Smoke Bombs, Hippy Buses and Incredible Cornish Views: Antonia & Harvey

Camera Hannah

October 7, 2013

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Antonia and Harvey had a three day wedding at Roskilly’s Ice Cream Farm in Cornwall. Their wedding was a true labour of love, with the couple and their friends and family working hard to create the wedding of their dreams. The weekend happened to be the hottest of the year which couldn’t have been more perfect for their outdoor, ice cream farm celebration!

“Ultimately we wanted something that we would enjoy going to and to have a festival style, laid-back feel to the whole party”, began the groom. “Being the most expensive party of our lives, we didn’t want it to be over in a day so we had three days!”

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“The retro caravans made for a great backdrop to the festival theme and allowed us to create our weekend jamboree. We dragged our friends to the far end of the country, and in return gave them a church overlooking a Cornish fishing village, magnificent tipis and hippy buses. We had smoke bombs instead of confetti, original 1950s Monte Carlo pin-up glamour playing cards as place cards and table runners made from old public WC roller-towels. Our bunting was Mexican Day of the Dead bunting, we had a piñata ‘first dance’ and lucked out on finding an incredible caterer, celebrating the best of Cornish food. Antonia’s Fur Coat No Knickers dress was a theme unto itself – it was supremely glamorous, laden with historical allure. Yes it was vintage, yes it was rural, but the day sparkled with lavishness.”

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“The weekend was defined by the support from our guests”, he continued. “It was always going to be an event that was going to be as good as the effort we all put into it, and our friends and family all contributed to making it happen. They decorated, baked, served drinks, DJ’ed, hauled ice and hay bales, and even helped to clear up on the Sunday. They helped turn our wonderful dream into an unforgettably beautiful experience.”

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“I’m an art director and illustrator (we met while we were both working at Disney, making video games), so we knew we wanted the stationery to be a statement”, he said when I asked about their DIY projects. “Antonia wanted her nine bridesmaids to know why each girl was so important to her, so she handmade them each a book of poems she’d written about them. Writing the poems was the easy part – hand stitching, folding, and gluing them together took her two months.”

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“Then we embarked on the invites – stripping, painting, distressing, sanding, waxing, designing and applying transfers to 40 vintage cigar boxes took weeks of work. Then came the designing of the interior sheets, car stickers, maps, RSVPs. With the printing, trimming, folding, tying, wrapping, packing and posting this was a project that took about five months. All this effort created the excitement and anticipation we’d hoped for. One of our friend’s kids even created an RSVP to rival the invite because she was so excited!”

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The couple spent £9000 on their wedding. Luckily they had lot of talented friends they could call upon (make up artist, florist), but Antonia had some invaluable advice for couples who might not be so lucky. “Research is key”, she wrote. “Be prepared to go a little crazy, mind you. We ordered eight types of booze from four supermarkets, delivered to three locations – and saved a fortune. We decided we didn’t need a band, just some awesome playlists. We finally pulled the plug at 4am so I think it worked for us! But our best tip would be, if you’re sourcing your own caterers, find a local, independent restaurant where the staff are passionate about food. Everyone raved about the buffet, and it was incredible value for money. Oh and lots of supermarkets do free glassware hire! Not everybody knows that!”

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“The only thing we would have changed would be to have hired someone to help with the clearing up!” Harvey concluded. “The Sunday was a day of dismantling furniture, cleaning glasses and washing plates ready to return to the hire places. This was a mammoth task! An afternoon swimming and sunbathing on a Cornish beach was never more deserved!”

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