Wedding at The Green Cornwall

It took almost a quarter of a century for best friends Holly and Neil to become a romantic item. "We've been there for each other through everything, sat on clifftops in Cornwall on many a holiday musing about what we want from life..." says Holly, who was in a field in the rain listening to the Dalai Lama talking about love when she experienced "an actual epiphany!", she says. "I suddenly realised that love was there, right in front of me. True, totally accepting, deep and real love."

Though the couple live in Hampshire, Holly and Neil describe Cornwall as their "spiritual home" and chose to marry at The Green. "Everything is in one place and it's somewhere a lot of family and wedding crew could stay the night before and afterwards," explains Holly. "The staff were amazing, the food was delicious, and we couldn't have been happier with the experience."

Focusing the look and feel of the day on a simple theme of 'us', photographer and paper artist Holly took control of aesthetics, while Neil tapped into his music industry contacts to help deliver an eclectically entertaining day.

"I made hundreds of paper stars out of old nautical maps, which we used to decorate the barn, and I hand printed all the name places and made the table plan from one of the old maps of Cornwall," says Holly. "The table decorations were old tin cans planted with succulents and various bits and pieces from our house - old books, cameras, trinkets. Everything was personal and from our house and reflected us."

The musical line-up mirrored that of a festival, with the talented likes of Holly and Neil's friends and professional musicians Richard Thomas and Robin Howell-Sprent from Brother & Bones and DJ Mark Hill from Artful Dodger making standout appearances. "Neil even organised a pop-up choir of all our amazing singer friends attending the wedding to sing me down the aisle! He reworked 'Awake My Soul' by Mumford and Sons. It was incredible!"

He had another memorable moment up his sleeve later in the evening. "Neil sang some songs that he had written about me some 18 years before with Laura Vane," recalls Holly. "Magic!"

Holly shunned convention in order to execute some key wedding traditions 'their way', including having her father and 14-year-old son walk her down the aisle. "They didn't give me away, though; the feminist in me doesn't really go for this!"

In addition, the couple opted to both change their surnames by adopting the old family name on Neil's maternal grandmother's side of Treloar. "I wasn't keen on taking the man's name, so we picked a new one," explains Holly.

"Share the load!" she enthuses when asked to share her W-day wisdom with other couples. "We were totally in this together and it made the whole thing really fun and enjoyable. We couldn't wait to marry each other and just had fun creating the day we wanted and it surpassed all our expectations."

Photography Assassynation assassynation.co.uk
Venue The Green thegreencornwall.co.uk
Dress Phase Eight phase-eight.com
Suit Moss Bros moss.co.uk
Bridesmaids' dresses ASOS asos.com
Hair Aruba Hair Group arubahairgroup.co.uk
Flowers Judith Searles Flowers judetheflorist.co.uk
Cheese cake The Cheese Stall thecheesestall.com
Entertainment Richard Thomas and Robin Howell-Sprent brotherandbones.com Jo Long facebook.com/PureDropage Mark Hill markhillmusic.com Laura Vane lauravaneandthevipertones.com

Wedding at The Green Cornwall

Written in the Stars

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