A Yurt Wedding in Norfolk

Today’s real wedding is simply amazing! Rebecca and Eve had a beautiful outdoor ceremony with ‘ring warming’ and ‘handfasting’ elements, followed by a wedding reception in a huge Mongolian yurt which created the ambience they sought after. We are in awe of the details of this wedding; the made to measure gowns, apothecary paraphernalia, and even the couples’ own-branded jam.

Rebecca and Eve were incredibly lucky to have won their wedding photography from Jen Marino, who has captured the beauty of the day, and the love this couple share, perfectly.

“We spent the weekend at Gunthorpe Hall, Norfolk, where we had our wedding ceremony and evening entertainment, and a barbecue on the Sunday. Our wedding meal took place at La Campagna, Thornham Bay, Norfolk. It’s a full-sized Mongolian yurt and has such a wonderful ambience. The theme for our wedding meal was a mixture of all things musical and medical, with a vintage twist to represent the two of us. Oh, and some owls, that were a recurring theme on our stationery, table centrepieces and jam. Our main colour was purple which came from a wish to have lavender for our bridesmaids’ bouquets.

“We created our own wedding ceremony, together with our lovely friend and celebrant Sarah, mainly because the words in a legal service feel so impersonal to us. We followed the basic structure that you would expect to have in a ceremony but added a ‘ring warming’ and ‘handfasting’ section.

“We didn’t choose our wedding photographer, it was more a case of our photographer chose us! We were going to rely on our friends with good cameras as this was an affordable option. However, one night in the wee hours Rebecca was feeling wishful and came across Jen Marino’s gorgeous website. She was running a competition to win a wedding package, so we entered the day before the deadline and were shortly announced as the winners; it was such an exciting moment for us. It has been an absolute delight to know and work with Jen. She is amazingly talented, professional and unobtrusive. Her gift for capturing the day as it unfolds is clear for all to see. We are incredibly grateful she picked us and now we have our photos we know we would have been mad not to have a photographer.

“We found our dresses online at JJ’s House and had them made to measure. Neither of us saw each other in our dress before the wedding. In terms of accessories, I wore blue Converse that I bought new, and Rebecca wanted her shoes to ‘be something old’, so sourced two vintage pairs of shoes on eBay; a dressy Bally pair for the daytime and some purple Converse for the evening. She paid £11 in total and was very impressed with her bargains.

“The six bridesmaids were scattered across the globe making it tricky to shop together. So we told them all to find a long purple dress that is not one-shouldered — they each picked such beautiful gowns and looked fabulous.

“Our wedding was beautiful and beyond our expectations. Our guests filled the house with love, laughter and a spirit of generosity that left us all in a ‘Gunthorpe state of mind’.”