Sandwell Manor Wedding Photography: A Fun, Boho Festival Wedding

Nov 14, 2019

Bride and groom do a shot to get the party started

Where the love story began:

“We met through online dating site, OK Cupid, although our meeting felt more like a reunion of long lost soulmates than a first date!
He proposed on Dartmoor, one of our favourite places to go hiking. Dartmoor is dotted with lots of Tors, high granite rocks, and Stuart researched the most romantic Tor to take me to.  So we walked across bog, scrub and rocks and stopped at Hart Tor where he proposed with a glass of fizz, with moorland cows as our witnesses!”

The fun festival wedding begins…

Bee and Stuart’s fun festival wedding begun at the bottom of Totnes High Street in the Seven Stars Pub and Hotel. After spending the night before there, Bee was helped by family and friends to get dressed up and do her hair and make up.
This non traditional couple were determined to do their wedding exactly how they wanted, traditions were put to the side and the theme was fun festival wedding!
Bee revealed herself in her vintage wedding dress from Days of Grace Vintage in Budleigh Salterton to Stuart who had strict instructions not to look until he was told to! His first words were ‘wow’ as he turned around to see his beautiful bride to be.

Flash mob choirs & wedding processions

Greeted by their guests as they exited the pub, the couple were surrounded by their loved ones and were glowing with pure happiness and love.
The rain was threatening to dampen the day but as soon as the couple walked out the sun shone and didnt stop for the rest of the day!
Guests were chatting among themselves and having a quick pre-wedding pint, when all of a sudden members of the public burst out in song, being joined by more members from all directions. The bride and groom had planned a flash mob choir Glorious Chorus to sing love songs, and to start a fun festival wedding prosession up Totnes highstreet. Posies of flowers and ribbons on sticks were handed out to guests and they all made their way up the High Street, lead by the soon to be Mr and Mrs Bellworthy. It was an amazing moment, the whole of the town stopped to watch and take videos as everyone made their way up to the Guildhall where the couple were due to get married. I can’t explain the emotion and joy that filled the town, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!

 

I now pronounce you husband and wife…

When they arrived at the Guildhall, the choir sung one last song and then guests went inside to take their seats for the ceremony, whilst I took the opportunity to take some couple portraits before they joined their friends and family.
The ceremony was short but personal, involving different friends and family giving readings, presenting the rings and being witnesses. The cheer when they were pronounced husband and wife was loud and meaningful. The couple were played out by Richard James who also played them in.
Outside the Guildhall we gathered for throwing confetti over the new couple and a chance to congratulate them before heading to the reception at Sandwell Manor in Totnes.

Let the party begin…

The direct family and a few friends caught Bob the bus to the reception venue, who needs a fancy wedding car when you have a bright yellow bus!?
Sandwell Manor is a stunning Georgian country house set in the heart of the South Hams. Inside you have use of the bar area, big dining room, library room, games room and kitchen, perfect for a relaxed and fun wedding. Outside there is a big green garden, with views of rolling hills in the distance. There is also a beautiful little river with a bridge going over it, perfect for romantic couple portraits. And if camping is your thing, there is also a field dedicated to overnight camping for guests… And the new couple if you so desire! Bee and Stuart had guests who camped, but opted to hire a shephards hut for them!
Bee and Stuart used the garden space to put up a big bohemian and Moroccan style yurt by Fairlove Yurts, which was nicknamed the party tent! They had live acoustic music from Richard James as the guests arrived, and later on The Kaizens rocked the fun festival wedding into the evening.
The wedding breakfast was prepared and served by The Plot Catering and it was delicious, so much food! The bride and groom did a joint speech and it was both hilarious and heartfelt.. All in all both our bellies and hearts were full by evening! Especially after sampling all of the stunning cakes made by family and friends and decorated beautifully with flowers by Lynn Arcbibald.

Questions for the newlyweds:

What were your favourite details from the day?

“Wow what a difficult question, so many to choose from!  I loved the little posies we made for the whole wedding party which then formed part of the decorations in the Guildhall where we had our ceremony, and again in the table decorations for the wedding feast.  The gin bar handmade for us from old Glastonbury crates with illuminated metal letters was amazing filled with our personal gin collection including a gin we made ourselves for the occasion.

Our chosen quotation running through the theme of the wedding:  Unity is an Eternal Wonder.  The beautiful oversized silk festival flags that completed the scene outside our dance yurt. The delicious ‘cake collective’ created by family and friends.  The crazy hats and accessories that got everyone up on the dance floor.  The incredibly talented musicians who filled our day and night with music, ending the evening with songs around the campfire.  And many many more……”

What  was your biggest takeaway from the day?

“Without doubt, the wedding procession with our family and friends from the Royal Seven Stars in Totnes, up the high street to the Guildhall, accompanied by an awesome flashmob choir who surprised our guests and took our breath away.  The wonderful reaction from shoppers and passers by completed the unique and special event, a memory which we will never forget and was captured perfectly in the photographs.”

Bee & Stuart’s advice for future couples planning a wedding: 

“Have a clear vision for your wedding and define what it means for you as a couple. That makes it much easier to stay focussed and not get distracted by all the millions of other possible ideas and choices out there.  It also helps achieve a huge amount in a short time – our wedding was arranged in 3 months during which time we also moved house, but we don’t feel we compromised on any of our dreams, even down to the smallest detail.

We didn’t want anyone to feel they had to buy a new outfit for the wedding so the dress code given on the invites was either something vintage, charity shop or from guests’ own wardrobe, but more importantly, something joyful that they loved to wear.  This worked really well and we loved our colourful wedding gang!”

Why did you choose me as your photographer?

“We choose Harriet as our photographer because of her natural talent for capturing the true atmosphere and highlights of the day without being intrusive.  She has an eye for beautiful informal shots but with super attention to detail.  She listened to what we wanted from our photography and delivered perfectly, with smiles and enthusiasm along the way that put everyone at ease.  Thank you Harriet for a wonderful album of memories that we will treasure forever”

 

The amazing supplier squad:

Venue: Sandwell Manor

Catering: The Plot Catering

Dress: Days of Grace Vintage, Budleigh Salterton

Suits: Revival, Totnes & The Real McCoy, Exeter

Flowers: Lynn Archibald

Rings: Hannah Bedford 

Choir: Glorious Chorus Choir

Decorations: Nkuku

Singer/songwriter: Richard James

Band: The Kaizens

Yurt: Fairlove Yurts

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