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We’re still waiting for the green light from the Government allowing us to re-commence weddings. We understand that the relaxation of lockdown must happen sensibly and safely for all: But I can’t lie, it’s been hard to see so many couples disappointed and heartening to see how many of the businesses we work with are going the extra mile for couples to ensure that, when it is safe and permissible to go ahead with weddings again these weddings will be just as special and love-filled as ever. The press over last weekend gave us all hope that smaller weddings of up to 10 (?) may well be permissible in the coming months, but as yet the Government has not confirmed this. In the meantime, we continue to re-arrange existing bookings, and take new bookings for 2021. Given the extended lull in business as usual for us, I caught up with Verity Westcott, one of the super-talented and truly lovely wedding photographers based in Cornwall. I wanted to find out a bit more about her and her passion for photography. Here’s a little insight into the woman behind the lens. Verity at her own elopement in Las Vagas by Kerry Diamond Photography If we could meet up in the flesh, where would you choose? If we could meet, it would either be a good pub I LOVE The Driftwood in St Agnes! In the evening it’s great for a lovely wine or in the day it turns into a coffee shop, where my dogs are allowed, they are super chilled and serve decent coffee. What would you order? Oat milk latte & toast and marmite, I’m not really a sweet tooth kind of gal. What gets you out of bed in the morning? My dogs literally get me out of bed every morning! They need a walk and a sing song as soon as their puppy dog eyes are open! My morning routine consists of a walk and then music. I LOVE to listen to musicals in the morning to wake-up myself and the hounds. How do you find running your own business? Being self-employed is so amazing, I love having my own schedule, taking breaks to read and or visit the beach when I need to see the sea. Yes, I am sea dependant! Being self-employed means that I can work a flexible schedule. I am not really a morning person, so I prefer to work in the afternoon into the evening. You can often find me editing late on into the night, with a good podcast in the background and a glass of red. Tell about you passion for wedding photography. I absolutely LOVE my job, being part of peoples’ most special day is such an honour, I love that I get to capture each couple’s unique story, I am for ever grateful to be a part of their experience. The ups and the downs. Every wedding is so different, I appreciate the relationships I form with my couples. As their wedding photographer I am with the couple for pretty much the whole day. Through the nerves, the emotion, the love and all the laughter. It is always a real roller coaster of a day, and I relish all the emotions and excitement. I have been asked to be a witness several times, and this always gets me right in the feelers. It is such an honour, to be a part of the ceremony. I cry at most wedding ceremonies and the dads’/mums’ speeches always get me as well. Such a privilege to bear witness to every beautiful moment in each couples’ day. Describe your style of photography. My style of photography is alternative, colourful, cool, romantic portraits with a dramatic edge to them. I take a lot of shots, the details that you may be too busy to notice while you are having fun with your guests - until you receive your wedding images. Rules are meant to be broken, my wedding photography is done your way, with no rules lists or awkward poses. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not behind your camera? When I am not shooting weddings, I love to read & to watch horror films, the scarier the better. I am also an avid traveller, wanderlust is my middle name, new places, new people, new adventures. Post Covid HUGGING MY MUM & dad, and having the hen do I missed out on thanks, to the Corona.

When we first spoke to Tamara and Chris in spring 2019, we really wanted to help them make their intimate wedding dreams come true. We listened to their ideas about the intimate family gathering they wanted and arranged for them to view Treseren in June 2019, booking their wedding for September 5 2019. Photography: Paul Caddis We recommended suppliers for their wedding day, all of whom are talented, reliable and love working on the small weddings our couples choose. So, it's a real pleasure to share the "end results" as it were of Chris and Tamara's wedding day with this lovely post from Emma at Treseren. https://www.treseren.co.uk/tamara-and-christophers-beautiful-small-wedding-at-treseren/ It's the perfect venue for an exclusive hire intimate venue with accommodation for up to 12 and plenty of inside and outside space to create a very special day for the two of you and your guests.

