How your Cornwall wedding venue can make your DIY dream wedding come true

As a couple, you meet and fall in love and you know you want to spend the rest of your lives together. Your story is unique. You want your DIY dream wedding to be memorable but we know sometimes it could feel a little overwhelming of where and how to start planning. To help you we invite one of our couples, Verity & Daniel to share their experience of getting married and how they found their inspiration to create their dream wedding at Tredudwell Manor photographed by a great Cornwall wedding photographer, Kirstin Prisk.

When did you two first meet?

We met 6 years ago, we knew each other locally but the first time we got together we went for a walk at Caerhays and that is where it all began!

How did you two get engaged?

It was spectacular! We had been together for two and half years and for my Christmas present Dan bought me a trip to Venice for the following April which aligned with my birthday. Dan proposed on our hotel balcony and after saying yes, we celebrated with four days of immersing ourselves in the romance of Venice. We wandered the waterways in a gondola and dined in one of most intimate restaurant. It was just all so lovely! I had a little inkling that Dan may be planning to propose, as did my mum, for it was such an elaborate present!

What were the main reasons Tredudwell was the chosen venue for your Cornwall wedding?

What captured us first was a recommendation, as we knew a couple who had already married with you here and so, that was our initial draw to find out more. We wanted somewhere ‘different’ for our DIY wedding in Cornwall, in a countryside & coastal setting but not somewhere which felt like a wedding factory, where every wedding can feel the same. When we looked at your website, it ticked all our boxes and we contacted Valerie as soon as we got back from Venice to arrange a viewing.

Dan had to go away to Belgium with work commitments and so, I visited the venue with my parents and as soon as we stepped out of the car, I just fell in love with Tredudwell and knew without even stepping foot inside that the setting was just right for us! We had the tour and even without Dan seeing it, I told Valerie we wanted to book and asked what dates were available. Tredudwell is beautiful and I knew the venue represented us as a ‘couple’ and just couldn’t wait for Dan to see it, as I knew he would love it just as much as me…and he did!

Tell us about the food and the caterer for your DIY wedding in Cornwall?

Again, we wanted something which represented us as a couple and the husband of a close work colleague had set up a catering company, The Duchy Chef and we knew his food was amazing. After he came over to our house to cook us a taster menu, we had the opportunity to personalise our menu choices and give consideration to our guests, as it was important to us that a fine feast was enjoyed by all our friends & family. After meetings with yourselves here at Tredudwell and with your further guidance, The Duchy Chef arranged the linen, crockery and the glassware for our wedding breakfast and his waiting staff on the day ensured all food was served perfectly to our guests.

Our wedding breakfast was a sit down, four course formal affair and so, for the evening, we wanted something a little more relaxed. We chose Kittow’s Hog Roast, they arrived in good time to set up, the food was delicious and we felt it balanced out the transition from day to evening just perfectly. We loved the whole process of selecting the right catering for us and your generous no-corkage allowance gave us the freedom to choose the right wine to compliment our menu and keep our guests happy!

What were your top 3 most memorable moments of getting married at Tredudwell Manor?

Wow this isn’t an easy one to answer as the whole day was just incredible!

I would say getting ready on wedding morning with my bridal party and being able to have them, along with my mum, all with me in the Manor was amazing. The Manor is spectacular but also very homely, everything was just so relaxed and we all felt so at ease, it wasn’t stressful. Your house staff are all fantastic and served to us a lovely breakfast and they helped everything run smoothly. It was lovely that we could have our hairdressers & makeup artists arrive as and when we wanted and all stress was kept to a minimum which is what you want when you’re getting ready for your wedding!
It’s really hard to narrow this down! But the ceremony was memorable! Again, there was no stress, for even though the weather in the run up to our wedding day had been nothing but torrential wind and rain, we knew that as a venue, Tredudwell was able to adapt no matter what the weather was going to throw at us. The idea of an outdoor wedding in Cornwall is indeed something all brides hope for and your Outdoor Temples are stunning but equally so, the Pavilion is simply beautiful and with the bad weather this gave us the assurance that our ceremony would not be hindered in any way and the flood of natural light which beams through your glass frontage still gives an ‘outdoor feel’ to indoor ceremonies and even in poor weather, the views are still amazing!
Having our photographs taken in such a stunning location most definitely makes the list! The setting lends itself to so many opportunities for fantastic moments to be captured. We didn’t make it to the cliff tops because of the weather but we did get out in the grounds to have photos taken in the Outdoor Temples of which when we saw the photos, took our breath away! There are so many places to have photos taken here at Tredudwell, no matter what the weather, the Manor, the Pavilion and the hidden woodland spots all made for our photographer, Kirsten Prisk, to capture the most beautiful images of our wedding day. Some of our favourite shots are of both, myself & Dan taken by the trees in the evening time, the silhouette photos are simply stunning!

