Imperfectly Perfect Natural Tipi Wedding

We are headed to Coverwood Lakes in Surrey this fine Wednesday for the beautiful natural tipi wedding of WWW readers Nick and Lorna, who were wed on the 10th August 2019 in a church ceremony. Their day was, as described by them, “imperfectly perfect“, which is a sentiment I truly love. Their celebration was authentic, outdoorsy and all round beautiful, hooray!

A laid back and outdoors wedding was at the heart of their wedding planning, which by the way they achieved in 9 months. A great feat considering the amount of DIY decorations they created, although it sounds as through the whole process was a breeze. There is so much loveliness to take in, the super gorgeous attire, the wonderfully pretty florals and lots of rustic signage dotted around.

We have Diana V Photography to thank for sharing with us these stunning and very emotive images. Wow!

The Proposal

Nick and I went to Amsterdam for our very first trip away together. Because of this it has always been a place that has meant a lot to us. So three years later Nick suggested going back there for a mini break. He’s heavily into running, and he’s signed up to a half marathon that was happening that weekend in Amsterdam, so I didn’t think too much as to why we were going there.

On the 20th October 2018, he took me to a lovely quiet restaurant by one of the canals, and popped the question. It was a huge surprise, and couldn’t have been happier.

The Vision

We are both very laid back people, and so never wanted a big fancy wedding. We love the outdoors and nature. It was important to us that everyone could have a great time, and let go of any inhibitions.

The Planning Process

We had just over 9 months to plan the wedding, which doesn’t seem long, but we were pretty lucky that everything seemed to fall into place. We booked the first venue we saw, took home the first dress I tried on, bought the first bridesmaids dresses we found; it couldn’t have gone better.

The Venue

The Ceremony was at St Andrew’s Church, Oxshott. We had been going to this church for about 8 months before getting married here. Beautiful little church, with the kindest of people. We had the church band playing our music, and the ceremony fit in perfectly with our laid back wedding.

Coverwood Lakes

I fell in love with this place as soon as I saw it. It is the most beautiful place, pictures really don’t do this place justice.

It is a working farm, where the farmer kindly let us use his field. He doesn’t hold many weddings there, which made it even more special for us. However, you do have to be organised if you would like your wedding here. You have to book the venue and tipis separately. Then you have to order all of the furniture (correct number of chairs and tables, gift table, cake table, bar etc).

It matched with our vision perfectly.

The Readings & Music

For the church ceremony we had the church band play our hymns. Here I am Lord, Happy Days by Fee and Lighthouse by Rend Collective.

Readings – 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 and “Love is a temporary madness” from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Dress was from Wed2B. I looked at various bridal boutiques here and there, and actually only went to Wed2B to figure our what shape I wanted. But low and behold, I fell in love with a strapless dress with a lace bolero.

I had a flower crown made by my florist for the evening, and all of my jewellery was from Etsy.

The Cake

Palm and Ivy Cakes, based in Surrey.

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids – Green is my favourite colour. I always wanted my bridesmaids in a pale green dress, but really struggled to find what I wanted. Until one day, when I was scanning the ASOS sale, these beautiful dresses appeared! I thought it was too good to be true, and so ordered them thinking there was nothing to lose. They were perfect!

Your Photographer

Diana V Photography

Groomsmen

Groom and Ushers – Charcoal grey suit from M&S. Ties and matching pocket square from The Tie Room.

The Flowers

I Do Wedding Florists, based in Epsom.

Beauty

We all did our own hair and make-up.

The Details & Décor

All decorations were done by us, friends and family. We either made things by hand, or ordered various decorative things online, and then had one day before the wedding to decorate the tipis.

The Honeymoon

We went to Borneo for our honeymoon. It was a fantastic balance between relaxing on the beaches, and adventure in the rainforest. We came face to face with orangutans, monkeys, crocodiles and hornbills. A holiday I will never forget.

Memorable Moments

For the evening entertainment, we had a ceilidh. 125 people, in a tiny tipi, doing a ceilidh. I have never laughed so much in my entire life.

Seeing all of our nearest and dearest mixing and having a good time is one memory that will last a lifetime.

Advice For Other Couples

Don’t take it all too seriously. If things go wrong on the day, so what! If you forget to throw the bouquet (like I did), then never mind. I can guarantee that your guests won’t notice, or care. Have the time of your life, it’s your big day!

With planning, I would take your time, and really think about what YOU want. Prioritise what you want to spend your budget on. Some things are worth paying more for.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Simply beautiful.

Nick and Lorna, thank you so very much for sharing with us your really very special wedding story xo Lou