A Coastal Devon Wedding with Live Violin and a Full Dancefloor

It started with a failed exam and a DM, and ended up with a beautiful beachside wedding in North Devon, surrounded by everyone they love. Jess (she/her) and Becca’s (she/her) story moves fast: from university to psych nursing, to sharing a home, to a proposal on Saunton Sands that Becca definitely saw coming.

By the time their wedding rolled around at Tunnels Beaches, it felt less like a formal event and more like an extension of everything they already loved: summer days by the sea, their closest people, and a proper party.

Think Paramore down the aisle, rum punch in hand, and a dance floor that didn’t slow down until the tequila ran out.

Failed Exams, Beach Walks, and a Proposal She Saw Coming

Jess: We met at university when Becca slid into my DMs after we both failed the same exam and have spoken every day since! Once we both qualified as psych nurses we moved to North Devon, bought a house, and live with our two cats.

I proposed to Becca in March 2023 after a night shift. We planned a beach walk after a few hours sleep, and she joked “you’re not gonna propose are you? cause if so I’ll wash my hair”… I can’t lie, so she clocked it, washed her hair, and we got engaged on Saunton Sands!

We got married on the 5th of August at Tunnels Beaches and had the absolute best day and evening of our lives! Intimate ceremony with our nearest and dearest, then a huge party with everyone. Plus the night before turned into a full-on pre-party with everyone staying onsite, so basically double the celebration!

We’re best friends. We love holidays, food shops, laughing with our friends, and spending as much time as we can on the beach watching the waves!

From Night Shifts to “I Do” (and a House Along the Way)

We got engaged in March 2023 and got married in August 2025! Initially, we didn’t want a long engagement, but it gave us time to properly plan everything and buy our house in the meantime, so it worked out well.

A Coastal Devon Wedding with Live Violin and a Full Dancefloor – photo 1

A Coastal Devon Wedding with Live Violin and a Full Dancefloor – photo 2

Planning a Seaside Escape Without Leaving Home

Around a year into the engagement is when we started planning! We first thought about a destination wedding, but it felt overwhelming and we were worried about people not being able to make it, so we kept that “away” feeling with a beach wedding and on-site accommodation instead!

Living in North Devon, we were spoilt for choice, but Tunnels topped them all! The one non-negotiable was having Sunday Love Photo & Film as our photo and video team. They’d shot our friends’ weddings and we loved everything about how they worked!

After that, everything fell into place. The venue handled catering, we booked an indie/rock band, found hair and makeup artists we loved like Pinned to Perfection and Isabelle Grace Makeup Artistry, and our bridal party chose their own dresses (which saved us the job!). Becca did most of the planning and booking, and Jess was very happy with that arrangement!

All on the Same Wavelength

We viewed a few venues around North Devon, but landed on Tunnels for the views, accommodation, and how accommodating the team were to everything we wanted! Amy and Nick were a must have. We felt safe knowing they’d deliver exactly the vibe we wanted.

As a queer couple, it was really important to find vendors who made us feel comfortable, whether that came through their socials or conversations with them.

We wanted lots of emotion and intimacy, so having Miniature Violinist was perfect. She had everyone in floods of tears and even learnt songs that meant a lot to us (including Paramore for the aisle!). Knot Again Jill took care of decorations, signage and stationery, completely taking the pressure off and making everything look incredible while coordinating with other vendors!

And Jax’s Cakes and Bakes sweet treat table (instead of a cake) went down an absolute storm!

Let the Tide Take the Budget

When it came to managing the budget… honestly, we didn’t. We probably overspent a bit! But looking back on it, we’ve said so many times we don’t regret it. You only do it once!

DIY Done Right (and On a Budget!)

We did our own invites, designed them on Canva and printed them online! Saved a fortune and they looked great!

Short, Sweet… and One Full Novel

We knew we wanted to write our own vows and agreed to keep them short and sweet… Becca of course wrote a full novel! Jess kept hers short, sweet, and light-hearted with emotional highlights. Becca’s was the crowd pleaser, pulling on the heartstrings and getting some audible sobs!

Paramore Aisles, Rum Punch, and Tequila Shots

We stayed together the night before and actually got a bit of sleep before splitting to get ready! The morning was a blur of hair, makeup, and photos with Pinned to Perfection and Isabelle Grace Makeup Artistry before suddenly it was time to walk down the aisle. Jess went to the venue first, and Becca walked in with her dad after the bridal party and our flower girl Poppy (our 2 year old niece), to Paramore – Still Into You, played by Miniature Violinist.

After the ceremony at Tunnels Beaches we had rum punch cocktails while the violinist kept playing, then got whisked away for more photos with Sunday Love Photo & Film before heading into our wedding breakfast, entering to Katy Perry I Kissed a Girl of course! The venue did a huge BBQ which was 10/10, speeches were a hit, and then the evening guests arrived.

Our live band played indie/rock songs, even getting us up on stage for Teenage Dirtbag! We had the best party of our lives, ending the night screaming our favourite guilty pleasure songs and still doing tequila shots!

No Rules, Just What Felt Like Us

We didn’t really take much notice of traditions, we just planned the day around what felt most like us. Whilst Becca wanted a traditional wedding dress for the ceremony, she also knew she wanted to change into a 2 piece outfit for the party so she could feel more comfortable throwing shapes on the dance floor!

The Team That Carried the Day

They were all incredible! Our special mentions would have to be: Knot Again Jill for creating beautiful signage and decorations and completely taking the stress off of us on the day, Sunday Love Photo & Film for not only capturing the day which we so often look back on but for running the day so effortlessly! Tunnels Beaches for the beautiful venue that gave us the destination wedding feel, and for nothing being too big of an ask!

Keeping It Close to Home

We tried to include family as much as we could! Our niece was our flower girl, Jess’s brother and Becca’s sister were our witnesses, and Becca’s brother was our ring bearer.