For us, it was definitely putting together the wedding gift list. It's not every day that you can build your own gift list from such a perfectly curated selection of items.

We loved choosing the wedding presents from The White Company and Le Creuset.

I work as Creative Director of the Original Marquees, which supplies traditional British sailcloth marquees for weddings and special events. We've had the pleasure of working with The Wedding Present Company through our couples for a while now, and we simply love their team. They're the best wedding gift list provider!

Charlotte and I love games so we enjoyed picking the wedding presents from Uber Games for our wedding registry. We went for bat and ball, Kubb, and Solitaire. 

The Broadbent Leather Goods photo album is a special gift that we will use for our wedding photos. It's a very fine-quality album that we will have pride of place in our home. 

We also love The Vintage List crystal cocktail glasses. They are special something we may not have ever bought for ourselves.

Charlotte and I met in north Cornwall in our early teens. Our families were all very competitive sailors, so holidays by the sea or on the water were a key element. 

We spent many summers together as friends (there might have been one cheeky kiss), but after fifteen years apart, fate would bring us back together. I had just come back from three years living in Germany, and Charlotte asked me for some travel advice. We met for a coffee, and that evening we realised we had something special. 

Four years on, we have just climbed Brea Hill, our favourite place to go for a quick walk with the best views over the Camel Estuary. I was feeling very confident, so while Charlotte was admiring the view, I pulled out the ring, dropped to one knee, and waited for her to turn. The rest of the story is ours. The engagement ring was a hexagonal-shaped sapphire and diamond ring, designed and made by Gee Woods.

For our meadow marquee wedding, we wanted to have a relaxed, feasting summer party. The wedding was going to take place in a wild flower meadow surrounded by yellow buttercups, so we knew we wanted yellow to be one of the key colours. Working with our favourite florist, Millie Richardson, we then decided to keep the wedding colour palette fresh with bright greens, yellows, and peach tones.

Working at Original Marquees, I am very lucky that, over the last 15 years, I have had the chance to work with so many talented wedding suppliers. We were fortunate that they were all available to get involved in our big day.

We always dreamed of getting married in Cornwall, as this is where our story began all those years ago. With Charlotte working as a Movie Locations Manager, naturally, a huge focus of our wedding planning was on location. Finding a unique place for our wedding was her top priority.

Charlotte had a very clear vision of a marquee wedding in the garden and a ceremony with views over the Camel Estuary. Before we were engaged, I knew Charlotte's dream was for a Cornish wedding.

However, when planning our wedding ceremony and reception, we had a location predicament. Since Original Marquees is based in Oxfordshire, we weren’t sure how we could make a wedding in Cornwall work logistically. After lots of discussion, we made the decision to just go all out and have a wedding party in both Cornwall and Oxfordshire.

We really wanted our first of wedding days to be a simple, low-stress day with a focus on family. And so we opted for an intimate wedding ceremony with family and close friends at St. Michael's Church in Rock, Cornwall. After the ceremony, we took a trip out to the dunes, where we got engaged. It was the perfect place for some of our wedding photos to be taken. Our wedding reception then took place at the beautiful Trevera Cottage, overlooking the Camel Estuary, where we stayed all week.

A month later, we had a more relaxed Cornwall-inspired wedding party at Cornbury Park in the Cotswolds. Cornbury Park had created a brand new space, ‘Rangers Lawn’, a beautiful meadow that had not yet been properly used for weddings. This wedding party was more informal: an open-air ceremony in the shadow of two giant lime trees.

Working in Events at Original Marquees, my focus of the wedding planning process was on the marquee, our ceremony and reception layout, and the overall wedding guest experience. Having seen hundreds of marquee weddings in the past, I knew I wanted to mix things up and try to create something new and exciting for our own special day.

The Rangers Lawn could only fit our 12m x 27m marquee, and this set the parameters for how many guests we could have on the day. The marquee pitch was purposefully levelled to fit one of our sailcloth marquees, and the spot had incredible views out over the Cotswolds. The great thing about sailcloth marquees is that the structure looks beautiful before you add anything. You have a ‘blank canvas’ literally to style any way you like.

