Livy & Alex: A Romantic English Summer Wedding in Devon

When we started exploring wedding venues, we quickly realised we had some specific criteria that were really important to us and quite difficult to fulfil, but Huntsham Court met them all. This included finding a venue that was dog-friendly so we could bring our tiny dog Mouse, as well as a venue that allowed us to bring our own alcohol with no corkage fee, so we could have the drinks we wanted, flexibility to choose our own suppliers and accommodation on site so our family and friends could enjoy a whole weekend celebrating with us.

Huntsham Court ticked all the boxes for us, and when we first saw it, driving up the long driveway and taking in the house, we instantly knew it was the perfect place to get married.

Livy: I tried on lots of different styles of dress, but ended up choosing one almost identical to one I’d seen in a shop window whilst on holiday in Lisbon three years before! A friend who had recently got married while I was dress-shopping gave me some great advice: pick a dress that makes you feel like your best self, not one that makes you feel like you’re trying to be someone else.

My dress was an elegant, romantic fit-and-flare style with a fitted bodice, off-the-shoulder tulle and lace straps (detachable for dancing), a sheer corset back, and delicate floral embellishment on ivory lace. It was the lace train that made me fall in love with the dress, and the way I felt so comfortable in it sealed the deal.

My veil was my ‘something borrowed’ from my sister-in-law – I saw her get married in it over a decade before in Cyprus and had loved it ever since, so I was thrilled when she offered it to me. I kept my jewellery simple, wearing a beautiful pair of diamond earrings that Alex gifted me on the morning of our wedding, and an opal bracelet (my birthstone) from my mum.

Alex: I thought I would wear a blue suit on our wedding day, but when I tried on the beige linen suit, I knew it was the one. All the men in the wedding party wore blush pink ties to match the bridesmaids, and I wore silver cufflinks engraved with my new initials, along with a watch Livy gifted me on the morning of our wedding.

We wanted the day to feel like the ultimate English summer wedding, a true reflection of us, and for our guests to feel that every detail had been considered as they made Huntsham Court their home for the August bank holiday weekend. We were fortunate that the weather was absolutely perfect from the moment we arrived on Friday afternoon until we left on Monday, when we flew to South Africa for our honeymoon.

The colour scheme was subtle pinks complemented by muted mochas, creams and ivory. Every detail was meticulously handmade by me with a helping hand from Alex and the wedding party. From the hand-painted table numbers with numbers that were significant in our story, to the personally designed wedding newspapers, handmade place name ribbons, the table plan, paper umbrellas, personalised chocolates on our weekends guests pillows, toiletries in the rooms, hand-painted champagne glasses for the bridal party, ‘just wed’ number plates for Livy’s dad’s 1050’s Chevrolet (that he drove up the week before in case it broke down!), a ‘guess the first dance and win a bottle of champagne’ drinks reception game, hand printed wedding bingo for the wedding breakfast, personalised wax sealed wine and food menus on the tables, handmade ‘reserved’ ceremony seating ribbons, booklets for speeches and vows, hand printed fabric signage and bar menus and even personalised MnMs in the pick n mix wedding favours. The list goes on, but it was important to us that our guests felt Huntsham Court was home away from home, and that every element of the weekend felt unique and personal to who we are as a couple.

We also wanted our weekend to feel like great fun throughout, so we opted for a live band, an acoustic set during the drinks reception, free-flowing champagne and a speakeasy bar for our cocktail hour, hidden in the gardens under a tipi that served a personalised twist on our favourite cocktails; a Livy ‘91 and an Army Strength G&T.

Our florist was Sophie from Earth Gallery Flowers. Sophie knows Huntsham Court inside out, so she was able to advise on what would work best in the space to bring our vision to life. We loved that she used only locally grown English flowers in season, and her calming, knowledgeable approach made her a joy to work with.

We went with late summer blooms in subtle mocha pinks, creams, ivory and green using blousey roses, Ohara, Quicksand Mentha, Majolika, brown Terracotta’ and ‘Alissia’ peach and apricot Lissianthus, Cosmos, white Lissianthus, Lysimachia, Linum Flax, Campanula, Veronica, Scented Stocks, Delphiniums, Larkspur, Hydrangeas and ‘Silver Dollar’ Penny Eucalyptus and Olive in a relaxed natural and informal style.

We always have flowers in our home, so it was important to us to have beautiful flowers for our special day, from the staircases, to the mantle pieces and the ceremony to the wedding breakfast, Hunstsham Court was bursting with flowers. But it was also important to us to repurpose the flowers throughout the weekend so they wouldn’t go to waste. We also ensured our guests went home with a bunch.

We almost didn’t have a cake because we had afternoon tea before the ceremony, canapés during the drinks reception, a three-course meal, pick-n-mix sweets on the tables, pancakes during cocktail hour, and hot dogs in the evening. But we made a last-minute decision to go with a two-tier buttercream cake decorated with delicate pastel pink flowers. As chocoholics, we chose red velvet for the top layer with cream cheese frosting, and the bottom layer was strawberries and champagne, which our guests enjoyed on Sunday, accompanied by Pimms on the lawn.

Mandy made our beautiful cake. She provided cupcakes so we could host a cake tasting with our grandparents in the comfort of their home, and then created a hand-drawn design to bring our vision to life.

Duck and Strawberry, another local, award-winning supplier, catered our canapés, three-course meal, and evening food. Leanne and Mike source 90% of their produce within a 20-mile radius, and the most challenging part was choosing our dishes from their amazing menu. The Milk Chocolate Oreo Tart with Vanilla Whipped Mascarpone and Honeycomb for dessert was amazing!

We went with the dreamy duo of Adam and Anna from Luna Weddings for both photography and videography. We loved Anna’s authentic style that kept formal images to a minimum and captured the real emotion of our day.

We first met Adam and Anna for a dog walk on Saunton beach for an engagement shoot, where they immediately made us feel at ease in front of the camera and, despite the terrible weather, captured some beautiful shots of us.

On the day, Adam made us smile constantly, and Anna brought the calming presence we needed: they were forever the professionals capturing beautiful moments we will treasure for years to come.

It’s hard to choose from what was the best weekend of our lives, but saying our personalised vows to each other in front of our friends and family standing on the rug from our living room, our dog Mouse running up the aisle with our rings, framed by the beautiful Devonshire countryside and locally grown flowers as our backdrop on a beautiful English summers day felt out of this world amazing.

There we so many amazing moments, from G&Ts and tacos on the Friday night to welcome everyone to our wedding week with a nod to our love of gin and engagement in Mexico, to eating cake and sipping champagne on picnic blankets on the lawn on the Sunday reminiscing about our wedding day and finishing the weekend off with a film night in the Library (with our favourite film – Crazy, Stupid Love).

Do exactly what you want to do and don’t feel limited by others’ expectations or traditions if they aren’t right for you. We wrote our own vows, had a best friend share our story at the start of our ceremony, did a ‘first touch’, and I (Livy) walked myself down the aisle. We had our dog as our ring bearer and so much more. Every aspect of our day was personalised to us, and at times during planning, we questioned whether we were being too eccentric, but we are so glad we did what we wanted.

If you have an eye for detail, then embrace it. We were pleasantly surprised by how many of our guests noticed the effort we put into the little details, and they were definitely not wasted.

Finally, trust your gut. Planning a wedding can feel overwhelming, but when you get that gut feeling, go with it, and it will save you so much time and back and forth.