THE SEASON FOR LOVERS

Demelza and Iain’s summer wedding in Plymouth enjoyed a colourful peacock theme mixing purple, navy and teal Images courtesy of Jane Austin Romance Photography

Demelza and Iain met at university in 2005 where they were both in the same class for English Literature together. “In the final six months of the course, we were introduced by a mutual friend, Debbie,” Demelza tells us. “We spent a few months as friends first, working on finishing our dissertations and studying a module on American Literature. After impressing me with Keats poetry and cartwheels on the lawn, Iain asked me out after the ball to celebrate coming to the end of our time at university. Our unofficial first date was a hot chocolate at Macdonald’s! This was quickly followed by a proper first date at Mount Edgecombe Country Park where Iain had prepared an amazing picnic for us. I was too nervous to eat very much, although he stole my heart by packing real glasses for the picnic!”

The couple became engaged during a surprise Christmas proposal. “Iain surprised me on Christmas Day in 2007,” Demelza tells us. “After I kept unknowingly putting off exchanging presents until the end of Christmas Day, he was patiently waiting (along with both sets of parents who knew about the proposal) to be able to give me a DVD. He had worked hard to create a documentary-style film where he was the presenter. He had visited various places around Plymouth, creating a historical timeline of our relationship and showing all of our favourite spots. The video ended with him asking what was next for Demelza and Iain and to look inside the book on the table where he had carved out a gap in a copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and inside was an engagement ring. Of course, I said “yes” but it was a long engagement and we didn’t start planning the wedding until after the pandemic.”

Setting The Scene

The couple looked at various wedding venues online and wanted to marry local to Plymouth, where they are both from. “We also wanted a venue where everything could take place at one location,” Demelza explains. “We viewed St Elizabeth’s House and both fell in love with it right away. It’s such a beautiful venue and it’s hard to believe that you’re in the centre of Plympton because it’s so quiet! When we went for the tour at the venue, we thought the gardens were outstanding and Iain loved the outdoor area to get married. Inside the venue, the Darcy room was meant to be for us with the purple sofas matching our colour theme and the Pride and Prejudice link to the proposal. We viewed some of the bedrooms too, and they looked amazing boasting a jacuzzi bath in the bridal suite. I loved the staircase for our big-day photos and the staff put us at ease right away so we left knowing that we had found our perfect venue.”

On the big day itself, Demelza walked down the aisle, holding her dad’s arm, to Pachelbel’s Canon. “Seeing Iain turn around to look at me and all the happy faces of our guests was an incredible moment,” Demelza tells us. “The ceremony was very personal with us saying our vows and both of our sisters doing a reading. Our son, Shaun walked back down the aisle with us and there was so much love, laughter and even a few tears during the ceremony. A few guests have told us since that it was the best wedding they have been to and that makes us so happy.”

Demelza and Iain chose a rich colour palette of peacockinspired shades including purple, navy and teal to decorate their day with. “I loved sourcing pieces from Facebook Marketplace to use for our big day, so our table plan and welcome sign were created on large secondhand mirrors that I purchased,” Demelza tells us. “For the welcome sign, I got crafty with a glue gun and buttons in our colour theme that I stuck around the edge of the frame. The table plan cards were ordered from a supplier on eBay and personalised by adding peacock ribbon. I used a calligraphy pen for the place names written using the same font that I had used on our wedding invites. Each table name referenced a joke from our favourite comedian, Tim Vine. We used this to work with a canvas picture on each table showing the name with a photo of our two cats, Missy and Sheldon as we wanted them to be included in the day even though they couldn’t be there.”

The centrepieces were a combination of large and small bottles filled with LED lights and plaited ribbons in the couple’s chosen colours, along with a peacock decoration on each table. “We had matching balloons in peacock-inspired colours placed on the tables too, along with I spy cards of photos for our guests to take and upload using our hashtag,” Demelza says. “On the top table, we re-used a peacock statue and other themed bits that my bridal party had gathered for the hen do.”

The couple made their favours which were a combination of sunflower seeds designed to let love grow gifted with homemade fudge in two different flavours. They had a wedding postbox for their cards which incorporated a camera for guests to take selfie shots, as well as a help-yourself station for bubbles and glow sticks. “We also had a memory ladder because we wanted to include our loved ones who are no longer with us,” Demelza tells us. “We displayed the photos on a white ladder along with lights, LOVE letters and an angel wing candle.”

