Jen & Paul’s The Green Cornwall Wedding

I hear from brides-to-be searching for their venue on a daily basis and it’s always an honour to try to set those couples on the right path, so they can ultimately start to figure out which venue is right for them. Sometimes I’m super lucky and get to hear from the bride once that choice has been made! There’s usually squeals of excitement and I do a happy dance.

Jen was one such bride… A ‘Coco’ bride.

A DIY wedding day focused on the importance of family, friends and a good ol’ celebration, Jen & Paul left the traditions behind. Their desire for simplicity and their love of the outdoors lead them straight to The Green in Cornwall.

The venue has been perfectly captured by Amber from Liberty Pearl Photography, so if you’re yet to discover this gem then come and take a little look…

Jen:

We are both pretty laid-back, and love festivals, being outdoors, and having fun with all our mates, so The Green was a no-brainer as it ticked every box! It offered everything we wanted on one site – outside and inside, hills, a lake, a barn, wooden function room, marquee, quaint cottages and a big party house – and all exclusively ours for the weekend.

Thanks to Coco Wedding Venues, it was easy to compare to similar venues and make our decision. It was important to us to make a weekend of it, as it only comes around (hopefully) once a lifetime!

I wanted to wear something as light and simple as possible – I couldn’t believe the weight of some wedding dresses I tried on! Pinterest instantly got me hooked on the pretty combination of lace, natural make up, and curled hair with flowers. For me the main thing was being myself and having fun – so Next’s ‘forever comfort’ was my shoe of choice to ensure I could keep dancing until the early hours! I loved the Bridesmaids pretty tea dresses, in keeping with the rustic theme. The boys chose their attire – less for me to think about! Maddie from Changing Faces was fab in the morning; with a 2pm start, us girls had such a laugh getting ready in the onsite cottages, drinking Prosecco and listening to dancefloor hits from years gone by!

One of the big selling points of the venue for us was how naturally beautiful it was – using the fairy lights and bunting already on display and Flowers by Fleuri we didn’t need much else!

I DIY-ed the centre pieces – collecting Bombay Sapphire bottles from friends and filling them with fairy lights. I made the table names using a collage iPhone App, with photos of different festivals we’d been to together over the years; and our Table Plan (now hanging up in our house) was festival-poster themed.

For us the day was all about having fun with our family and friends, we left out a colour theme, cutting a wedding cake and anything too formal. We just wanted a laid-back party in the countryside.

As soon as I spoke to Jan at Fleuri on the phone I knew I’d made the right choice. She was so lovely and helpful. I don’t know too much about flowers and didn’t have a colour theme so gave her free reign on choosing the flowers – she was the expert after all! I met her in person before the day to chat about ideas, and show her the bridesmaid dresses. I couldn’t have been happier with how everything looked on the day, especially the hanging floral heart – wow!

The venue came with it’s own catering team and, just like everyone from The Green, they were marvellous. They sorted everything for us and delivered seamlessly on the big day! Everyone commented on how good the food was, especially the chocolate brownie with Cornish clotted cream! We provided the wine, the Red being picked during a family wine-tasting competition the Christmas before!

Amber from Liberty Pearl Photography came highly recommended and was an absolute joy from start to finish. She is the nicest person, and seemed like part of the family she cared so much. She really got me and Paul as people and made us feel so relaxed. We had an amazing pre-engagement shoot at Kingsand & Cawsand to give us a feel for being photographed… but on the big day we forgot she was even there! The way she captures natural settings and lighting are so beautiful and we are really happy with how the photos have come out.

Best Part of the Day…

We both said that the best part was having both sides of both families and all our different groups of friends together in one place – a once in a lifetime party! We had people from Australia, America, Up North, Down South, Wales and Cornwall!

Everything seemed to unfold better than we could ever have hoped for and the day was filled with smiles and laughter. Personally, I’ll never forget the First Look me and Paul had before the ceremony. We had initially planned it to get the portrait photos ‘out of the way’ before the 3.30pm ceremony; but when it came to it, the emotions we both felt at that moment were overwhelming! I’m so glad we were alone – we would’ve both been blubbering messes at the end of the aisle otherwise!

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

Pick Bridesmaids who are similar to you and have your best interests at heart. Our WhatsApp group chats leading up to the wedding were such a laugh, as we were all on the same page, getting super-excited over everything together!

Do something different for your Hen-Do; 18 of us stayed in a Hostel in Amsterdam and fancy-dressed as pirates!

Don’t over plan and above all have fun! One person who since asked me how my wedding was, said “you are the first bride I’ve ever heard describe their big day as ‘fun…” which I couldn’t believe! It really does fly by, so make sure you soak up every moment and let things unfold naturally, don’t force it or expect anything, just smile and enjoy the ride together!

Venue The Green | Photography Liberty Pearl Photography | Florist Flowers by Fleuri | Bridal Boutique Timeless Elegance | Hair & Make-up Changing Faces | Bridesmaid Dresses ASOS | Guest Book & Table Plan Seb and Charlie Ltd | Cakes Edible Essence.

Huge congratulations to these two…

Jen & Paul, thank you so much for sharing your story with me and I’m so pleased you found us on your journey.

Lots of love…