Your Devon and Cornwall Wedding - Page number 27 - May/June 2021 (Issue 31)

O livia and Arran met in a nightclub in Exeter and enjoyed their first date at the Fisherman’s Cot pub in Bickleigh. Olivia tells us, “I remember thinking Arran was tall and very handsome - he has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.” Arran adds, “I first noticed Olivia’s beautiful eyes too and I loved her sense of humour.” The couple became engaged during a surprise proposal in Newquay. “Arran proposed after five years together in December 2017,” Olivia tells us. “It was the day after my birthday and he had gone off to work that morning saying I should stay in the house to sign for my last birthday present but that I couldn’t open it. Little did I know that I was about to take delivery of my engagement ring! Neither of us like a big fuss, so when he arrived back and asked me to marry him, he made sure that it was just us two, which was special and intimate. After he’d popped the question we celebrated at one of our favourite places in Newquay, the luxurious Lewinnick Lodge.” “I remember standing outside the barn waiting to walk down the aisle and all I could see and focus on was Arran.The best thing for both of us was having all of our loved ones gathered together in one place because it doesn’t happen very often, if at all, so it was a very special day for us both.” – Olivia SETTING THE SCENE The couple chose Upton Barn & Walled Garden as their wedding venue. “It’s beautiful and everything about it was perfect for what we needed,” Olivia tells us. “I always wanted to get married there, even before we became engaged. It’s located in the same town that I grew up in so it was nice and local for all of our family and friends. It was the first venue that we visited and we both fell in love with it - it was such an easy decision to make!” The couple chose a white, pink and grey colour palette for their theme. “We kept our table centrepieces elegant and simple and opted for candles displayed in cylinder vases teamed with foliage,” Olivia tells us. “Our flowers tied in with our colour theme and looked beautiful, and we used artificial blooms to decorate our table plan with. I found a supplier on www.etsy.com wh o wrote all of our guests’ names and table names for it and we decided to name the tables after various events that we had experienced in our time together.” The couple chose boxes of strawberry and cream-flavoured handmade fudge as their favours. “We presented them in clear boxes with personalised labels and ribbons made by my sister’s friend Alana who runs Alana’s Cakes in Tiverton,” Olivia explains. “One of my close friends, Dom, created our delicious three-tier cake. It featured a lemon cake, a coconut tier and a chocolate layer and she gifted this to us which was wonderful.” Pickle Shack catering supplied the canapés for the couple’s wedding reception and the two-course wedding breakfast. “We were adventurous with our choice of canapés but kept it traditional for the wedding breakfast,” Olivia tells us. “We opted for pies served with mash followed by Eton mess which REAL WEDDINGS 27