Many of us miss our work colleagues and meeting up with family and friends at this difficult time for us all. Those in the frontline are often missing seeing even their nearest and dearest to save lives and get us all back to some form of "normal" sooner rather than later. It feels wrong to be talking weddings right now, but I wanted to share a project I started as much for my own sanity as anything else! It's a series of virtual coffee and cake chats providing an insight in to the people behind the businesses we work with, and you can too once this madness ends. Our aim is to share inspiration, happy memories and hope for the future with you. So if you're working from home, home-schooling your children or working on the frontline keeping the country going, grab a coffee for 5 minutes and share some friendship. Image by Griffin Photography at Cosawes Barton You have a real talent for producing beautiful food from fresh local ingredients, tell me a bit about where your passion for this comes from? I know we are incredibly lucky here in Cornwall to have such a fantastic selection of local ingredients. I was lucky enough to move to St Ives in my early 20’s and we had an abundance of fresh seafood available for most of the year. I guess that’s where my passion for cooking really began. A trip to Rick Stein’s restaurant in Padstow at that time really opened my eyes to just what you could produce with fabulous local and seasonal ingredients. Image by Paul Caddis at Treseren How would you describe the style of food you produce? I suppose it would be best described as ‘Modern British’. Over the years I’ve been inspired by chefs such as Rick Stein, Nathan Outlaw and Tom Kerridge to name a few. Some of the cookbooks that influenced my early cooking were Nigella Lawson, Nigel Slater and Gary Rhodes. Although I also now have a huge collection of Middle Eastern inspired cookbooks. I’m always thrilled when customers ask for ‘Ottolenghi’ style salads to accompany their meal! I spent three years at catering college cooking a wide variety of dishes so I’m pretty adaptable to cook most types of menu. Above all I want our food to taste fantastic and to make our clients happy. Image by Griffin Photography at Cosawes Barton We love your intimate wedding day and special occasion catering services, what led you to start offering these beautiful menus? Prior to launching Indulgence Catering, I’d ran my own restaurants for twenty years. The time came for a change in direction. Rather than have customers come to us to enjoy our food, I wanted to take our menus to them. When researching this idea, I realised that there was a gap in the market for catering for smaller, more intimate weddings and events. We began to work with some fantastic local venues who specialised in smaller weddings and it really just took off from there. What I realised I loved about the smaller weddings was that I got to work really closely with the couples: from planning the perfect wedding meal for them, ensuring their cake is decorated just as they wish to cooking and serving their meal for them on their wedding day. This level of involvement and the ability to make a positive difference at every stage provides wonderful job satisfaction. In fact, we’re still in touch with lots of our couples who often book us for an anniversary meal when they return over the years to Cornwall. With smaller weddings the food often becomes the focus of the day after the ceremony and so it’s really important to get it right! Image by Griffin Photography at Cosawes Barton Your husband Robin works with you in the business, how do you guys find that works? It’s certainly been a good preparation for lockdown together! But joking aside, I think we work well together and complement each other’s cooking styles. Robin takes care of the fish and meat cooking and I usually do the baking, desserts and sauces/side dishes. I’m also fanatical about preparation and so it’s my job to make sure that everything is organised and ready to cook on the day. I should also add that Robin is a great food taster, and he makes sure that everything available on our menus has been tested by him! Image by Griffin Photography at Fallen Angel How do you work with couples to develop their wedding day food plans? One of my favourite parts of my job is making sure that our couples get the wedding day food that they want. Firstly, we find out what style of food they would like. That may be an informal feasting style menu, a traditional afternoon tea or a more formal three course menu. We can add additional items like canapes and an evening buffet to their menu and then send over some example menus in each of those categories. That’s the starting point. We then work forward from there to tweak the sample menus to their exact tastes and requirements. We also make sure that we identify any allergies/food preferences that their guests may have as it’s important that everyone is catered for. If you had to choose your ideal three course menu what would it be? That’s a really difficult one. I’d probably go for a scallop starter because our local scallops are fantastic and it’s not too heavy a way to start a meal. I’d follow that with Turbot, asparagus and Cornish new potatoes with Hollandaise sauce. Dessert would have to be out Passionfruit Cheesecake. And I’d have to include a Cornish cheeseboard! Image by Stoves in Coves at Fallen Angel What do you enjoy when you are not working? I’ve recently taken up running so I’m doing that as often as I can. I find it’s a really good way of unwinding and just having that ‘me’ time that we all need, and that’s especially true during this current lockdown. I also love gardening and try and grow as many herbs and vegetables as I can. There’s something really special about cooking with ingredients that you have grown yourself. How has Corona Virus and the “lockdown” impacted your business and the couples that you work with? Like many small businesses, Corona Virus has had a huge impact on our business. It’s meant that we’ve had to rearrange all our wedding bookings for the next few months and of course means that we have no income coming in during that time. Our couples have been really understanding and so far, and we have rearranged rather than cancel the bookings. It’s a testing time for everyone and I’ve been really impressed how everyone has worked together to try and find a solution for each couple in the current situation. I’m very much looking forward to a time where we can get back to cooking for our clients again. Thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to us Rebecca! It’s been a real pleasure. You can find out more about Indulgence Catering you can take a look on their website or contact Rebecca by email rebeccajfarrington@me.com.

