A Colourful Tipi Garden Wedding
What if your dream wedding doesn’t fit the traditional mould of a country house, a Georgian Manor, or a hotel with everything neatly packaged up for you?
What if you'd rather get married at home, surrounded by the people you love, eat tapas, have your dog as your ring bearer, dance your way through the garden and finish the evening with pizza from your favourite local restaurant?
Well… you absolutely can.
One of my favourite things about planning outdoor weddings is showing couples just how much freedom they have when they choose a blank canvas. And Ellie and Conor’s wedding is the perfect example of why you don't need a traditional wedding venue to create an incredible wedding day.
Ellie and Conor held their wedding at Conor’s family home, creating a celebration that felt incredibly personal from the moment their guests arrived. Two tipis transformed the garden with one becoming the ceremony space and the other providing the space for the wedding breakfast and evening reception.
Without being confined to a traditional wedding venue layout, using a tipi you can create something that feels completely different from a conventional wedding.
Even the ceremony was anything but traditional. Ellie and Conor’s dog took on one of the most important jobs of the day as their ring bearer, which was of course, incredibly special. And rather than having a traditional celebrant conduct the ceremony, Conor’s relative did the honours.
These personal touches are exactly what I love about outdoor weddings: there was no need to follow a prescribed format. The ceremony was about the couple, their relationship and the people who mattered most to them. And yes, there was a dog involved which is always a bonus.
The drinks reception had guests playing mini golf, entering the first dance lottery and helping themselves to pints of Guinness at the bar and beers from a bucket.
The styling was vibrant, colourful and full of personality, with a bold pink and orange colour palette running throughout the day. And forget the formalities! There was no formal three-course meal, no expectation for everyone to sit quietly through a traditional wedding breakfast and no rigid structure. Ellie and Conor opted for a relaxed tapas style wedding breakfast instead.
The tapas created a much more informal atmosphere, encouraging guests to chat, share food and enjoy themselves. And of course, guests were swinging their napkins to welcome in the bride and groom!
Music played a huge part in this wedding, helping to create the relaxed, party atmosphere. A saxophonist kept guest dancing during the drinks reception, while during the wedding breakfast, a live singer kept the atmosphere going.
But the biggest musical surprise was still to come… Ellie secretly booked singing waiters!
What started as part of the wedding breakfast quickly turned into a full-on party, with guests getting up from their tables and dancing and even a conga line making its way through the garden.
Because apparently a singing waiter-led conga line wasn't enough entertainment for one afternoon. After the wedding breakfast, Conor organised a scavenger hunt, with one guest representing each table.
It was another brilliant way of getting everyone involved and creating something that felt personal and completely different from a traditional wedding timeline.
And that's the thing about planning your own outdoor wedding: you get to decide what happens and when.
For entertainment, there was a horsebox photobooth, giving guests another way to have fun and capture memories throughout the evening along with the DJ keeping everyone on the dancefloor all night.
Your Wedding, Your Rules
This wedding is such a brilliant example of why I love planning outdoor celebrations.
It wasn't a wedding designed to fit a venue: it was a wedding designed to fit the couple. And that, to me, is the magic of an outdoor wedding.
I love taking a blank canvas and working with couples to create something completely unique, while taking care of all the practical details behind the scenes that make an outdoor wedding actually work.
Because your wedding doesn't have to look like anyone else's.
It just needs to feel like yours.
Ready to plan? Let’s talk!
Photography: Alex Bradbury | Tipis: Kata Chiefs | Catering: Kemp and Kemp | Videography: Tony Hailstone | Bar: Thirst and Thistle | Daytime Singer: Liv Birch | Saxophonist: Shagzy Music | Photobooth: Hoof Booth | DJ: Mark Chater
