One of the things I really love about doing weddings, is to watch a couple's journey unfold. They start with some wonderful ideas, which then develop and evolve over the months of preparation. Then we watch, as the couple arrive at Pickwell, and marvellous things come out of the cars and start to be assembled into something beautiful, that express who they are as a couple. It is such a privilege to be part of this journey!

Rachel is so creative and her attention to detail is second to none! She had thought of everything, every corner of the house and every moment of the wedding had something delightful in it. 

These were all the orders of service and the confetti for the church -lovingly hand made.

This is Rachel's wonderful friend and Bridesmaid, Karen, who worked her socks off despite being 5 months pregnant!

The flowers from Deryn at 'Twigs' were spectacular! The reds, pinks and purples brought the golden colours of the wedding extra vibrancy. 

Karen's husband lent a hand to this tricky balancing act.

And here is his support team drinking coffee (Jamie the groom and Jamie's mum, Sue)!  

Rachel then hung these hand made paper flowers on the frames to great effect!

I am sure you will agree they made quite a feature!

I loved the simplicity, yet effectiveness, of this 'Oh Happy Day' hanging behind the top table.

The table names were of historic families who have lived at Pickwell Manor. St Aubyn de Pickwell was Lord of the Manor from 1254 to 1294.

Whilst, half of the tables had these wonderful gold containers of flowers as the table centre piece....

  the other half had these spectacular candelabras. I liked the red 'dangly bits'. Deryn informs me that they are better known as Amaranthus.

At each place setting sat a gold 'charger' (under plate) giving a golden 'wow' factor! Inside the favours boxes, Rachel had hand made some scrabble cuff links for the men (with their individual initials) and wine glass stem tags for the ladies. Another wonderful idea from this scrabble loving couple.

The side board in the hallway was very welcoming. I loved the stacks of gold covered books;


Auntie's wonderful card box;


and the Minstrels!

On each of the windowsills down the hallway, Jamie and Rachel had put collections of family wedding photos. I really loved this celebration of their families.

How cute are these two!!

The 'R & J' was a definite theme, appearing on everything from room name tags, to the napkins. A number of large gold ones were dotted around the house. 

Ahhhh!!

Rachel's very talented sister, Alison, made this stunning cake (and helped make a number of other things too). Here she is adding the final touches to the cake on the wedding morning.

After Friday's wonderful work, of turning the house into a golden 'feast for the eyes', the wedding weekend began. After the church rehearsal, Friday night was spent with everyone having dinner at the Kings Arms. Then on Saturday the fun of getting ready began and more gorgeous flowers arrived!!

This is Rachel's bridal bouquet.

And this is Jamie Bott, their photographer, just about to photograph it. We do love working with you Jamie, you are always so relaxed and lovely to have around!! There are some super photos already up on his Facebook page.

Eve Ashby is the wonderful make up artist who worked on a photo shoot here for Wed magazine a couple of years ago. She is not only great at what she does, but she is so nice to have around too. She seemed to really put Rachel at ease.

Stephanie and Charlotte from Tangles in Braunton were a the great wedding hair team!

The gorgeous girls!!

And the very beautiful bride!! The ceremony itself took place at Georgeham church, I wish I could have been there as it sounded wonderful. Rachel was part of a gospel choir at university, who all sang at the wedding. I can't wait to see the video footage from Pete Cox who did the videography.

On their return from the church, everyone gathered around the new 'husband and wife' for a  group photo.

Then they all relaxed in the sunshine...tennis anyone!? The fun was only disturbed by the occasional pause for a delicious canape or another drink.

Then it was time for guests to find their seat for dinner. Such a great idea to have everyone's photos on the table plan. It made it all feel very personal.

May I introduce you to Alex, the wonderful MC. He really had a way with words.


Rachel and Jamie are passionate foodies (me too!!) and wanted their guests to have lovely food that could be shared and talked over.

 Everyone started with a mezze platter shared between two.

Then the fun began! Rachel and Jamie chose a person from each table to carve a joint of  'Devon Sirloin'. Here we can see Rachel handing out the chefs hats and pinnies ready for carving.

Didn't they look lovely!!

Rachel asked Lee, our chef, to cook her mum's Chocolate Roulade recipe for pudding, another lovely personal touch. Mandy did tell me later that she was not sure her's 'had ever looked that good'. I am sure she was just being modest!

Again, there was a lovely sense of sharing and theatre as guests served out their own Pavlova or Chocolate Roulade. It was all great fun!

After the speeches...

the room was transformed for dancing!

I love the ballroom full of twinkling candles.

Rachel's sister Alison made this brilliant neon sign adding to the atmosphere.

Cutting the cake....

lead seamlessly through to the first dance, awww so romantic!

unsurprising as the band 'Celebrity' were great. I have to say the photo on this weblink does not do them justice!! Rachel and Jamie had first heard them play at a friends wedding 3 years before and loved them.

Wonderful fun was then to be had in the 'Beach Hut Booth' photo booth in the hallway.

Guests were then encouraged to stick one copy of their photo into the guest book. Rachel and Jamie, you are going to have some fun looking back through these!! There may even be one of me and the catering team at the end of the night, hehehe (check out their facebook page for a giggle)!!

Sparklers were a twinkly end to a magical day!! Rachel and Jamie, I felt so privileged to be part of your wedding journey. I am so delighted that this won't be the last we will see of you, with Jamie having already booked in to come back for your anniversary. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Wellen we wish you sooooo much happiness!!