With Corona Virus is still impacting on so many of our couples, suppliers and intimate wedding venues, we’re continuing our series of "virtual coffee and cake" chats with some of our wonderful venue owners and wedding day service suppliers for a dive into the story behind their businesses and passion for small weddings. In life it's not just what you do, it's the way that you do it, and this is the thread that pulls all our different venue partners and wedding day suppliers together. It's their passion to make wonderful intimate wedding ideas come to life in a way that's great for the couples whose weddings they host. You'll find this ethos extends into every aspect of the weddings held in the gorgeous venues we work with. This is never more true than at Cosawes Barton, one of our first venue partners with whom we celebrated three years of working together this March! We caught up with lovely Louise, co-owner at Cosawes Barton with her husband Andy, to find out a bit more about the story behind this idyllic countryside wedding venue. How did you and Andy meet? Andy and I met way back in 1987 at Oxford. He was studying Maths and I was studying Law. We only started dating when we met a few years later at a friend’s birthday celebration in London. It was 10 years before we got engaged! We had ten people at our wedding in 2001 and had the most wonderful day. So, we completely understand why small weddings are fabulous! Image by Griffin Photography Tell me a bit about life before Cosawes Barton? Before Cosawes Barton, life was very different. Having worked in the City, I had moved to become a partner in Employment Law at a law firm in West Sussex. Andy was IT director for a large multinational and we were living near Epsom in Surrey with our two young children Sophia and Sam. What led you and Andy to uproots and settle in Cornwall? We used to spend holidays in Cornwall with the children every summer, and just loved it. Every year we wanted to stay here more and more. We began to dream of eventually retiring here. Then one summer we just thought, why wait? Life is too short! It was a very quick decision in the end. Cosawes Barton is idyllic. How did you find it? We were on holiday when we decided to “just pop in” to the estate agents in Truro to see if the type of property that we were looking for existed or would ever be likely to come onto the market. We were thinking it might take years to find the right property. To our surprise and delight, the agent said that he had in fact seen a property that morning that he’d been asked to value. As we were due to go home shortly, we arranged to see it that day. We couldn’t believe that we had found somewhere so beautiful. It was like something out of a Jane Austen novel! We knew that we would never find anywhere like it again and made an offer there and then. We had no real plan, no experience, no planning permission and a house in Surrey to sell. Madness really! Image by Griffin Photography But it sounds like it was meant to be. What was your vision for Cosawes Barton, and how has that changed overtime? When we bought Cosawes Barton, we planned to set it up as a holiday cottages, and having renovated the three barns and courtyard, we started welcoming guests in 2012. We set up the cottages to reflect what our ideal holiday cottage would have in terms of facilities, comfort and styling. Luckily our guests love them! Weddings came later. Today, about 50% of our bookings are still holiday bookings. We love the variety, and this means that the weddings that we host are always fresh and exciting and we can put lots of energy into them. Images by Griffin Photography What changes did you need to make to the property and land you bought to make it into the wonderful intimate wedding venue we see today? When we bought Cosawes Barton, the courtyard and barns were derelict. They had walls and roofs but that was all. However, you could see how beautiful they could be. We worked for a year with a brilliant local builder and tradesmen to bring them back to life, finishing the cottages the day before our first guests arrived. Image used with kind permission of Cosawes Barton When we thought about the potential to host weddings, we realised that we had a beautiful 90 metre natural aisle just waiting for brides, so designed and built a wedding arbour set in woodland at the end of the aisle to create a really magical setting for outdoor weddings. Image by Griffin Photography What made you feel Cosawes Barton was right for weddings? It was actually holiday guests who first suggested to us that they would like to get married here. They planted to seed! We worked with leading wedding consultants Jenny Wren and Hazel Parsons to establish if Cosawes Barton could become a stand out Cornish wedding venue. Their enthusiasm encouraged us to follow this path and set up a wedding business that provides couples with the wedding days of their dreams. It is private and intimate – it is such a happy place with an amazing vibe. Image by Griffin Photography, featuring Indulgence Catering at work What are the best aspects of running Cosawes Barton? Where to start? Being self-employed is hard work but never dull. We have an awesome team who we are privileged to call our friends now and we see them most days. Our guests are wonderful and the couples that choose us for weddings are just brilliant. And just wandering our 17- acre gardens when the sun is rising on a wedding day – it’s amazing!! A total privilege. Images by Griffin Photography What do you enjoy when you are not working? I’m not sure that “enjoy” is the right word but Andy and I both run in our spare time. I am more of a road runner and have taken part in the London Marathon (and I hope to again in 2021). Andy is more a trail runner and loves the coast path, taking on a few Cornish Ultras. A little bit mad really, but when you are surrounded by such lovely scenery the draw to be outside is strong! Image by Checkered Photography What would your advice be to couples who are currently thinking about booking an intimate wedding for 2020/2021? Do not question yourselves for wanting a smaller wedding, they are epic days and can mean even more than large events as you are truly surrounded by those you want to be there! Begin planning by choosing the food that you would like as this sets the style for the day and having a smaller wedding means that the food can be totally bespoke and from our experience it’s wonderful! Finally, we would highly recommend letting Jane from Petite Weddings organise your supplier team. Jane’s suppliers are all magnificent and a great bunch of people to have around you on your special day. That’s kind of you to say. We love helping couples arranging their supplier teams and wedding ideas at Cosawes Barton, it’s a real pleasure. Thank you so much for taking time out to talk to us share your story. To find out more about weddings at Cosawes Barton, or for some intimate wedding take a look here.

