A modern love story

Cori and George celebrated their day their way

Cori and George were introduced by a friend at a Halloween party and started hanging out together having fun and enjoying each other's company. They shared the same values and quickly hit it off. "At the time neither of us were really looking for a relationship so it was easy to get to know each other first, without any expectations," explains Cori.

Romance blossomed and George popped the question on the beach under a starlit sky while they were on holiday in Mauritius. "He'd tried to propose to me earlier after we went horse riding at sunset. It was super-romantic but I totally missed the signals and insisted on going back to our hotel room to freshen up for dinner," she laughs.

Although they initially considered going away to get married, they decided that sharing their day with their families was more important to them. So instead, they brought their loved ones together and tied the knot in Bury St Edmunds, a place with special meaning for them both. "We dated in around the town, George still works there and it's somewhere we're both drawn to," adds Cori. Read on for her account of their chilled celebration...

Although St Mary's is a huge church, the choir pewsat the front were ideal for our immediate family andprovided the cosy, intimate setting we wanted.

Our vicar David Crofts and two members of St Mary's Churchplayed guitar and sang for us during the ceremony which made itmore personal and heartfelt than we could ever have imagined.

My dress and the fabric for my veil were by RimeArodaky. I'm a hairdresser and I knew I wantedsomething a bit different when it came to theheadwear, so I had mine made based on an imageof a similar headband-style I'd found.

George chose his suit based on his personal styleand taste rather than a theme or colour schemeand asked his brother Jordan, who was best man,to do the same.

A modern love story: Image 3 Two of our bridesmaids wore olive dresses and the youngest, my maid-ofhonourChloe, had a pastel pink and lilac-toned one with green detailing. Theycarried floral hoops which we used as decorations for the evening reception.

A modern love story: Image 4 The other love of my life, our dog Bear, joined us forphotos in the Abbey Gardens after the ceremony.

We loved the idea of having a really chilledwedding breakfast at Ben's Restaurant. It felt likea balance of tradition but more relaxed.

We have a big extended family that we love tospend time with and including them on ourwedding day was everything to us, which is why wedecided on a big celebration at Jimmy's afterwards.

A modern love story: Image 6 In the spirit of intimacy, we sat on one long table as a family for ourwedding breakfast. There were 30 of us and I printed the menus on tornparchment, with the name of each guest to use as place settings.

A modern love story: Image 7 We had access to the terrace and the views across the fieldswere gorgeous.

The centrepieces were wild and seasonal with a slightly undone organicfeel. Dried flowers were mixed with the fresh blooms to add texture.

Instead of a traditional cake we had an alternative-style dessert tablecomplete with a doughnut wall and Bundt-style cakes flavoured withwhite chocolate and lavender, lemon and basil and carrot and cinnamon.