Lucy and Emily's Relaxed, Wildflower Filled Tipi Wedding in Essex by Chris Bradshaw Photography

Well hello Monday! And how are you all? I hope you had a lovely weekend and that the sun shone for you. I hope that some of you got to enjoy a wedding filled weekend, it’s so lovely to see so many gorgeous weddings popping up on my feeds at the moment! I can’t wait to feature some of these amazing weddings from this year. I had a lovely weekend, I enjoyed my new found freedom after being cooped up in the house for nearly 2 weeks with Covid. Chatsworth on Saturday, and then Sunday Dexter was in a show, such a proud moment watching him on stage! On with today’s gorgeous Tipi wedding. It’s a real stunner of a day, filled with so many gorgeous wild flowers, a tipi reception, outdoor ceremony, two gorgeous brides and the most chilled out day. Totally gorgeous and full of country boho charm, all courtesy of Chris Bradshaw Photography.

The best day of our lives, full of joy and love and surrounded with the people we love the most. We didn’t stop smiling and neither did the guests! We wanted it to not only be a celebration of our wedding but also an opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate all those missed events such as birthdays and anniversaries during the pandemic.

Lucy and Emily were married on 24th July 2021. ‘We were legally married a few days before at Marylebone Town Hall.We had our main ceremony with all our loved ones present at Chalkney Water Meadows in Essex where we spent the whole day celebrating. We knew we didn’t want to spend the entire day indoors and it was important to us that we had the flexibility to create the wedding we wanted with the suppliers we wanted. When we arrived at CWM it just ticked all the boxes. There was enough infrastructure in place that we wouldn’t have to do everything from scratch yet enough flexibility to create a day that would really suit us. The venue was stunning, and the tree lined lake sealed the deal for us. Being close to London, luxury glamping an option and for those after a little more home comforts hotels are also close by. Which all ticked a lot of boxes for us! We had 115 guests, a little less than planned as due to covid sadly some guests were unable to attend. We got engaged in October 2018 but we didn’t really start planning until early 2019. We booked the wedding for July 2020 but then of course – Covid hit. We were really lucky that the guys at CWM were so understanding and accommodating – letting us move the wedding to the following year. We were more or less sorted by the time the 2020 date came so the planning was around 18 months with a little hiatus due to the pandemic.’

How they met
We met online and our first date lasted around 10 hours … we both knew early on that this was it. We’ve now been together just over 5 years.

The proposal
You won’t believe this but we both proposed to each other on the same day! There is a place in Brittany, France which is very special to Emily. We had planned our holiday there and I (Lucy) knew this was the only place to propose. When there, Emily had planned a day of “activities”. This included a treasure hunt around the local area, collecting stones which had been painted with meaningful moments from our time together. When we got to the end of the treasure hunt there was a hamper waiting for us on the beach with a bottle of fizz inside. That’s when I started to get suspicious and as I put all the stones together – the reverse had been painted to spell out Marry Me! 2 things went through my mind.
The first was instantly YES and the second thought was “ S*** what do I do with the ring in my backpack?” I didn’t want to take away the moment – Emily is the romantic of the two if us and had gone to so much effort. We drank the fizz and had a sandy picnic to celebrate. Later that evening I suggested we went back to the same spot to have marshmallows on the fire and whilst Emily was toasting her marshmallows, I removed the ring from my pocket and asked if she would marry me.

How did you allocate your budget?
It was really important to us that the guests were all well fed and watered (with alcohol) so a large proportion of the budget was allocated here. Flowers and dressing the venue were equally important so again, a big proportion of the budget went here.

Where did you splurge and where/how did you save?
Our biggest expenses were food, drink, and flowers as these were the areas really important to us.

How did you choose your photographer?
We spoke to lots of photographers. We chose Chris as he and his Wife Laura came as a pair within our budget, and we loved how relaxed they were and natural their style of photography was. You won’t meet two nicer people, and their photos are fantastic too.

The outfits
Both wore dresses by Rembo Styling. Shoes – high street

Bridesmaids
Rewritten. Shoes – Bridesmaids’ own choices

Theme or colour scheme
Greens were very much the colour scheme

Flowers
Lots of wildflowers and foliage. Hayley had the most amazing vision and created a stunning space that fitted the relaxed, outdoor boho vibe perfectly.

Decoration
Foliage to match the surrounding area

Food
Canopies – arancini / broad bean goats cheese bruschetta and figs with parma ham
Main Meal – Antipasti / Porchetta / Lemon Tart
Evening food – cheese toasties

Wedding cake
This was made by a good friend of Lucy’s. Each tier was different in flavour. Chocolate and salted caramel / Almond sponge with black cherry / lime and coconut sponge / vegan chocolate sponge

Entertainment
A live band during and post ceremony followed by a DJ In the evening

Who supplied the stationery?
Laura Likes. This is a sustainable stationery company. Our order of service and menus for the day were created bespoke by Laura, on seed paper which guests could take away and plant.

Personal touches
Emily made our save the dates and wedding invites

Special moments
Saying our vows in front of all our loved ones was very special. Highlights though would also include our guests writing their words of wisdom / advice and hanging these on a floral canopy during the ceremony.
One of our best friends was the celebrant for the ceremony, which made it wonderfully relaxed, fun and personal.

Advice for other couples
Keep calm and organised. Make a list and stick it somewhere visible (we put ours on our kitchen door) and tick it off as you go.

Biggest surprise
The rain stayed away!