Real Wedding Connor and Beth

Our Mum’s were a bit unsure at first, but on bringing them to one of the Sami Tipi showcases, they like us were completely blown away when they saw the Tipi’s, and knew an outdoor Tipi wedding was exactly for us!

What made you decide on an outdoor Tipi wedding?

We wanted a complete contrast to our Traditional Catholic Wedding Ceremony and a Tipi celebration was the perfect fit for that. We wanted our guests to really enjoy the festivities and didn’t want a formal wedding celebration. Our Mum’s were a bit unsure at first, but on bringing them to one of your showcases, they like us were completely blown away when they saw the Tipi’s, and knew an outdoor Tipi wedding was exactly for us!

How would you describe your ceremony?

We got married at the Annunciation Church in Chesterfield, and with it being a Catholic ceremony it took around an hour, with a string quartet playing throughout which we loved. We hired two double decker buses to then take the guests from the church to Connor’s parents house where the Tipi’s were.

On our guests seeing the Tipi’s, they were totally amazed and some of them still talk about our wedding now. Connor and I used my Mum’s convertible Mini to drive from the church which was amazing, especially with it being a lovely hot day and being able to have the roof down.

How did you feed your guests?

Hopp and Hoof provided a prosecco wall on arrival, and we also had a free standing bath which we filled with beer and ice.

Lemon and Groove provided our food, and they offered flatbreads with lamb koftas and southern fried chicken, gourmet beef burgers and falafel. We didn’t want a formal sit down and strict timings, so people sat where they wanted, inside and outside with a really relaxed vibe, eating, drinking and enjoying the feel of the day.

Jenni and Ice Cream then arrived in her Ice Cream van with the music playing, which the kids absolutely loved and the ice creams went down a real treat with it being warm.

Alpine Pizza then turned up at night, so all the guests had pizza for the evening food.

How would you describe your styling?

We didn’t know where to start with the styling so we used Tara Knott and she was fabulous! From chatting to Tara, she completely understood what I wanted and knew just what we needed to hire. Connor collected everything from Tara and then the bridesmaids helped me set it all out the day before, which we all absolutely loved doing together.

How did you entertain your guests?

Paul Grundell the Magician welcomed our guests on arrival to the Tipi’s and he was incredible, we’ve still got the playing cards he used in the tricks. For the music we had a band called The Distractions, they had someone on the Bongo’s, a Saxophonist and two singers, so completely different to the String Quartet and they made it feel like we were in Ibiza! They had everyone up dancing and they were just wonderful. We then also had the Beige Bay Photo Booth in the evening.

What are your Top Tips for planning a Tipi / Sailcloth wedding?

You’re going to need help and with Sami Tipi you are in the best of the best hands and I’ll happily shout that from the rooftops.

Bring in a wedding day manager, it’s the best investment you will make.

The Sami Tipi Showcases will give you a real feel of how your wedding can look, so attend them, but beforehand agree between you exactly what you want and then go and speak to the suppliers there. They all genuinely care about making your day what you want it to be.

Beth from Sami Tipi is something else…if we’d not had her managing our wedding, the question of would I have been as relaxed as I was, is a question I’ll never ask myself because the answer will 1000% be No! I relied on her for everything and whilst the wedding party knew who she was, none of the guests realised what she was there for. She was like a Swan, making sure everything was on time, organising where we needed to be and when and checking our guests were all okay. We knew from the moment we met Beth, we needed her to manage our day and she was so worth the investment.

With Sami Tipi overall we had a constant stream of communication, they answered my questions and almost knew what my next question would be! They absolutely went above and beyond!