There's nothing I like more than a marquee wedding, except from when the marquee's a tipi!! They've been a huge trend this summer, and I reckon it's one to watch for 2014 as well. What I love about Glen and Teri's tipi wedding is their pretty rustic details. Burlap and lace decorations work perfectly together, and are super-easy to DIY. Teri and her family created many of my favourite details, including the lace-wrapped jam-jars and white painted baked bean vases, plus the hand-stencilled scrap-wood table names. When it came to cakes, Glen and Teri couldn't choose between a cheese cake and a normal wedding cake, so they had both - again DIY'd by relatives. Even the favours were handmade by Glen's mum! Enjoy the gorgeous pictures by James Grist Photography, and be sure to read Teri's answers to the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire - there's tonnes more top tips for future brides between the lines!
Our special day was Saturday 3rd August. We hosted our ceremony at Ratsbury Barn in Tenterden, Kent, and our reception was held in tipis on a friend's farm.
We always knew we wanted our wedding reception to be held on our friend's farm and the tipis fitted perfectly with the setting - we absolutely loved them. Our love of the outdoors was the theme for our wedding and so we chose to have very rustic, natural decor.
DIY was top of my list as we wanted the day to have a rustic hand-made feel to it. My dad was a big help in this department and made all of the signs and the boxes that the wedding cakes sat on.
I made all sorts of things, from jute cones that were filled with flowers and hung on the chairs at the ceremony, to the table decorations that were made from painted baked bean tins, and table signs that were made from my mum's old garden fence!
Handmade was a definite theme for the day. It took hours to make everything but we had lots of compliments on how it all looked on the day - so hours well spent, I think!
Favours were a simple decision for us. Glen's mum loves to make flavoured vodkas so she kindly offered to make enough for everyone to have a small shot as their favour. It set the evening off to a merry start.
Our florist, Lucy, was amazing. She came over to discuss the ideas we had and immediately got the rustic theme, and the look we wanted. The flowers were an antique / dusky pink colour, and were the last thing that we added to decorate the tables, and they really set the whole thing off.
Planning the big day was made a lot easier by the support of our family and friends. 'Many hands make light work!'
The cakes were something we debated over for a while. We loved the idea of a stack of cheeses for a wedding cake but also liked the idea of a normal cake - we decided to go for both!
The cheese cake stack was made by Glen's auntie, who also had the cute mice knitted especially for the top - loved them!
Glen's mum, Barbara, made the three wedding cakes - chocolate, lemon and a walnut cake. We spoke about the kind of simple theme we were going for and she designed the rest.
Our wedding photographer was James Grist. He was an easy decision, as he'd photographed my sister's wedding two years ago and we were hugely impressed. We wanted our photographs to be natural, capturing everyone in their normal light, and James was so professional and attentive to our requests.
On our day, James made everyone feel so relaxed and at ease that we often forgot we were being photographed, and thought of him as one of our guests. He even drove my nan and sister to the ceremony! James managed to capture the whole day perfectly and we are really pleased with our wedding pictures.
We kept our wedding stationery simple. We actually did a web-site invite. This saved us pennies and also eliminated the hassle of waiting for everyone to reply - an email is much quicker.
My advice to future brides - rake a moment on your special day to take a step back together and just watch what everyone is doing - you won't forget what you see. Remember to dance! Time goes so quickly, and you might spend most of the evening trying to make sure you have spoken to everyone, rather than having fun yourself. Finally, choose a photographer you feel at ease with. How comfortable you feel will show in your photographs, and you will be keeping those forever.
Love Before the Big Day? Please vote for me in the Wedding Blog Awards! And why not sign up to our free newsletter, for exclusive content and special offers! Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
Our special day was Saturday 3rd August. We hosted our ceremony at Ratsbury Barn in Tenterden, Kent, and our reception was held in tipis on a friend's farm.
We always knew we wanted our wedding reception to be held on our friend's farm and the tipis fitted perfectly with the setting - we absolutely loved them. Our love of the outdoors was the theme for our wedding and so we chose to have very rustic, natural decor.
DIY was top of my list as we wanted the day to have a rustic hand-made feel to it. My dad was a big help in this department and made all of the signs and the boxes that the wedding cakes sat on.
I made all sorts of things, from jute cones that were filled with flowers and hung on the chairs at the ceremony, to the table decorations that were made from painted baked bean tins, and table signs that were made from my mum's old garden fence!
Handmade was a definite theme for the day. It took hours to make everything but we had lots of compliments on how it all looked on the day - so hours well spent, I think!
Favours were a simple decision for us. Glen's mum loves to make flavoured vodkas so she kindly offered to make enough for everyone to have a small shot as their favour. It set the evening off to a merry start.
Our florist, Lucy, was amazing. She came over to discuss the ideas we had and immediately got the rustic theme, and the look we wanted. The flowers were an antique / dusky pink colour, and were the last thing that we added to decorate the tables, and they really set the whole thing off.
Planning the big day was made a lot easier by the support of our family and friends. 'Many hands make light work!'
The cakes were something we debated over for a while. We loved the idea of a stack of cheeses for a wedding cake but also liked the idea of a normal cake - we decided to go for both!
The cheese cake stack was made by Glen's auntie, who also had the cute mice knitted especially for the top - loved them!
Glen's mum, Barbara, made the three wedding cakes - chocolate, lemon and a walnut cake. We spoke about the kind of simple theme we were going for and she designed the rest.
Our wedding photographer was James Grist. He was an easy decision, as he'd photographed my sister's wedding two years ago and we were hugely impressed. We wanted our photographs to be natural, capturing everyone in their normal light, and James was so professional and attentive to our requests.
On our day, James made everyone feel so relaxed and at ease that we often forgot we were being photographed, and thought of him as one of our guests. He even drove my nan and sister to the ceremony! James managed to capture the whole day perfectly and we are really pleased with our wedding pictures.
We kept our wedding stationery simple. We actually did a web-site invite. This saved us pennies and also eliminated the hassle of waiting for everyone to reply - an email is much quicker.
My advice to future brides - rake a moment on your special day to take a step back together and just watch what everyone is doing - you won't forget what you see. Remember to dance! Time goes so quickly, and you might spend most of the evening trying to make sure you have spoken to everyone, rather than having fun yourself. Finally, choose a photographer you feel at ease with. How comfortable you feel will show in your photographs, and you will be keeping those forever.
Love Before the Big Day? Please vote for me in the Wedding Blog Awards! And why not sign up to our free newsletter, for exclusive content and special offers! Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
