South WestBride 2017
Congratulations on your wedding.
Please send us the following details about your wedding for possible inclusion in the South West Bride magazine 2017.Try to keep the overall piece (ie the main story, excluding the general info at the start and the supplier info at the end) to no more than 500 words. Answer with as much detail as possible and if you would like to add anything else, feel free.
Email: th text and images (see note to photographers).
Deadline: Friday September 16, 2016
Brief for Real Weddings
General information
Names of bride and groom: (please specify if bride isn’t taking the groom’s surname and do not include middle names). Tim Bowden-Gray and Alanna Bowden-Gray (Double Barrelled).
Maiden name of bride: Bowden
Contact telephone/email address/postal address for the bride (not for publication, postal town will be the only part of address used) - Tel: 07866 759214 – Address 43 Wantley Hill Estate, Henfield, West Sussex, BN59JS
Occupations (if serving officers please include rank): Alanna - Restorative Justice and Admin for a charity. Tim – Design Engineer/ Project Manager for a defence contractor.
Ceremony and reception venues: (please include town and county) Polhawn Fort, Rame Head, Near Torpoint, Cornwall
Full, correctly spelt names, of bridal party
Bride’s parents: Vera Bowden (Father deceased) so God Father gave away (Graham Neville) and best friend (Adam Sherief who is a Captain in the British Army and who provided a nod to my late father who was a Royal Marine.
Groom’s parents: Peter Gray and Maureen Goodall
Bridesmaids: Kerry Bowden, Helen Westhead, RhianGoodall, Carla Gregory and Emma Whitefield
Flower girls: Daughter, Holly Bowden-Gray
Ushers: Toby Gray, George Gray, Steve Bates and Olivier Misséglia
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The story of your wedding
(please keep this section to no more than 500 words):
My dress was designed by Claire Pettibone and I happened to find it by an accident appointment at Leonie Claire Bridal in Brighton. As soon as I clapped eyes on it I knew it was the one. They held back on me trying it on (saving the best to last) but as soon as I put this dress I instantly knew it was made for me!! It made me feel exactly how I thought any bride should feel even though I had no idea what that was at the time.
We booked Polhawn more or less straight away. Being from Cornwall we knew that’s where we needed to be to get married and with a love of dreamy castles and everything about the Sea,Polhawn was without question the most perfect venue for us.
I’d say our Theme was a Cornish Beach come Gatsby/ vintage style wedding! Being Cornish I really tried to draw in my heritage as well as incorporate some sea and vintage/ Gatsby inspired ideas into the theme. With the colours, I tried to keep it mostly silvers and blush pinks. We are also very lucky to have amazing friends and family around us and although we did all the stationary and organising ourselves we couldn’t have done it without the support and personal touches that so many people contributed to making it the most perfect day.
With the Bridesmaid dresses I literally gave my girls a brief of the sort of thing I wanted them to wear and let them loose to find their own perfect dress. I wanted to do it this way so they felt comfortable in the dresses and wore something they really loved. I hadn’t actually seen the dresses together until they arrived with them at the Fort!! (Nail biting moment but they looked wonderful together!)
On the morning of the wedding, I was woken up at 6am and from there it took us all until 1230 to get ready! The time literally flew by and we had the perfect morning sipping prosecco and getting ready. It wasn’t until we were outside and waiting to walk down the aisle the nerves kicked in but it all went amazingly and I walked down the aisle to the lead singer of Keiko Rise singing Heartbeats by José Gonzålez. We had the most perfect weather for an April wedding overlooking the Sea and have the most amazing photos. The ceremony was everything we could have hoped for and more. It was so emotional and we even had a celtic blessing at the end of theceremony, which was so amazing. The whole day from start to finish was simply perfect. The wedding breakfast was just beautiful and our wedding parties speeches were so touching, I loved all the candleabras and seaside touches we incorporated for our table decorations and the venue gave it all a real smugglers kind of feel.
First dance was a rockier version sung by our band Keiko Rise, Ed Sheerans “One”. It was immense and so us! It was a perfect day with so many beautiful details coming together to make it truly memorable.
Top tip(s) for other brides: Try to take some time to get involved with your guests as well as take a step back with your husband to take it all in The whole day just flies by and I didn’t get round to playing any games with my family and friends we had set out on the lawn before the wedding breakfast!
I wish I’d known that everything just comes right in the end and fate takes over on the day as to how it will all pan out… Don’t stress over the finer details – no one notices!
Did anything go wrong on the day? We took so long to set off down the Aisle fromwhen the guitarist started playing he run out of the song so started making one up with the same Tune - something like "What are they doing, they're taking so long!!" Guests had a right giggle waiting for us lot to walk down!
Total cost of wedding (for research purposes only, this information will not be published in the magazine)? Around £24,000
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Suppliers
(include all contact details including towns, phone numbers and websites and, for our research please detail how much you spent on each individual item. This will not be printed unless we have contacted you first for permission)
Photography: Freckle Photography, Devon, +44 7870 185277, £990
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Polhawn Fort, Torpoint, 01752 822864, £6,850
DressClaire Pettibone, Dress was called Florentine and bought from Leonie Claire Bridal Boutique, Brighton, East Sussex - £3300
Accessories: Head Dress by Kelly Spence, Gin Fizz - £184.50, Shoes by Rachel Simpson, Amara Sage3 - £75, Bracelet by Richard Designs, £170 (All at discounted prices.
Wedding rings: £1,120
Bridesmaids’ dresses:Kerry Bowden – A silvery pink Jenny Packham dress, £150
Helen Westhead – Silvery cream Adrianna Papell dress, £150
Emma Whitefield – French Connection blush silk dress, £100
Carla Gregory and RhianGoodall wore dresses from Debenhams.
Hair & Make-up: Hair by Vicky Hilborn at Alternative Styles, Torpoint, 01752 429065, £250 Makeup by my HaedBridemaid Helen Westhead, Free
Groom’s outfit: Moss Bros Hire, Hove, 01273 772201 £150
Stationery: Hobby Craft - £150 approx
Flowers: Ruth Andrew, Torpoint, 01503 230711, £668
Cake: Maureen Gray (Mother of Groom), Southwater, West Sussex, Free
Catering: Anytime, Anywhere Caterers, Egloskerry, Nr Launceston, Cornwall, 01566 86 007, £4,521.45
Drinks & Bar: Mobile Bars Southwest, 01752 365544, £1,100
Venue dresser: Diva Weddings & Events, Herefordshire, 07738913751, £250
Transport: Minibus for locally staying guests, Cremyll Cars, Cremyll, 01752 822196, £180
Videography: None
Entertainment: Bouncy Castle – Plymouth Bouncy castles, 01752 240191, £140
Band – Keiko Rise, AJ 07545 475587, £1,450
Any other (ie lighting): Caretaker, Fred & Jim Buss, Polhawn Fort, 01752 822336, , £128