Kate and Juliet’s beachside wedding ceremony was held outdoors in the warm sunshine at The Rockpool, Cornwall on Saturday 20 May 2023….
…. And with the adjacent beaches of Gwithian and Godrevy being the location of one of their early dates, holding their wedding celebration right there felt like the circle was now complete!
Juliet and Kate booked us two years ahead of their big day – with Juliet working in the Navy and Kate working as a paramedic, they both had (and still have) incredibly busy lives! And we loved that that while their venue was licensed for marriages, they were adamant that they wanted something more meaningful than a registrar-led ceremony. Which is why they opted for a simple legal paperwork ceremony at the register office a few days earlier, and then their big celebration, just the way they wanted it. We simply loved getting to know Ju and Kate – they were so much fun! We chatted at length over tea and coffee at The Jamaica Inn one weekend, and learnt more about how they had met during lockdown, and navigated the challenges of building a relationship during the early covid years, along with some of the incredible times they’d shared together, and the deeply content and happy life they were now enjoying. As our conversations progressed, we were surprised (but secretly delighted!) that our lovely clients trusted us to write and deliver the ceremony all without them seeing it! Juliet and Kate were keen to hear the words fresh and for the first time on the day – just as their guests would. We can’t tell you how special it is when couples put their faith in us to do this – it happens perhaps once in every 30 ceremonies! But it certainly builds the anticipation and excitement ahead of the big day, and we took great pleasure in writing a deeply romantic, personal and fun ceremony for Kate and Juliet, which we hoped was a true reflection of the constancy of their love for one another. But this was not the only very unique thing about their ceremony. There were so many aspects and thoughtful details that our couple had thought of which made us smile, or brought a tear to our eye: The ceremony commenced with entrances by Juliet with her mum Liz, and Kate with her dad Kevin, with photographs in place where Juliet's dad Ian and Kate’s mum Chris would have sat, and a moment taken to remember them, and consider how proud they would have been to see Juliet and Kate married.
In memory of her mum, Kate also wore a tiny sprig of white flowers on her dress which were taken from her mum's wedding headband, and to remember Juliet's dad, Kate organised a surprise visit and performance from a quartet of players from the Royal Marines Band (of which clarinet player Ian used to be a part), and this was a particularly emotional moment for Juliet.
The heart of the ceremony followed the girls’ journey from meeting to the current day, with fond memories of many fun playdates both on water and on land, through to long months apart when Juliet was at sea, to trips away in their camper van, and a perfect proposal from Kate to Juliet at a shimmering lakeside by gorgeous Snowdon.
Juliet and Kate had requested a handtying be included as part of the ceremony, and given how busy both of them were, we discussed buying a handtying cord for the big day. But just as they had decided on a celebrant instead of a registrar, they concluded that making their own would add far more meaning to the proceedings. So with colours reflecting the Pride rainbow and also Ju's Dutch heritage, both connected by Cornish tartan to represent their lives together, this beautiful cord was carefully made and covered in tiny silver charms - two robins for their parents, a rucksack, compass and camera for all the adventures Juliet and Kate had enjoyed together, the tree of life, the year they met, 4 tiny paw prints for their furry family and an anchor and stethoscope to represent their respective careers. It was quite simply the most amazing handtying cord we’d ever seen.
While their hands were tied, Juliet’s mother read one of our favourite poems, “An Uncommon Love” by Terah Cox, another emotional moment for everyone.
May you have the love only two can know. May you go where only two as one may go. May the sun rise and set in your bonded hearts and the moon never find you too long apart. May you cherish each other’s dreams as your own and turn stumbling blocks into steppingstones. May you brave life’s mountains and miles together. May there be no storm your love cannot weather. May you be lovers and allies and friends. May your soul’s conversation never end. May you capture on earth what’s in heaven above. May your hearts know the rapture of an uncommon love.
Rather romantically, our couple decided to remain tied to one another for their vows, which they’d written secretly and independently from one another – such beautiful and honest words, their guests were laughing one minute and crying the next! Juliet and Kate then tied the knot and exchanged wedding rings, which were handmade and cast with the sand from Gwithian… and that’s where we all headed to after the ceremony, to throw confetti with much abandon!
Kate and Juliet had this lovely feedback for us:
“From the moment we contacted Lisa, we knew that she would be the celebrant for us. There was something about her that just fit with our style – Lisa is incredibly animated and enthusiastic about what she does, and the effort that she puts in is evident throughout. She just got us, our level of quirky and individualism.
The last thing we wanted was for someone to go through the motions – and Lisa went way above and beyond this. Everything she included in our ceremony was completely tailored to our needs. The content was the history of us and our story, and the warmth with which Lisa delivered this was felt by everyone present. We completely trusted her, to the point that we just left her to it! We wanted it to be a surprise, so that we would hear her delivery on the day with the same emotion as our guests, and she excelled!!
We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lisa, everyone needs someone to emotionally invest in them like this and not many are lucky enough to find someone that does to this level. Everyone deserves a Lisa! Thank you so much.”
Receiving those kind words certainly made us a little tearful. Meeting Juliet and Kate has been a true highlight of the year for us, and we were honoured to play a small part in their exciting journey - and we know we will stay in touch with them for some time to come.
Thank you to Juliet and Kate for booking us, and also to our lovely friends at The Rockpool for hosting, and to fabulous Emily from SoBelle Photography for capturing the joy of Kate and Juliet’s day!