Yurt Receptions with Alternative Wedding Tents

Happy Sunday lovely people. I hope you have all had a good weekend so far. Weather in the UK has been amazing and, after the news on Friday that the government was delaying wedding receptions for 30 people, we needed the weather to be good and pick us up.

To all of our incredible couples and suppliers who have been affected by this decision, we feel you. The pandemic has had a huge impact on us too, both mentally and financially. The news that small receptions were going to be allowed in August was a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, we can cultivate some happiness from this years depleted season. For both couples and suppliers alike and it breaks my heart that this doesn’t look like its going to happen.

With pubs and caravan/camping holiday sites being open for business, it makes no sense to me why the wedding industry can’t be the same. It feels like we are being punished. Socially distancing 30 people, who are close family and friends and most likely to be in family bubbles, in a controlled reception environment is surely a lot easier than in a pub environment where you have strangers mingling and drinking. Why is this being allowed to happen? Why is the wedding and events sector being ignored?

When the pandemic hit and we went into lock down, Festival Brides vowed to support the wonderful members of our Festival Wedding Directory as much as possible. This included a blanket freeze on all membership renewals and additional support through articles and social media exposure. One of these suppliers is the incredibly lovely Lizzie Spooner of Alternative Wedding Tents who we are sharing with you today.

Alternative Wedding Tents are a wedding and event company that supplies unique wooden yurts, hand built in the UK by owners Lizzie and Ben. Not only do Lizzie and Ben design and build all of their structures themselves, they have also designed unique cedar wood furniture that fits perfectly within the curved space of a yurt. Whats more, they offer the UK’s largest stretch yurt: The Skybarn which can comfortably seat 164 guests and comes with the option of lifting up the sides of the canvas so the wonderful criss cross frame of the yurt can be exposed.

We asked Lizzie to compile an article about the awesome wedding reception spaces her yurts provide, as well as a round up of her favourite past weddings.

Enjoy lovely people and please do show your support of our incredible suppliers by checking out our directory. It is full of so much talent that 100% deserves your attention. Links to the directory and individual categories can be found at the bottom of this article.

Over the years we’ve seen some dazzling celebrations, each taking place within our rather special and unique yurts. Our largest yurt AKA The SkyBarn has seen it all, from vegan weddings to Shisha lounges, break-dancing newly-weds to 10 piece Samba bands and petting pink Alpacas! Each wedding has been a festival of bizarre and wonderful success!

Our favourites are those when we’ve been able to conjoin smaller yurts to our main wedding yurt, creating different spaces within them, such as a bar, a lounge and a porch or fun space for the kids. These different areas are great for creating a flow of guests, and we really encourage this to keep the atmosphere buzzing throughout the celebrations.

We absolutely love our jobs and especially enjoy it when we’re asked to provide, not only the tents, but the decor, lights, furniture and the bar as well!

We’ve created indoor and outdoor lounges and chill out spaces, signature cocktails and home-made elderflower cordial, ceremony areas, wonderful floral entrances to the main yurt, and spaces to sit and gather around the fire bowls in the evening. We’ve absolutely loved the challenge of creating something unique to each couple and we wanted to share our high-lights with you all in the gallery below.

We’ve rounded up our favourite weddings to date, and selected the best photos that show off each one in their own beautiful way. We hope you enjoy browsing the gallery and look forward to you getting in touch to discuss your big day. Furthermore, we are offering a special deal for those who find us through Festival Brides, our favourite of all time to work with.