The Super Colourful, Eco-Friendly Wedding of Elena & Simon...

Super colourful, eco-friendly wedding at Ash Farm Rescue Centre nr Dartmouth, Devon. Photos by Emma Stoner Photography.

Relaxed, Outdoor Wedding in Devon…

Today we have a fabulously colourful, homemade wedding at a horse rescue centre in the South Devon Countryside. Photographed by one of our fantastic suppliers, Emma Stoner Weddings, Elena and Simon’s day was personal, vibrant, relaxed and environmentally friendly!

Elena & Simon…

Tell us how you met and got engaged…

We met in Australia, Simon was living in Bondi with some mutual friends. Simon then moved to work at a cattle ranch in central Queensland, Elena went to visit him for a couple of weeks and stayed for 5 months. We’ve been travelling and living together ever since.

We got engaged at home, just the two of us, where Simon presented an engagement ring made from an opal mined in Queensland Australia, the place our story began.

What were your main hopes for the day…

For everyone to enjoy themselves with delicious food and drinks. We were inspired to have a wedding that used as many local businesses and resources as possible. We were keen to have a wedding that had a small environmental impact and wanted to use small businesses and charities as much as possible, rather than huge corporations. We used all biodegradable plates, cutlery and cups producing just two bags of ladfill waste for the entire day and evening.

Originally we used wedding magazines to inspire us but they didn’t really show weddings that were us so we just tried to work out what we wanted, decided we wanted something very relaxed. Pinterest was a great help when it came to making our own decorations and inspiring the look of the wedding, we wanted something colourful and there were loads of ideas on Pinterest to inspire.

Was your favourite part of the day…

Saying our vows in the beautiful handmade wooden structure. Seeing Simon for the first time was so lovely, I had felt a bit nervous and it had been a bit of a rush to get to the venue, seeing him standing in front of me made me feel calm again.

How was your day unique…

The whole venue was unique, from the amazing wooden structure that we were married in to the horses that came to greet the guests. We also had no seating plan, with some guests eating their dinner sitting on hay bales. The flowers were all grown and arranged by the wedding venue. We wanted a natural feel so having flowers that had been grown around us was so perfect.

We had a lot of handmade decorations, from hundreds of handmade pom poms on strings to hundreds of brightly coloured felt hearts (lovingly made by Elena’s mum) that covered the marquee. Simon made comic book flowers that sat on the tables and we spray painted jars bright colours to put the bouquets in. We spent a lot of time painting and making things so that they fitted in with our colourful wedding.

What was your budget…

£15000

What was your biggest expense…

Marquee, toilets and tent set up.

How did you save money…

We made almost all the decorations (and roped in others to help!)

What was it like working with your photographer…

Emma was fantastic to work with and made us very comfortable. We got some wonderful photos that perfectly captured the day. She also managed to capture a few breastfeeding pictures that I just love.

Advice to any couples about to get married…

Mostly I would just say do your own thing! Don’t worry about pleasing everyone as it’s your day and having the things that you love makes it such a special time, people will see that and love it too. It’s an opportunity to go to a great party that’s been designed especially for you with the food and drink that you love so don’t forget to have fun.

Congratulations and thank you for sharing! x