Hoping to marry somewhere close to home, the couple were spoilt by a dream venue that happened to be just up the road.
"We got married in our local parish church in the beautiful village of Broadclyst, and Rockbeare Manor was the only venue that we visited. We knew it was the one straight away. It was so close to home and ticked so many of our boxes," says Charlotte. 
Charlotte's colour scheme came as no surprise to those who know her. "Pastels and sparkles!" she says. "I adore pastel colours and I'm a little bit obsessed with sparkly things, so choosing a theme was easy. I also really like shabby-chic style so we tried to manifest this in our homemade decorations."
Impressively, Charlotte and Darren undertook a lot of the styling for the wedding themselves, with Darren - who used to be a carpenter - creating Mr & Mrs Harris letters, a photo display, card box, and a wooden box with engraved plaques for each of his three best men.
"I designed and painted our invitations, place names, menus, orders of service and signage, and collected jars for the centrepieces which I glue-gunned ribbon and string to (with the help of my friends!)," says Charlotte. "We spray-painted frames and table numbers a rose gold colour, and our friend who's a tree surgeon provided log slices for our tables."
With an "amazing-smelling" bouquet made by her friend and comprising of sweet avalanche roses, ranunculi, anemones, gypsophila and eucalyptus, Charlotte walked down the aisle to some very special music.
"My nine-year-old brother, George, played 'Trumpet Voluntary' on my grandpa's trumpet. Unfortunately Grandpa is no longer with us but he would have been so proud! And George playing his trumpet was a lovely tribute." With barely a dry eye in the house, the happy couple took their vows before heading to Rockbeare Manor where guests basked in the sunshine.
The storm clouds gathered, however, and a dramatic thunderstorm raged overhead as everyone tucked into a feast of Somerset brie and thyme-infused pear, confit of duck and white chocolate parfait. The meal was a particular highlight for Charlotte, thanks to an astute piece of advice from her dad.
"My dad took my hand and told me to look around and take a mental picture. I'm really glad I took a couple of minutes to scan the room and look at our guests happily munching away, chatting and laughing." The skies cleared to reveal a beautiful sunset as the evening guests arrived. "We proceeded to boogie the night away," says Charlotte. "By midnight, I was exhausted, but very happy!"
The storm clouds gathered, however, and a dramatic thunderstorm raged overhead as everyone tucked into a feast of Somerset brie and thyme-infused pear, confit of duck and white chocolate parfait. The meal was a particular highlight for Charlotte, thanks to an astute piece of advice from her dad.
"My dad took my hand and told me to look around and take a mental picture. I'm really glad I took a couple of minutes to scan the room and look at our guests happily munching away, chatting and laughing." The skies cleared to reveal a beautiful sunset as the evening guests arrived. "We proceeded to boogie the night away," says Charlotte. "By midnight, I was exhausted, but very happy!"
Admitting she and Darren are "both quite last-minute people", she encourages other couples to be organised. "The stress we both experienced in the week leading up to the wedding was just extreme!" she says. "Try to finish as much as possible a couple weeks before the wedding so that you can look after yourselves in the run-up. Although don't worry about being tired on the day - it's true that the adrenaline carries you through!"
Photography Maxi Photography maxiphotography.com
Venue St John the Baptist Church, Rockbeare Manor rockbearemanor.co.uk
Bridesmaids' dresses ASOS asos.co.uk
Dress Blue by Enzoani from Champagne & Charlotte champagneandcharlotte.co.uk
Veil & accessories Champagne & Charlotte champagneandcharlotte.co.uk
Groom's outfit Next next.co.uk
Hair & make-up Changing Faces changingfaces.net
Flowers Lauren Clarke
Cake Claire Makes Cakes clairemakescakes.co.uk
Disco Jake Rafferty
Copyright Wed magazine 2018
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