Laura and Matt first met at a mutual friend's summer wedding in Cyprus before becoming engaged three years later during their own romantic moment in London.
'Matt first told me he loved me on Albert Bridge,' reveals Laura. 'In 2018 we went back to London for the weekend and Matt had booked the restaurant we went to on our very first date. As we got halfway along Albert Bridge, I said: 'Do you remember when you told me that you loved me right here'™ only to find that Matt was down on one knee! It was amazing!'
Falmouth's Pendennis Castle was the fairy tale venue for the couple's ceremony, where canon fire signified their status as Mr and Mrs. 'My favourite moment was saying our vows,' says Laura. 'Because we wrote our own, it was so meaningful and emotional! I felt like our whole world fell into place when we said our vows in front of everyone. It was a very special and intimate moment that we shared with all of our loved ones.'
Their reception at The Greenbank Hotel was styled 'around the things we love,' including flowers in gin bottles as centrepieces alongside a seaside inspired cake, and stationery lovingly created by Matt, who is an artist and illustrator, and sketched the designs for the table plan, invitations and save the dates, as well as caricatures of each guest for favours. 'It was so special and added a lot of humour to the day too!' comments Laura.
'As Matt and I are quite sociable and so are our family and friends, we wanted our meal to be really sociable too, so we decided to have sharing platters for starters, mains and desserts,' says Laura of the informal wedding breakfast. Lip-smacking delights of prawns and halloumi with roasted red onion rosemary focaccia for starters was followed by roast rack of pork chop crackling, seafood chorizo stew and slow-cooked beef brisket, and the chef's speciality pavlova to finish.
A pasty supper and evening of dancing to the pitch-perfect party tunes of Totally Funked Up provided another standout moment for Laura and Matt. 'It was indescribable,' says Laura. 'Our hearts have never been so full; it was truly a celebration we will remember for the rest of our lives ' especially when 'Bohemian Rhapsody' came on and everyone jumped into the air with beer in hand and soaked the ceiling!'
When talking about how to stay organised, Laura has a fool-proof piece of advice. 'Have a planner that you can write everything down in. I had one, as well as a huge notice board that I hung in the living room ' it was my pride and joy!' she says.
'Plan everything in good time and be true to yourselves. The whole reason for it all is to say your vows and celebrate in front of the people you love and ultimately, when you're faced with your soulmate at the altar, nothing else matters!'
Photography Paul Keppel paulkeppel.co.uk
Venue Pendennis Castle english-heritage.org.uk/pendennisweddings
The Greenbank Hotel greenbank-hotel.co.uk
Dress Pronovias pronovias.com/gb
Groom's outfit M&S marksandspencer.com
Bridesmaids' dresses ASOS asos.com
Hair Number 8 Hairdressing number8hairdressing.com
Flowers Tracey Q's Wedding Flowers cornwallweddingflowers.com
Transport King Harry Coaches kingharrycoaches.com
Central Car Hire weddingcars-cornwall.co.uk
Entertainment Totally Funked Up facebook.com/totallyfunkedup
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