Exclusive Dartmoor Weddings & Seasonal Events - Coombe Trenchard

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Wedding stationery

Nikki & Ant - May 27th 2017

WeddingsSarah Marsh1 Comment

Back in May 2017 we were lucky enough to host the wedding of Nikki & Ant, a couple who wowed us with their creativity and style. As a stationery designer that we adore (you must take some time to browse Nikki's Knots & Kisses website), we knew the day would be a masterclass in colours and design, but it was also packed with personality, love and so much laughter. It gives us great pleasure to relive the day with Nikki, and Clare Kinchin's beautiful images. 

What were your reasons for choosing Coombe Trenchard?

Clare Kinchin Photography

I first discovered Coombe Trenchard when we first moved to Devon and I was looking to connect with fellow wedding suppliers in the local area. I popped along for a chat with Sarah and she fed me the most amazing shortbread and showed me round her beautiful house and I was pretty much hooked from then!

When Ant proposed Coombe Trenchard went straight on to the shortlist of 5 venues I thought we should see.

I was happy for Ant to make the final decision though as all 5 I had shortlisted were venues I knew, had worked with and loved so it was really difficult for me to look at them objectively.

Ant fell in love with Coombe Trenchard immediately and we both loved the relaxed atmosphere and stunning surroundings. It combined both of our love of historic buildings and architecture without being too big or ‘grand’ and it made for the most amazing relaxed and fun day!

Clare Kinchin Photography

Where did you find your inspiration?

When I’m designing for a client I always start with asking them about the things they love in general. I like to see how they live and how they decorate their house. I think this shows a lot about a couple’s personality and it should always be this that show’s through in their wedding.

Fortunately Ant and myself had just bought a renovation house in Torquay and were already discussing colour schemes so we ended up picking a colour scheme which was based on our lounge and dining room!

Clare Kinchin Photography

Navy and dark wood are our favourites and I adore blush pink and dark pink reds and burgundy’s, so this is what we went for.

We also picked a subtle animal skull and floral motif to run through the day and introduced lots of references to films and books which we absolutely love. We wanted to incorporate all the things we love but in a really pretty and hopefully stylish way so it didn’t look like there was too much of an overall ‘theme’

Clare Kinchin Photography

What are your top supplier tips?

Be organised and understanding! Most of the suppliers in the wedding industry are small businesses who are working all the hours to try and make your day amazing so being friendly via email or phone goes a long way.

I’m a natural stress head but I tried to be as nice and friendly as possible to all my suppliers even if I was stressing out!

Having all the information they need to hand and making decisions quickly I think not only helps suppliers but yourself. Stressing for hours over tiny decisions which in the end won’t be noticed on your wedding day is not good for anyone’s mental health! I tried to make decision as quickly as I could.

Clare Kinchin Photography

What was your favourite part of the day?

We have two which we have discussed at length since the day!

Clare Kinchin Photography

Firstly our ‘first look’ before walking into the ceremony room together. We had the music start up and I walked down the stairs from the bridal suite and Ant met me at the bottom of the stairs before then walking to the front of the hall. This was the best decision ever … it was incredibly emotional and it actually made us both much less nervous about walking in in front of everyone as we were hand in hand.

Secondly was half way through the day when we asked all the guests to join us on the second terrace for the evening reception part of the day. None of the guests had any idea there was going to be whole other area for the evening and seeing their faces when they walked through under the clock tower and realised there was another area with photobooth, band and pizza van was amazing!

Clare Kinchin Photography

What advise would you give to future Coombe Trenchard bridal couples?

Take all the advice Sarah and Emily offer … they know what they are doing and are used to planning a wedding that is perfect for both you and makes the most of Coombe Trenchard! Be as organised as you can and create a timeline which you can add to gradually once you have found out timings from various suppliers. Having this timeline though means that you can hand everything over to the venue easily the day before and know that everything will go as closely to plan as possible. ( But be prepared that something might go wrong and realise that if it does that’s absolutely fine.)

Also have a separate wet weather plan just in case – you’ll be far less disappointed on the day if you do.

We ended up not needed ours but it was raining the morning of the wedding so I’d convinced myself it was wet weather plan anyway!.

