visited a few venues, but none captured the relaxed vibe we wanted until we saw Carwnion House. My bridesmaids and I got ready in the main house and Ollie and his groomsmen got ready in the cottage on site. Our ceremony was in a grassy clearing and the welcome drinks and wedding breakfast were in the walled garden and marquee.
The night before, we got legally married and then everyone met us at the Ferryboat Inn on the Helford River, our favourite pub as the beer garden is basically the beach.
The day after we all gathered on the beach for a sea swim and some beers.
Fashion
My dress was from Story Of My Dress. I loved that they design and make the dresses on site. This also meant I could make changes, so I made the puff sleeves even bigger. I wanted a dress that still felt like me. On the day I felt so comfortable and stayed in it till about 2am. Another bonus is I wanted a dress I could shorten into a midi and wear again and this dress felt perfect for that vision. My something blue was a tiny blue studded hoop I wore in another ear piercing.
On the Friday for our legal ceremony, I wore a custom dress by Voyager London out of the By Hope wedding linen which was so special.
Ollie’s suit was from the custom-made service at Moss Bros – he picked an English cloth which was a deep navy-blue herringbone in a double-breasted style, he wore it with vintage gold accessories most of which belonged to his grandfather or dad and brogues from Solovair.
Jewellery & Accessories
My earrings were from Kenneth Jay Lane, all my other jewellery was vintage.
Bridal Party
My bridesmaids wore sage halterneck dresses and the groomsmen wore navy suits, the ties and pocket squares matched back to the bridesmaids’ dresses.
I got my bridesmaids the wedding scent candle and wrote them all poems which they read out in the morning and we had a big cry. Emi Milverton made them hair bows out of the By Hope wedding linen.
Ollie got his groomsmen a vintage gold tie pin each.
Tablescape
As I own By Hope I had our own wedding linens designed inspired by the wedding flowers. The napkins were everyone’s wedding favour. I spent ages trawling charity shops and collected lots of vintage cut glass candlesticks and bud vases. I went for coloured candles to match back to the wedding print.
All the flowers came from a local flower farm which grows seasonally and sustainably. Then we filled all the bud vases ourselves and did a few bigger buckets to dot around.
I designed all the wedding stationery. I got some fun personalised beer coasters made too – I spent ages obsessing over the tiny details.
Food & Drink
We wanted a chilled atmosphere throughout the day so this came into consideration with everything we planned. Instead of canapés we had a grazing table of amazing dips, pickles, nuts, chicken skewers and falafel from a deli in Falmouth with bread supplied by Baker Tom. Instead of welcome drinks we had steel tubs filled with cans. Beers from Bristol Brewery Lost & Grounded, cans of G&Ts, cocktails and Aperol spritzes. It made the welcome drinks so much more relaxed as everyone helped themselves!
For the main food we had a pizza van who were incredible and churned out pizzas non-stop for 2 hours. They also made some delicious salads. We had serving staff delivering them to tables so people didn’t have to get up – they could just sit and eat.
Pudding was trays of tiramisu – our dream dessert.
We had Cornish pasties at 9pm as a dance floor pick me up.
Transportation
Ollie owns a 1970s MG which we took to Cornwall for the week. We attached Stella cans and had a dodgy sign I wrote on some cardboard.
Entertainment
I walked into Landslide by Fleetwood Mac then Ollie created a chilled playlist for the welcome drinks. After dinner we had some friends sing Sea Shanties which was the most fun and my favourite part of the day. I made hymn sheets so everyone could get involved and sing along.
Our first dance was Real Love Baby by Father John Misty. For the evening part we got everyone to write their favourite dancefloor filler on their RSVPs so we’d done a big compilation of these.
Beauty & Wellness
Kyrelle (Devon Wedding Hair) did our hair, she was amazing and so relaxed. I did my own make up but had been for a trial at Charlotte Tilbury so was prepped with a list of what to do with all the products.
Favourite Wedding Gifts
We asked for contributions towards our honeymoon.
Honeymoon Plans
We are planning a Stanley Tucci-esque tour of Italy so we can drink all the wine and eat all the food.
With Thanks
Bride and Groom: @by.hope.home @olliedahmen_dop
Venue: Carwinion House @carwinion_house
Caterer: Wild Pizza Co. @wildpizzauk
Dress: Friday dress @voyager.london, Main wedding dress @storyofmydressbridal
Bridesmaids: Oasis @oasisfashion and Emi Milverton hair bows in By Hope linen @emimilverton
Groom outfit: Moss Bros suit @mossbros Shoes from Solovair @solovairuk
Florist: @wildbotanicflowerfarm
Tableware: Bespoke By Hope @by.hope.home
Wedding website: Joy @withjoy
Photographer: Phoebe Piper @phoebepiperphoto
Videographer: Jimmy Goodwin @jimmy_ography
Wedding rings: I have my Nanny’s ring and Ollie’s godfather made his
Makeup: Did myself using Charlotte Tilbury @charlottetilbury
Hair: Devon Wedding Hair @devonweddinghair
Stylist: @by.hope.home
Wedding Planner: we had a co-ordinator which was the best decision we made. Meant we could fully relax – we had Hazel from the incredible Out Of The Ordinary Weddings @outoftheordinaryweddings
Related Article: Inside: A Charming Wedding In The Cotswolds
