Boho Outdoor Fun Wedding with DIY Decor & Tipis

I have to say WWW readers Sarah and Reilly really hit the nail on the head with their wedding advice at the end of this feature. Their approach to wedding planning was spot on and enabled them to have a day that was true to themselves, which is totally evident from these happy images of their Sussex tipi wedding at Wootton Farm Estate.

I adore their multicolour wedding palette as well as how so much of their day was DIY. Their loved ones also contributed which really added to the community vibe of their celebrations. There was gorgeous attire, simply beautiful blooms and heaps of personality.

Charlotte Razzell Photography, I can’t thank you enough for sending over these dreamy images of Sarah and Reilly’s super fun and loved up day.

Sussex Tipi Wedding

The Proposal

We got engaged in July 2018, at Devil’s Dyke in West Sussex. We met at university in Sussex; Devil’s Dyke is a place we both love, and it has amazing views over Sussex. We packed a picnic (Reilly had to let me help make it to avoid me being suspicious!) and went for a walk. After the walk, we sat down to eat, and Reilly proposed.

Reilly – I wasn’t nervous about whether she’d say yes, as it was a case of when not if, but I was nervous about not giving the game away!

The Vision

We knew we wanted our wedding to be relaxed, have a boho feel, and be outdoors as much as possible. We both love camping and so, this was always something we wanted to incorporate into the day. We loved the idea of a full weekend of fun – it meant we’d be able to spend as much time as possible with family and friends, which was the focus of everything we did. We knew we wouldn’t be having fun unless our guests were!

Budget

Our advice when it comes to budget is to know it and stick to it! If you spend your life on Instagram or wedding blogs (mostly WWW of course!), you can become bogged down in trying to recreate a picture-perfect wedding and spend an absolute fortune. You don’t have to! There are so many amazing ways to save money and it still be incredible. If you push your budget too far, there could be a shadow over the day when you look back. You need to be able to look back in 10 years’ time and be happy with what you spent.

The Venue

We fell in love with Wootton Farm Estate as soon as we arrived. The grounds are stunning, with the large pond in the centre. Laurie and Sharon were so welcoming and accommodating (we didn’t realise how important this part was going to be at the time!). They worked with us to create our perfect day and were so helpful and supportive throughout.

With only a limited number of weddings each year, we felt really special and that they had a lot of time for us. They were so accommodating with the delays and rearranging due to COVID and we couldn’t have asked for more. The food was incredible and the day went off without a hitch. The camping field was a bonus as it meant we could stay for the whole weekend!

The gorgeous tipis were provided by Tentario, who was fantastic throughout our planning process. They were so supportive and helped us source the additional things we needed to accommodate COVID measures. They were always on the end of the phone for advice and worked with us over about 12 different floorplans as well until it was exactly what we needed!

Your Outfits

Reilly’s suit was a three-piece from Moss Bros. We knew we wanted blue suits, and then worked from there to find something Reilly liked. He’s not a big fan of suits so it was important we found something comfortable that fitted with the theme.

Sarah’s dress was a Rebecca Ingram dress from Go Bridal. I wanted something light and floaty, with an ethereal feel. It was such an amazing moment walking out in the shop with my family and bridesmaids – we knew straight away it was the one! I had a second dress in the evening from Monsoon Bridal, that was looser and didn’t have a train. Perfect for dancing!

The Ceremony & Music

The ceremony was held under the trees in front of the pond. It was a stunning set up, and the sun came out especially for our day! We had written our own vows, which made it so personal. They were funny and truly meaningful; it made the ceremony even more beautiful. After waiting so long for our day to arrive, it was such a rush of emotion and relief to finally be married!

We made Spotify playlists ourselves for the day, breaking it down into different times (‘after ceremony’, ‘dinner’ etc.) to suit the mood we wanted. In the evening, The Compilation played an amazing set for us. Everyone still talks about how great they were! They knew exactly what everyone needed to get up on the dancefloor, even at short notice!

Originally, with the COVID restrictions, we weren’t going to be allowed to dance but, Reilly worked with our venue in secret to allow dancing to go ahead – it was the most incredible surprise for me when everyone came onto the dancefloor after our first dance!

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

The incredible Charlotte Razzell did our photography, and we cannot thank her enough! As soon as we saw her portfolio, we knew we wanted her to shoot our wedding, and this was confirmed when talking to her. She’s the loveliest person and was so helpful throughout the whole process.

The photos speak for themselves but, all our guests, and our venue, mentioned how unobtrusive she was – you didn’t know she was taking photos half the time! She also kept everything running along throughout the drinks reception so we could enjoy ourselves – so much so that we were sat down early for dinner!

The Styling & Decor

We always knew we wanted to do as much of the décor as possible ourselves. We’re both creative and enjoy making things. Fortunately, we had an extra year to get everything done with the COVID delays!

We didn’t have a colour theme as such; we wanted it to look ‘thrown together’ which is always the hardest! We had simple table arrangements with vases of flowers and candles; we didn’t want to detract from the gorgeous flowers or tipis too much. The flowers were done by the incredible Laura at Fern Cottage Floristry. She did an amazing job – the flowers were stunning and I loved my flower crown! It’s made of dried flowers so I’ll be able to keep it.

I made the table numbers, order of the day pallet, games for the tables, and made flavoured gins for the favours. My amazing sister made metres and metres of bunting to go around the tipis, bridge, and ceremony area, and was the ‘creative director’!

Reilly’s cousin did all our stationery and table plan, with floral patterns painted by a friend of ours. Our gorgeous wedding cake was made by a close family friend. My dad made the amazing garden games, which we now use at family BBQs! It made everything feel like ours having all the personalised touches.

The Honeymoon

COVID put pay to our plans to head abroad for our honeymoon, so we decided to take a trip we’ve both always wanted to do and spent two weeks up in Scotland, travelling around the west coast, camping of course! We had the most amazing couple of weeks visiting different places, walking every chance we got. We absolutely loved it and already have plans to go back!

Memorable Moments

We had delayed a year due to COVID, and it was a pretty stressful week in the lead up as the easing of restrictions wasn’t immediate (the announcement about some easing for weddings went out on the Monday and we got married on the Saturday!). We spent a lot of time working out what we could and couldn’t do and making necessary changes.

However, having everyone together after all that time, this being the first big event following the easing of restrictions, meant everything. We saw friends and family we’d not seen in months and months and to see them all together having a great time, laughing and smiling, meant the world.

Advice For Other Couples

Sarah – Don’t sweat the small stuff! Having a year ‘off’ planning when we delayed meant those tiny details didn’t matter as much. Only we would’ve noticed them anyway! Focus on the big picture and enjoying everything about planning!

Reilly – Grooms, don’t be afraid to say, ‘it’s my day too!’.

From both of us – Have the wedding you want. Don’t worry about other people’s opinions, wedding trends (whether you want to follow them, or you don’t!), it’s your day to celebrate who you are as a couple. That’s more important than anything or anyone else. Also, make sure you spend a bit of time just you two during the day to look and see what you’ve created!

Well wasn’t that just so very lovely?

Sarah and Reilly thanks ever so much for kindly sharing your Sussex tipi wedding, what a joy it’s been.