Gemma & Rodhri’s intimate modern micro wedding at the Little Cottage Praa Sands.
Set on the cliff top above Praa Sands Beach, sits this wonderfully modern and ironically named ‘Little Cottage‘. It’s not your typical wedding venue, in fact it’s not one, however it did make the perfect setting for a seaside styled micro wedding for this lovely modern couple Gemma and Rodhri.
Let’s rewind to the summer of 2019 before small, intimate affairs were such a big thing. These two were literally setting a trend for the next two years without even knowing it!
Having no luck finding a wedding venue that ticked all the boxes but didn’t cost the earth, Gemma and Rodhri decided to think outside the box. Knowing they wanted to get married by the sea, they hired a house on the beach and the results were epic!
The Inspiration for the day..
The feel of the day was very much inspired by their love of Cornwall. From hand picked Cornish suppliers serving up cream teas on vintage china, fudge for favours, pasties in paper bags for supper, local beers and the Bamaluz Bootleggers singing sea shanties as the sun set, their day was overflowing with summer seaside vibes. Bloody Blissful!
One of my favourite things about this wedding was creating the archway. Gemma had previously dropped off some old rowing boat oars and big crab pots to me in the hopes that I could create a focal point for their ceremony. After a few failed attempts, some negotiation with the laws of physics (the help of the husband) and some gorgeous florals we managed to assemble something that ended up looking pretty good and somehow stayed up all day, even though it began with storm clouds and very strong winds. My little rain dance as we arrived to set up obviously did the trick!
The perfect clients…
As a stylist this was a dream job. These two had some awesome ideas and knew exactly what they wanted their day to look and feel like. The focus was definitely on personal touches rather than traditions. Gemma said they threw the rule book out the window and went with what felt right for them (I suggest all couples do this). Some of their personal touches included being married by their friend, having a Bridesman, scrapping the first dance, indulging in a tower of cheeses as an alternative to a cake and going for a dip in the sea!
Prepping for this wedding really was a dream. It’s not difficult to find inspiration when we’re surrounded by these picture perfect backdrops, literally on our doorsteps. I’ll be sad to leave Devon and all it’s wonderful treasures of a coast line. Gemma was so lovely to work with and gave me free reign to come up with little extra special touches for the styling. I dyed long strips of muslin for table runners, found an old treasure chest style box and painted it up to use as a card box, spent days hand painting individual mussel shells for place names…
**Disclaimer – I made a monumental F**k up
Somehow I had forgotten to pick up said mussel shells on the way out the door, so I had to think on my feet – mid mini heart attack and quickly come up with new ones. Thankfully even if I forget things, I always bring way too much and managed to fashion new ones out of mini pieces of drift wood. Don’t worry the guests still got their mussels, Gemma sent them as reminders of the day afterwards and I made a special little something for the married couple with theirs.
The day wouldn’t have been quite the same without the help of some of these wonderful people. Going above and beyond, providing their skills and talents made this the perfect modern micro wedding. Ooh, and just as an FYI, this wedding got featured in Wedding Ideas Magazine. I may have done a little happy dance!
Dress from Bliss Bridal Newquay
Hair & Makeup by Ione Kutz
Flowers by Twigs & Greens
Styling by me The Wedding Hub
Props and Furniture Hire from Stargazey Hire
Seashanty band: Bamaluz Bootleggers St Ives
Photographer Lyra & Moth
Stationery by Richard the Bridesman
“Don’t feel you have to do anything you don’t want too. We completely did our own thing and that suited us – and we’re so glad that we did. It really felt like us
Gemma
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