Martin and Ruth’s wedding celebration was held at a beautiful coastal holiday home in Cornwall on Tuesday 6 July 2021…
…. And it was a ceremony with stunning views, a stunning couple and stunning entertainment!
Martin and Ruth contacted me in a bit of a pickle – their original celebrant option had let them down – with just three weeks to go!!!
Luckily if this year has taught me anything it’s to remain calm in a crisis, and fortunately for Martin and Ruth, their date fell mid-week so I was in a position to assist. We quickly arranged a video call, and as video calls go, I have not laughed so much with a couple I have only just met in a very long time! I knew we would get along famously :-) and I felt confident that I could produce a beautiful ceremony for them at short notice; in turn, they felt very relieved that their day had been saved! Smiles all round!
So within a week – I had a first draft of the ceremony, which was quite traditional and romantic in style, but with the opportunity to share some of Martin and Ruth’s journey through life together, which spanned some 25 years. The ceremony was to feel very relaxed, personal, inclusive and good-humoured, but still of course respectful of the importance of the occasion, which was just as Martin and Ruth requested. We even managed to include a couple of surprises – one for the bride and groom – and one for the guests. Let me explain:
The bride and groom has confided in me that they had been to several wedding ceremonies and endured many truly awful readings – sometimes the choice of reading, and sometimes the choice of reader! The thought of including a reading during their ceremony made them feel quite worried. I asked them to trust me – and with their permission I got in touch with long-time family friend Anthony, and between us we came up with something unique and truly personal – which was also a surprise – and that’s best described in this blog!
The surprise for the guests - was when we arrived at the point in the ceremony just before the signing of the wedding certificate. Martin and Ruth were unable to decide on whom they should choose as witnesses, so we devised a game of witness bingo! Each of the guests had been given a little bag of favours before the ceremony, and within each was a number. Ruth pulled the first number out of the hat, Martin the second – and hey presto, we had two very happy witnesses whose support had been decided purely by chance!
But in addition to these lovely moments, during the day my breath was taken away on a number of occasions. The views from the holiday home were beyond incredible. We weren’t blessed with the most beautiful weather, yet the location – and the house – still delivered big time. And then when Ruth made her entrance to the hauntingly beautiful ‘Songbird’ by Fleetwood Mac, I can tell you it wasn’t just Martin who welled up! Ruth looked exquisite – every inch the glamorous bride – and she and Martin made a very handsome couple indeed. And - I should mention the food too! I don’t often see this part of the day, but I was lucky enough to be there when White Radish – one of my favourite caterers and who I seem to cross paths with quite a bit! - were prepping for the wedding breakfast; it looked divine.
As with so many of my ceremonies, live music was a big part of this celebration – Martin is an avid record collector, and so he’d brought with him some of his favourite vinyl and the decks were all set up for some serious DJing by Martin and fellow DJ Rich. And with nearly all their guests staying in the holiday home and adjacent house, or camping outside it (!), it was definitely quite a party. But Martin and Ruth were so
kind to send me a text that very same evening saying
What can we say it was beautiful – many thanks for helping to make our special day that bit more special x.
That made me very happy indeed.
You can read Martin and Ruth’s review in full here :-)