Colourful, Quirky and Fun Festival Wedding

Morning lovely people! We hope you are all well. We have a fabulous wedding to share with you all today, captured to perfection by James Richard Photography and full to the brim of happy vibes, vibrant colours and festival inspired decor, stationery and entertainment. It is the perfect match to the beautiful sunshine we are seeing today and we have been really looking forward to sharing it with you.

Bright colours and a festival inspired theme always works so well together and Amy and Andrew’s wedding is a brilliant example of why. We just love the combination of colours they have used throughout each and every element of their day – from their handmade ribbon chandeliers to the bright buttons and bow that ties up Amy’s dress – it all looks so vibrant and adds to the fun atmosphere they clearly created for all of their guests. What makes their decor even more special, is pretty much all of it was provided by themselves or family and friends. This was important to Amy and Andrew – they wanted their wedding to be unique and personal to them and a reflection on both their personalities and their creative talent.

If you are planning a DIY wedding and you are looking for ideas on how to personalise certain elements of your day, then this is the wedding for you! Amy and Andrew offer some great ideas that are cost effective and look great. Ideas such as purchasing their garden games in the end of season sale from the year before (you still have time 2021 couples!)

Look out for the ice cream truck that offered unlimited ice cream all day. Yes – all day!! And the way they involved their guests in the design of their stationery which is so very lovely and something I would most definitely steal if I was getting married!!

Amy and Andrew talk us through their gorgeous wedding.

Snow, A New House and One Knee…

We had bought our first house the week before. It was snowing and we were going over to the house to do some more decorating, or so I thought! Andrew ran upstairs and told me to follow him in a minute. I was irritated as he trod snow up our new carpet staircase but when I got to the top of the stairs, he was down on one knee in our new master bedroom surrounded by dust sheets and step ladders. It took my breath away and definitely made the decorating more enjoyable!

Wristbands, Tickets and Lanyards…

Luckily, Andrew is a graphic designer and took over the production of all of our stationery. Our main idea was that of a festival so our Save the dates were created on wristbands which we gave out at our engagement party. This was then followed up with ticket style invitations with the RSVP being the tear off stub at the end and a flyer with all the extra details. These kind of details were such fun to make together and really added our spin to the occasion. We made lanyards for every guest with their name, their spirit animal (which was on the RSVP) running order etc all on a lanyard of their favourite colour. All of these personal touches took a lot of time to make but really added to the fun. All the guests walking around wearing lanyards encouraged everyone to get into the spirit straight away. Andrew also designed our orders of service which our ushers gave out as people were entering the ceremony tent. The same font and colour scheme was used throughout all of it which really added to the branding of the whole event. I really loved our stationery – especially as Andrew made it all.

A Venue That Ticked All The Boxes…

Our wedding was held at Tournerbury Woods Estate, Hayling Island. We knew we wanted to be outdoors, with trees and woodland, be able to camp ideally and also be wheelchair accessible. With nearly 200 people on our guest list, we were too large for many venues but this one ticked all our boxes, as well as offering the bonus of being by the seaside which is our happy place. It was the first and only venue we saw and it was a done deal!

We had camping and there is a permanent marquee on the site which was just perfect – we could make it exactly how we wanted.

Fun and Bright Colours…

The inspiration behind our ideas was fun and bright colours! We knew we weren’t going to be having a conventional wedding and we just wanted it to be fun, colourful and us. A rainbow, bright colours and the outdoors were the key inspiration to our wedding.

A Short & Fun Tea Dress…

I knew I wanted a shorter dress so I could run about, dance the night away and be free. I’m a curvier girl, so I needed it to be flattering and help me feel my best on the day. I went to Fairy Gothmother in London where she had some incredible dresses. The one I chose is by Loulou Bridal (Lillie-r Ivory Brocade Tea Dress) and was in the sale! I fell in love with it and it had pockets! When I swirled round it lifted up and that was just too fun to not have. I liked the elegance of the jacquard fabric whilst being short and fun. I had it altered to be even more colourful by Kerry at Very Me, who put colourful buttons all down the back and a huge bow. It was just perfect. I bought a short veil from JJ’s House to add to the drama. As soon as I put a veil on, it felt so real.