For our sailcloth marquee wedding, our vision was to have the marquee walls off or rolled up, creating a ‘floating canopy’ look. We were very lucky, as our wedding was at the end of May, and the weather on our special day was perfect—not a cloud in the sky but not sweltering. Such perfect conditions allowed us to open up the front of the marquee to the beautiful views down the valley.

Our wedding reception marquee was hidden from the ceremony. After the ceremony, our wedding guests followed us, and the marquee was revealed at the bottom of the meadow valley. It was the perfect surprise.

With our second wedding ceremony being in a large open flower field on the Rangers Lawn, we wanted the focus of the ceremony to be on us. We decided to set up the chairs in an ‘amphitheatre style,” with all the rows curving in as they go out. It worked really well and ensured our nearest and dearest had a perfect view of the bride and groom.

To elevate the floating look of the marquee interior, we brought in one of our favourite new suppliers, Mia Sylvia, who specialises in fine art drapery. Mia’s beautiful linen dressed the front of the marquee, gathering around each wall pole and swooping up into the canopy. The drapery not only broke up the expansive space above but simply looked elegant with floral arrangements by Millie Richardson. We completed the space with white festoon lighting to maintain a clean look with a focus on the florals.

Our favourite flower decor was an installation collaboratively created by Millie (florals) and me (framework build). It was two giant kiss-shaped frames bursting with limonium, suspended between the king poles and weaved between Mia’s drapery. We especially loved the subtle mauve colouring and the light, fluffy effect of these flowers.

Even though we originally opted for tall table flowers, we worked with Millie to ensure you could still see through them to chat with your opposite guests. The table flowers were stunning. A mix of ceramic and glass Bud Vases from RVH Hire lined the tables and were perfectly filled with Millie’s signature meadow-style florals.

For our wedding bar and drink reception, we made a custom backdrop with beautiful dried flower frames from a local artisan. The back bar was also made from an old bar front that we reclaimed from an old pub in Charlbury. We also made a custom stage backdrop with an illuminated sunset in the centre. It was surrounded by LED strip lights that were animated to the music.

For our first intimate wedding ceremony, we were very kindly given a ride in a classic Jaguar XK150 by a local couple, which Charlotte was driven to and from the church in.

Charlotte arrived at the second wedding ceremony in Jamiroquai's 1967 Bentley S1. Again, the wedding transport was very kindly offered to us by a very kind local.

The floral design for both of our wedding parties was light and delicate to mimic coastal flowers and the sand dunes where we were originally engaged.

The flowers in the church of our intimate wedding in Cornwall were arranged by a lovely group of local ladies organised by Jaye Guest.

Our second wedding florals were done by Millie Richardson. She is the queen of beautifully delicate meadow flowers. Millie encouraged us to be a bit more daring with the colours. I am so glad she did, as we loved the pops of colour in the wedding table flowers.

Charlotte wore a J.Andreatta wedding dress and shoes from L.K.Bennett.

For my wedding day, I was wearing a sand cotton linen suit and a white Oxford shirt from Sirplus, with a silk tie from Pal Zileri. My wedding shoes were Loake tan loafers.

Charlotte’s maid of honour wore Seren London.

The flower girls wore Broderie Anglaise dresses from Mint Velvet. Our 9-month-old baby boy, Rhodie, wore a white Louise Misha shirt and a Laure de Sagazan necktie.

Our wedding catering was handled by our friends Ian and Hayley from CRU Events.

STARTER:
Rare Fillet Of Beef With Bufala & Green Tomato Salsa
Burrata With Asparagus, Pea Shoots, & Wild Garlic Oil (V)
Selection Of Lebanese Flatbreads, Rosemary Focaccia, & Artisanal Sourdough, Green Goddess Hummus, Beetroot, Dill, & Zhoug Labneh; Burnt Aubergine & Saffron Dip
Whipped, barrel-aged feta

SHARING FEAST:
Charred 18-Hour Green Harissa Lamb, Fermented Chilli Sauce, Spiced Greengage Relish, & Tahini Yoghurt
Berbere Spiced Whole Roast Wild Salmon, Mint & Mulberry Molasses Relish
Pit Roasted Red Kuri Squash, And Hispi Cabbage With Urfa Chilli & Fennel Spiked Oil (V/Ve)

DESERT STATION:
An array of sweet and savoury treats

The meringue tower wedding cake was lovingly made by my mother.

