Amy and Aaron’s DIY Tipi Wedding in Northern Ireland by Iain Irwin 

Today I am taking you back to this summer when the sun shone for a few weeks and life was good. We are heading to Northern Ireland for the gorgeous Tipi wedding of Amy and Aaron, who were married at the wonderful Finnebrogue Woods an amazing wedding venue, which is perfectly secluded and offers a totally  magical day to anyone who gets married there. Amy and Aaron held a beautiful day there filled with DIY details and decoration along with some super cute Alpacas and a VW camper van. A fun day was had by all. Big thanks to Iain Irwin for the lovely photos.

The perfect day in the perfect setting surrounded by love – not a single thing went wrong.

Amy and Aaron were married on 17th July 2024 at Finnebrogue Woods in Co Down, Northern Island. ‘It was everything we were looking for and more, we love the outdoors and fit our personalities so well. we had 45 guests and it took 2 years to plan.’

How they met
On tinder in 2020, been together for 3.5 years after getting together in January 2021

The proposal
Aaron proposed at Titanic Quarter in June 2022, a private picnic on the docks. He planned it all and then popped the question.

How did you allocate your budget?
We prioritised catering and photography – the rest was extra but we only spent what we could afford and did a lot of DIY!

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
Splurged on photographer and catering, we got gelato and alpacas as fun extras – we saved on table decor and little extras. We splurged on venue decor as well as we wanted everything to match and feel botanical.

How did you choose your photographer?
I had been following Iain for a while on Instagram and we just knew it had to be him.

The dress
Dress by Freda Bennet, bought at Petticoat Lane Bridal. Veil from Divinity Bridal, jewellery by Emilia Rae Jewellery and shoes from Quiz!

The suit and bridesmaids
Suits from Freddie Hatchet, bridesmaids dresses from ASOS.

Theme or colour scheme
Colours were used to compliment Finnebrogue, so pinks, greens, creams, etc

Flowers
Faux flowers from Innocent Chaos.

Decoration
Minimalist but creative

Food 
Potato and Leek soup, Roast Beef/Roast Turkey and raspberry and white chocolate roulade. We also had Irish Tayto for grabs!

Wedding cake
Colin/Connie the Caterpillar from M&S.

Entertainment
Alpacas, Gelato – then Fifth Avenue was our band.

Who supplied the stationery?
Wellwood Wedding Stationery

Personal touches
Aaron made the cake stand. Amy made the Star Wars Table Names and Floral centrepieces. Amy also made the tags on the boxes for glowsticks and crisps, the signature drinks sign and a few other things.

Special moments 
Getting ready was so fun and I felt more chilled than I thought I would. The ceremony was a huge highlight too, as well as Aaron and I playing Jenga, then kicking our completed tower down together!

Advice for other couples?
It’s never too early to start DIY and booking vendors – I will say that giving myself the week before the wedding to chill and enjoy the lead up instead of running around last minute was a huge help. Vinted is also a good source for little extras, and just enjoy the process as you’ll only do it once!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue: Finnebrogue Woods
• Catering: Old Barn Catering 
• Flowers: Innocent Chaos 
• Photography: Iain Irwin 
• Dress: Petticoat Lane Bridal / Freda Bennet 
• Hair: Mags Mallon Hairstyling
• MUA: Stephanie Burns Makeup 
• Suit: Freddie Hatchet 
• Jewellery: Emilia Rae Jewellery 
• Entertainment: Fifth Avenue NI 
• Alpacas: Strangford Bay Alpacas 
• Gelato: Brook Avenue 
• Design: Blue Moon Event Design 
• Stationery: Wellwood Wedding Stationery
• Celebrant: Claire Taylor 

IAIN IRWIN PHOTOGRAPHY

www.iainirwin.com / www.iainirwin.com/blog / [email protected] / +44 7749448818 / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

My name is Iain Irwin, and I am a wedding photographer based in the countryside of Northern Ireland. I am big believer in marriage and the love that it celebrates. I absolutely love pouring my heart and soul into capturing every wedding day. When it comes to my couple’s weddings, my aim is to find those same connections between them and their loved ones. I love pausing time on those unique relationships so that my couples can come back and live a little longer in the love of those special moments.