Converse and Opal…

For my shoes I got married in a pair of cobalt blue Mary Janes, but as soon as the ceremony was over I was straight into a pair of purple Converse, to match my husband’s orange converse. The whole wedding party were in trainers – it was just more us.

For my jewellery, I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, so my mum very kindly commissioned a local jeweller to craft a large opal pendant to wear on the day. I know opals are bad luck – but this didn’t stop us. I coupled this with some beautiful drop opal earrings which complimented the necklace perfectly.

Twisted, Plaited and Curled…

Faye Carter did my hair on the day in a lovely twisted, plaited and curled up do to keep my hair off my neck and face. I really wanted it to be up and away and it stayed all day, even after a day and night of dancing!

Faye also did my make up. I was keen for this to be really natural and light as I don’t wear a lot of make up anyway. She did a great job and we also hired her to stay for the day and run a glitter bar for our guests. Having this was lovely as I was able to have my make up professionally touched up throughout the day.

A Relaxed Groom Style…

Following on with the relaxed vibe of our wedding, Andrew wore a pair of chinos, a white linen shirt and a waistcoat from Debenhams. We just wanted it to be colourful and its orange silk back just fitted the bill perfectly.

A Ceremony Full of Colour…

Our ceremony was in a stretch tent to keep us all in the shade in the August sun. We hand made all of the decorations which made it really personal. We had colourful ribbons blowing in the wind on all edges which added great movement. We tied artificial flowers and ribbons to the chairs on the edges and had a huge rainbow ribbon curtain as the back drop to the ceremony area. As I walked in with my parents, I loved how colourful it all was. My entry music was Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, we signed the register to Come What May from Moulin Rouge and Walking a Tightrope from The Greatest Showman. Our readings were I Choose You, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton. Our exit music was For Once in My Life by Stevie Wonder.

Fun, Enthusiastic and a Real Pleasure….

Where do we start with our photographer?! We knew from the moment we saw his work that we needed him to capture our day. James Richard was so fun, enthusiastic and keen to give us the exact vision we wanted. Having him at the wedding was a real pleasure as he just fitted in as one of the guests. He went down a storm with all our guests and this was even before anyone had seen his stunning photography. He listened so well to what we wanted and captured some really perfect shots. He managed to capture moments which we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. He uses light beautifully and really got a sense of what our wedding was about which was colour and fun. We couldn’t recommend him highly enough and will be using him for any of our future needs. We hope he can work his magic on family portraits in the future.

DIY Ribbon Chandeliers and Unlimited Ice Cream…

The venue looks stunning as it is as it is a manicured lawn, large trees and the sea in the background, but we wanted it to be bright and colourful. We hung streamers and paper lanterns everywhere to tie all the different areas together. Straight after the ceremony and the confetti tunnel (which went on for ages!) we had a drinks reception by the sea with an ice cream van from Fat Sam’s Ice Creams. We bought everyone a mason jar with their name on it and then had cans of cider and beer for the drinks. This really fed into the festival feel and got everyone involved. Unlimited ice cream on a summer’s day was a godsend. In the marquee we made some homemade ribbon chandeliers using hula hoops and lots of ribbons. We definitely put the hot glue gun to work. We hired some gorgeous candelabras which were on each table with bright candles in them and glass vases filled with orbeez. One of my gorgeous friends did some fresh flower arrangements in glass vases as well to make it a bit more lively. It looked fun, colourful and very us which is what we wanted.

Garden Games, A Glitter Bar and Face Painting…

The nature of our day meant that everyone was outside for most of the day/evening so we had a variety of garden games which people got really into. We had limbo, giant darts, catching games and diablos etc. Most of these were bought online or from Sainsbury’s in the sale after the previous summer. We had a glitter bar and also face painting to help everyone get in the spirit. We hired Funky Faces by Tina to do our face painting and this went down a storm! She worked so hard and created some incredible looks on everyone. There was a constant queue – we definitely should have hired more than one artist as she was worked off her feet but did an amazing job! We also had a photo booth in the marquee which provided not only great giggles, but fab immediate photos. We were able to look through these before we had our official photographs back and it was a lovely alternative way to remember the wedding – loved by kids and big kids alike! Photo booths mixed with face paints created some incredible images.

