Gorgeous Countryside Village Tipi Wedding

Today’s real wedding feature is just heavenly, think countryside village location and buckets of sunshine. WWW followers Phill and Becky were hitched on the 22^nd June 2019 with a church ceremony and a tipi wedding reception followed in beautiful Somerset. They envisioned a day which was personal, DIY and relaxed yet with a touch of formality. A festival feel ensued thanks to the tipis and the live music courtesy of WWW Supplier Love members Bands For Hire.

Phill and Becky really achieved a bespoke wedding thanks to their handmade décor, which was ever so lovely. Greenery was used throughout the tipis for a real outdoors in feel, alongside stylish stationery and cool lighting. One of the touches I love the most has to be the wooden ladder adorned with flowers, not to mention the fun wooden signage and foliage archway too. Gorgeous!

Becky’s gown by Morilee by Madeline Gardner was just stunning and her hair was worn in waves, Phill chose a blue slim fit suit teamed with tan shoes and I think they both looked really wonderful. Huge thanks goes to Ryan Goold Photography for sharing with us these joy filled and really special images.

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The Proposal

We got engaged on the 6^th May 2018 on the Isle of Skye as part of our campervan tour of the west coast of Scotland. Phill and his brother Tim had hand carved a heart out of wood to hold the ring prior to the trip. Me completely unaware. Phill then snuck this into the campervan on day one of the trip. Me thinking it was part of the furniture of the van hung it on the rear view mirror of the van where it stayed for the first four days of the trip, swinging in front of us as we cruised along through the beautiful sights of west coast Scotland. On a stormy night, pitched up on the beach with a glass of bubbly in hand and a chilli con carne on the stove, Phill took his chance cracking open the wooden heart and dropped down on one knee. How could I say no. I couldn’t have pictured a more romantic proposal.

The Vision

After renovating our house together over the past 2 years we were both keen for a DIY style wedding and to make it as personal as possible. We both have strong ties with the south west of England and we were both keen to have the wedding close to Bath where we both grew up. We wanted our wedding to be a celebration of our love with our closest friends and family, with a massive after party to celebrate. The Church service needed to be personal and inclusive and the tipi relaxed but still with a hint of formality as we wanted it to clearly be a wedding and not just another village marquee event. We were keen to have guests stay nearby and a festival theme to the day.

The Planning Process

We looked at lots of local venues around Bath and Bristol however despite the beautiful settings and packages they offered none of them were quite what we had pictured for ourselves. We then met Simon from Buffalo tipis, a local company to Bath that provide beautiful Nordic tipis for all events. Simon brought our wedding vision to life and we decided on tipis in the village of North Stoke (Phill’s childhood home) for our wedding. Tipis booked, field borrowed from a neighbour in the village, the planning began.

The local village church was the perfect setting for the ceremony and Nigel our vicar was on hand to help with all the finer details.

We looked at numerous catering companies and finally settled on a package with Will Corke of Green Farm Events. We met Will at a open day Simon held for the tipis (a very productive planning day meeting suppliers) he created the perfect menu for us, canapés, bread and oils, a plated main course and yummy desert, he even helped us to cut and serve the cake and set up the evening food (a buffet we had prepared ourselves with family and friends pitching in – a real team effort). Green Farm Events also provided us with a generator and power for the whole event, they work closely with Simon from Buffalo Tipi and therefore the stress was taken out of organising the set up the week before the wedding as they worked harmoniously to ensure everything was ready for the big day.

We booked Narelle from the Roaming Caravan (a supplier we also met at the tipi open day!) to serve our welcome drinks and man the bar in the evening, she brought her caravan bar which was a lovely feature in the field and a great talking point amongst guests. Narelle was a dream to work with a very relaxed manner she was always on hand throughout the day for anything we needed.

Planning a wedding in a field, we hadn’t made it easy for ourselves and every detail needed to be thought off including toilets (which we sourced from the lovely Chris at Tor Luxury Toilet Hire)! And if we hadn’t put enough pressure on ourselves we decided to provide onsite accommodation as an option for our guests. We enlisted the help of Anji at the tipi hire company to provide bell tents for our guests which were set up the week leading up to the wedding. Anji took the stress out of the booking for us and we provided guests with a link on the invitation to book and then they dealt with her directly. She regularly updated us on the bookings which was useful to be able to organise the field and where the bell tents would be located.

