Claire and Mike got married in summer in an awesome tipi, which is was on a local playing field in Kirton, Lincolnshire. They had their ceremony at St Peter & St Paul’s church, which is just a short drive away. It was a gorgeous day and the sun shone all day long! I first met Claire and Mike when we did their engagement shoot in Oxford earlier in the year, they were so easy to work with and we got on really well so I knew their wedding was going to be a lot of fun!
The excitement before the wedding
Claire got ready at her parents house with her mum, dad and sister, and the atmosphere was so relaxed. They then took the short trip to get to the ceremony. Everyone was inside the church when Claire arrived with her dad, waiting anxiously to see her in her dress. Mike got ready at a local lodge with his best man and family.
The serious part
The ceremony was an intimate service at a nearby church not far from their tipi reception. During the ceremony they had a beautiful reading. It was so meaningful and a real tear-jerker.
After the ceremony
The reception was in a tipi at the playing field. They chose the venue because they could have the place for the whole weekend and they could totally personalise it. It was a tipi wedding, which are always more laid back than the traditional hotel or venue weddings. I love shooting tipi weddings because they’re always completely stunning and usually really relaxed!
They had a cocktail drinks reception in the afternoon, and a fire pit for toasting marshmallows in the evening. They put out some garden games for the kids to play with which worked really well and kept them occupied. The benefit of holding their wedding on a playing field was that there was room for the children (and adults!) to play football too. They decorated the venue with succulents and paper lanterns, because they wanted to keep it simple. I absolutely LOVE succulents so I thought this worked really well, it kept the decorations quite simple whilst also being really effective.
For dinner they had a buffet, which was absolutely delicious. I love buffet food at weddings, it’s a great informal way for all your guests to eat and means everyone can have as much or as little as they like. The first dance involved the wedding party getting on the dance floor to get the dancing going, and they finished off the evening with lots of cake and marshmallows.
The best part of the day was seeing everyone’s faces when they turned up to the tipi. All the guests thought that they were heading to the social club that was next to the tipi, because that was where Claire’s parents had had their reception. I always love when guests get a surprise on a wedding day and the venue itself is a pretty big surprise!
The couple
Claire wore an absolutely stunning Sottero & Midgeley wedding dress and Mike wore a very dapper Hugo Boss suit and they looked so incredible. Claire’s flowers were by The Flower Shop in Kirton and they were gorgeous and Mike’s shoes were RM Williams, who are an Australian brand. This fitted in really well as Mike is Australian himself!
Claire and Mike’s wedding had such a fun atmosphere and just the happiest occasion. Here’s their relaxed tipi wedding!
If you’re throwing a tipi wedding, get in touch!
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