Rustic & Relaxed Vibrant Blue Tipi Wedding

There was no doubt that this couple were going to chose a tipi for their reception and a magnificent choice it was indeed.

Dave and Beth’s wedding held on the 7^th June 2014, was a delight. Held in the countryside they held their ceremony at Sandon Hall in Staffordshire followed by celebrations at Blithfield Lakeside Barns. Vibrant blue hues were used in the styling, with the bridesmaids in colbalt, home made bunting and striking florals.

Beth chose to wear Mai by Augusta Jones, an elegant lace number which flattered her figure gorgeously. Dave meanwhile headed to Reiss for his dapper attire, what a stylish couple.

Thanks so much to Lucy Little for sharing these remarkable shots with us.

THE PROPOSAL | On a family getaway to Rhossili (Gower Peninsula, Wales) we stayed in the Old Rectory, a beautifully little cottage completely isolated and overlooking the 3 mile clear sands of Rhossilli Bay.

Dave had planned a slightly nerdy treasure hunt with the help of a GPS locator and some hidden clues, riddles and chocolates to help along with way. The final clue of the hunt had lead Beth to the edge of the cliff overlooking the bay. Beth was still looking in the shrubbery for her chocolate fix when finally she looked up and noticed the words ‘Beth, will you marry me?’ written in the sand. She forgot about chocolate and said Yes!

THE VISION | Relaxed, rustic, home-made, tipi wedding.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We always liked the idea of a tipi wedding – since my sister had her wedding in a tipi and it was such a magical day. We are also big fans of a good BBQ and having a tipi gave us the flexibility we wanted to choose our own food and supply our own booze. As our families are spread all over the U.K, we decided to plan our wedding fairly central, but also local enough to our home in Manchester. We were really keen for our families to be able to join us in the days leading up to the wedding, so we found a beautiful group of cottages in Blithfield for us all to stay in with enough space for the tipi in the gardens for our reception. We then found some local caterers who were specialists in outside catering and planned our BBQ food, ice cream and evening buffet.

Once the venue had been sorted we then spent the next 12 months figuring out the rest. That is not to say it took a solid 12 months work to make it happen but we wanted to make sure we could really put our own personal stamp on the day and have enough time to design and prepare all the details we wanted.

THE VENUE | We instantly fell in love with Blithfield Lakeside Barns, the cottages and views overlooking the lake were incredible and had everything we could have wanted. There was a perfect sized plot next to the cottages to place the tipi for our reception and we booked the whole place for the week so friends and family could come and stay for some of the days leading up to the wedding. We have to say that the owners were just absolutely amazing – so accommodating and went completely out of their way to help things run smoothly.

We also found a stunning 19^th century country house called Sandon Hall, just 10 minutes away by car that could host our wedding ceremony. Home to a breath-taking staircase and reception hall, with 400 acres of pristine gardens overlooking the Staffordshire countryside for photographs, it was a really great find.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | When I started planning the wedding I had an image in my head of the type of dress that I wanted – Lace dress with sleeves, fitted to the waist and then fairly straight to the floor. I spent a day with my mother and mother-in-law searching in Bristol and after a slow start we went into a shop full of beautiful dresses. I explained my vision to the bridal consultant and I think she knew straight away which dress I was going to choose. As soon as I put it on it felt right and I got the ‘ahhhh’ moment from the mothers. I then choose a veil and the women who did my alterations made me a lovely belt as well. I always struggle with shoes due to my very wide feet!! So I was very glad to find that BHS did quite wide fitting bridal shoes and they had some vintage style lace ones, which were a bit of a bargain. I then got a pair of comfy flats from Primark for the evening.

GROOM’S ATTIRE | Dave wore a blue suit and waistcoat from Reiss, with a maroon woven tie accompanied by a vibrant pocket square and matching socks, with a pair of brown Ted Baker brogues.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | We had an ambient background playlist as our guests arrived at Sandon Hall, featuring Nick Drake, Beach House, Bright Eyes, Summer Heart, Tycho and Eels, followed by an instrumental version of Hoppípolla by Sigur Rós as Beth walked down the aisle.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | I choose my 3 close school friends, my best friend from Uni and my sister to be my bridesmaids. They were all absolute stars – my hen do was incredible and they all arrived the day before the wedding to help with decorating the tipi. We found their dresses in Coast and they were perfect – matched the lace detail on my dress and were a beautiful colour. They all looked stunning.

THE FLOWERS | As we didn’t live in the area we struggled a bit finding a florist, luckily the caterers recommended Bryony and she was amazing. We wanted rustic looking flowers in jam jars and carafes. The flowers for inside the tipi and the bouquets were so beautiful and were so much better than we had imagined.

THE CAKE | Dave’s close family friend – Gail – kindly offered to bake and decorate the cake for the wedding and drive it over 150 miles to the venue for the day! We wanted something that felt beautifully simple, rustic and very much home-made, so we decided on a three tiered Victoria Sponge, with fresh strawberry’s and cream for filling, with a light dusting of icing sugar.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Our photographer was the find of the century. Working for a digital agency, Dave was always going to be incredibly picky with who to choose for the days photography, but after a few days of research it was a no brainer to go with the absolutely wonderful Lucy Sugden-Smith (or Lucy Little as her photography name). Discovering her online we felt she had the perfect photographic style for us and having met with her to discuss some initial ideas, we fell in love with her immediately and couldn’t book her fast enough. On the day she worked tirelessly, was so warm and friendly throughout and was full of wonderful ideas and surprises to help capture our day. She has an incredibly special talent and the ability to capture moments in such a unique and beautiful way; we can’t recommend her highly enough.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Who says weddings have to be stressful – we absolutely loved being hands on and part of all the details and lovingly designing all the bits and pieces to help bring it to life. We decorated the tipi with home-made bunting (thanks to Dave’s mum, Nancy) fairy lights and lanterns, with wild and rustic flowers, personalised polaroid name tags and chalkboard style sign posts and menus. We decided to name each table after characters from ‘The Lion King’ (yes, we know…) and with Dave being a graphic designer they couldn’t resist creating custom illustrations of them all to bring it to life.

THE HONEYMOON | We decided to go to Bali in Indonesia, exploring the island and surrounding areas and smaller neighbouring islands over two weeks.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | After a horrendous hailstorm and showers of biblical proportions hit during the morning of the wedding, spirits were down and an out-door rustic wedding seemed to have been a rather risky choice – but once the ceremony was over, something happened and the weather completely turned on its head to reveal a glorious summers day. Seeing Beth walk down the aisle with her father by her side was really something quite special and moving.

Some other highlights were the touching speeches, the table football, the band, The Lion King’s ‘Circle of Life’ (we are not ashamed!), the incredible sunset across the lakes in Blithfield and being with our best friends and family.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | There is no point in getting stressed about things, and don’t worry what other people might think. It is your day and it should be how you want it to be. Embrace the whole journey as some of the best memories we have were not only of the wedding itself, but all the days spent making the decorations and details to bring the even to life.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Lucy Little

Reception Venue | Blithfield Lakeside Barns

Ceremony Venue | Sandon Hall

Caterers | Saffron Catering

Florist | Bryony Ledger

Wedding Dress | Augusta Jones Mai

Grooms Suit | Reiss

Grooms Shoes | Ted Baker

Band | The Shelf Side

Tipi | Peaktipis

Just magic.

Thanks so much to Dave and Beth for sharing their super special wedding story today xo Lou