Do you miss coffee and cake? I do! In these unprecedented times of social distancing we all have to be innovative in the ways we keep our all-important personal and business relationships alive and healthy. Humans are social animals, and isolation is hard for most of us. Not only financially, but from a well-being perspective. But, thanks to technology, we have ways of keeping in touch. And perhaps a silver lining of the current crisis is the gift of time to reflect and in some cases, regroup and focus on the things that really matter in our lives. We caught up recently with Jo, co-owner of Brickhouse Vineyard over a virtual coffee and cake to reflect on their journey and the wonderful vision that they’ve made a reality. Photography: Lise Leino-Punwar Tell me a bit about you and Matt? Matt and I met in London where our paths crossed after both having lived and worked around the world. I was born in Poland, then went to university in Cracow and the in Siena, Italy. I enjoyed living in Rome for a few years before coming to the UK. It was in Italy where I discovered my passion for wine and food pairing. The Italian approach to food and wine is something I love and it certainly was a wonderful part of my journey. Then London called… Matt grew up in Gloucestershire and graduated from Edinburgh University. His work and travels took him in a very different direction, to Asia. He lived and worked in Tokyo and Singapore before settling in London. When we both worked and lived in London, we both used to go to British Military Fitness classes in Greenwich Park. We met at their Christmas party in 2006 held at The Greenwich Tavern. The rest is history, we’re married now and have two daughters, Emilia 9 and Ellie 4. The latest addition to our family is Teddy, our 7 months old Cockapoo. Photography: Lise Leino-Punwar What led you and Matt to Devon? We both loved living in London and everything that it had to offer prior to having children. Our jobs also allowed us to travel around the world which was a bonus, but, as soon as Emilia was born, it was difficult to combine work, travel and childcare. We were slowly beginning to realise that we needed a slower pace of life and a better work-life balance. Matt was very keen to move back to the country and start a small holding, which was a long-held dream of his. Then, when Matt’s parents moved to Devon, we started toying with the idea of following them to the countryside. However, it was when we got pregnant with Ellie, we have decided that the time was right for a change. Matt’s parents came across Brickhouse (which coincidentally had its own vineyard!) and we instantly fell in love with it and the potential that it offered. We didn’t know anything about growing grapes apart from being keen wine enthusiasts, but this didn’t stop us! We’d never intended to own a vineyard, but we decided to give it a go and learn on the job. It was a very steep learning curve, and through those tough times we’d still laugh that we’d bought the vineyard by accident just because it came with the house. Photography: Tony Roddam When did you guys establish your business? Our business started with the wine. We created Brickhouse Vineyard Ltd in 2016 and launched our first vintage of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir Rose that same year. With a production of 1000 – 3000 bottles of wine a year, depending on the weather conditions, we soon realised that our 3 acre vineyard wasn’t big enough to generate sustainable levels of income, so we had to diversify. That’s when we started developing our wedding business. Why did you choose to create a wedding venue? This was my idea! I was always passionate about running a wedding business. We had lots of outbuildings and the most beautiful setting. So, after researching further, and consulting a few local wedding planners, we made the decision to create a wedding venue. How did you go about building from nothing to what we see today? We launched the wedding business in May 2018. Again, it’s been a really steep learning curve! We worked with a great team to renovate the Round House and landscape the terrace overlooking the vineyard. Bringing the old building back to life and then carving out a space in the land for everyone to enjoy has been really satisfying. We’ve also worked with some great business partners to develop our brand and presence in the wedding sector. There’ve been challenges too. We’ve had a lot of sleepless nights when trying to obtain planning permission and get approval to adapt historical buildings to a modern use. It’s our determination and belief that we were doing the right thing that saw us through these difficult times. Also, this is the first time that we’ve run our own business and we had to learn on the job, especially marketing and financial management, which were critical to our success. We’ve both worked previously in executive, client facing roles so working with our couples and their guests came very naturally to us. We both really enjoy working with couples and helping them to shape their special day. It’s such pleasure. Photography: Lise Leino-Punwar Tell me about your best day since launching your business. There have been so many of wonderful and memorable weddings, and each one is different and special in its own way. For me, the best day so far has to be our first bigger wedding in May 2019. It was a glorious day and everyone had an amazing time. This is because after all the hard work and planning, we were so happy that everything went so well, and our confidence in the business really started to grow. It feels very special to be part of our couples’ big day and quite often brings tears to our eyes, especially when we are the witnesses for elopement weddings. We feel blessed to be able to work with the wonderful couples whose weddings we host, playing a small part in their lives at such a special time for them. What do you do when you are not working? When you have your own business and you live where you work, you sort of work all the time… You really need to be passionate about your job to sustain it! Both, Matt and I have always been quite sporty so we try to fit in exercise into our daily life as much as we can. It helps us de-stress and keeps us in good shape for our busy lives. We are both morning people: I run and go to spin classes regularly before starting work and Matt loves long distance cycling with his friends. Matt’s also a very good runner, he ran a few marathons when we lived in London, and this continues to be a great outlet for him. Matt is also passionate about growing vegetables and when he’s not in the vineyard, we can definitely find him in the vegetable garden. The family life and spending time with our children are very important to us, especially when most of our weekends are dedicated to running our business. We make sure that we have plenty of family days with the girls, and Teddy! We have also been very fortunate to find an amazing circle of friends in Devon and previously in London. We’re grateful for their support throughout our journey. When we don’t work, we make sure that we create opportunities for socialising with them as much as we can. Photography: Tony Roddam How is the Corona Virus impacting your business and how are you dealing with this? This is something no one ever imagined happening. It’s been a shock to all of us and the impact on the entire wedding sector in the UK has been unprecedented. We’ve had to postpone the majority of our weddings this year due to take place before July and have worked closely with each couple to re-arrange to dates that are suitable. Everyone has been amazing through this period, particularly our suppliers and the couples impacted. We’re very grateful for everyone’s flexibility and support. A huge thank you Jo for taking the time out and sharing your amazing journey with us. When I visit you at your beautiful venue, it’s hard to imagine it was not always this way. If you’d like to find out more about a wedding at Brickhouse Vineyard take a look here.

