Good morning everyone! I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite sure how we find ourselves here on the last day of May? I mean, where did that little season called spring go? Time. is. flying…..and wedding season is well and truly in the swing of it! I’m so excited to share this incredible tipi wedding with you, brought to us by the amazing Clare Tam-Im Photography. Elin and Jordan set their vision strong for their wedding and used so much creative and artistic energy when designing the theme. The tipi from Timber and Canvas is epic. Just look how bold and festival-ready it makes the day look in the opening shots. It’s a giant! The high ceilings in these tents are often ignored when it comes to decoration, but bride Elin took her DIY design skills to the next level to show off every single nook of this impressive structure; fairy lights and a handmade swirling floral wreath hung gracefully from the timbers. This wedding certainly has the wow factor!
The DIY décor is just gorgeous and so unique. I absolutely love all the calligraphy written signage and labels and my absolute fave handmade highlight is the suspended hanging floral photo display made using gold sprayed kids hula hoops and giant LOVE letters. And let’s not forget Elin and Jordan. Even though Elin went for a fairly traditional style fishtail wedding gown, she effortlessly oozes festival with her long, uncomplicated, auburn hair (oh how we would die for her hair!) and bright bold bouquet with handsome, tight tweed fitted suit Jordan by her side. What a beaut of a pair! Oh, and did I mention they had a twilight Glitter Bar?
Here’s Elin to tell you all about her festival-style tipi wedding….
We wanted our wedding to reflect us as a couple. Our aim of the day was for everyone to just have so much fun. We wanted rid of any fussy traditions or stuffy ceremony trends and replaced these with personal, memorable touches that everyone would enjoy.
Surprise Birthday Engagement
It was on my 27th birthday and we went to lunch. When we arrived my family and best friend were already there and the waiter bought over a silver cloche – I assumed it was a birthday treat so I opened it and there was my ring! I looked at Jordan and he was already down on one knee. When we got home I was guided into the garden where all my friends and family were waiting at what they thought was a surprise birthday party – it was so special being able to surprise them with the news of our engagement all at the same time. Then we partied the night away!
We were married at Hounslow Estate. Even before we got engaged, I kept seeing a friend’s photos of this place pop up on Facebook. With major wedding envy, she was the first person I emailed with a million questions after the proposal! When we visited the venue, we knew it was perfect. We fell in love with the picturesque setting and I could imagine my vision coming to life there.
Tipi Ceremony, Festoon Lighting and Fresh Flowers
A civil ceremony in the tipi was the perfect start to the day – even though we got legally married a few days before, the occasion made this the ‘real’ wedding. We decorated the outdoor aisle with festoon lights and large milk churns filled with the most incredible bright flowers from Martin & Cox. We used a DIY welcome sign on an easel for the guest’s arrival.
My Grandad had passed away a few years before the wedding, so hanging his wooden ladder above where we got married, to act as the ‘alter’ was really special. It served as a rustic centrepiece for the wedding accompanied by the most beautiful, bright floral arrangement and looked great in the photos.
The Ceremony was led by Celebrant Mark Avis who from his first sentence, had every guest in stitches. Everything he provided on the day was nothing short of perfect. It was as personal and touching as it was utterly hilarious – it was like being at a comedy night, except we were the topic! He gave us everything we wanted and more.
DIY Dried Flowers for Confetti and a Seamless Wedding Planner
My mum and I had spent 10 months of begging, stealing and bargain hunting for dying flowers ready to pluck their petals and chuck into our bowls of silica for our own confetti! It was a long process, but we really enjoyed it. On the day, we had more than enough beautiful smelling real dried petals from our loved ones homes and gardens. The confetti shots captured by Clare Tam-I’m were just amazing!
We booked the amazing Victoria from VSE Events as an on-the-day Event Manager – honestly, I don’t know what we would have done without her and Joe on the day. They managed everything seamlessly and kept everything running so smoothly without us having to even look at the time.
Anna Sorrano Fishtail Gown and High-street Groom
My dress was the Constance by Anna Sorrano, bought from retailer Wed2Be. I never in a million years thought I would go for a figure hugging fish tail but thanks to a some seriously muscly bridesmaids and an eye-popping lace-up corset, I felt like a million dollars! I wore a two-layer lace veil – I only wore my veil for the ceremony. On reflection I wish I had worn it for longer but I was too busy to even notice! My make up was by Amy at Creative Make Up and my hair was done by the queen of the blowdry Rhapsody Hair.
Jordan’s outfit was from ASOS and the bridesmaid’s dresses were from TFNC – such a bargain at £35 each and the girls looked amazing! My chief bridesmaid was 8 months pregnant on the wedding day and we thought it would be a real struggle to find something but she had the same dress as the other girls and looked incredible.
