Chilled Out Multicolour Outdoor Wedding

When this beautiful multicolour wedding was submitted to me I was over the moon. WWW readers Eleanore and Ryan were married on the 22^nd June 2019 at Canonteign Falls in Devon. The venue enabled them to have a stunning outdoor ceremony beneath a pagoda and they then celebrated in the barn. I love how they injected colour into their wedding day style. There were multicolour chairs, vibrant blooms and rainbow bunting to name a few. They also had a fairy light canopy in the barn which added a really magical touch.

Cars also featured, with cool transport a part of their day alongside nods to them in the cake toppers. I just adore Eleanore’s dreamy gown and Ryan’s blue suit with dragonfly accessories. Didn’t they look gorgeous?

Huge thanks goes to Holly Collings Photography for sharing these really wonderful photographs. Awesome!

The Proposal

Ryan proposed while we were away for an off-grid in weekend in a hut on an island in the middle of a lake in Somerset. It was beautiful.

The Vision

We wanted a chilled-out wedding with all our family and close friends. Ideally, we wanted it somewhere scenic and there had to be an old American car for Ryan.

The Planning Process

It took about a year to plan our wedding. We live in Surrey but got married in Devon because we fell in love with the venue so that meant lots of weekends away down in Devon for meeting suppliers etc. There was no real plan for a theme or colour scheme we just wanted it to be personal and eclectic, so we DIY-ed lots of bits and pieces and prayed that it all worked together.

Beauty

Hair – I had my hair up with curls falling down and a flower crown. My bridesmaids had their hair down and curled with a few fresh flowers in their hair.

Makeup – It was quite natural, I still wanted to look like me.

The Venue

We had always wanted to get married outside by water but honestly thought it would be unattainable on our budget… but then we found Canonteign Falls. As soon as we visited, we both fell in love with the beautiful lake and waterfalls. We got married under a pagoda next to the lake and was a couple of paces away from a rustic barn for the reception. The barn was a blank canvas which meant we could make it our own. The venue is open to the public so we had people cheering us on as I walked down the aisle which was fun.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Dress – Ex sample Farah by Watters. It had leafy lace with an illusion top and a fun tulle bottom. It was floaty, light and fun but it was 2 sizes too big for me so it had to have a lot of alterations. In the end it fitted like a glove.

Accessories – earrings were borrowed from my grandma who couldn’t make it to the wedding. I tied the necklace she wore at her wedding around my bouquet.

Suits – Ryan had bright blue suits with waistcoats from Ben Sherman.

Accessories – He wore a bright orange tie with dragonflies and pocket square from TM Lewin and dragonfly cufflinks.

Bridesmaids

Our two bridesmaids had light blue strappy dresses; they were light, summery and comfortable from Not Another Boring Bridesmaid Dress.

The Readings & Music

We chose the reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin to be read by my mum and “He’s Not Perfect” – Bob Marley to be read by Ryan’s little sister. My mum surprised us with an additional reading – lyrics from Mountains, a song by Biffy Clyro that we love. That was one of our favourite moments.

I walked down the aisle to One day like this – Elbow, and we went back down to Everybody needs somebody – Blues Brothers, Ryan’s favourite film.

Your Photographer

The fabulous Holly Collings. She was a star and took the most beautiful photos capturing all the colour, laughter and emotion which was more important to us than staged photos.

The Flowers

They were all grown locally near Exeter. We wanted local, colourful seasonal flowers and they were absolutely beautiful. They also provided us with buckets of wild flowers that my Dad arranged for table decorations.

The Details & Décor

Most of the décor was homemade by ourselves and our family and friends which made the whole day feel so personal. We collected glass bottles filled with fresh flowers for centre pieces, made a map with the countries we’ve visited, table names from an old atlas, apple crates and signs from old palettes and attached loads of greenery from the Canonteign estate to the inside of the barn. We hired tables, colourful chairs and fairy lights.

Ryan loves his cars so arrived in a 1971 Corvette Stingray. I turned up in an orange VW camper borrowed from our friend. We parked the cars outside during the reception so everyone could have a look round.

The Cake

Three layers of chocolate, lemon madeira and gluten free bakewell tart all covered in blue butter cream. It was delicious! We had a Corvette stingray and VW campervan as toppers which were the cars we arrived in. We cut the cake with my great grans cake knife who had died the year before.

Food – Big American BBQ served ‘feast style’ to each table so everyone could tuck in and help themselves. There was loads of food and it was delicious. For dessert Dan made us profiteroles with salted caramel sauce… they were heavenly.

Groomsmen

Same as the groom but with light blue ties to match the bridesmaids

The Honeymoon

We had a few days away in Hayley’s Hut in Devon straight after the wedding. It was beautiful and relaxing. I think we slept for 2 days straight after all the excitement of the big day. We’re currently planning our actual honeymoon to New Zealand.

Memorable Moments

The whole day. It was just great to share the day with everyone in such a beautiful place. It was so much fun and there were so many golden moments. But our first dance to “You’re in love with a psycho” and “Smells like teen spirit” as the last song were both big highlights.

Advice For Other Couples

Make the day your own and enjoy yourself. Don’t stress over the little things. And spend time together. We made sure to go for a walk just the 2 of us and were the last 2 standing at the end of the night.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Family and friends for all the help with DIY projects and on the day.

How wonderful!

Eleanore and Ryan, thank you both so very much for sharing your really splendid nuptials with us xo Lou