Bethany and Phil's Bohemian Tipi Wedding in the Woods by Colin Ross

Happy Monday everyone. I do hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Did you get up to anything exciting? Mine was filled with cinema visits, friends, food and of course my gorgeous family! We’re starting the week off with this stunning wedding from Colin Ross and it’s one of my favourites so far this year! A bohemian tipi wedding set in the Chester woods, filled with macrame backdrops, dream catchers, flower crowns, amazing decoration and of course Bethany and Phil the most beautiful couple. Read on to find out about their wonderful love story and view the amazing photos.

A bohemian tipi wedding in the woods surrounded by the very best family and friends.

Bethany and Phil's Bohemian Tipi Wedding in the Woods by Colin Ross

Bethany and Phil were married on 22nd July 2017 at Waverton Evangelical Church and Cherry Orchard Lake, Chester. ‘Waverton Evangelical was my home church growing up and it meant my dad could marry the two of us (as he was the vicar of the church at the time). This was very special! We got engaged the summer of 2016 so I had just short of a year planning time and we had around 180 guests in total.’

How they met
We met on a charity trip in Ethiopia called Stand By Me. We were both volunteering out there in the schools and orphanages. We have been together for around 4 years now.

The Proposal
Well we were back in Ethiopia the summer of 2016 volunteering again as part of a team (alongside my family). I had gone visiting local families in the villages and when I returned to the compound he was there waiting with the kids from the orphanage. They were each holding a letter spelling out ‘Will you marry me?’. Bruno Mars was playing and he came forward and got down on one knee! A very very special day and such a meaningful proposal – to have all my family and all the kids there where we very first met! We had a big bonfire party with the kids and the team that night and watched the most beautiful sunset.

How did you allocate your budget?
Budgeting was a lot harder than I first thought! It is so easy to overspend and things really start to add up. Our main focus was paying for the tipi and the land (Delamere Events) as we absolutely loved the location and venue. We then tried to allocate the rest of the money between everything else.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
I think the real splurge was the tipi. But it was SO worth it. We were able to save when it came to the wedding stationary and décor – as I was able to hand make most of this myself.

Why did you choose your photographer?
I came across Colin Ross’s portfolio online and was instantly like YES that’s the one. His work is absolutely stunning. The style of his photography looked as though it would fit perfectly with the theme of the wedding – so natural and earthy. He was absolutely incredible on the day and we are so in love with all of our photos. Choosing which ones to frame on the walls is proving difficult!

The Dress
My dress was Maggie Sottero – I instantly fell in love with it as soon as I tried it on. It was only the second shop I had been in which was SAS Bridal. My shoes were Kurt Gieger.

The Suit and the Bridesmaids
The ushers didn’t have a full suit as we opted for the ‘quirky’ bow tie and braces look – they pulled it off well! These were all from Next and the bridesmaid dresses were just from ASOS. One of the few areas we managed to stay within budget!

Theme or colour scheme
Oh yes! I’m a full time Graphic Designer so typically my first stage of planning was to create a mood board (and about 5 Pinterest boards). I was aiming for ‘bohemian’ and ‘earthy’ with shades of greens and hints of dusty pinks and peachy corals.

Flowers
Val from Prestbury Flowers worked her magic and provided me with my dream bouquet! I had lots of trailing greenery with wild flowers and gorgeous big roses. The tables all had big centre pieces made up of the same flowers and scattered glass bottles and jars with more roses and ferns.

Decoration
When I’m not designing I’m often crafting, so for décor, I made lots of macramé hanging pieces and big dream catchers that we hung from the tipi beams. I also made trailing ivy plant hangers that hung perfectly above the dance floor. There were lots of plants and cactus scattered around alongside hand painted signs with my favourite bible verses and quotes.

Food
We had Wood Fire Smoke Pizza do our catering. They set up in gazebos outside on the grass and provided stone baked pizzas, various BBQ foods, salad bar and yummy crepes with all the toppings imaginable! They were absolutely amazing.

Wedding Cake
My mum’s friend actually made the wedding cake for us. She did an incredible job. We had sponge cake with a lemon jam and cream in the middle. It was decorated with some foilage and flowers and presented on a big log slice.

Entertainment
My brother Sam is an amazing musician so we had him perform throughout the day. He did a few acoustic sets on his guitar singing the likes of George Ezra and Sam Smith. He also sung our first dance song for us which was very special! There was a magician doing the rounds as people arrived at the venue which was fun. We also had outdoor games scattered around outside for kids (and adults) to play with. For the evening we had a band booked through Jonny Ross Music called ‘Let it Funk’ a Motown, Soul and Pop band. Everyone was up and dancing – it was so much fun!

Who supplied the stationary?
That was all me! As I mentioned before I’m a Graphic Designer and one of the things I actually do as a freelancer is design wedding stationery. I had great fun doing this – but it turns out designing for your own wedding is much harder than doing other peoples! I must have swapped the design styles about 10 times.

Personal Touches
The macramé décor, hand painted signs, wedding stationary… they were all definitely personal touches!

Special Moments
The whole day was absolutely magical and just so special. What an amazing feeling to have everyone you care about and love under one roof celebrating with you. The church service for me was definitely one of the highlights. Having my dad walk me down the aisle and then marry us was a moment I will never forget. You couldn’t wipe the smiles of mine and Phil’s faces all day!

Advice for other couples
So many people gave me this same bit of advice before our wedding. Enjoy every single moment, every small second of the day – because it goes so quickly! It is just a whirlwind of a magical day. For the brides I would also say – have a spare pair of comfy flats so you can really commit to throwing shapes on the dance floor.

Biggest Surprise
Phil’s cousin turned up on the day and had flown all the way from Australia to surprise us!