The unpredictable weather on our wedding day did not in any way impact our day, it did not matter what the sky was doing, for, Tredudwell offers the perfect platform to be able to change and adapt your plans. We’ve been to weddings at other venues and they can feel a little disjointed, especially if different parts of the day are held in different buildings which can make the weather even more of a challenge but here at Tredudwell, all flows so well and yourselves, as a team are so flexible, as is the design of the Pavilion and so as a couple, even with the unpredictable factors such as the weather, we still felt in control and relaxed.

What did you like planning best about your DIY wedding in Cornwall at Tredudwell?

Finding the dress and planning how to style the venue for our dream DIY wedding! Decorating the venue was exciting, as there are so many things that can be done in the Pavilion. The draped ceiling, the chandeliers, the tables and the chairs are sophisticated, yet offer the opportunity to style as much or as little as you want. The venue has a ‘class’ about it which we loved. And I wanted to choose a dress which complimented both, myself and the setting. Visiting The Wedding Company in Plympton was an incredible day and the dress, of which felt unique and having chosen a venue which also felt the same the way, I knew it was the perfect dress for me.

How much did you like the planning of the decoration?

We found the process really easy, as we knew it was a wonderful opportunity for us to personalise our wedding and tell ‘our story’. We wanted a sophisticated look and also wanted to create our own styling pieces, so being able to visit the venue during the planning process really helped us to explore the ‘look’ we wanted. Your guidance and being able to meet with you to ask questions enabled us to tailor the venue to exactly how we wanted and we loved the whole experience.

Do you think ‘DIY dream wedding’ in Cornwall could qualify as your wedding theme?

100%!! It’s the perfect way to marry as you can have exactly what you want and it can represent you as a couple, which for us, was the main thing we looked for when choosing a venue. For our wedding day, we wanted sophistication but also wanted our guests to feel relaxed and being able to create our day, in our way, gave us exactly what we wanted! Every wedding here at Tredudwell is different and that is why we chose you!

Tell us about your inspiration for setting up a great new business idea?

We enjoyed everything about planning our wedding, even though the thought of certain aspects can at first feel a little stressful, you realise, as the planning process unfolds how wonderful it is to see everything coming together. My mum helped create the styling pieces and on wedding day, your staff said that what we had created was fantastic and we ought to consider setting up a styling business. Your reaction and that of our guests gave us the inspiration and confidence to explore the idea further. With your support and encouragement, we decided to go for it! Being able to style our own wedding at Tredudwell was the perfect platform from which we could springboard a new business and create Petal Perfect!

Myself and my Mum Andrea are relishing working together. We can offer silk flowers, everything from table centre pieces, to flower walls, to bouquets, to button holes, to arches, to postal boxes, all tailored to styles and colours of your choice, be it classic or a more rustic feel…..and we can offer lots of empathy & understanding to couples looking to style their wedding because we’ve been through it ourselves and so, know how to help your vision for your dream wedding come true!

Thank you so much Verity and Daniel for sharing your story of how you created your DIY wedding in Cornwall at Tredudwell. If you enjoyed reading this, you may also like reading about Kim and Matt’s flower themed wedding at Tredudwell.

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