The Real Wedding of Harry & Charlotte

Charlotte and I met in north Cornwall in our early teens. Our families are competitive sailors, so holidays by the sea or on the water have always been a key element.

We spent many summers together as friends, but after fifteen years apart, fate brought us back together. I had just come back from three years living in Germany, and Charlotte asked me for some travel advice. We met for a coffee, and our story continued.

Four years on, we have just climbed Brea Hill, our favourite place to go for a quick walk with the best views over the Camel Estuary. I saw my opportunity and while Charlotte was admiring the view, I pulled out the ring, dropped to one knee and waited for her to turn. She said YES!

The engagement ring was a hexagonal-shaped sapphire and diamond ring,

Designed and made by Gee Woods

We always dreamed of getting married in Cornwall, as this is where our story began all those years ago. With Charlotte working as a Movie Locations Manager, naturally, a huge focus of our wedding planning was on location. Finding a unique place for our wedding was her top priority.

Charlotte had a very clear vision of a marquee wedding in the garden and a ceremony with views over the Camel Estuary. Before we were engaged, I knew Charlotte's dream was for a Cornish wedding.

However, when planning our wedding ceremony and reception, we had a location predicament. With Original Marquees being based in Oxfordshire, we weren’t sure how we could make a wedding in Cornwall work logistically. After lots of discussion, we made the decision to do a bit of both. We would marry in Cornwall with an intimate ceremony then invite all our friends to a larger more relaxed party back in Oxfordshire.

Photography: Isabella White Studio

One month later we are back at home for our Cornwall-inspired wedding party at Cornbury Park in the Cotswolds. Cornbury Park had created a brand new space, ‘Rangers Lawn’, a beautiful meadow that had not yet been properly used for weddings. With weddings in mind the estate had levelled out a pitch, perfect for our 12x27m sailcloth marquees.

Close to home and importantly our marquee base, Cornbury was our opportunity to throw a larger event where we could utilise some of our beautiful sailcloth marquees and involve our 'Little Black Book' of local suppliers.

Photography: Kat Gillespie

Trying to come up with a theme for your wedding can be very challenging. We were lucky that our Cornwall celebration kind of rolled over into the main party. Our aim was to create a relaxed 'beach party' atmosphere with a focus of delicious food and great music throughout.

Working at Original Marquees, naturally my main focus was on the marquee, ceremony and reception layout, and the design of the interior. Having seen hundreds of marquee weddings in the past, I knew I wanted to mix things up and try to create something new and exciting for our own special day.

With our new levelled pitch at Rangers Lawn measuring 28x28m, we knew we could fit our 12x27m marquee suitable for 100-150 guests with additional space for service structures. In our case the parameters of the site would dictate our guest numbers and we would use this as our starting point.