“I absolutely loved photographing Jen and James’ garden party wedding this year. The ceremony was at a pretty little church in Upton Cross in Cornwall called St Pauls, followed by a wonderfully rustic outdoor reception at the bride’s parents house. Trestle tables were set with vintage tablewear and pretty jam jars were stuffed full of wild flowers. As the evening set in, the garden was lit up with twinkling outdoor lights setting the perfect ambience for the first dance. Quite simply every detail had been thoughtfully planned, making it an effortlessly happy occasion and one I will certainly remember!” – Ross Talling Photography
“Our favorite memory is probably dancing our first dance to a beautiful rendition of Skinny Love by acoustic band, The Duotones, and also watching the fireworks my brother set off at the end of the evening, it was a perfect end to a great day…
..there wasn’t a lot that we didn’t make ourselves other than the catering. We started by re-landscaping my parents garden as it was very overgrown, sewing a 100 metres of bunting, printing and making the invitations and service books, making table runners and that was just the start. I also altered and made flowers for my dress and a belt, my mum made butterflies and moths to go on it too. We couldn’t have done it all without lots of help from our friends and family in the week before the wedding to make decorations for the church, hang the bunting, arrange the cut flowers, put up the lights, make a bar in the workshop, pot up the flower boxes ready for the church. I think this was also one of our favourite memories, it meant a lot to us to have everyone helping out and bringing it all together. Looking back on it now, I can’t believe how much we pulled together in such a short time, six months before, we couldn’t decide on what we wanted to do and had no plans or bookings in place… but it turned out better than we could have imagined!
..I think so! I borrowed earrings from my mum, I had blue butterflies on my dress that my mum made for me, my shoes were old, I bought them when I was 16 (they are a little tatty so don’t look too closely at them) and my knickers were new!
..Do it your own way. It was really important for our wedding to reflect us! We didn’t want to have to work around any restrictions or stipulations. We wanted our family and friends to relax and to just enjoy the day and evening with them… and we did!” – Jen, the bride
photography: Ross Talling Photography // church: Saint Pauls // garden venue: Bride’s Parents Home // dress: Justin Alexander from All About Eve, Newport South Wales (which the bride altered herself!) // grooms suit: Perfection in Cardiff // hair and makeup: Gem Ryder // catering: Kerra’s Catering // acoustic band: The Duotones // all other details you see, from the invitations to the table runners and flowers were DIY-ed by the bride and her family!
