Colourful Beach Tiki & Tropical Inspired Tipi Wedding

High fives to Laura and Phil who pulled off the most incredible tiki wedding. They held their wedding at Down End Field in Devon, with a gorgeous tipi, airstream bar and triangle arch backdrop. It was epic.

I love everything from the tropical greenery decor to the cool outfits, bright blooms and magical lighting come evening. Look out for succulent favours, a flower wedding cake and a delicious dessert table.

Thanks ever so much to AW Wedding Photography for sharing with us these gorgeous and colourful images.

Tiki Wedding

The Proposal

It was new years eve afternoon 2018 and we had gone for a walk in the sunshine and were sitting out on the rocks on the headland of Baggy point in Croyde Bay. We had been together 13 years by that point, and we were chatting about what 2018 had been like and what our hopes were for 2019.

When we were about to head off back to the village, I (Laura) stood up and zipped up my coat. I turned and couldn’t see Phil! Horrified, for a split second I thought he had fallen over the cliff, when I saw him down on one knee, holding out a box with a ring in it.

Phil was saying lots of things, but I was in such shock I can’t remember anything that he said, and he actually ended up asking me 3 times before it registered and of course, I said yes. Phil, in typical thoughtful style, had had a ring specially made out of a recycled old skateboard; it was blue and pink, which matched our respective hair colours when we first met.

The Vision

We both knew we wanted to be by the beach, ideally Croyde as its our favourite place and means a lot to our family having visited often for generations and Laura’s parents also met there in 1979.

We’re both very relaxed people and didn’t want anything too rushed or fussy, so we wanted a chilled day with family and friends, with good food and personal touches that represented us.  We both love being outside in fresh air, so we knew we wanted lots of plants, greenery and flowers.

We also wanted to use local suppliers and small businesses where we could to support the area that we spend so much time in. I’m (Laura) a project manager as a day job so it was natural for me to initiate a spreadsheet straight away and have all plans and timescales in granular detail, although covid did put a spanner in the works as our first date was 27/06/2020.

The Venue

Down End Field, the perfect location for epic sunset views and being right next to the beach. We didn’t know how to find out if we could use it or hire it – until we found out about Blue Fizz Events and Tracy helped us through the process and offered sound advice throughout.

Once we had secured the field we set the scene with a custom commission of Croyde beach by Laurie McCall, which we put on our invitations, then we set to hunting out some amazing suppliers to help us realise our vision, including incredible tipis from World Inspired Tents, The Buffalo Bar, Brompton Buds, Fuss Pots and the amazing Rhubarb and Cream Catering.

Your Outfits

We made a decision early on that neither of us would know what each other was wearing, so I would be as surprised as Phil was on the day.

Laura – Dress by Enzoani, vintage vibes with a boho feel. I loved the high neck, which reminded me of my mum’s wedding dress, and the button up back. I’m not a dress wearing person and liked that this was lightweight and unrestrictive.

I teamed it with custom embroidered converse boots, a painted jacket by The Mermaid Effect, jewellery from Croyde Seaglass and a Frida Kahlo inspired flower crown created by Brompton Buds. MUA and hair by Hannah at Brighteye Beauty.

Phil – Marc Darcy Tan Tweed herringbone three piece suit, suede brown Vans, sage green tie and pocket chief from Dickiebow. Best man and father of the bride wore the same.

Bridesmaids – Anaya With Love halter maxi dress in sage green, Next heeled sandals in shimmer and sea glass jewellery.

The Ceremony & Music

We wanted our ceremony to be totally bespoke to us and of our views, so we enlisted the help of wonderful Louise Miller-Marshall from UtterPerfect Ceremonies, a local humanist celebrant who created the most beautiful ceremony that represented us. One of our readings was poem created by us called “Always with you” and the other was “Happiness is you” by Johnny Cash.

I walked down the aisle to “It must be love” the Sophie Griffiths version and we walked out to “At last” by Etta James.

Our evening DJ was Paul Barrington from the Wedding Spinners, who was able to incorporate our eclectic taste in music and kept everyone dancing all night.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Our photographer Alice Whitby felt more like a good friend than our photographer after being along for the ride with our multiple postponements, we loved that she was as excited as us on the day that it was finally happening. We wanted natural relaxed pictures and we absolutely love the shots she captured of us on the rocks and running down the sand dunes. Alice captured the colours, fun and atmosphere of our day perfectly.

The Styling & Decor

We had the tipis set up on the Thursday so we had the whole of Friday to decorate the site with items brought from home or crafted/purchased over the last 18 months.

We didn’t really have a theme, only things we like that we wanted to incorporate into our vision, like bamboo furniture, plants, bright colours and sea glass.

The table centrepieces were created by us with plants grown by Laura’s parents and also our good friends Mark and Cathryn, who also grew succulents for the favours. The sea glass was all collected by Laura’s parents from their local beaches. Table runners and napkins were created and dyed by me (Laura) as I couldn’t find the “mermaid green” colour I wanted.

Wedding triangle “arch” and table plan easel was made by Phil, which held our custom table plan – a Karmann Ghia bonnet sign written by Tozer signs who also did our guest “book” skateboard and card tool box.

Our incredible wedding cake was made locally by Mrs Smudgers Kitchen in Barnstaple, A three tiered delight of Lemon, Lime & coconut and chocolate cherry layers.

Bridal bouquets, hairpieces, boutonnieres, hanging wreaths, arch, chair flowers and greenery were all by Brompton Buds, with potted plants and trees supplier by Fuss Pots. Flowers and plants on the food tables were provided by our incredible caterer Rhubarb and Cream catering.

Outdoor firepits and seating supplied by The Buffalo Bar.

The Honeymoon

A minimoon escape to Edinburgh, with a plan to go to Australia when things open up so we can celebrate with both our siblings and friends who couldn’t attend our big day physically (we linked them in virtually and they had boxes of treats to indulge in whilst watching).

Memorable Moments

Seeing so many loved ones we hadn’t seen for a long time, it was quite overwhelming.
Being on the rocks and taking a minute to look back at our venue and guests enjoying our day.
Running down the sand dunes.
Having such a great time on the dancefloor we forgot to cut the cake!
Driving myself and my Dad to my wedding in “Katie” my Mk1 Golf cabriolet, which I’ve always said I’d do.

Advice For Other Couples

Don’t be too rigid with your plans, the unexpected – like a global pandemic – may happen and you just need to go with the flow of what you can’t control.

Eat more food – we both wished we’d had seconds (and thirds) of the delicious food by Rhubarb and Cream.

Step away and take 5 mins to yourselves to take everything in. The day whizzes by so quickly and you’ll hardly see each other otherwise.

Don’t worry about the weather, we had planned for an outdoor ceremony and the chairs went in and out a few times in between showers but we ended up having it in inside and it was still absolutely amazing.

Look for suppliers that understand your vision. All of ours were as invested in our day as we were and totally understanding of what we wanted. We were lucky that our amazing bunch came along for the ride and stood with us throughout our postponements and date swaps. They were all amazing with support, advice and communication and they felt more like friends than suppliers.

Don’t be afraid to create your own venue if you want to get married in a place that you love.