We booked our photographer Ryan through a recommendation by Phill’s brother Tim. From the first moment we met Ryan and saw his pictures we knew we’d picked the right person, his calm manner and beautiful photography skills captured the day perfectly.

The evening entertainment we didn’t book until closer to the day which we realised should have been one of the first things we booked! As bands get booked years ahead! However after lots of research and enquiries later we found our band Brothers in Arms they made the night, we had so many amazing compliments from our guests and would definitely recommend them for any event!

The finer details hair, make up, dresses and suits came later and through lots of research both online and through recommendations.

Budget

£20k

The Venue

Both having grown up in Bath, we decided to have a Tipi style wedding in the village Phill grew up in, with the ceremony being held in the village church St Martins, North Stoke.

Beauty

Hair – Nicole and Faye (@nicoleee_allen and @faye_beee)

Make up –Kathryn Braunton – Powder and Paint @powderandpaintbristol

Your Outfits & Accessories

Becky’s dress – Morilee by Madeline Gardner/Blu Style 5681/Leonita (from All About Eve)

Becky’s veil – something borrowed from mother of the bride

Hair accessories (hair slide) – Lovisa

Phill’s Suit – Slaters – One Six Five Blue Slim Fit Suit

Phill’s waistcoat – Next tailoring

Phill’s shoes – Next

Phill ties/pocket squares – Tieplanet

The Readings & Music

Walk down the aisle – Sea of Love – Cat Power

Hymns – Jerusalem, Make me a channel of your peace, How great thou art, guide me O thou great redeemer

Readings – Colossians 3 12-17

Signing the register – Make you feel my love (sang by brides sister – Sarah) We’ve only just begun (sang by brides sister – Sarah)

Walk out of church – You make my dreams come true – Hall & Oates

Your Photographer

Ryan Goold Photography (@ryangooldphotography)

Your Filmmaker

Phill’s cousin and brother filmed the first dance, ceremony and speeches with some additional drone and b role footage currently being edited.

Bridesmaids

Victoria Lou multiway dresses colours flint, taupe, fossil- (@victorialoubridal)

Earrings – Lovisa

Hair – (@nicoleee_allen and @faye_beee)

Make up –Kathryn Braunton – Powder and Paint @powderandpaintbristol

Groomsmen

Suits – One Six Five – Slaters (3 piece blue slim fit suit)

Ties and Pocket squares – Tieplanet

The Flowers

Flowers sourced from (Brunel flowers at Bristol flower market)

Foilage sourced from father of bride (gardener)

The Cake

3 tier semi naked cake – Victoria sponge and lemon drizzle – Em Rose Cakes (@emrosecakes)

The Details & Décor

All the details signage, table decorations, outdoor furniture, hay bales, outdoor games, lighting, bunting was sourced ourselves and with help of family and friends. A list of suppliers is listed below.

The Honeymoon

We went to Glastonbury as a mini moon the week following the wedding, Phill also turned 30 on the Saturday of the festival! We had a fantastic time at what was one of the hottest weekends of the year so far! We are now planning a travelling honeymoon for 3months – September to Christmas touring Kenya, Tanzania, Dubai, East coast of Australia, Philippines and Sri Lanka with our wedding money our generous guests gifted us.

Memorable Moments

Towards the end of the night Phill gave the reception a rendition of Robbie Williams ‘Angels’ which went down a storm – definitely a highlight!

Advice For Other Couples

If you want to plan every little detail of your big day a tipi wedding could be the perfect choice, you get complete freedom, choosing your own suppliers and designing every element. But ensure you allow yourself plenty of planning time especially during the build up! Make sure you have someone on the big day you can hand over the responsibility too so you can enjoy the day without worrying about the finer details leave that to someone else! At a venue often they supply you with a master of ceremonies but for a tipi wedding this is rarely the case therefore this could be the most important role to give someone and key in making sure your big day is perfect!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Just incredible.

Phill and Becky, thank you both so very much for sharing your utterly divine wedding with us xo Lou