Demelza’s mum did an incredible job with the wedding flowers. “I wanted button bouquets for our bridesmaids to match the colours of their dresses and she created these using buttons and brooches,” Demelza says. “My bouquet contained artificial lilies, with a brooch from my gran concealed on the ribbon as my something old. My mum also made the buttonholes using peacock feathers for our guests; a stunning archway in the signature colours with feathers that we displayed as a backdrop for the outdoor ceremony, and the chair sashes.”

The catering was prepared by the team at the venue. “It was delicious and we struggled to pick the menu choices for the threecourse wedding breakfast because they were so good!” Demelza says. “Our favourites were the fig salad, roast beef with a Yorkshire pudding and crème brulee for dessert. For our evening buffet, we enjoyed a barbecue theme and our guests all complimented us on how good the food was. We also surprised them with a sweet Ferris wheel that was filled with sweets including Just Married rock. Iain got creative making a wall of crisps with packets attached with pegs for our hungry guests to help themselves which proved to be a great idea!”

The couple had a three-tier cake coordinated with their peacock theme. Each layer tasted different, with a peanut butter tier, a salted caramel one plus strawberries and prosecco cake. I used an Etsy supplier to create wooden peg people of us with our son, Shaun as cake toppers and we also had clay impressions of our two cats.”

Looking The Part

Demelza knew that she wanted a full-length, A-line dress with lacy sleeves and a V-neck. “The team at Bridal Reloved were excellent,” Demelza tells us. “I knew that the first dress I tried on was the one - I fell in love with it right away. I tried a few more but knew I had to go back to the first one which ticked all the boxes. I accessorised it with a sparkly crystal belt and when I had the alterations done, they were able to attach the belt. I chose a peacock feather hair clip, a friend lent me their tiara as my something borrowed plus I wore a pair of sparkly heels. Iain and I also had a pair of matching flat shoes from Rocket Dog for our first dance.”

Iain chose a navy suit that he teamed with a pair of Joe Brown shoes in keeping with the colour theme. “He stood out from the others in a silver waistcoat,” Demelza tells us. “Our groomsmen had matching navy suits and so did our youngest pageboy, who was only two years old. He stole the show by combining his suit with a cowboy hat on the day and he couldn’t have looked cuter! The groom, best men and the rest of the groomsmen all had the different teal, purple and navy ties which reflected the peacock colours.”

Demelza wanted three different colours for the bridesmaids’ dresses so the peacock theme was perfect for this. “My maid-of-honour was dressed in teal green and my two bridesmaids in navy and purple,” she tells us. “They all had full-length dresses but the style of each was slightly different and suited each one perfectly. Our flower girl was in a shorter navy dress, which showed off her glittery shoes perfectly.”

Time To Celebrate

The couple’s evening entertainment was courtesy of Demelza’s newly retired boss, Paul who plays live music as Rick the Stick. “The music perfectly suited what we wanted and everyone was up and up dancing and having a great time,” Demelza tells us. “Paul surprised Iain with a mix of two special songs as we walked into the wedding breakfast. Also, our first dance was a highlight of the day! We wanted to surprise our guests so we started with a slow dance to Tale as Old as Time which morphed into Erasure’s Stop. It was a perfect mix of songs that were special to us, and we had a few weeks of choreographed dance lessons at the Plymouth Dance Academy which meant we were able to show off some moves! We might not have been perfect, but our guests loved it!”

“Our photographer, Jane was brilliant - she felt like part of a family and created some perfect photo memories for us. Tamsin the videographer was fantastic too, she stepped in at short notice on the day when another videography firm let us down and created a wonderful video for us.” - Demelza and Iain

THE DREAM TEAM

Photographer, Jane Austin Romance Photography, www.romancephotography.co.uk | Venue, St Elizabeth’s House Boutique Hotel, https://stelizabeths.co.uk | Videographer, TC Photography, www.tcphotographyuk.co.uk | Dress, Bridal Reloved (Tavistock branch), https://bridalreloved.co.uk | Wedding dress alterations, Hemming Birds, www.hemmingbirdsplymouth.co.uk | Make-up, Essential Skin & Bodycare, www.essentialskinbodycare.co.uk | Suits, Louannon Menswear, www.louannonmenswear.co.uk | Weddings rings, Fraser Hart (Plymouth store), www.fraserhart.co.uk | Cake, Trinity Cakes, www.facebook.com/Trinitycakebakes | Games hire, Vintage Fun & Games Hire, www.vintagefunandgameshire.com | Balloons, Celebration Balloons and Events, www.celebrationballoonsandevents.co.uk | First dance lessons, Plymouth Dance Academy, www.plymouthdanceacademy.co.uk | Singer, Rick the Stick | Hair, Suzanne Spooner