Nathalie & Ben got married at Porthtowan Mount Pleasant Eco Park in Cornwall as it’s a vegan wedding venue with a sustainable and community lead ethos which was really important to them. We are so happy they chose us as their photographers as these values are really important to us as well. Not only that but we absolutely loved their styling and theme. Raj is obsessed with Lord of the Rings so loved all the LOTR’s details. Also, it was really emotional when Nathalie walked down the grassy aisle to the song Concerning Hobbits! Jade also loved her deep green wedding dress (Jade’s mum got married in a deep green dress!). Their color scheme was beautiful deep earthy natural colours.
The morning of your big day. Those little details…
Dress by Dandelions and Pearls
The groom gifted his grooms people the Leaf of Lorien pins which were so beautiful. Raj photographed their rings in their beautiful hand made displays including wire dragons.
The Bridal Party and Groomsmen can certainly be a mix of ladies and gentlemen! When we have an initial zoom call with our couples and ask them about their day, often people now say they are having a mix of men and women join them for the getting ready morning of the wedding. This is becoming so common so there’s no need to worry about whether this is breaking tradition. Traditions have to change with the times and be updated. You can certainly have a mixed Bridal Party and Grooms People.
The Ceremony & Hand Fasting
They had a non religious ceremony led by a celebrant, the fabulous Lisa from Celebrant in Cornwall. Lisa was fabulous at communicating with everyone and very friendly making it all go smoothly and feel special. The ceremony was held in the amphitheater at the Eco Park which is nestled away and you find it via some winding grassy paths. Nathalie and Ben had a beautiful summery June wedding and it was perfect timing as you can see all the yellow oil seed rape fields in bloom and it’s full of greenery and wildflowers all around.
They started the ceremony with an adjusted Eastern European tradition (as Nathalie’s father is Romanian) of breaking the bread over their heads by the father of the bride. They wrote their own vows and had an Irish blessing as their reading.
The ceremony included the Celtic tradition of hand fasting. This involves the couples hands being bound together to symbolise their commitment to one another. This allowed family members and closest friends to take part in the ceremony as each person gave a ribbon which signified their relationship with them. Each person brings their ribbon over to the bride and groom and shares some words with them. It’s a beautiful way to involve everyone and looks beautiful as well.
Meal & Speeches
The Cornish Eco Park has a beautiful barn! This is the covered courtyard area attached to the main barn. It’s a beautiful light airy rustic space.
Nathalie and Ben’s family friends grew flowers for the tables which everyone pulled together to arrange it all the night before (Ben’s mum and sister-in-law, and Nathalie’s sister in particular!). They DIY’d the flower vases, and got crafty with moss, tiny paper flowers, and log slices for the vase holders. The wedding party put up a lot of fake foliage around the atrium and ceremony area the night before the wedding. The wedding team at the venue also prepared all of the tables the morning of the wedding. The wedding coordinator in particular (Maddie) was absolutely amazing!
It really did look like they were in The Shire getting married with their beautiful flower garlands by Blossoms and Kelp and all the flowers and foliage.
The groom, father of the bride and the Bride’s maid of honour and sister all gave speeches.
Thali Time!
The food was by Wilder Kitchen who are based in Falmouth.
Don’t forget this is all vegan.
Most friends and family stayed over the night before and after camping or staying in one of the shepherd’s huts. In the evening there is a bar in the barn/courtyard selling local cider and many tasty drinks.
Wilder Kitchen did the wedding catering and brought along their food van and set up an area outside to make the food. It doesn’t take long for people to get their food served. Having a thali rather than multiple courses creates a much more relaxed environment. Nathalie and Ben set up a children’s activity table and some of the children loved riding around on the wooden bike taking Frodo the rabbit for a ride!
Garden Games!
They had giant garden games on the lawn area. Next to the lawn area there is also a hedgreow with lots of pathways cut into it to play hide and seek in or to explore and you might even find an old wooden rowing boat hidden away!
We take lots of candid photos throughout the day, especially as there are two of us if there’s an embarrassing moment… we’ll be there! There were plenty of silly moments of the grooms party playing with the children’s games and getting stuck in the children’s tunnel but sometimes (only sometimes) we don’t feel the need to embarrass them on the blog post publicly! We’ll leave that for the entertainment and eyes of the couple and anyone viewing their private gallery only.
Then the ice cream van arrived!
Ceilidh
The caller was very lively (whcih you certainly have to be for a Ceilidh!) and she demonstrated moves and joined in leading everyone with the dancing. A Ceilidh is always such a laugh as it’s fun, high energy and you’re bound to get things wrong and get in a muddle which is all part of the fun!
When it was time for the evening food the musicians came out into the courtyard to play. The food was vegan kebabs/ flatbreads again by Wilder Kitchen.
The cake was by Bex from Bees Vegan Bakery, who is also Cornwall-based. It was a lemon and elderflower top layer and a red velvet bottom layer. It was a semi-naked cake with berries and small fresh flowers provided by our florist to decorate. The baker also made allergen-free (gluten, nut and coconut) cupcakes for guests who couldn’t eat the main cake.
An Evening Walk
Taking a moment as newly weds.
Around sunset or in the late/ afternoon evening we love to take the couple for a walk for some photos. This actually give’s you both a good excuse to get some quite time away from everyone for a moment to take it all in.
I think both mine and Raj’s and Nathalie and Ben’s favourite couples photo from the day is this one of them holding hands and Ben jumping in the air. It’s a very fun, silly photo that is very them rather than being too posed. They did say to us in an initial video call when they first enquired with us that they’re not people who are comfortable being in front of the camera. We arranged a pre-wedding shoot to get to know each other and this allows you to be in front of the camera before your big day to hopefully realise we can have fun and it’s not all serious posed photos. The jumping photo developed during this initial pre-wedding photoshoot. We took some natural photos of them just walking and chatting. Then they spotted a frisbee stuck in a tree and we wondered what they were pointing at before we realised what was going on and all started laughing, then Ben started doing fun heel clicks and jumping around as well. Once it came to their wedding day bride and groom couple photos they started re-inacting it. Walking and pointing pretending they saw a frisbee and then jumping around as well so it was good fun! This is why those pre-wedding shoots can be so important!
