Stylish & Relaxed Outdoor Tipi Wedding

WWW readers Rob and Rachel are one super stylish pair. Their dreamy nuptials were held on the 18th July 2015 and their reception was hosted at the White Chimnies in Staffordshire inside majestic Tipi & Kata tipis. WOW.

What’s not to love about this chic yet simple celebration? There were whimsy florals, a cake baked by the bride, street food and fun LOVE letters to name a few. The maids wore darling BHLDN frocks while the boys were suited and booted in Whitfield & Ward.

Rachel wore a Grecian style dress with amazing back detail which she teamed with a long veil. She looked beautiful. Happy days.

Dan Hough, thanks so much for sharing your stunning imagery with us.

THE PROPOSAL | Rob proposed over dinner in Paris on my birthday. I was a teary mess but it was all tears of happiness! Rob popped the question with a gorgeous “buffer” ring and then we went to Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter to chose the real ring together.

THE VISION | There was no overriding theme or a great vision for the wedding we just wanted it to be the be the kind of day we enjoy the most – so nice and relaxed in the outdoors with great food, great drinks and great people.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | Once we had the venue sorted the caterers, dress and bridesmaid dresses all fell into place pretty quickly. We were really lucky that so many family and friends were able to help out with bits like the stationery, flowers and helping us set up.

THE VENUE | We stumbled across White Chimnies when looking at some local caterers websites and couldn’t believe there was such an amazing venue less than 5 miles from our house. We popped up to see Zeta and we were sold – not only are the grounds amazing but the view is…. awesome!

Zeta put us in touch with Mark and Laura at Tipi and Kata and they were great at taking all the details of our wedding and putting together a package that covered everything we’d need on the day.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | All from The Wedding Boutique, Knutsford.

FINDING THE DRESS | I tried a few very lovely wedding dress shops on a fun day out with my Mum and Sister but there wasn’t anything I was crazy about. I saw that Fiona at The Wedding Boutique was having a sample sale – armed with my Mum and a works-Christmas-party hangover I found a gorgeous Grecian style dress. Fiona and the team did all the alterations and kitted me out with a lovely headband and long veil.

GROOM’S ATTIRE | Rob and his Groomsmen’s suits were from Whitfield and Ward in Wilmslow. Having passed the shop a few times and seen the sharp suits in the window it was a no brainer. The service was fantastic and we were all really impressed with the quality of the suits.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | My wonderful Gran – Beryl – did our biblical reading – we chose John 4: 7-12 God is Love as the words felt so appropriate. Our good friend and groomsman – Adam – read a Bob Marley quote “He’s Not Perfect”.

Hyms: Come to a Wedding, Give Me Joy in my Heart and Jerusalem. We picked hymns we knew friends and family would know so there was no excuse for not singing along.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | I ordered Alex and Andrea’s dresses from BHLDN in the States – it was a little risky as the girls hadn’t tried them on but they’re both so lovely and slim I was confident the dresses would fit well and look fab – which they did. The smaller bridesmaid dresses (Milly and Bea) were found on the high street – Bea’s only criteria was that her dress should be big and sparkly – judging by the trail of glitter she left wherever she went, we managed to fit her brief!

THE FLOWERS | My cousin Clare is an amazingly talented florist so there was no question over who would be doing the flowers for the big day. I shared with her a Pinterest board of bouquets and table arrangements that we liked and Clare did the rest. We couldn’t believe the transformation in the tipis once the flowers were in. Rather than throwing my bouquet I followed in my sister and cousins tradition of laying the flowers at our Grandad’s grave. He would have loved all of our weddings so much – he was a much missed guest.

THE CAKE | Foolishly I opted to make the cake myself – it was a bit of a last minute affair so it was a simple chocolate tier and a sponge tier with buttercream icing. Rob found the lovely cake topper on Etsy – Victoria was super helpful and really quick to turn it around.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Ahhh Dan – what a total legend! We’d seen some of Dan’s pictures via friends of friends Facebook pages and loved what we saw. Dan organised an engagement shoot for us to help us feel more comfortable in front of the camera (although I think Dan could put anyone at ease in any situation). It was a great idea and certainly helped us not be quite so giggly and awkward on the day. I’d definitely recommend other couples doing this if it’s an option. As well as being an amazing photographer and a pleasure to have with us all day Dan ended up being a stand-in best man during the wedding rehearsal and was nearly drafted in to transport the mini-bridesmaids when their lift was running late.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | The LOVE letters from Typical Type were so much fun – they looked amazing day and night and provided such great pictures for our guests as well as us.

The caterers we chose are both street food vendors we’d seen at foodie events around Manchester. Ozzie of The Hip Hop Chip Shop fame was an absolute joy to work with – such a lovely guy and they fried all afternoon from their ghetto blaster food van. In the evening Fay from Fire and Slice served up the tastiest pizzas from their mobile pizza oven – they went down a storm.

Tailor Made are a local band who put their own unique spin on covers. They played two rousing 45 minute sets that had people up off their hay bales dancing the afternoon away. Following the band our friend and DJ – Rich – took over and the dance floor was never empty (even when I requested a Take That medley)!

THE HONEYMOON | Following the wedding we went to the Cartmel in the Lake District for a gastro mini-moon. In September we’re off to Singapore for the Forumla 1 race and then on to Bali for some beach and chill-out time. We’re so excited as lots of the things we have planned have been gifted by friends and family via our Honeyfund Gift List.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | The drive back up to White Chimnies was a great time to catch up with Rob, take it all in and enjoy the glorious weather with a glass of fizz.

Also the impromptu cake cutting was a fun moment – as soon as I saw Rob cutting a wedge of the cake out I knew it had to go in his face!

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Pick your suppliers well – everyone involved with our wedding was so genuinely lovely and we just knew that had there been any last minute hitches they’d have all done everything they could to make sure it all went well. Also if people offer help – take them up on it! I wish I’d not been such a control freak with certain things!

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CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Venue | White Chimnies

Venue | Tipi & Kata

Photographer | Dan Hough

Caterers | The Hip Hop Chip Shop

Caterers | Fire & Slice

Décor | LOVE Letters

Dress | The Wedding Boutique

Groom & Groomsmen | Whitfield & Ward

Bridesmaids | BHLDN

Cake Topper | VictoriasStitches

Gift List | HoneyFund

Utterly lovely.

Thanks so much to Rob and Rachel for sharing their gorgeous wedding with us here today xo Lou