Colourful & Joyful Faerie Tea Party Inspired Wedding

Hold on tight for one super colourful faerie tea party wedding! Yes, you read right, it’s time to share Chris and Christine’s incredible day at The Pumping House in Nottinghamshire!

Their day was so joy-filled with huge bursts of colour, smoke flares, fun decorations and the most amazing outfits. There were bright flowers, a vibrant confetti moment and of course, so many smiles. You’ll be left grinning from ear to ear thanks to this super happy day.

Kirsty Rockett Photography, thanks ever so much for sharing with us these sensational images.

Faerie Tea Party Wedding

The Proposal

Chris: I’d spent a lot of time looking for a ring. I knew I didn’t want a diamond and wanted to find an eco-friendly and more ethical alternative. I discovered Gardens of the Sun which was an ethically conscious jeweller based in Bali.

It was female-led and fair trade and I knew it would be perfect for us. I picked a Blue Spinel for its mental health benefits and calming properties.

Christine: We booked a holiday in Scarborough. It was October 2020 and the first time we’d been away together since lockdown began, so it was a lovely break.

We were in a room overlooking the beautiful autumn North Sea, and Chris told me he wanted to watch the sunrise. I was game, so we woke up extra early especially. Just as the sun peeked over the horizon of the sea on the most beautiful clear day, Chris went down on one knee. It was absolutely perfect, quiet, cosy, intimate and personal.

The Vision

The original inspo was A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. I always knew I wanted a tea party, and a foresty, floral, flowery setting.

We’re a couple of small business owners, Chris is an artist and I make colourful jewellery, so we love a little bit of colour, and we love a warm palette. So the idea morphed from delicate spring flower-tones, to bright oranges, pinks and reds that would contrast beautifully with a dark green.

We knew we wanted to work with as many indie and small businesses as possible.

Budget

We ended up spending between £20K – £25K (went in with the best intentions but towards the end we just kind of stopped keeping count 😅).

The Ceremony & Music

Christine: The ceremony was absolutely my favourite part of the whole day. It was beautiful. I’ve only really been to church weddings and that’s not us at all, so I didn’t know how formal I could be.

I was so full of nervous-excited energy, but Chris took my hand, put his arm around me and all the nerves just fell away and there was just him and our loved ones.

My cousin Elizabeth Ryder is an opera singer, and she and Chris’s best man Tom sang ‘My love is like a red red rose’ (Eva Cassidy’s version) for our signing of the register, and Tom played ‘Here Comes the Sun’ on the acoustic guitar as I walked down the aisle. It was just gorgeous.

Chris: We knew we wanted to get people up and dancing together, and a ceilidh is perfect for that. We knew a great Ceilidh band who were friends of the family so having them there leading everyone around the dance floor was fantastic. Everyone got involved and loved it.

The Venue

We wanted somewhere that would be able to accommodate our 120 guests while being secluded and surrounding us with greenery and woodland – luckily this is something Nottinghamshire is perfect for!

We considered outdoor weddings but we went for The Pumping House in Ollerton near Sherwood Forest as this is where Christine grew up, and it had the added security of being a beautiful indoor event space as well.

Your Outfits

Christine: I wore an absolutely outrageous number. It was MASSIVE, weighed a TONNE, but hey, you only get one chance to do it right and dress like an absolute fairy queen for a day!

My dress was from Bridal Suite Nottingham, sourced from Essense of Australia.

Chris: My moss green wool suit was from online tailor Hockerty, I left it very late but fortunately it arrived in time and fitted without needing adjustments. I added a tan coloured waistcoat from Marc Darcy and bought about a hundred ties as we just couldn’t decide on the colour. We went for coral in the end and loved how it looked.

I also wore pin badges on my lapel of things that meant a lot to me: peace, love and a Lucky Cat made by a jeweller called Batty Blossoms that Christine bought me.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Kirsty Rockett Photography!!! We saw her at a wedding fair, took one look at her work. The bright colours, the candid photos that just shone with joy, the intimate yet informal and fun couples’ photos and knew we wanted her to capture our day.

We chatted for AGES at the wedding fair. So it really helped that we felt we could talk easily to her about whatever hang ups and plans we had. She did an amazing job, we still can’t stop staring at our photos!

The Styling & Decor

If the photos look beautiful, as well as Kirsty Rockett, we have our event stylist Save The Date, and our florist Peonies and Plumes to thank. More female-led businesses who are just absolute geniuses at what they do.

We said all the buzzwords we wanted: tea party, tropical, hot pinks, fruit salad, not too neat, peaches and oranges and all the shades in between. And they just put together the most beautiful array of table dressings, bouquets, flowers, alter sprays, decors and things we couldn’t even think of for us. It was incredible, everyone was absolutely stunned at the beauty.

The Honeymoon

Eek! We’ve not gone yet. We went on a little mini-moon; a tour of Devon where we swam in the sea, lounged in baths, ate A LOT (leftovers of our wedding meal mostly!) and visited little tourist spots.

We’re hoping to go to Japan in Spring. It’ll be the trip of a lifetime and we can’t wait!

Memorable Moments

Christine: One of my fave moments was when one of Chris’s stags said to me with a huge grin, genuinely impressed; “I’ve never seen anyone who had the balls to wear a dress like that.” Meaning incredibly extravagant and just HUGE! 😂😂

Another amazing memory was me taking on my ‘father-of-the-bride’ speech, turning it into a drinking game and telling everyone it was supposed to be funny so please laugh. AND THEY DID!

Chris: One of the best moments for me was waiting beforehand and seeing everyone I love arriving and coming round the corner to meet me.

Also, the whole ceremony was perfect, but specifically the first moment I saw Christine, holding her hands and looking into her eyes while saying the vows are moments I’ll never forget. It felt like a room absolutely full of love and positivity.

Advice For Other Couples

Christine: As a bride, everyone tells you that when the day comes, all the worries will be over and you’ll be able to relax. It’s actually really hard work, and I found myself not feeling extraverted enough at times for all the hullabaloo, and ended up feeling guilty like “Why am I not relaxed????” I don’t think enough people warn you how stressful the actual day will be.

Ours was of course wonderful, but I would advise brides/anyone to take a lot of moments to seek out the people who really really matter most and give them big hugs. People will come up to you the whole day asking you to organise this and that, and you will have to go with it, so expect a very busy day.

Also, eat some food. I had one bite of pizza from the pizza van and I still dream about how gorgeous it was and wish I’d had more.

My advice would also be to aim to stop organising the wedding a week before (that way, if you overrun, you’ll still have a couple of days free). By the time you come to your day, you don’t want to be burnt out by worry, organising, sleepless nights of anticipation and making last-minute arrangements. Get lots of sleep.

Chris: We had a few panics along the way while organising, but the moments where it became clear and seemed achievable again were when we talked to other people about it.

After speaking to the decorators and florist we were so relieved to hear that it would be taken care of and would look fantastic. So I would advise seeking out people who know what they’re doing if you’re worried about anything!