We love little wedding touches that are personal, meaningful and heartfelt. When we saw what one of our wonderful brides, Lynne, had decided to do with her wedding flowers we had to find out more. Lynne had pressed her gorgeous wedding flowers and had them turned into pieces of jewellery by Katie at Searose Jewellery. To find out more about her wonderful service, we caught up with Katie last week. Tell me a bit about your business and why you started it? I began jewellery making and ultimately my business after losing a close friend. He always lived his life to the full and made every dream a reality. I had always wanted to try silversmithing but was scared to take the leap. His passing inspired me to follow my passion and grasp every opportunity that comes my way. I started Searose Jewellery just over a year ago. I’m completely self-taught and create each individual piece by hand at my home in Wales. I mainly use sterling silver, sea glass and flowers to create each piece of jewellery. Every item is unique and has its own story. What inspired you to start creating cabochons? I have collected sea glass for years – I have hundreds of pieces from my local beach. I often use these in my work, but as they come in all shapes and sizes it can be difficult to create the ‘perfect’ piece. I experimented by using a couple of semi-precious stone cabochons in one of my earlier works and I was really pleased with the result. I wanted to create a more authentic feel to my work, so, I decided to start creating cabochons using my own pressed flowers. I am a true lover of nature and have lots of plants around my home, so it’s also a great way to preserve what I love. Naturally this led to others being able to provide me with pressed flowers that were meaningful to them for all sorts of reasons for me to turn into bespoke jewellery pieces to be enjoyed forever. Tell us about the process - what’s involved and how long it takes? I choose and press my flower petals in a book, applying weight to them. The petals are typically dry and ready to use within a week or two. Once the petals are ready, I arrange them into my moulds and pour resin over them. After 24 hours, the resin is dry, and I have a unique cabochon ready to be put into jewellery! I create silver necklaces, earrings and rings by hand, ready for the cabochons to be set. This normally takes one to two days. Once I have the cabochons set, the pieces are hand packaged by me and ready to be sent to my customer. What price does your service start at? Prices start from £15 (If the flowers have already been pressed). What jewellery options can you offer? Using real flower resin cabochons, I can create stud-earrings, drop-earrings, necklaces, rings, cufflinks and brooches. I am more than happy to discuss ideas and commissions with customers so I can advise on the best approach based on the flowers they have in mind, and the jewellery they wish me to create. Can you work remotely with customers or do you have to meet in person? I can work remotely. I have previously made an engagement ring, as well as 10 sea glass bangles for a bride as gifts for her bridesmaids. Both of these commissions were discussed via email without meeting in person. If flowers have been pressed, they can be posted to my address for me to work with and specifics can be discussed over email or the phone. How can interested couples get in touch with you? Instagram - @Searosejewellery Facebook - @Searosejewellery Phone – (+44) 07784310985 Email - Searosejewellery@gmail.com Thank you Katie, we love your unique business and all you create!

We love Porthpean House. It's a beautiful period property right on the seafront and just perfect for intimate wedding stays for up to 27. The main house that sleeps 21, with a further lodge in the grounds sleeping 6. We're delighted that Piccolo Weddings has featured one of the weddings we arranged at Porthpean House this February in their blog. You can see more here:https://www.piccoloweddings.com/blog Huge congratulations to Kit and Mariette who had the most amazing day at this stunning venue. Find out more here.

