A beautiful garden tipi wedding to end the year with, complete with a bride who rode in on her horse. It was my childhood wedding dream, to ride to my wedding on a grey horse, so it seems fitting to finish the year like this.

This year has been a bit all over the place, mainly due to the arrival of my second daughter in the summer. Any mums running their own business will know the challenges a new baby brings. Next year our family has exciting, possibly life changing, plans, which I will share when the time is right. I am looking forward to what the new year will bring, both personally and for The Natural Wedding Company.

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and all our best wishes for next year. Snuggle up with a festive drink and some chocolate and enjoy this beautiful garden tipi wedding. Over to Katie to tell us all about their wedding…

A garden tipi wedding

A garden wedding at home

“We both wanted to have our wedding at home. My parents had just moved into a new house in Cornwall and it just seemed like the perfect venue. We didn’t want a traditional wedding, we wanted to get married outside in the garden. Also we wanted something more fun and rustic than a traditional marquee, so we decided on tipis.”

A handmade and hands-on wedding

“The week of our wedding was crazy. We both wanted to make it as personal as possible, so did most of the decorations and touches ourselves. I made macaroons as place settings, I made our wedding cake, and I had to add the finishing touches to the cake on the morning of the wedding. I also wanted my horse to be part of the wedding too, so my mum and I were cleaning him at seven in the morning!”

A lace bodiced wedding dress and gold jewelled hair vine

“I sort of knew the style of wedding dress I wanted to wear, and it turned out to be the second dress I tried on. The wedding dress had a fitted lace bodice with buttoned back, and the skirt was many layers of tulle. I wore my grandmothers necklace and my mothers crystal earrings, so they were my ‘something borrowed’. In my hair I wore a gold jewelled hair vine that intertwined with my side fishtail plait.”

“My bridesmaids wore charcoal coloured maxi dresses and jewelled hair pieces in their buns.”

A tailor made waistcoat and bow ties

Myles wore a blue checked shirt and brown waistcoat that was tailor made by Cad and The Dandy in London. The best men and ushers were told the could wear whatever suit they wanted, and they wore them with charcoal herringbone bow ties. The bow ties were a homage to Myles’ grandfather who passed away the previous year – he always wore a dickie bow.”

A bride on a grey horse

“We chose to have our family, bridesmaids and ushers at the registry office ceremony the morning of our wedding. We then went back to the house in my dad’s cream vintage MG-B, with all the family following. In the afternoon, Myles’ uncle gave us a blessing in a hedged part of the garden while everyone stood under an Indian tent.

I made a very grand entrance on grey horse – as I rode down the hill to the garden the bridesmaids followed. It was a magical moment as Myles had no idea that I was going to do this.”

A garden wedding blessing

“We wrote our own vows, which made the day so special and personal, just a truly incredible perfect day with the love of my life. My dad gave a fantastic speech that made everyone laugh, and it was also so heartfelt welcoming Myles into my family.”

Falling in love in the mountains

“We met during our first ski season in the mountains and the rest is history. We have done six seasons together working as chalet hosts.

The engagement was a complete surprise! At our usual ‘leaving for the mountains’ party, Myles suggested we all go suited and booted. We went to the pub as usual, and Myles manged to peel me away early to go back to our house (which we were still building). As we walked in there were candles and plants everywhere, and Myles got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Then everyone else came back from the pub and we celebrated!”

A rustic wedding with charcoal and lavender colour details

“We chose to have a rustic themed wedding with charcoal and lavender as the colour way. Lavender was in season in June, so all the tables were decorated with fresh and dried lavender, and daisies. We also made a floral feature in the tent of foxgloves, clematis and daisies.”

Wedding drinks from the area of France they fell in love

“After the blessing we spent the rest of the day in the tipis. For our wedding meal we had Mediterranean chicken and steak and kidney pies, followed by brownies with summer berries and clotted cream. For drinks, we chose an apresmont white wine that is a French wine regional to the area Myles and I have done many of our winter ski seasons.”

A mountain themed wedding cake

“Our wedding cake was mountain themed, to reflect our passion for skiing. I made it from chocolate sponge cake with a mousse filling and a white chocolate glaze to mimic the mountains. I also made charcoal macaroons as place setting favours, which were in small draw string bags.”

A jazz and boogie woogie band

“The rest of the evening was spent dancing to live jazz and boogie woogie band Dino Baptiste, who played deep into the night. They had everyone dancing, from the youngest to the oldest, all evening.”

Natural and unposed wedding photography

“We chose Tracey Warbey Photography to capture our day. We loved how natural and unposed many of her photos were, and how they seemed like analogue photos. She made everyone feel so at ease, like she was a member of the wedding party. Because of this she captured some breathtaking photos. Whenever we look back at them it brings back every memory of the day.”

Favourite captures of the day

“There are so many great shots, but my favourites have to be one from our first dance where we are so caught up, it’s like no one else is there. Or the picture of us posing in front of the setting sun, such a dramatic backdrop with the shadows captured perfectly.”

Advice for other couples

“My advice is, that however stressed or worried you are that some things might not come together in time, everything slots into place and everyone helps to make your day magical. When the day arrives, just let it roll! Even if a few things aren’t how you expected, you will be glad that it happened that way instead. There is so much love as everyone there just wants to celebrate your special day.”

A big thank you to Katie and Myles for sharing their garden tipi wedding with us, and to Tracey Warbey for her beautiful photographs of the day.

{ Details }

Photography: Tracey Warbey Photography
Venue: Brides home
Tipis: The Cornish Tent Company
Wedding Dress: Ezoani
Brides Shoes: The Rainbow Club
Grooms Waistcoat: Cad and The Dandy
Grooms & Ushers Bow Ties: Mrs Bow Tie
Flowers: The Lavender Company; plus homegrown flowers
Wedding Food: Fiona Waterer
Wedding Cake: Made by the bride
Band: Dino Baptiste