Rustic & Relaxed Spring Tipi Wedding

Many of our readers choose to use their wedding as an opportunity to celebrate the colours of Spring and their love of the outdoors – and we absolutely adore the joy with which this couple brought their loved ones together on a crisp April’s day.

Giving yourself time to make decisions organically, and the chance to understand what means the most, are hugely important elements to planning a happy and mindful wedding. WWW readers Meg and Chris set their priorities straight; they wanted a wedding full of light, love, and colour, where guests could relax and have a fantastic time, while also honouring family traditions and contributions. And so, the couple hosted a heartwarming ceremony at the family village church where Meg’s own parents had also married, with tearful readings and even a guitar solo by the bride’s brother. Guests were then welcomed to a true party; delicious food, infectious music, and plentiful drink! The bride looked absolutely drop-dead stylish in her leather jacket and separate from Jesus Peiro, framed by the hundreds of origami cranes suspended from the ceiling of the tipi.

Day turned to night to the scent of salted caramel treats and marshmallows crackling on the fire, and a new beautiful chapter began, all so artfully captured by Laura and Alex from Inbetween Days Photography.

Enjoy!

THE PROPOSAL

We were on holiday in Ireland, camping and traveling around when I realised that we had under booked a night’s stay. I was panicking that we’d had nowhere to stay but Chris was very cool and relaxed about it – which seemed strange as he’s usually super organised! We drove a little way and arrived at a lake but Chris wouldn’t tell me what was going on so I was very suspicious by now! We took a boat out onto the lake and sailed to a tiny castle on the other side, which I then found out he’d booked for us to stay in for the night. I thought that was the surprise and so was even more shocked to see him down on one knee later on in the evening when we were having a drink on the balcony!

THE VISION

We both agreed very early on that our main vision was to have a party with all the people we love! I also really wanted a spring wedding which was colourful and full of fun.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

I absolutely loved planning the wedding. I wanted to do as much of it as I could to make sure it felt as personal as possible. However, with both of us working full time, it was sometimes a stressful process! We gave ourselves a year and a half to plan it which meant we had plenty of time and just did as much as we could at weekends.

BUDGET

This was the thing that changed the most! There were some things we weren’t willing to compromise on, such as the having a free bar and a fantastic band – and now, after it’s all over, we said it was worth every penny!

THE VENUE

I had always wanted to get married at the church in the village where I grew up, mainly because my parent’s also got married there. This meant that the venue would need to be nearby. We didn’t have any specific ideas of what wedding venue we wanted but wanted to create something that was special to just our wedding. When we came across the idea of having tipis, we knew that it would suit exactly the kind of wedding we had in mind. We researched lots of companies but found Elite Tents to be the most friendly and professional company. I loved the fact that they were gorgeous on their own but also a blank canvas to project your own style on!

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES

The dress is a Jesus Peiro – 7009. I really love the idea of having separates as a wedding dress and thought this particular dress was so beautiful with the modern lace and gorgeous buttons down the back. Plus, it had pockets! What more could a bride want!

I went simple on accessorises and just focussed on the earrings I wanted. A close friend’s sister is a jewellery designer who makes gorgeous stuff and she customised her leaf design earrings with a blue marble to make them unique for my wedding. I also bought a pair for all my bridesmaids as a little thank you!

FINDING THE DRESS

I probably found this part of the wedding prep the most difficult! I went to loads of different dress shops and really struggled to find anything that I was happy in. I then realised that the reason I was finding it so difficult was because I was going to each shop with a particular idea in mind, waiting for ‘the feeling’. So I decided to try on a range of different dresses with some friends and with more of an open mind. And then it just happened! The Bridal Boutique in Henley-in-Arden were fantastic and so helpful. I also found out I was pregnant in January and their seamstress was so brilliant in making sure the dress was perfect for the day. I couldn’t recommend the whole team enough!

GROOM’S ATTIRE

Chris found his suit in Moss Bros when we happened to be casually shopping in Windsor near where we live. He knew he wanted a blue or green suit with a thicker tartan knit and so when we found one in the sale, we knew we had to get it!

THE READINGS & MUSIC

Corinthians 13:1-10 which Chris’ dad read for us. We also wanted to choose a non-religious reading too and were really drawn to an extract from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin which spoke about growing together as the years pass.

For our music, I wanted to get my brother involved as he’s always been a great guitarist. He played me down the aisle with a Bon Iver track called re:stacks which was perfect!

For the evening, I really wanted a band that would get everyone up and dancing for the whole night – and The Long Straws definitely did that! They has such a varied set list and are great at jazzing up songs and putting their own twist on them. We have had lots of compliments on how great they were!

THE FLOWERS

We did a bit of a mix of things with the flowers. I found Esther from Flower Style Co to do the bouquets and buttons holes, and she did a fantastic job. In the consultation she understood exactly what I wanted (green and blues with pops of yellow) and they all looked gorgeous. I particularly loved having a succulent in my bouquet! For the rest of the flowers, my mum, grandma, sister and aunties all worked so hard to put together the church flowers and the flowers for the tables on the Friday before the wedding. We bought the flowers from a wholesalers and then stored them in my mum’s conservatory. In the few days before the wedding, the house smelt beautiful!

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER

The amazing Laura and Alex from Inbetween Days Photography did an amazing job. We heard about them through a friend and as soon as we saw their photos knew they were right for us. They fitted in perfectly with the wedding guests and were so friendly and relaxed that it made us feel relaxed too! And we love the photos!

THE CAKE

We decided not to have pudding from our caterers but instead to make a pudding table with a range of cakes from our friends and family. We had such a mix, from a lemon drizzle made by my Grandma Jonesy to peanut butter tiffin made by one of Chris’ friends.

Our cake supplier for the main wedding cakes was Charlotte from Buttercream and Dreams. We found her online and arranged to meet for a tasting at her lovely home. She does wedding cakes as a side project and the cakes we tried were delicious! We ended up going for two cakes to be on our pudding table, one salted caramel with a full buttercream icing and the other was a two-tiered semi-naked cake with raspberry and white chocolate on one tier and carrot cake on the other. All were so good and disappeared very quickly!

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR

My mum and I made most of the decorations ourselves, sewing metres and metres of bunting, arranging flowers for the tipis, painting signs to go around the village and, probably most time consuming, making hundreds of origami cranes to hang from the ceiling of the tipis. But I was so happy with the completed look so it was totally worth it!

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS

Whenever I told people that I had six bridesmaids they always seemed shocked! But I knew I wanted friends from all different points in my life to be there. They did a fantastic job of keeping me calm! In terms of outfits, because each of the girls is a completely different body shape, I wanted to give them some options. So I chose a skirt for them all to wear and asked them to pick a top that suited them best. The skirts were from Lace and Beads and the girls chose their tops from a range of different places. I thought they looked gorgeous!

THE HONEYMOON

We spent the rest of the Easter holidays travelling around Iceland. The Blue Lagoon was a particular high point!

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

There are quite a few! Walking into the church to see lots of smiling faces, listening to my dad’s speech, dancing with Chris, oh and the human pyramid which happened a few glasses of prosecco in on the dance floor!

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES

Don’t get stressed – it’ll all work out in the end! And make sure you really focus and take in the day as it seems to fly by!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Thank you so much to Meg and Chris for sharing their beautiful Spring celebration with us! Val Xx