In Their Words: Olivia & Joshua’s Wedding

Late November brought wild skies, flickering candlelight and a celebration brimming with atmosphere to The Great Barn Devon, as Olivia and Joshua gathered their loved ones for a day to remember. Their wedding was rich with rustic elegance — earthy tones, dramatic florals and the kind of magic only a stormy Devon day can bring. A celebration full of warmth, beauty and connection, it was everything they had imagined and more. We’ll let them take it from here…

Tell us a little bit about your wedding day…

Well, where to start? The most fabulous, romantic, terrifying day of my life? Knowing that we had Emma and John supporting us and making our day as special as it was made it feel so much more relaxing. The whole wedding started the night before when all of our loved ones arrived to stay on site in the stunning accommodation. We dined and laughed and loved, a truly wholesome start to our wedding weekend.

I didn’t really sleep due to feeling excited, but woke up the following morning at the crack of dawn to a team of helpful souls that helped me get ready. My amazing sister, Dolores, did my makeup (which was gorgeous) and my ‘Uncle Dave’ who has supported my hair choices/styles from a very young age over the years did my hair at the same time. My Mum was on to the finishing touches as she was leading the table-scaping and ensuring the finishing touches were absolutely perfect. My Auntie Janie was with me all morning getting my dressed prepped, shoes ready and my jewellery sorted. My lovely Dad waiting eagerly downstairs in the wedding lounge.

It ended up being our favourite type of weather on our special day, it rained. We thought it brought a fabulous atmospheric element to our wedding – all our wedding shots outside are mainly of us under an umbrella or under the pergola.

The ceremony itself was beautiful and very special. Josh (my husband) had spent months constructing an arch made from the trees of the forest we live next to. When we first met I had mentioned that I had always wanted to get married in a forest, so Josh brought that forest with us to our sacred moment.

We had the most delicious food for our wedding breakfast – the canapés were so scrumptious and the seated dinner was divine. Being a Chef myself and a lot of the guests attending are also from the same industry – we were thrilled with such consistent and delicious food. I really couldn’t have asked for anything more – truly fantastic. The waiting staff were absolutely incredible too, the were swift, efficient, professional. Nothing was too great a task and they did everything with a smile. I felt so lucky to have such an incredible service for our wedding guests.

After dinner we headed over to the West Barn for sparklers, cutting of the cake and tea and coffee – the main room was turned around during that time for the evening party. Cheese and nibbles were laid out in the bar for evening food and then the party continued with the best band and DJ set – we honestly had the best time and danced until we simply had to stop!

I couldn’t suggest The Great Barn more for a special wedding venue. The service, attention to detail, care, effort and hard work was phenomenal. We were very lucky to have had our day with you.

Why did you choose The Great Barn Devon?

I was lucky enough to already know Emma and John from my childhood, so when searching for wedding venues The Great Barn came up and it seemed like a no brainer. Who wouldn’t want to have their special day in the hands of people you actually like and trust?!

Did you have a particular style or colour theme?

Not really, we wanted it to be seasonal and we were conscious that a fair amount of people attending the wedding may not have been to Dartmoor before – so we wanted to keep it chic and earthy with lots of foliage running down the tables and plenty of romance with an outrageous amount of candles. Lots of dark greens, gold and bronze for the autumn/winter season. Soft velvet bows and ribbons on the menus, personalised graphics and menus with the gold splatter from our invites on it. Just gorgeous!

Tell us what you wore…

My dress was a big beautiful ivory off the shoulder dress – it was everything I could have wanted and more. I got it from Waterfield’s in Exeter and had the best time in it. Due to the rain the bottom of my dress got a tad muddy as I was running around all over the place in it – so it became SO heavy – but utterly loved being in it. Can I wear it every day? My shoes were a block platform which had a massive satin bow on the peeptoe. My bouquet was mainly green foliage, I love flowers but I have always preferred a lot of leaf – so lot of very herbaceous notes running throughout – gorgeous! Finally I had a baroque pearl crown that sat atop my head, with baroque pearl earrings and fresh water pearls running through my hair.

My hair was sculpted by my ‘Uncle Dave’ – he’s not really my Uncle but he’s been a life long friend and part of my life since I have been very young. He has cut and styled my hair since a very young age so it was only right for him to prepare me for my special day. My hair is rather long and so he had an easy time of sculpting it as didn’t need anything extra to add in for “bumf”.

My sister, Dol, did my make up. She’s hideously talented at anything she seems to do, so I totally trusted her to make me look my best. She used solely Charlotte Tilbury makeup that I went and chose with my Mum, Kim, one special morning. It felt really special to have the make up given to me by Mum and then applied by my sister – very lucky. That make up now feels sacred and is used for very special events.

What did your guests eat and drink?

Our guests had a champagne reception – I can’t remember the name of the bottle we chose, but it was absolutely delicious. There were a selection of delicious canapés – every single one was divine – savoury scones, pork belly, bruschetta – so on.

We had a deep and earthy red – Portuguese Dao – and then a bright and delicious white – Sharphams – such delicious notes that flowed freely throughout the day – no one went without. Pink prosecco for the toasts!

Dinner was a selection of starters – the chicken parfait, beetroot salad, cauliflower pakora.
Mains consisted of the delicious following – slow roasted shoulder of lamb, herb crusted salmon, vegan nut roast.
Dessert was the phenomenal – sticky toffee pudding and clotted cream ice cream, vegan and GF brownie and sorbet. Evening food was a selection of cheeses, crackers, sharing platters and nibbles.

Wedding cake was a selection of three different cakes for each tier – spiced apple and miso caramel, angel cake victoria sponge with raspberry compote, dark spiced ginger cake with burnt butter caramel.

What did you do to entertain your guests?

We had a phenomenal band called Emily Magpie which lifted everyone up on to the dance floor and got them moving. Then we had a DJ that played until the end of the night – she was incredible. I could have danced until the next day easily.

Just being able to spend the day with the love of my life and everyone we hold dearest. There isn’t one single part of the day that stands out over the rest – everything was immaculate.

Do you have any words of advice for future couples?

Book your day in here and trust their expertise. They really know what they’re doing. We were so very lucky to have our incredible day at The Great Barn, I would love to relive it every single day if I could.