Clare Kinchin Photography

What is your tale from the other side?

We absolutely love being married but it was never the be all and end all of our relationship. Make sure you love and enjoy your day but realise that the ceremony is the most important thing and everything else is just a beautiful bonus!

Clare Kinchin Photography

Photographer: Clare Kinchin

Florist: Brompton Buds

Caterer: Coombe Trenchard and Two Birds

Cake: Edible Essence

Dress: Needle & Thread, with embellishments from Abidemaids and hair piece from Kye Tew Jewellery. Shoes Rachel Simpson Shoes.

Groom’s Suit : Vintage Suit Hire Company / Accessories : Mrs Bow Tie

Entertainment: Swing Kings and Your New Favourite Band

Marquee Company: World Inspired Tents

Bar Company: Thirst Choice

Hair: Giselle at The Event Studios

Make Up: Giselle at The Event Studios

Other items and props : Virginias Vintage Hire, The Prop Factory & West Country Wedding Planner

Stationery & Styling : Knots & Kisses

A Chat with de Winton Paper Company

WeddingsSarah MarshComment

In the second instalment of our supplier chats, we caught up with Harriet de Winton from the de Winton Paper company to discuss her work and get some advice for couples looking for some invitation wow-factor. Harriet creates truly dreamy stationery and we absolutely adore her Instagram stories (the most beautiful step-by-step watercolour inspiration - watch them!). So sit back with a cup of tea and enter the magical world of de Winton. 

How would you describe your business?

de Winton Paper co. specialises in bespoke hand painted watercolour wedding stationery.

What is your favourite thing about being involved in the wedding industry?

Apart from cake...I really love the couples I work with and getting to know them during their wedding planing process.

Can you describe Coombe Trenchard in three words?

welcoming, creative, (a little bit) mysterious

What aspect of your stationery do you feel best fits Coombe Trenchard?

I paint a lot of botanical studies; flowers and plants for my stationery, Coombe Trenchard's gardens are a wonderful wealth of inspiration. My stationery style, although modern in terms of design, has a real fondness for classic elegance, something that is in abundance at Coombe Trenchard.

What colours/styles do you see being a big hit in 2018?

I'm not really led by trends but I really enjoyed the greenery trend for this year and I hope to see it continue. Next year is certainly looking a little more tropical!

What advice would you give to bridal couples looking for their perfect wedding stationery?

There will always be a wedding supplier out there who is perfect for you and can achieve your stationery dreams. Look around, and don't settle on the first thing you find.

When do you advise sending out Save The Dates and Invitations? 

It all depends on the nature of your wedding. Do you have lots of overseas guests? If so I would bring everything forward by a few months but on the whole my general rule is just shy of a year for Save the Dates and then 3 to 4 months for Invitations.

What do you feel is imperative to making stand-out stationery for your clients?

The most important thing is to make the couple the focal point of inspiration. It needs to represent them as a couple and give guests an exciting first glimpse of what the wedding will be like.

Finally, what excites you most about your job?

Painting. It really is the best job in the world to get to paint all sorts of commissions and see my couples' reaction upon receiving their stationery.

 

Thank you for taking the time to chat to us Harriet! We implore you to discover more of Harriet's work on her website (the cocktail prints are perfect gifts for Christmas) and her instagram

 

 

 

January blog from Nikki our 'Real Bride Blogger'

WeddingsSarah Marsh1 Comment

Oh my goodness its 2017! I can now officially say we get married this year! To be honest this fills me with a lot of mixed feelings. I’m obviously massively excited … I can’t wait to get married and also get together with all our family and friends and have bloody good knees up! I’m also incredibly nervous though … I’m an over-planner and over-thinker at the best of times so I’m trying very hard to not let the nerves get the better of me but also make sure everything is as planned as possible so on the day I can just hand everything over to Sarah and Emily and relax.

