Summer Garden Party Wedding with Pretty Florals for 9 Guests

I am feeling all summery and bright thanks to this gorgeous Country Ways wedding hosted in beautiful Devon. WWW readers Emma and Mike tied the knot on the 8th August 2020, with just 9 of them altogether. Those that couldn’t be with them joined the fun via live stream so that no one missed out on this very special day.

Emma and Mike created a very pretty relaxed summer garden party. Think fresh local florals, gorgeous outfits, the sweetest table for 9 and beautiful stationery. It really was all so very lovely. Proof again that micro weddings are just so special and really create the most magical of memories.

Holly Collings Photography, I can’t thank you enough for sharing these joyful images with us.

Country Ways Wedding

The Proposal

Mike proposed to me in one of our favourite spots in Exmoor, after an extremely long walk when I was pretty tired, ready to go to the pub and 100% not expecting him to get down on one knee, so when he did so it was a real surprise!

The Vision & Venue

To be honest I think we both started off with very different visions for our day!! Torn between a small event in the village I grew up in (Emma!), or a massive party (Mike!). We looked around at all sorts of venues and when we came across Country Ways we knew it was perfect for us. It had the relaxed village garden party feel but could accommodate the 120 guests allowing space for plenty of partying and camping too. We booked early in 2020 with only around 6 months to plan so got stuck in. We got a little way into planning and the pandemic hit so put the brakes on pretty quickly. After waiting a few months it became obvious a 120 guest wedding wasn’t an option so we made the decision that we would go ahead with the wedding, even if it could only be the two of us. Marriage was number one for us and anyone else who could be there was a bonus. So we scaled back the plans knowing we probably wouldn’t be allowed much (the flowers stayed, phew) and we focused on planning a small family gathering with a summer garden party feel.

Your Outfits

My dress was from French Connection. I actually brought my dress before anything else! I’d spotted it before we were engaged and loved it then got an ad pop up after we had gotten engaged and they had just one left in my size (and it was in the sale). It was the style I had always imagine wearing so went for it and loved it as soon as I tried it on. Job done and it was just £75!!!! As the majority of planning was done in lockdown Mike wore a jacket he already owned as shopping trips weren’t really an option and he didn’t need to match any groomsmen.

The Ceremony & Music

We were able to hold the ceremony in the doorway of the barn and have our family seated outside which was lovely, and helpful due to covid distancing regulations. Our Australian relatives couldn’t travel so they joined us on zoom for the ceremony which was really fun. I walked down the isle to a song called The Night We Meet by Lord Huron, we signed the register to Bombay Bicycle Club – Dust on the ground and left the ceremony to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s – Janglin’

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Holly was fantastic, she arrived, got straight to work and captured so many details of our day we were blown away. We chose Holly because I am pretty shy in front of the camera and her documentary style suited what we were after and her work is just beautiful. Holly was super adaptable when we had to change the plans and was really happy to capture our small ceremony. I can’t get enough of her photos, they are a complete dream!

The Styling & Decor

Flowers where a big part of the day for me, I love flowers. Harriet at Sweetpea’s and Sunflowers just absolutely made my dreams come true with the bouquet. It looked and smelled amazing. I bought some DIY buckets from Harriet the day before the wedding and myself my Sisters and my Mum had a lovely time styling them for the table and the entrance of the barn. Also, all Harriet’s flowers are grown by her just around the corner from our home which is extra lovely. (I’m a big fan!)

I wasn’t sure how much to do for styling and decorations as it was just going to be the 9 of us, but I am so glad I got stuck in and made the most of it. It really helped bring some extra magic to the day.

The cake was a homemade Victoria sponge, Mike’s fav, and I made this for us the day before. The venue also had lots of styling props which we were able to use. My Dad and Sister also decorated an archway for us for pictures with streamers I bought online, this was a really fun and we enjoyed using it for our group photos.

The Honeymoon

Straight after the wedding we had our honeymoon in Scotland in our camper van and did plenty of hiking.

Memorable Moments

I think one of the most memorable moments was when the registrar pronounced us Husband and Wife and our Australian family unmuted themselves on zoom and cheered so loudly, it was really lovely! Starting and ending the day in the hot tub was also pretty great!

Advice For Other Couples

Having our wedding change from 120 guest to 9 while also getting to grips with this new way of living during a pandemic was very strange but we couldn’t be happier that we made it work, my advice for others who are maybe considering the same would be to go with the flow as much as you can, focus on the two of you and your future together and even if things for the wedding seem like they are really far from what you imagined, your day will be one you never forget and a whole load of unexpected special moments will happen!!!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Oh so glorious.

Emma and Mike than you so much for sharing your stunning wedding story with us today. What a treat it’s been.