Stephen & Nikki’s Festival Wedding: The Bigger, The Bolder, The Better…!
DIY COUNTRYSIDE WEDDING
If you grow up in Pilton, the home of Glastonbury festival then having a mini festival style wedding is an obvious choice! Bride Tasmin has been to Glastonbury every year since she was born and groom Jim went every year since he was 13! It’s also where the two of them met! (SWOON!) Check out how this couple paired their love for festivals with a relaxed DIY vibe and prepare to fall in love…
“We’re not religious but we struggled to find a venue for the ceremony that had the beauty of a church, but was within our budget. We were so lucky to find the registry office in Yeovil, Somerset which had just moved to the most beautiful medieval barn.” Said bride, Tasmin.
“For the reception we had a marquee in a beautiful field in Pilton, Somerset. We were extremely lucky – the field was lent to us by a friend and the marquee was hired from a local company recommended by a friend.”
“We both loved the idea of a mini festival style wedding in a field with camping, rather than all the formality, restrictions and stress of hiring a venue. Our vision was a lively, relaxed party with a festival vibe and that’s exactly what we got! I grew up in Pilton (home of the Glastonbury festival) and Jim grew up a couple of miles away. I’ve been to Glastonbury every year since I was born and Jim has been going since he was 13. It’s also where we met, so it’s a really special place for us!”
“We wanted a relaxed, festival vibe without any of the usual formalities and restrictions that can make weddings less enjoyable. We didn’t want our guests to feel like they were forced to do anything so we did have some speeches, but we kept them short and as we had 23 children running around and several dogs it meant it was chaotic, but in a good way. The food was informal and we did away with the usual sit down meal in favour of each table sharing a picnic hamper which made it much more communal and was great way to break the ice.”
“We had a very small budget and we weren’t afraid to pull in favours from fiends and negotiate or barter where we could. We also cut out the things that we found unnecessary ie wedding favours, chair covers, hiring wedding cars. My dress was brand new, but on eBay for £125 (£650 new) and our bridesmaids and groomsmen all bought their own outfits – when you have 11 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen, this is a huge money saver! Also our parents were very generous and I designed some websites in exchange services for our suppliers (vintage decorations, crockery, cutlery etc., wedding cake, rings, flowers, sound & lighting,).”
“We had lots of DIY elements and our amazing creative friends all helped out massively with setting up, lending us bunting, making decorations etc and our amazing creative friends all helped out massively with setting up, lending us bunting, making decorations etc.”
“We designed and made our own save the dates which were simple recycled luggage tags with the details of our wedding website. This kept postage, printing and paper costs down as well as being eco friendly. Luckily I’m a web designer so it made more sense to have all the information online, you can see it here!”
“We also did our own catering; The canapes were made by my mum and friends as well as some mini Glastonbury pasties made by a local bakery ands served by the bridesmaids. Followed by a ploughman’s lunch in a communal style, so each table had a hamper to share. To fit in with the laid back, relaxed vibe we decided on picnic style food; ham, cheese, bread and salad, all sourced from suppliers within a couple of miles of our home, plus chutneys made by Jims mum and quiches and scotch eggs made by friends. It meant that each table had to get involved with cutting the food i.e. slicing bread etc. and helped everyone get to know each other. On the back of the great feedback we received, I have now started my own wedding catering company The Wild Picnic Company”
“We also made our own ‘Tamsin & Jim’s Damson Gin’ and each table had a bottle, which were polished off pretty sharpish and definitely helped with the atmosphere! We also ran our own bar, which not only saved us loads of money, but we actually made money on the bar.”
“Planning was really down to me, but I love planning and I had a spreadsheet for everything! I also wasn’t afraid to ask for help as we were lucky to have lots of talented friends, so we were able to use their services.”
“I had 11 bridesmaids and Jim had 9 groomsmen so we had a great pool of talent. The cake, rings and evening hog roast were all provided by friends at cost. Elements of the wedding breakfast were supplied by the guests as well as our yurt for the night. Our friends made a huge oak archway over the entrance to the field from old reclaimed barn beams (now made into shelves and a bench at our house). This was decorated with a gorgeous fabrics and light up LOVE letters. We had 100s of metres of beautiful handmade bunting made by our friends. Our friend Victoria also made over 500 paper origami birds which we strung up on cotton and decorated the back of the marquee which looked amazing.”
“I started planning as soon as we got engaged (11 months before), but we’d been to so many weddings and discussed what we did and didn’t like about them that it all naturally fell into place and it was pretty a stress free experience.”
“We did away with the usual timetable and rituals including a first dance, cutting the cake and throwing the bouquet, so this meant people were free to wander around and added to the relaxed vibe. We had a general plan, but no specific timings except the ceremony so it made the day flow more naturally.”
“My main tip is to think of the weddings you’ve been to in the past. What did you enjoy/made a lasting impression and what do you not really remember? Then make a list of priorities – ours were for us and our guests to feel relaxed on the day with good, simple food and lots of wine. Then cut out the things that don’t matter – i.e do you need real champagne or is cava or prosecco just as good? The only thing I would say you need to spend money on is a photographer because we’ve had friends who cut corners or used friends to take photos and really regretted it. We are so happy that we did as we love all our photos and she was absolutely amazing on the day, really helpful, completely unobtrusive and captured some great images.”
Photography: Liberty Pearl Photography // Food (bride) – The Wild Picnic Company // Website/invites (bride) – Digital Carrot // Flowers – Organic Blooms // Hog Roast – Unusual Pie Company // Vintage props & light up letters – Lighthaus events // Crockery and Vintage props – Eclectic Bliss // Face painters – The fash pack // Nails & Makeup – Angel-Oh // Rings – Alice Barratt //