Since my last post we have sent our invitations out. Designing my own invitations, as a wedding stationer, was daunting but also incredibly exciting and I think we managed to strike the right balance between them being pretty but also fun and a little bit geeky. Elements of the invitations were inspired by Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Star Wars … but hopefully in a really subtle way! Our colour scheme is Navy, blush, dark pink, ivory and lots of green ferns and foliage and a bit of brown tweed. I love layering colours when I create colour schemes for stationery so this is definitely what I’ve done for our wedding. I think many people make the mistake of picking just one or two colours for their wedding and it ends up looking a little bit ‘flat’ as there is no layering or substance. My advice for any other couples who are getting married would be always to pick some neutrals as a base and then 2 or 3 ‘accent colours’ on top of that. It looks a lot more natural.

Our rsvp date is looming and we’ve had most of our guests reply but there is always an inevitable bit of chasing up. I’m looking forward to having final numbers though as then we can get all the last few bits finalised and start paying off all those deposits we put down last year!

We had a lovely visit with Sarah & Emily in November which included a very exciting discussion about food and what sandwiches and cakes we were going to have for our afternoon tea.

We also had a lovely visit to see Jennifer at Edible Essence for a taster for our wedding cake. Honestly possibly the best experience so far … me and Ant love our cake so meeting up with Jen was just heaven and we picked 3 flavours for our naked cake, plus a fourth flavour that Ant just couldn’t resist.. so we’ve ended up having a bit of a ‘groom’s cake’ on the side!

I’m beginning to get a little bit worried that with all the food we have planned our guests are going to be on a serious sugar rush for the entire day!

We have another visit to Coombe Trenchard planned for the end of January and I’ll be showing my family round for the first time which will be super exciting. It’s actually quite a bit of a wedding weekend as I’m also having my hair and make-up trial with the lovely Giselle from the Event Studios team which I’m really looking forward to!

Nikki x

www.knotsandkisses.co.uk

May blog from Nikki, our 'Real Wedding Blogger'

WeddingsSarah MarshComment

Gosh I can’t believe its May already! People are always telling me that even though we’re not getting married till next year the time will fly by … and they’re not wrong!.

I’m happy to say though that we have got so much done since my last blog post and since we booked Coombe Trenchard back in January. 

As I mentioned before I was conscious that because we were getting married on a bank holiday that in order to secure the suppliers we really wanted that we should get things organised quickly … especially as we were moving house as well this year.

So since we last spoke we have booked our photographer, our catering, entertainment, florist and cake designer. 

One of the most fun parts so far has been picking out entertainment! Me and Ant met at a festival so music was always going to be an important part of the day. We got a recommendation from a fellow wedding stationer for a band down in Plymouth so headed down there in February to see them at a gig. We were planning on seeing a few other bands before making a decision but they totally blew us away! They were absolutely perfect for our wedding with lots of Indie / Rock classics which I know are going to have at least me and Ant up dancing … if perhaps not some of the older guests! But our feeling is this is our wedding and we just can’t stand the thought of music we hate being played just so we cater to everyone.

The other exciting thing was sending out our Save the Dates! As a wedding stationer designing something for myself turned out to be pretty nerve wracking … although also massive fun! I sort of treated it as though it was a brief from a bespoke client and tried to encapsulate our characters and liked in the style of the stationery.

We decided fairly early on of a colour scheme of Navy, Blush, Dark Pink and Ivory – with hints of dark green foliage. I also find it best to not just pick one or two colours for a colour scheme as it can start to look a bit too ‘matchy’ and quite dated – so a range of colours which blend well together was always the aim. We’re both love Navy ( our new lounge is being painted this colour! ) but I also love florals and ferns so wanted to include a botanical element.

We also want the wedding to be fun and light hearted and really wanted to incorporate some of our geekier side so the wording of the Save the Date cards relates to how we met and our love of Star Wars and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – and I couldn’t help myself but include some very small Stormtrooper helmets in with the floral motifs on the pink envelope liner!

Sending out the Save the Dates I was really nervous but everyone seemed to like them – even though not everyone got the geeky references! I’ve already started to think about the design of the invitations so that will keep me occupied for a while!

In the meantime we’ve just moved house in to a bit of a renovation project so I’m really glad that we have all the big things booked for the wedding and we can relax and concentrate on the house for a few months and look forward to our Engagement Shoot with our photographer Clare Kinchin later in May.

Nikki x