Top 5 London intimate wedding venues Intimate weddings are becoming more popular and it is a great way to steer clear from the traditional big cookie cutter weddings, which let’s face has become a bit tiresome. Your wedding is unique to you and your style so you should choose a venue that compliments and enhances this. As a London wedding planner I have put together a list of my fave hidden gems in the capital city. Events by Keenda creates understated luxe weddings that are the perfect combination of elegance and fun and this is reflective in my chosen venues. My vision is romantic weddings with a quirky twist to suit the personalities of my couples. My mission is to create intimate design led weddings for stylish couples, where ordinary isn’t an option! Clissold House, North London This Grade II listed venue has beautiful architecture with large ornate windows and are licensed for marriage to say your "I dos" followed by a small reception. Their iconic stair case is simply stunning and the venue is set in Clissold park, perfect for those outdoor shots. Images by Eva Tarnok Photography Severndroog Castle, South London If you want breathtaking panoramic views of London, then this is one backdrop you cannot miss out on for the wedding album. The castle is available for both your ceremony and reception, perfect for those intimate nuptials in their 18th-century ceiling rooms with medieval-inspired windows and views into the woods. Images by Amanda Karen Photography The Roost Dalston, East London This is ideal for the quirky types who like something a bit cool and eclectic. The Roost is a cosy four-floor Victorian pub with uniquely designed rooms to choose from for your intimate celebrations. Images from The Roost Paradise by way of Kensal Green, West London A gorgeous venue with exposed brick walls and a shabby chic vibe, they are also registered for ceremonies. You can then move into their private dining room for that intimate wedding breakfast for you and your guests in candle light for that romantic ambience. Images by Sophie Lake Photography Fitzrovia Chapel, Central London This is a stunning secular chapel located in the heart of London with striking interior that will take your breathe away. After taking your vows you can move onto the adjoining restaurant Percy and Founders for your after party. Images from Fitzrovia Chapel by barbara k. photography Article kindly supplied by Events by Keenda.

What do we need to do to get married legally in the UK? The law governing weddings in the UK is currently under review by the government. They recognise that the current rules are complicated and outdated and the rules in England and Wales are different from those in Scotland. They have an objective to reduce the costs of weddings. However, the law is not changing anytime soon. In this article we answer questions that we are asked on a regular basis in relation to a legal wedding ceremony, that we hope will help you understand the legal landscape against which your wedding ceremony will take place. What are the requirements for a legal wedding ceremony in England and Wales? You have a choice of locations for your legal wedding ceremony: · a legal wedding ceremony must occur inside a building or “cemented fixture” that holds a wedding license and is therefore classes as an “approved premises”. You can view the small "approved premised venue partners we work with here · a religious ceremony in a registered religious building is possible, but do check your choice of venue holds a wedding license, if not, you’ll need to have a civil ceremony first · at any local authority ceremony room or registry office in the UK Getting married in a registry office might seem unromantic. More positively it’s a cost effective option than an “approved premise”. Many couples choose to get the legalities completes and then have a more personal ceremony in a location of their choice. Who can conduct our legal wedding ceremony? Your legal wedding ceremony must be conducted by a superintendent registrar or if you choose a religious ceremony a registrar must be available to register the marriage. Who do we need to have as a minimum at our legal wedding ceremony? For a legal wedding ceremony aside from the two of you (obviously!), you’ll need two witnesses over the age of 16, a registrar and, if different, the person who conducted the ceremony. All of our venue partners can provide witnesses for your legal wedding ceremony. What do we need to do before our wedding day? You need to reserve your wedding ceremony venue and book the registrar of religious officiant to conduct your legal wedding ceremony. Once you have a time agreed with your officiant you will be in a position you pay deposits to your chosen wedding venue. On top of this, for a non-religious ceremony you must both go to your local register office to “give notice” of where and when you are to be married. You do not need to go together, but you must both attend. In fact, if you do go together you will be seen separately. You’ll need to produce documents to prove your name, address, date of birth, proof that any previous marriages have been dissolved and your nationality. Your notice of marriage is posted for 29 days giving anyone who objects to the marriage time to register this. As I said earlier, the rules are very archaic! Your notice is valid for 12 months. A final word Wherever you are planning to hold your wedding ceremony, it is essential to consider the legal requirements so that you can work with these and plan your perfect day. We recommend you check any uncertainties with your local registry office to avoid disappointment.

One question we get asked lots is whether any of our Petite Weddings couples have regretted having small weddings. We’re delighted (and relieved!) to report that the answer is a resounding “no!” We got in touch with 50 of the couples who have had a Petite Wedding in the last 3 years and, when surveyed 100% of respondents said they did not regret having a smaller wedding. Here’s the most popular reasons why they loved their small wedding: - Reduced cost and no debts afterwards - More time with our invited guests to have a proper chat and not just a quick hug and a “thank you” for coming - Better food – more to spend per head and not catering for 100’s of people means the quality of wedding day food can be higher - A small group means you can have a “destination wedding” in the UK with the whole party staying for 2/3 nights - Only the people you truly care deeply for and who reciprocate that will be around you on your special day making it truly meaningful, more personal and you will feel freer to do things your way as no one will be judging you - Planning and organising were stress-free and enjoyable as everything is on a small scale e.g. homemade favours x12 is much easier to do than for 250 people - Couples cited feeling freer to be non-traditional and have alternative small wedding days that include all sorts of things from surfing, to beach games, picnics on the beach to a sunset sail We’re the first to agree that a small wedding is not for everyone, but we’re so glad so many of our couples have enjoyed their Petite Wedding experiences and made the right choices for them. Advise to all couples planning a wedding: choose what’s right for the two of you! If you’re interested in small wedding venues then take a look at the Petite Wedding Venue Collection here. Beautiful images in this article by Griffin Photography at Cosawes Barton ( January wedding 2020) with other wedding day services by Indulgence Catering and So-buff bridal hair and make up.

