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Our Very Own Rustic Romance Tipi Wedding

26/11/2015 | by Tipi Unique

Hi,

Welcome to our much-awaited blog – yes that’s right this is the blog that we will share with you some our tipi wedding stories and of course some totally tipi fabulous images to go with… Back we go, turning 30 was somewhat surprising. First we had planned our fabulous holiday to Playa Blanca Lanzarote at an incredible hotel call Hotel Volcan. The giant home-made volcano at the hotel entrance is spectle to behold. Thinking back, and very apt for this time of year (yes I am going to mention Christmas) it looked like a giant Christmas pudding with custard coming out of the top… that alone would have been enough for me to call this a great holiday. No, I was in for a treat. Mat certainly did surprise me with a beautiful and totally unexpected engagement ring (and two birthday cards – one for his new fiancé and one for his girlfriend – good job I accepted). It is fair to say it was the furthest thing from my mind – but we couldn’t be happier.

Not a moment was wasted. January 2014, planning began. Wait for it… yes that’s right we visited a vast amount of hotels as our possible Lake District wedding venue – we lost count after 20. With nature’s finest backdrops and dramatic lakes, we wanted our wedding to be out of this world. We needed something equally as dramatic to match the the awe-inspiring beauty spots around Pooley Bridge, Ullswater.

Early on, a Google search for outside wedding venues delivered a surprising result – tipi weddings. We were hooked. From that point on we were no longer looking for an all-encompassing hotel venue, we wanted to find the perfect pitching spot for our dream tipi wedding.

The road to the Lake District from Cheshire (yes for those of you who know the route, that’s 100 miles up the M6), was frequented regularly. Many fields and village halls were visited. in July 2014, we found the ‘one’. Park Foot, Seat Farm field shone out from the rest. It ticked all our boxes – Ullswater lakeside setting (we were literally less than 2 metres from the water’s edge), much sought-after stunning panoramic scenery including Arthur’s Seat, Glenriding and of course Pooley Bridge. As well as this, the caravan and camping park had luscious self-catering lodges which could accommodate all of our guests – perfect in every way. Fiona at Park Foot, was the kind of supplier every bride hopes for, keen, enthusiastic and at the end of the phone as many times as I needed. We were booked, the date was set. We chose the 19th September hoping for summer/autumnal change in the trees and wildlife. And, it was sandwiched between two close family member’s special anniversaries. Easy!

We wanted to give our guests a truly unique experience. A ride to our tipi wedding from the local village was only a mile away, but our 115 guests travelled in vintage style on ‘Daisy’ our 35-seater coach courtesy of Cumbria Classic Coaches. I kid you not, this was far from planned – one trip was delayed because of sheep crossing the single track road…(I bet you don’t see that on Pinterest boards). Daisy was a cracker; with her elegant interiors, bus driver in vintage regalia and personalised window signs and bus tickets for our wedding – the journey to our tipis set the standard high.We tackled day-to-night next. With our humanist hand-crafted ceremony at 1pm, we opted for rows of beautiful wooden benches for our nearest and dearest to watch on.

Taking advantage of the magnificent vistas, our wedding breakfast was to be set up so the top table and all of our guests could enjoy the setting of the sun over the the lake and dinner by twilight. Hopping aboard a mid-afternoon cruise on Ullswater Steamer’s, Lady of the Lake we glided up to Glenriding from Pooley Bridge allowed the tipi change-around to be put in motion. All aboard…, Jack and Rose Titanic poses anyone? Well yes plenty. After drifting an hour or so away, Daisy awaited… of we went back to our transformed tipis for the evening celebrations.

Sue le Bonne caterers was sensational, places perfectly set, wine chilled, prosecco at the ready. Divine Italian meat sharing platters, rustic and varied BBQ for mains and mouth-watering mini desserts were all on the menu for our wedding breakfast with a difference. By this point too, they’d served 15 portions of fish and chips, our welcome drinks, were providing a staffed bar service and were also preparing our late-evening snacks of mini slider burgers and cheeseboards. Truly expert!

Like for many, the day had slipped away. Perhaps one of my all-time favourite memories was watching on from a hay bail as the evening food service was reset for the party. Tables, chairs, cutlery, crockery and the like were swiftly swooped and bagged and before my very eyes the twinkling LED dance floor took my breath away. Now I’m sure we can all relate to this, who is that one friend that organises everything and will ensure everyone knows the running order for the day and is exactly where they need to be. For us, that’s our close friend Faye. She rounded us up whilst adoring the tipis from outside to ensure the much-loved cupcake cutting and of course the one everyone was waiting for – the first dance actually happened. Cue, Undercover Monkeys and our pre-rehearsed first dance acoustic song – Ernie Halter, Angel. If you haven’t heard it, it’s simply captivating. Our crowd has mixed music taste and the verdict was unanimous (including a knock-out version of Dolly Parton’s 9-5), so hats off to them! Highly recommended and totally nailed the acoustics in a tipi too.

Honestly, there were so many moments throughout the day – too many to describe each one! We loved every minute of it. Here’s a few phrases we heard after the wedding ‘Best wedding ever’, ‘out of this world’, ‘incredible’, ‘unbelievable’. The tipis went down an absolute storm. And, we finally got to tell our loved ones that they were ours – yes we had managed to keep it a secret for 18 months. On the back of our huge announcement, watch this space for the launch of our new all-improved and very-much public Facebook page – expected to launch 8th December.