Intimate & Pretty Back Garden Wedding at Home

Goodness me, how I just love WWW followers Charlotte and Philip’s intimate garden wedding. They totally threw out the rulebook for their day and as they say further below “Let go of every preconceived notion of a wedding“. YES! I love this, it’s totally freeing and allows for such creative freedom.

Their day was held in their pretty back garden, with a personal ceremony, mini tipi, outdoor meal and sweet first dance. They had an alcohol-free day, with fun cocktails to quench guests’ thirst.

They also had his and hers cakes, which were adorable and the loveliest flowers ever, all in sage, amber and blush tones. The decor was sublime, let alone their outfits. WWW wedding supplier member Shropshire Petals provided the petals for the wonderful confetti moment too.

Victoria Baker Weddings, I can’t thank you enough for sharing these splendid images with us.

Intimate Garden Wedding

The Proposal

For our proposal, we were in the middle of COVID, between one wave and the next! Philip had organised a treehouse hotel, but we ended up locked down!

So, Philip improvised and organised a beautiful brunch in our own back garden, taking inspiration from our first date. He had designed the most intricate bespoke ring and had a photographer at the ready. The whole experience was intimate and magical, and set the tone for the rest of our wedding.

The Vision

Our vision was very clear from the start, we wanted something incredibly relaxed and intimate, surrounded by our nearest and dearest. From the start we knew our garden was to play an important feature in our wedding and it only seemed appropriate to have it as our wedding venue!

It didn’t take it long to find April (Kook Events), our most amazing wedding planner, and together we made our vision come to life.

Budget

Due to the fact our venue was free(!) we could afford to spend more money on the little details that really elevated the wedding’s style and bring to life our vision!

For example, we had two cakes rather than one – a ‘His’ and ‘Hers’!

The Venue

We knew we wanted a short engagement, and we were aiming for 8 months (ish) and absolutely love our own garden which is why it just seemed perfect hosting our own wedding. We have had a lot of special moments in our garden, so it meant a lot to us adding this day to the list.

We had a September wedding, so the flowers were in full bloom and the weather was glorious and waking up together made the day even more special. Even though we ended up having good weather, we were slightly worried about British drizzle and hired a mini-tipi from Garden Weddings which was ideal for our intimate space, and a fire pit to keep everyone toasty!

Your Outfits

The dress I chose was a bespoke tailored made dress from Luna Bride in Harrogate. It was a two-piece (top and skirt) with lace detail to add a modern and relaxed feel. I also had a matching veil made to compliment the intricate detail on the dress.

The dress I chose was actually the second dress I tried on! Instantly I knew it was the dress I wanted; it felt as comfy as wearing pyjamas!

Luna Bride focuses on using organic and sustainable materials which added such a more wholesome feel to my dress.

Philip’s suit was tailor made from Moss Bros, sage green with brown detailing including the embroidered date, pocket square and bowtie from Otaa, and shoes. The shirt took absolutely ages to find! It was patterned with complementary colours but was only available in a huge size so was taken in by a local tailor. Philip also had a rose gold watch to complement the outfit and our matching wedding rings.

The Ceremony & Music

Our ceremony was performed by Philip’s best friend and having someone that knew us so well conduct it, led to it being really honest and emotional. We cried! Philip started the minute I walked out, and we both really started streaming when it came to our custom wedding vows!

For music, I walked down the aisle to a piano version of Better Together by Jack Johnson. For our first dance we had Andrea Bocelli’s version of Can’t Help Falling in Love.

Your Photographer

Our photographer was lovely! Victoria took lots of time to get to know us, and at our pre-wedding photoshoot we knew our personalities complimented each other. We didn’t really want posed photographs as it didn’t seem to fit in with the wedding theme; we left her to do what she does best, and the candid photos she produced were amazing!

The Styling & Decor

The styling and décor were massively important to me for our wedding. Colour schemes are something I take very seriously, and my Pinterest board reflected this! With April’s help we managed to make my Pinterest board come to life.

We opted for a blush, sage, and amber colour scheme which was reflected in every aspect of the décor. Our wedding was filled with beautiful homegrown flowers from Forge Events with candles and fairy lights everywhere.

We even managed to squeeze a tipi in the garden for some sheltering for our dessert table and cakes! We splashed out on two wedding cakes as our designs and wishes were so different however, Junipery Cakery seemed to make them complement each other perfectly.

We had all our stationery designed by Suzanne Oddy Designs, from our wedding invites to our table signs.

Our food was our centrepiece taking up the whole length of the table; a beautifully presented grazing platter.

The Honeymoon

We had a minimoon to an AirBnB rooftop apartment with a hot tub in Scotland after the wedding, and enjoyed lovely food surrounded by scenic views.

A while after our wedding we then went all-out on an all-inclusive trip to a beach resort in Cancun, Mexico! The long flight was totally worth it for a bit of winter sun and temperatures of 29 degrees while it was freezing in the UK!

It was lovely to have some real couple time together in our newlywed bliss.

Memorable Moments

We have many memorable moments from the day; the one that stands out to me was our first dance. Leading up to the wedding we became slightly obsessed with the weather forecast and any chance of rain.

However, April found some perfectly matching umbrellas for everyone, just in case (colour coordinated, and I had a unique white one!). We luckily had no rain for the majority of the day but found myself still wanting to use the umbrellas because they were photogenic! During our first dance there was a sprinkle of rain which made the moment more whimsical and created some great photos!

Other memorable moments that stood out the us were the personalised tea blend we had made for our guests, the fun his and hers cocktails we created with Wil, our barman, and roasting marshmallows on our open fire as the evening drew in.

Advice For Other Couples

Let go of every preconceived notion of a wedding, do everything that you want to do, and make yourselves happy, everyone else will be happy!

For example, we had an alcohol-free wedding! We worked with Wil our barman to design 5 custom alcohol-free cocktails, including a ‘His’ and a ‘Hers’. Neither of us drink alcohol, and keeping the day alcohol-free had loads of benefits.

We had lots of young family members who felt included as they were allowed to drink the same cocktails as the rest of us, we didn’t have to worry about taxis and transport as people could still drive home, and nobody made a mess!