A Faux Flower Bouquet…

I have always hated seeing dead flowers at the end of a wedding and seeing their life drop away. As soon as we started planning the wedding, I had my heart set on a HUGE colourful bow with a variety of colours as I had seen on Pinterest. At a wedding fair at Robert Denholm House, I met Emily from Faux Bloom Designs and showed her my inspiration bouquet and she said she could do it. I loved my bouquet as it was so vibrant and big. The mix of flowers wouldn’t have been possible if they were real and I have them at home and can see them every day. It’s a lovely memento. We also did this for the button holes and thank you bouquets so they would last forever. We hired the candelabras from Faux Bloom too as they have a fabulous selection of styling accessories as well. We had some fresh flowers from a lovely flower farm in Guildford, Plant Passion and my talented friend arranged those for me. The bridesmaids had posies of gypsophila made by another friend so they could be taken to her mum’s grave afterwards. I really recommend artificial flowers as a very cost effective way of having flowers with impact. So many people commented on my bouquet and it looked awesome in photos.

A Krispy Kreme Donut Tower…

Having visited the Excel Wedding Show, I saw the Krispy Kreme donut tower and text Andrew immediately. He thought I was joking but it was actually one of the lovely, individual details to the wedding. It tied in well with our care free and relaxed style as guests could help themselves throughout the evening and not have to worry about plates or knives. It went down a storm – there were none left by the end of the evening and we even got to keep the tiered donut stand afterwards.

Favourite Moment…

I loved walking in and seeing everyone and then seeing Andrew at the end of the aisle – wonderful but very overwhelming! We made sure to take a couple of moments out just for us when we could just observe everyone and the fun they were having which was awesome. It was lovely seeing all our hard work pay off as we had done all the setting up and decorating, not to mention all the personal touches. Seeing all our friends and family having a great time was just the best.

Any Advice?

Do what makes you happy and don’t be swayed by others. We were very clear that all our decisions were ours and we made sure we were 100% happy with everything. The day goes so quickly so be aware of the start time of your ceremony – we moved ours forward an hour to have more fun! Also, just take time to enjoy it as it will be over so quickly. Make sure you eat – it’s so easy to get distracted but keeping up food and drinks (even the occasional softie) will help you keep going for longer. We put a lot of effort into the planning stages and it paid off as it was a very “us” wedding.

Prioritise what is important for you and use this as your starting point. We knew we wanted to be outside with nearly 200 people, including wheelchair users. This really focused our search as it was important for us to have everyone we loved there – other things came secondary. Remember the most important thing is that you’re marrying the person you love. That needs to be at the front of your mind as it’s easy to get swept away by the occasion. It’s a party to celebrate love – what else really matters?!

We didn’t want the wedding to be over so soon so we organised for a Survivor’s Brunch the next day at the Northney Tea Rooms. This was to allow everyone to mingle some more, regale tales of the night before and fill up before driving home as the campers wouldn’t have had breakfast etc. We used some of the decorations from the day before to tie it together and keep with the “brand” of the wedding.

It also helps to be super planned! As a primary school teacher, I like things to be organised and everyone to know what they were doing. We printed off the wedding party a timetable with what needed to be done by who at what time. This left us free to enjoy the day, knowing that we had delegated everything. Also – we have awesome friends and family who wanted to do everything they could to make it the best day for us, which they did. It was very much a team effort but that made it all the more special and personal for us.

Have a vision. Use Pinterest to help you scaffold what you want and pay attention to the little things. It’s definitely the little things that mount up to create the whole vision.

We didn’t really have a budget as such, which we maybe should have. But if you are willing to put in the time and effort there are lots of things you can do yourself, especially if you have a glue gun and willing friends and family.