Karen and David’s intimate Garden Wedding, in one Giant Hat Tipi and Chill-Out Tipi complete with live music from the West End Jersey Boys and a Wedding Speech that was sung, bringing tears to the Groom’s eyes.

If you are considering having your own Tipi garden wedding, you are in for a treat, as we share everything Karen and David created for their special day.

What made you decide on an outdoor wedding?

We always loved the idea of getting married at our home and when we went to a Sami Tipi showcase the atmosphere in the tipi was just magical. When Craig completed a site visit to confirm we could have the Tipi in the Garden, it was all systems go. Although we had originally booked one giant hat tipi we soon added on the chill-out tipi. We are so glad we had the extra space as it worked really well with everything we wanted to create with our live music and entertainment.

What did you both wear?

We wanted a casual vibe as the celebration was in our back garden. However, I couldn’t resist wearing a traditional wedding dress still. My dress was ‘Alex’ by Randy Fenoli, I bought it from Tiffany Jordan in Derby.

David wore a designer blazer and polo shirt for the church (no tie!) and a Pretty Green floral shirt for the garden with chinos and loafers.

Tell us about your ceremony

We didn’t want a formal wedding but decided to get married in our local church. When we met with the vicar he said ‘it was our gig’ and we could do whatever we wanted, so we wrote our own vows and decided against any hymns, instead opting for an acoustic duo, with the lyrics on a song sheet for our guests. We choose The Pretenders, Don’t Get Me Wrong, Ben E. King, Stand by Me and Stevie Wonder, Signed Sealed Delivered. We walked down to aisle to 500 Miles. Every time we looked back from the alter our guests were all singing, dancing and laughing, it was like a film set – a very special memory for us.

How did you feed your guests?

We wanted to feed our guests amazing food with a 5* menu. We chose Mark Hadfield and his team. They provided us with canapes and champagne on arrival, a sit-down meal and then in the evening lamb kebabs. When I had a meeting with Jodie she explained how important the catering was going to be to our day. The staff and service Mark Hadfield provided was top class. The Matre D ran our whole day for us, from lighting the candles inside the tipi, topping up the champagne glasses and generally making sure that everything ran smoothly.

How would you describe your styling?

As our vibe was relaxed I wanted everything to be DIY and involve all of the wedding guests.

In terms of the actual styling, I knew I wanted fresh flowers so some friends and I went to flower arranging classes, often involving prosecco at Selinas Flowers on the Strand in Derby. The flowers arrived on the Thursday, and we were initially a little overwhelmed at the scale of the job, with boxes and boxes of flowers, it took the best part of a day to make the bouquets and table arrangements, we put them in a cool room and then a friend put them out on the tables in the tipi on the morning of the wedding. It was very satisfying seeing our creations on display.

How did you get your guests involved?

Instead of gifts we asked each family/guest party to volunteer for a job on the day. The list included making cupcakes, helping to arrange the flowers, building garden games, singing, organising the guest book, and chocolate truffle making. We even had one guest whose job it was to taste and choose the beer (over a period of several nights out)!

The Wedding Speech

With there being an open mic session, I chose to prepare a song dedicated to my new husband!;

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How did you entertain your guests?

Entertainment was our priority and it was the first thing we booked.

We booked Union Avenue and acoustic due for the church and patio during the day.

Instead of speeches, we opted for an open mic session at the end of our sit-down meal, so no one felt the pressure of a formal speech. Any of our guests could volunteer to sing/read a poem/tell a joke, this proved to be a great success with the highlight being a rap from my dad! A local band, The Flames organised and compared this with humour, singing banging tunes to get everyone up on their feet and the party started.

An hour before the DJ, The Jersey Boys performed, we booked them through www.alivenetwork.com. They were originally the singers from the West End show and blew our minds with their talent.

What are your Top Tips for Planning a Tipi wedding?

Do what you want to do, it’s your day.
Book your entertainment early.
If you choose DIY there’s a lot more to organise, however, I really felt that every guest had their own input on our special day.
Listen to Jodie, she has so much wedding experience and gave me some brilliant advice.
A church service does not have to be stuffy, ours was full of joy and laughter.
Arranging your own flowers takes longer than you think.
We weren’t sure what the weather would have in store for us, so my husband bought brightly coloured umbrellas, just in case. As it happened the weather was beautiful, but the umbrellas still made for a great photo shoot and kept the guests in one group on the walk back from the church.

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