We started working with Shaina and Daniel just 8 weeks before their intimate wedding. They wanted to get married in the UK as it was the ideal place to bring their two families together. This was no mean feat as the couple are based in New Carolina in America. We discussed a number of venue options, with the couple quickly settling on Porthpean House as the venue for their special day. Why choose Porthpean House? With 20 adults and 7 children in their group the property and next-door lodge were perfect for their whole family group to be accommodated. Porthpean House is a dream small wedding venue. It combines period splendour and comfort with beautiful gardens and views over the sea. What’s more there is a wonderful secret pathway to the beach immediately below the property. It also has a claim to fame. It’s the beautiful big house by the sea that stars in Richard Curtis’ romcom, About Time. A small wedding ceremony by the sea Their wedding ceremony was led by celebrant Rebecca Morris as due to their non-resident status they were unable to have a legal wedding in the UK. However, with a signed certificate provided by Rebecca and their witnesses they are easily able to solemnise their vows when they get home. This arrangement meant they could have a very personal wedding ceremony with their families around them in a place they loved. Scrumptious wedding catering They planned a three-night stay for their guests at Porthpean House and we arranged chef catering on the night of arrival, their wedding day and for a slap-up breakfast the morning after the main event. This meant a none of the stress of shopping or cooking for the wedding party and some thoroughly scrumptious food! There were a few bumps in the road as their main chef had to pull out at short notice for family reasons, but we took control of the situation providing an alternative chef for Shaina and Daniel at the same time as letting them know that their booked chef could no longer help them. It was a busy 24 hours, but worth it to ensure our couple were not stressed by the situation. Due to the number of guests we arranged additional furniture chosen by the couple so that dining could be set up to match the size of their group for the weekend. Working remotely with bridal stylists Shaina wanted to arrange bridal hair and make-up at the house prior to her wedding ceremony, and after discuss options she chose to work with the award-winning duo Hair by Emma C and Stacey Cremin. Usually our brides do not have a trial before their wedding day, although this can be arranged. Rather our brides send their stylists images of themselves on a “normal” day and images of the hair and make up style they have in mind. This is usually followed up by a phone or Skype consultation to discuss details and the approach that the stylist will take on the day. As you can see from the photographs Shaina looked beautiful! Wedding day flowers The bridal bouquet, Daniel’s groom’s buttonhole and flowers for their naked wedding cake were provided by Louise of Gorse and Thorn, again with all communication done remotely. wonder what we did before we had Pinterest?! It would certainly make arranging a wedding remotely more difficult. Their wedding cake was created based on the couples’ choice of flavours, fillings and finish by Jenna of Jenna’s Signature Bakes and looked amazing adorned with flowers by Gorse and Thorn. Finishing touches The final touches including arranging a solo violinist to play during the wedding ceremony in the form of Sue of Classical Strings. Sue was so helpful to the couple, even providing some great suggestions for pieces that she could play at different points during the ceremony. This was a lovely touch and really added to the wedding ceremony. The whole day wedding was planned and coordinated by wonderful Phoebe of Piccolo Weddings. As Shaina and Daniel said, “Jane and everyone she arranged to help with our wedding (including the wedding planner, hair, makeup, flowers, violinist, cake, photography, food and venue) did an amazing job! It is a day that we and our families will never forget.” Late availability As Porthpean House only gained its wedding license last July so we’re in a lucky position of having some 2020 dates still available. If you feel a wedding at this beautiful venue might tick your boxes, here are some dates that we have available at time of publishing. Friday Feb 21 to Friday March 6 Friday Mar 13 to Friday 20 Monday April 27 to Friday May 1 Monday May 18 to Friday 22 Monday June 15 to Friday June 19 Tuesday Jun 30 to Friday July 3 Contact jane@petiteweddings.co.uk to check any dates that may be of interest and request a no obligation quote.

