Here is their story……
Tell me a little bit about yourselves, for example, where did you meet?
We are both scientists at the University of Sheffield, who met on a research project in Stockholm.
Can you tell me about the proposal?
Since it brought us together, Neil decided to propose in Stockholm the day before Valentine’s day. We visited one of favorite places in the city, the Natural History Museum, which is where we first declared our love for each other. Being massive science geeks, we have previously spent hours in the mineral collection of the museum, which is where Neil proposed. He contacted the museum in advance, and had the curators place a card with the big question inside one of the mineral cabinets – next to the mineral I studied in my PhD. I was so surprised to see it in there with “Claire, will you marry me?” written on it, that I didn’t say yes at first, but just “how did you get in there?!?” The museum wrote an article about it for their website (use google translate!): http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/naturhistoriska_riksmuseet/pressreleases/han-friade-paa-naturhistoriska-riksmuseet-1117555
Can you tell me about your venues and why you chose them?
We absolutely adore being by the sea, and Cornwall is our favourite location for beach walks, surfing and camping. We visit several times a year and love it so much, we just had to be married on the Cornish coast. The Polurrian Bay hotel was perfect for us – right on top of the cliffs with stunning views and a beautiful cove below.
Were you going for a certain style or theme for your wedding?
Since many of friends and family had never visited Cornwall before, and most are landlocked, we aimed for a very laid back, seaside-style, complete with lots of bunting, seashells, paper boats and mini-beaches on the dinner tables. Our aim was to let the beautiful views do a lot of the work for us – it certainly didn’t disappoint!
What is your most memorable moment from the day?
After the ceremony, we walked down the coast path (in our wellies and walking boots) to the beach to have photographs taken. That bit of time together, just the two of us (we hardly even noticed Stewart was there snapping us!) after the ceremony, in the beautiful surroundings of Polurrian Cove, was our absolute favourite part of the day.
Why did you choose Stewart Girvan Photography?
We really wanted a photographer who could make the most of the wonderful coastal location of our wedding, and who wouldn’t make people ‘pose’ for photos. We were not disappointed – the coastal photographs are just stunning and Stewart managed to capture things in the moment, which gave some really lovely pictures of us, our family and our friends. Stewart recorded the day perfectly and we are so happy with our pictures!
Can you tell me about any other suppliers that contributed and played an important part to your wedding? For example, florist, makeup artist, transport, entertainment.
My wedding dress was handmade by the absolutely wonderful Kate Beaumont, who I would recommend wholeheartedly for being a fabulous designer and all-round lovely person. I would strongly recommend our florist, Marianna, at Fuller Blooms in Helston (https://www.fullergardens.co.uk/) – our flowers were beautiful and extremely good value for money! Lisa Poole was a very lovely and calming presence throughout her hair and make-up work, and the Iron Bootscrapers (http://ironbootscrapers.com/) were our totally bonkers wedding band. Finally, I can’t recommend enough the Polurrian Bay Hotel and the wedding organiser, Sarah, who really went the extra mile to ensure the ceremony and reception were exactly as we wanted them to be.
Do you have any advice for future couples planning their wedding?
It’s your wedding, so make sure you have it somewhere that is important to you, and invite only the people who are important to you – then you will have a fabulous day!