Vic & Dan

I love this rustic, tipi for many reasons. For starters it was truly a DIY affair, with family and friends helping out with flowers and food (so much food in fact that Vic and Dan were eating wedding buffet for weeks). Vic also has several changes of outfit - including TWO capes. Yes TWO CAPES. And all for under £400. She's clearly a bargain hunting queen as both of her dresses were purchased second hand - what absolute finds. The whole wedding looks like a party from start to finish, which is exactly what the couple were aiming for with their version of WedFest. There's some spectacular flowers, the Bridesmaids look SO cool and just wait until you see the serious shape throwing on the dance floor. Enjoy this one lovelies, it was clearly THE festival to be at last summer...

The Bride

Vic The Bride: I ended up with 3 dresses but spent less than £400! Two from eBay by Needle & Thread – I changed into one in the evening & wore it with a feather cape from Biba, the other I wore in the evening in Edinburgh. I wasn’t planning on a “bridal gown” but tried a Caroline Parkes silk number on by accident whilst mooching in the charity shops of Stockbridge & fell in love with it! I knew I wanted a cape veil of some sort (I clearly have a thing about capes!) and had the idea of deconstructing the top part of the dress, lace cap sleeves and back as it was a bit stretched, and making it into a collar to attach silk tulle to – it was a labour of love and I was making it in secret too (Dan thought I’d be wearing a white linen dress I’d seen in Mango!) each time I visited Mum over the months leading up it evolved – I just love the finished thing though – it was totally worth it! I also treated myself to a sample swarovski crystal & organza headpiece I’d seen by Feather & Coal whilst working at Most Curious Wedding Fair.

The Groom

Dan got his suit from Marc Darcy. Then had it tailored to fit all 6ft 7 of him by a wonderful man called Stuart in Nottingham - he made Paul Smith’s first sample suits, he also made a bespoke extra long shirt for Dan which was a special treat from me.

The Venue

WedFest was part 2 of our celebrations after getting married in Edinburgh (Wedinburgh!) Ever since my Dad and Stepmum moved to their house in Nottinghamshire I said that if I was ever to get married, I wanted it to be in their garden. As my Mum lives up in Edinburgh we also wanted to do something up there too! Three amazing teepees from Buster Marquees were squeezed perfectly in to the field behind the old oak tree. Having WedFest meant that we could have grandparents and lots more friends and family there to celebrate with us, and we could get all dressed up again!

The Decor

My background is in art & design and I’ve always had an individual, eclectic style – I love glitter & shiny things, stars, old things (I was collecting vintage before it was cool) bottles, jars, plants and flowers, candles, feathers, disco balls, fairy lights-everything sparkly! I wanted to do everything myself & used pieces from home together with objects I’d collected and made. My favourite colours are muted & metallic with pops of colours like mustard & coral, I love textures and sequins etc. – it was a chance to put together all of my favourite things!!

The Flowers

We were incredibly lucky that my Mum’s friend Marion was growing the flowers for her daughters’ wedding in August & the “Café Au Lait” Dahlias (my absolute favourites) weren’t quite ready for her, but fortunately for me they were just reaching perfection when we cut them! We filled the car boot with buckets of amazing blooms the evening before. My Maid of Honour, Michelle brought Hydrangeas and foliage from her front garden then went on a forage around my Dad’s garden too – we ended up with an abundance of the most beautiful blooms which we styled into gorgeous mis-matched bouquets – I went big with mine! I added feathers to the bouquets and stems in bottles and jars on the tables. They looked stunning!

The Wedding Party

My Tribesmaids wore handmade crowns I bought from Flash Floozy. Their dresses they chose & bought themselves – I didn’t get too involved as I liked the idea of it being a surprise seeing them all together - they looked incredible, I loved that the dresses reflected their own personal style too. I put together an outfit for Alex, Dan’s little boy – all from eBay & he still wears it all the time!

The Ceremony

I asked my Mum walk me up the garden & my Dad to walk down the aisle we’d made to underneath the oak tree. My little brother, Sam did a grand job of Master of Ceremonies. We wrote our own ceremony & vows, typed up the whole thing but didn’t actually rehearse it! I think it added to the whole relaxed feel of the day though – bottles of fizz from Saumur (our first holiday together) were popped open by during the proceedings which everyone enjoyed – a lot! My brother Dave read “Union” which is one of my favourites and Claire, one of my Tribesmaids welcomed and thanked everyone for coming on our behalf. We went straight into speeches – they were incredible – everyone laughed hysterically….and cried – I was an absolute mess by the end!

The Entertainment

My Dad got his guitar & microphone out in the afternoon & sang The “Twine Song” from my childhood (don’t ask!) and we had a Spotify playlist of absolute tunes that ended up 24 hours long – by 2am we were back on the microphone attempting to rap, sing & MC...it was epic!

The Food

Everyone bought sweet & savoury dishes and stuff to chuck on the BBQ – we ended up with soooooo much delicious food that we were eating for a whole week after! We had two cakes! A stacked cheese cake from The Courtyard Dairy (which Uncle John hilariously tucked into before we cut it!) & a delicious Lemon Poppyseed cake with gold-leaf was made by my talented friend Zoe.

The Photography

I met our photographer Alex Tenters at a wedding fair & instantly warmed to him, he photographed my Tribesmaid Nat’s wedding brilliantly - he is simply awesome, so talented & creative and become part of the day – he whipped us off for a few quick portrait shots and captured all the brilliant moments of the day including the dancefloor action – legend!

Advice

Enjoy EVERY moment – the day goes sooooo quickly & we did it twice! Do not sweat the small stuff & spend time alone with each other – even if it’s just 5 minutes to reflect on the day.