Fun, DIY, Marquee wedding in Modbury, Devon

Briony and John chose St. George’s church in Modbury for their ceremony and then took off in style, on the back of an awesome open top Land Rover (Which I was supposed to follow but ended up following another random Land Rover for about 4 miles. Haha) to stop for some photos on their way to their reception at The Queen Elizabeth II sports and recreational ground in Modbury.

This was the first wedding I had the pleasure of photographing in a LOOOOONNNNGGGGG time! Due to that big C word. I was honestly super nervous but actually as soon as I arrived at Briony and John’s house in the morning and remembered what each of the buttons and dials did on my camera, everything was more than okay!

This was such a freaking fun, DIY wedding. Which I bloody love because it meant that the couple got to do what they want to do, rather than what is “expected“ at a wedding!

Briony and Jon hired a Marquee, filled it with photos, old china cups, plates, cake stands and wild flowers, they had a wonderful afternoon tea, some speeches (including a tearful one from the bride herself) a dog walk with their beloved Ziggy, some silly photo props, a lovely sunset and fun on the skate ramp.

It was such an honour to witness these 30 people come together after everything that has happened over the last however long and to see actual hugs! So beautiful! Although the limit was 30 this time. Briony and John are planning a big celebration later in the year. It’s going to be EPIC! Can’t wait!

I asked Briony and John a few questions so that you guys can get to know them and what they loved about their day!

Hiya Briony and John, tell us your story of how you met, your proposal story and your journey as a couple up until the wedding?

Met at school and been together since December 2008 at the age of 16! We were walking with friends in Modbury and John asked Briony if she would be his girlfriend along a lane near the church.
6 years later (2014) Briony said where’s the harm in getting engaged, so John asked Briony to marry him!
We planned to marry in May 2020, due to covid we had to postpone until 2021, but it was worth the wait!

What was stressful about the planning of the wedding and specifically what was stressful in relation to photography?

Generally until covid planning was fun and everything went smoothly. We had everything planned how we had expected and wanted, then we had to postpone to the following year - let’s face it none of us knew what to expect from covid!

We got in contact with Jamie (who is one of the nicest people!) and had a great video chat with him! As we were told by our original photographer he wasn’t available, we went ahead and booked Jamie!

Not knowing if we would actually be able to get married this year with our friends and family was stressful, but having 30 guests was amazing and we all had such a lovely day!

What do you wish someone had told you before the day, on the day, or during the planning process that would have made a big difference?

We actually had the perfect day and everything went so smoothly. All our family and friends loved our individual touches.

Maybe Briony shouldn’t have thought she could get it all done, setting up on her own with minimum help ... but then ideally the marquee would have gone up a day earlier! And we wanted a wow factor for guests hence the less help was great really.

What was your favourite part of your wedding?

Can we say all of it!?

We loved our church service as it was just perfect!

John says it was nice to spend time with Briony after the service, just chatting and smiling and going cross country in the Landy for some pictures at Leighmoor cross! Such fun!

What’s your favourite story/s from the day - The one that you will tell when you are really really old?

Hhhahahh Jamie following the wrong Land Rover!! It gave us more time to relax!

What made you choose St. George’s church and the QE2 recreation ground in Modbury for your wedding venues?

We chose St. George’s church as it’s the church in our home town and Briony’s parents had a blessing there when they got married.

We chose the QE2 recreation field as it’s a great Venue for a marquee and is within walking distance of the church. It’s what Briony has always wanted and it turned out better than we could have ever asked for! It’s also easy access for people and has got the country feeling we wanted but without having to be on a farm!

What personal touches did you add to your day?

Well ... where do we start!
Everything was done by us within reason!
Bunting bunting bunting!!
Centre wooden pieces all handmade by John!
All bunting etc made by Briony and mum Julie.
All the crockery for guests was vintage type stuff and all the side plates were from tea sets from Briony’s mum or grandparents! We also had John’s grandads milk churns at the front of the marquee and terracotta pots from Briony’s grandads shed (both grandads are no longer with us).
Our seating plan was a map of the south hams and all our favourite places to walk! Including many pictures of the best little fluff Ziggy! Once or was down ‘on paper’ as it were, Briony was relieved it was out of her brain finally!
All the name places on guests tables was on little bits of slate collected from a favourite beach!

What advice do you have for couples planning their wedding?

Take help where offered/given!
And have Jamie as your photographer!

I love food, music and entertainment They are the some of the best things about weddings! - What food did you have, was it yummy and what did you have to entertain yourselves and your guests?

We had an afternoon cream tea style food with various different sandwiches, quiche, mini pork pies etc the onto sweet we had meringues, macaroons, brownies and scones, all made/provide by Harriet from The Ring Feeder. It was all super scrummy and went down well with everyone!

As we were just a small occasion we had music playing from a phone through a Bluetooth speaker and it worked well.

Once food was complete we provided guests with some photobooth type props on tables so they could take silly photos of each other!

Then we also had a few quizzes all about us! It was fun seeing what some guests answered!

Our first dance was McFly ‘love is easy’

A Shout Out to your wedding suppliers!

Flowers - Linsay John’s
Wedding dress - The wedding company
Boys suits - Moss
Hair - Katie Boon
Makeup - Katie Short
Food - The Ring Feeder
Marquee - Hatch Marquee Hire

Why did you choose Jamie Webb as your photographer and what was it like working with Jamie on the day?

To start with we needed about photographer who was available on our day... and we are super pleased Jamie was available!

After spending almost 2 hours of his time on a video chat last year we wouldn’t want anybody else photographing our wedding!

Aww Thank you for sharing, saying such lovely things about me and mentioning my embarassing moment! haha! Here are some of my fave photos! These are a little preview for you and your lovely fam and friends.

If you would like to grab a virtual cuppa and have a chat about your wedding photography! Then let’s do this! Hit the button below, get in touch and I’ll get the kettle on!