Marshwood Manor Wedding Photography – Joanna and Alexon

I’m so excited to share Joanna and Lex’s beautiful day at Marshwood Manor! I went to school with Joanna’s family and over the years, I’ve photographed 4 of her siblings weddings. It was an honour to be a part of another special day for this family!

Joanna and Lex wanted a magical yet sophisticated, relaxed yet fun affair. One they could share with everyone they hold dear, but didn’t compromise their values. They also knew they wanted it to span an entire weekend and then some. They were told countless times; “the day passes by in a flash!”- They wanted time to take it all in and relish in this incredible moment.

In addition to their wedding day, they also had a church blessing the following Monday. It was important to Joanna to take the celebrations to her home town and have a church blessing in one of the churches she had sung at many weddings in as a child. Her mum even surprised them with a lovely performance accompanied by the parish choir!

Hair: Samantha Marie
Wedding Dress: Enzoani (bought Preloved)
Grooms Suit: Hawes & Curtis
Grooms Wedding Ring: Eco Wood Rings
Wedding Venue: Marshwood Manor
Flowers: Style and Wonder
Musicians/DJ: The Elevation
Prop Hire (two sofas): Luck & Lace
Catering: Field to Fork Catering
Transport: Dartmouth Castle Ferry and Dartmoor Carriages
Blessing Venue's: St Petrox Church Dartmouth and Browns Hotel Dartmouth

After visiting 18 venues they realised that the third venue they viewed, Marshwood Manor, was in fact “the one”. They just took the scenic route to get there! An absolutely stunning manor set in a picturesque Dorset Vale that had sustainability at its heart. It ticked all of their boxes: eco-friendly, beautiful surroundings, in the south west, enough accommodation to fit their rather large family, dog friendly, and the pièce de résistance, the woodland bower!

They spent months researching local companies with fantastic eco-friendly credentials, sourcing pre-loved furniture and décor, and making their own stationery, dried petal confetti, games, and real leaf place names for their guests. Though one thing they had settled on before even finding their venue was who their photographer would be. “There was no question, it was always going to be Holly!”

Joanna opted for two wedding dresses for the simple reason that she wanted to sell her main dress after the wedding so that someone else would be able to enjoy her beauty. She didn’t want to risk any stains from overzealous party guests (red wine, etc.) so found a cheaper, and lighter reception dress that was easier to move around in– perfect for throwing some shapes on the dance floor! The main ceremony dress was bought pre-loved on Marketplace and her reception dress was pre-loved from Vinted. Luckily her reception dress was also untouched by stains and went on to adorn another bride on her big day.

Her beautiful bridesmaids were easy-peasy. Joanna loved the mismatched look and knew they felt comfortable in different colours and cuts so it worked out perfectly. All wore pre-loved dresses from Vinted, some of which hadn’t even been worn before, and shoes they already owned and were comfortable in.

Joanna’s shoes, veil and hair accessories were brand new but second hand from Vinted. She did her own makeup because she felt she knew her face best and what worked for her. She used only cruelty free good quality products. Joanna, bridesmaids and her mum had their hair styled by the wonderful Samatha Marie. Joanna asked if she could use only cruelty free products, and she happily obliged. She had her heart set on Hollywood waves and until she found Sam, she wasn’t sure I’d be able to have them. She executed it with ease and created a masterpiece!

Their wedding coordinator, stylist and florist, Katie from Style and Wonder, worked her socks off sourcing locally grown, seasonal flowers and foliage to compliment their colour palette. She created some truly beautiful arrangements. She also used décor from her own stockpile to bolster their own collection. Katie and her team made their vision a reality!

Joanna walked down the aisle to a section of the Lord of the Rings score by Howard Shore. It’s a piece of music that means a lot to both of them and fit the woodland setting perfectly. Their exit music was a little bit of fun, they had the Jurassic Park theme tune by John Williams! They wrote their own vows, which were surprisingly similar!

Lex went for a black, wool dinner suit with shawl collar, white wing collar shirt, traditional self-tie bow-tie, and black Derby shoes. He wanted something stand out and high quality that he could wear again and again. He also wanted the challenge of learning how to tie a real bow-tie! They wanted to incorporate something Sterling silver into his attire as a nod to their heavenly cat Sterling. Lex did this in the form of a Sterling silver lapel pin. Joanna also gifted Lex a pin-on-charm of his late mum that he could attach to the inside of his jacket so that she’d be with him on his special day.

Their amazing cake was made by Joanna’s very talented mum, Tracey. It was utterly delicious! After making cakes for 4 of her other siblings’ weddings, she certainly had enough practice. It was a 3 tier cake made up of vegan lemon and elderflower, Victoria sandwich (Lex’s favourite) and fruit cake (Joanna’s favourite).

Food was another carefully considered part of their wedding day. Being both vegetarian themselves they strongly believed that nothing should have to die for their wedding so they decided on a fully vegetarian and vegan menu. They chose Field To Fork Catering for the job because they had an incredible veggie and vegan selection, and sourced local and seasonal produce. Dave was a wizard in the kitchen and created some fabulous and memorable dishes for them. They even had some meat loving guests say “ I think I’m a vegetarian now!”.

They reused as many of the flower arrangements as they could transport. Some went off with Katie to make dried flowers for future weddings. The rest were taken to local care homes to brighten the residence days. Joanna’s mum and brother, David spent hours rearranging the flowers into wicker baskets and glass vases ready for the church.

They traveled in style by boat to the church courtesy of Dartmouth Castle Ferry, however the return journey was a bit of a surprise. Joanna’s parents had secretly booked them a horse and carriage ride with Missy the horse from Dartmoor Carriages. “Seeing a beautiful black horse waiting to whisk us away was a dream!”

They used the last of the confetti for the church exit. Afterwards they met everyone at a local hotel, Browns Hotel and Restaurant, for drinks, nibbles, and left over cake. Some of their guests that weren’t able to make the wedding managed to attend the blessing, which was lovely. “It was incredible to be able to share this amazing milestone with everyone we love and we want to do it all over again!”

I’m taking bookings for the next couples of years. If you are looking for a wedding photographer for your Marshwood Manor or South West wedding, then please check out my portfolio or get in touch!

Holly xx