A real wedding story at The Brickhouse Vineyard We caught up with Jade and James who were married at dreamy small wedding venue, The Brickhouse Vineyard , Devon earlier in 2019. We wanted to hear more about their wedding story and we’re lucky enough to be able to share this with you now along with some beautiful images by Emma Barrow from their special day. A Japanese love-story Jade and James met through mutual friends in Japan and bonded over their mutual love for the country. Jade returned from her short trip and James got home some months later as he was working in Japan. A few days after James’ return the couple had their first date was spent talking all night about Japan and discovering a shared love of giant pandas, even finding that they both had taken the exact same photography in front of a giant panda in Japan. Within a month they went on their first holiday to Edinburgh to see the giant pandas. As Jade joked, “It was a bit closer than Japan!” Their relationship went from strength to strength as they unearthed lots of unexpected common ground. Their parents had previously worked together for years, they shared the same dentist, Jade had just completed a graphic design assignment for James’ local pub. The list goes on, quite frankly it was a miracle that they hadn’t met before. A few months later they moved into James’ flat and made it theirs whilst they saved for their first house together. 3 months after their move they expanded their family with the addition of a puppy who’s now 2. Tell us about your proposal. “We love seeing new places, so for my birthday we took a trip to Brussels where as soon as it hit midnight on my birthday James got down on one knee and proposed. I had no clue. He had been planning it for a while and had even asked my family for permission to marry me, totally unbeknown to me!” Why did you choose a small wedding? “We had a large engagement party where we invited family, friends and work colleagues and celebrated with everyone, so we thought we’d have a small wedding with just the close people and make it more intimate.” How did you find Petite Weddings and what did they do for you? “Searching online most venues seemed to have a minimum of 50 guests. We found Petite Weddings through a Google search. The Petite Weddings website was so helpful as there was a list of venues that didn’t have a minimum guest requirement. Jane was really helpful, she provided us with details of venues that would suit our criteria, answered every question we came up with, provided us with past wedding examples so we could imagine how our wedding might look and feel, and gave us options that we didn’t have before for us to consider.” What drew you to The Brickhouse Vineyard? “Through Jane we arranged a viewing with Joanna at Brickhouse, we travelled down from Birmingham to Devon as from the images we’d seen it looked amazing. As soon as we arrived, we knew it was the venue for us. It was a winters’ day and the vineyard still looked dreamy. It was quiet, the views were great and the round house had a rustic feel that was exactly what we wanted. The original the brickwork meant we didn’t need lots of decorations and venue as a whole was just perfect for us. It was small enough for our guests but also had different areas and aspects to it that made it feel like a big venue that was going to be exclusively ours for the whole day, so more of a private event feel to it.” How did you choose your wedding day suppliers? “As we live in Birmingham, we didn’t know any suppliers down in Devon. Joanna provided us with recommended suppliers she has previously worked with or knows well. This was a great help, we contacted those we liked and they were available, as we only had 8/9 months to plan, we were lucky they were available as a lot of people plan ahead for years.” Tell us how you planned your wedding day “We only had 8/9 months to go when we booked The Brickhouse Vineyard. We had been engaged for nearly 2 years by this point as we couldn’t find a venue we liked. So, once we found The Brickhouse Vineyard it was all go. We chose our suppliers and went from there. For a few of our suppliers I made mood boards of our vision and they didn’t disappoint. As I’m a designer I designed the invitation set, signage for the wedding day, table plan and decorations for the day. So, some of the planning was just organising myself and then briefing my family as they set up everything on the day with the help of Joanna. Joanna helped us create the timeline for the day and coordinated the day itself, making sure that everything went to plan. This meant we could relax and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about anything.” What’s your best memory of your wedding day? “Our best memory of the day was the evening, where we all just enjoyed ourselves with everyone around us. All the formal pieces were done like the speeches for James so it was all just about dancing and having fun. The band we hired, Double A & the Bay got everyone involved and the night just flew by, with everyone around us there, no worries and all about celebrating.” Do you have any advice you'd pass on to friends arranging a small wedding? “Have fun with it and enjoy planning it, as it’s exciting choosing everything you want for your day. Try not to get side tracked into one aspect of it. I spent about 2 months trying to find the right slippers for my bridesmaids which they wore for a few hours in the morning! A checklist was a great help, as when you tick one thing off you can just move onto the next thing, as the list never really ends to the night before, it just helps being organised and seeing what there is to do.” Thank-you’s We love Jade and James’ wedding story – thank you so much for sharing your story with us! Their wedding day experience would not have been possible without the talents and resources of their wonderful wedding day team. Huge thanks to this wonderful group of wedding brilliant service providers: Wedding Team Band: Double A & the Bay Bridal Accessories: Veil – Amixi / Jewellery – Ted Baker Bridesmaid Dresses: ASOS Bouquet / Florist: Amanda Winsor – Winsor Flower Studio Cake: Flour + Zest Dress: Sincerity Bridal – Justin Alexander Venue Décor: Shutters / Props: Virginia’s Vintage Hire Hair Stylist: Lauren Gosling Make Up Artist: Kimberley Dewar Groom Suit: House of Cavani Photographer: Emma Barrow Wedding Car: Volkswagen Campervan from Ermintrude VW Campers through Premier Carriage Venue: Brickhouse Vineyard Caters: M Welsh Catering Services Harpist: Through Earcandy Lighting: Party Lights To inspire your wedding-day dreaming you can see some more of this beautiful venue here.