Chill Out Tent, Fire Pit and Heaps of DIY
We decided to split our three tipi set up into chill out tent (with fire pit), middle area with trestle tables and bar and the far tipi with the dancefloor which served as the ceremony space before the party begun. All decorations in the tipi were DIY – between my parents and I, most weekends from the ‘6 months to go’ mark were spraying, sawing, cutting and sewing! Tipis obviously have high ceilings so it was important for us that the decorations were not just on eye level as there is so much space above – I was determined to use the beams to hang decorations from and it worked really well.
My Dad has a laser-cutter so we cut calligraphy signage for the areas of the tipi and hung them with fishing wire from the beams such as ‘Chill’ for the chill-out area, ‘Cheers’ for the bar and ‘Crostini Station for the food! We even named the bar ‘Luce’s Juices’ (our new surname!) and stuck this to the front of the bar! Outside we had an enormous cut-out of our wedding hashtag ‘Oui Do’ (a nod to Jordan being French!) that my Dad and a bandsaw slaved over for days – but it made an awesome welcome and photo backdrop for the guests.
My bridesmaid Zoe and I spent a day in the garden weaving artificial ivy around a very bodge-job metal circle that we fashioned from floral wire which somehow turned into a flora chandelier for the main tipi. To this day, I do not know how that stayed together – but miraculously it looked fantastic and everyone thought it was real!
Gold Sprayed Hula Hoops and Light Up Letters
We also sprayed kids hula hoops gold and wrapped fake ivy and flowers around them, glue-gunned ribbon vertically and glued photos of Jordan and I – this hung on top of big LOVE light up letters – guests loved looking at the photos on their way into the ceremony and it also made a great backdrop for photos.
Homemade Cake, Stunning Wedding Flowers, Lawn Games and Marshmallows
My mum made our amazing cake. She had many sleepless nights but we could not have been more thrilled with the outcome. There was not a crumb left so the guests clearly loved it too! We used Jemma at Martin & Cox – I fell in love with her fun personality and absolute passion for wedding flowers. I knew I had to have her – the colours, the quality, the designs and all our guests commented on how beautiful our flowers were. Jemma is so talented and so open to ideas and suggestions, she is like working with a friend. We absolutely adored her and her amazing talent!
We had croquet, giant Jenga and Connect4 which was a huge hit throughout the day. The well stoked camp fires with marshmallows on sticks was never without a crowd either!
Clare Tam-Im Photography
We fell in love with Clare Tam-Im Photography and her photos at a friend’s wedding and we promised ourselves that when our time came, she would be the first thing we booked…and she was! On the day, she fitted in like an old friend and made everyone feel so comfortable and relaxed. When we got our photos we must have looked at them 10 times over, our faces ached from smiling. She had captured the vibe of the day so perfectly and is so unbelievably talented in creating such fun, relaxed and natural photos. We are forever grateful to her. Flying Squirrel were our videographers – they provided some amazing drone shots of the wedding much to the amazement of all the grandparents!
First Dance
We didn’t have a classic first dance – the DJ invited everyone to the dancefloor and we all had a big dance together – we just wanted everyone involved!
Disco and Glitter Bar!
When the disco was in full swing, we opened our DIY Glitter Bar and it was so much fun – watching my bridesmaids decorating Jordan’s Grandad with unicorn glitter was a highlight of my day! It was a table of face gems, sequins and DIY multi-coloured glitter face gel that we made the week before from cosmetic glitter, aloe vera gel and baking glycerin! It remarkably worked and made for some awesome photos – even if we are still finding glitter everywhere to this day!
Favourite Moment
Definitely our ceremony – looking back at all of our family and friends laughing and having fun during something so personal was everything we wanted.
Any Advice?
Make your wedding, the wedding of your dreams – that doesn’t mean bankrupting yourself, it means be creative to achieve something you love! Also, ask for help. Your family and friends are happy to help where they can – I honestly couldn’t have done it without them after I finally realised I couldn’t do everything all by myself!
Book an on-the-day Event Manager. Organising a wedding from the ground up from toilets to electricity is daunting enough without having to worry about timings and changes on the day.
The Line Up
Photography: Clare Tam-Im Photography
Venue: Tip Top Venues
Bride’s Dress: Anna Sorrano
Make Up: Creative Make Up by Amy
Hair: Rhapsody Hair
Groom’s Outfit: ASOS
Bridesmaid’s dresses: TFNC London
Wedding Co-Ordinator: VSE Events
Tipi: Timber and Canvas
Florist: Martin & Cox
Celebrant: Mark Avis