Our wedding toast was a vintage port from 1987. It was the year Harry was born, gifted by his parents.

We also served Champagne by Remi Prevot.

A guitar and trumpet duo played while Charlotte was walking down the aisle and also during our wedding ceremony. Our first dance was to “Silly Love Songs” by Wings.

We had CASA from Eight Ray Music Band as our wedding band and Larry Powell as our wedding DJ.

We did all the wedding planning ourselves, but our an On-The-Day Coordinator was Faye Hughes. She also helped plan our wedding ceremony.

We designed and fulfilled our wedding stationery ourselves, with beautiful illustrations by Jo Faulkner.

We chose to do a second ceremony because we wanted to do something special in front of our nearest and dearest. Walking down the aisle a second time gave us the opportunity to orchestrate a more relaxed and informal wedding ceremony, which we felt was more of us.

We had an open-air wedding ceremony, which we were so lucky to have considering the weather we have had this summer.

A really special moment was Charlotte arriving in the Bentley and then walking down the open-air aisle in front of all our friends and family members.

Post-ceremony, we were led by the band with all our guests down to the marquee reception, which was hidden from view. A nice surprise for everyone.

Our wedding band, CASA from Eight Ray Music Band, were incredible. They were a Latin-style party band, which none of our guests had experienced before. To finish, they had the whole crowd around us dancing together, the perfect crescendo to end their performance.

We had a secret karaoke booth that we unveiled later in the night. Young and old, we found them all in the karaoke booth at the end of the night.

Our top tip would be to take time during the day to step away for a moment. Reflect on what has happened.

If you can afford a wedding planner, they will elevate your event enormously. If your budget doesn't quite go that far, then at least hire an On The Day Coordinator. They will make sure you have covered all bases and take away so much of the stress leading up to the big day.

Hire a great photographer. After years together, you can relive the day over and over through your photos.

Have a bad weather plan. In case of rain, we had a 10m x 15m stretch tent available to cover the wedding ceremony.

Wedding Gift List: The Wedding Present Company

Photography & Videography: Kat Gillespie , Isabella White Studio

Celebrant: Faye The Celebrant

Venue: Cornbury Park Estate

Marquee: Original Marquees

Catering: Cru Events

Stationery: Jo Faulkner Illustrations

Bridal Fashion: J Andreatta Wedding Dress, LK Bennett Wedding Shoes 

Groom's Fashion: Sand Cotton Linen Suit & White Oxford Shirt from SIRPLUS, with a silk tie from Pal Zileri, Loake Tan Loafers.

Bridesmaids & Flower Girls: Maid of Honour Dress from Seren London, Mint Velvet Broderie Anglaise Flower Girl Dresses, Louise Misha shirt Laure de Sagazan necktie

Floral Design: Millie Richardson with help from Zephirine Flowers, Alexa Montgomery , Libby Francis Flowers, I Think That You Are Magic, Alice Vine Floral Design

Drapery: MiaSylvia

Band: CASA via Eight Ray Music

DJ: Larry Powell

Wall Art (Back Bar) : Press Art

Vintage furniture hire: Virginia's Vintage Hire

Furniture hire: Hospitality Services

Linen Hire: Casa Di Gaia

Wall Linings: Oasis Events

Vase and prop hire: Rob Van Helden Floral Design

Table lamps: Pooky

Crockery and Cutlery: Chipping Norton Event Hire

Champagne: Champagne René Prévot

Sound and lighting production: That Event Company

Staging: EPS Oxford

Fridge trailer hire: Fridgerate

Generator hire: Grean Power Rentals

Luxury Loo hire: Fortis Hire