Tamsin and James' Relaxed, Eclectic and Informal Festival Inspired Wedding

Tamsin and James' Relaxed, Eclectic and Informal Festival Inspired Wedding

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Happy Monday Lovely Peeps! I hope you all had a great weekend. We have a treat for your eyes today in the form of this gorgeous festival wedding, inspired by Glastonbury and captured so beautifully by Liberty Pearl Photography.

Tamsin and James both grew up in Pilton (home of Glastonbury Festival) so naturally the festival has been a huge part of their lives from very young. It is also the place where they very first met so planning a relaxed wedding with a festival vibe was the natural choice for them....

I grew up in Pilton (home of the Glastonbury festival) and Jim grew up a coupe of miles away. I've been every year since I was born and Jim has been going since he was 13. It's also where we met, it's a really special place for us. We both loved the idea of a mini festival style wedding in a field with camping, rather than all the formality, restrictions and stress of hiring a venue. Our vision was a lively, relaxed party with a festival vibe and that's exactly what we got!

Working to a strict budget and drawing on their own talents, as well as those of their family and friends, they put together an awesome day of great entertainment (think fakes tattoos, a photo booth and face painting) food and drink all done by themselves (think picnic hampers and homemade gin) and vintage inspired decor. We love the mix matched bridesmaid dresses in nude. They work so well with Tamsin's vintage style phase eight wedding dress and look awesome all together. The little maids are just so cute as well!

Tamsin and James talk us through their wonderful festival style wedding.

We actually got engaged to Croatia and coincidentally this was (unbeknown to us) where my late dad proposed to my mum! It was a complete surprise although it turns out all our friends knew about it and had kept it a secret for months.

Although Jim had planned to do it whilst we were away, he hadn't planned exactly when, but the perfect opportunity came up on the first night in the most beautiful courtyard restaurant which we had entirely to ourselves. So he made up an excuse to run back to the apartment to get the ring, getting completely lost on the way back! I had actually lost one of my rings on the beach earlier in the day so he told me he'd bought me a replacement, then opened the box and asked me to marry him. I was so surprised I actually swore at him (not very romantic) then cried a lot, then of course I said yes!

My dress was a1920/30's vintage style beaded dress from Phase Eight Wedding Dresses (bought on ebay). My shoes were Clark's wedges (not pretty but practical for the field venue!). I wore flowers in my hair by Organic Blooms and a veil borrowed from my sister in law. My jewellery was small vintage art deco diamond earrings and a watch given to me by Jim on the day.

Jim wore a vintage style pale blue suit and bow tie and my bridesmaids all wore different dresses but from a nude palette (inspired by Kate Moss's bridesmaids) and bought themselves. They also wore flowers in their hair by Organic Blooms.

We're not religious but we struggled to find a venue that had the beauty of a church, but was within our budget. We were so lucky to find the registry office in Yeovil, Somerset which had just moved to the most beautiful medieval barn. I entered the barn to Detectorists by Johnny Flyn and exited to She Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC.

Our reception venue was a marquee in a beautiful field in Pilton, Somerset (home of Glastonbury Festival). We were extremely lucky to find this vneue. The field was lent to us by a friend and the marquee was hired from a local company recommended by a friend. Most people camped and we had a fabulous yurt lent to us by a friend at TotsTipis.

We wanted a relaxed, festival vibe without any of the usual formalities and restrictions that can make weddings less enjoyable. We didn't want our guests to feel like they were forced to do anything so we did away with the usual timetable and rituals including a first dance, cutting the cake and throwing the bouquet, so this meant people were free to wander around and added to the relaxed vibe. We did have some speeches, but we kept them short and as we had 23 children running around and several dogs it meant it was chaotic, but in a good way. The food was informal and we did away with the usual sit down meal in favour of each table sharing a picnic hamper which made it much more communal and was great way to break the ice.

We have both experienced being hungry at a few weddings so we made sure our guests were well fed!

Canapés: The pâté crostinis were made by my mum. My friend Daisy, made the most amazing Greek feta and spinach filo parcels, plus we also had some mini Glastonbury pasties made by a local bakery.

Wedding Breakfast: We did our own catering; Picnic style ploughman's lunch in a communal style, so each table had a hamper to share. We wanted a laid back, relaxed vibe for the wedding so we decided on picnic style food; ham, cheese, bread and salad all sourced from suppliers within a couple of miles of our home; chutneys made by Jims mum; quiches and scotch eggs made by friends. It meant that each table had to get involved with cutting the food i.e. slicing bread etc. and helped everyone get to know each other. On the back of the great feedback we received, I have now started my own wedding catering company The Wild Picnic Company.

We also made our own 'Tamsin & Jim's Damson Gin' and each table had a bottle, which were polished off pretty sharpish and definitely helped with the atmosphere!

In the evening, Our friends from The Unusual Pie Company did an amazing hog roast with Jim's mum's homemade apple sauce, bread from the local bakery and stuffing.

Our friends are all very artistic and we had so much help decorating the marquee and field. Our friends made a huge oak archway over the entrance to the field from old reclaimed barn beams (now made into shelves and a bench at our house). This was decorated with a gorgeous fabrics and light up LOVE letters. We had some amazing vintage style props including huge floral LOVE letters, a vintage bike from Light Haus Events and 100's of metres of beautiful handmade bunting made by our friends, amazing vintage post box, crockery, cutlery, vintage books, bottles and table decorations from Eclectiuc Bliss. Our friend Victoria made over 500 origami birds which we strung up on cotton and decorated the back of the marquee which looked amazing.

We had a great mix of music from all eras which kept people dancing into the small hours. We also had a vintage photo booth with some great vintage props plus a bouncy castle and some fabulous face painters for a couple of hours who kept both children and adults entertained.

My favourite moment was when my amazing bridesmaids sang us a song they had made up about us to the tune of Summer Nights from Grease (one of my favourite films). It was led by my maid of honour and accompanied by one of the groomsmen on guitar. They handed out song sheets to each of the guests who all joined in (much to the bemusement of some of the older ones). It was so personal and touching and a complete surprise - we loved it!

My main tip is to think of the weddings you've been to in the past. What did you enjoy/made a lasting impression and what do you not really remember? Then make a list of priorities - ours were for us and our guests to feel relaxed on the day with good, simple food and lots of wine. Then cut out the things that don't matter - i.e do you need real champagne or is cava or prosecco just as good? Our biggest expense by far was our amazing photographer because we've had friends who cut corners or used friends to take photos and really regretted it. We are so happy that we did as we love all our photos and she was absolutely amazing on the day, really helpful, completely unobtrusive and captured some great images.

We had a very small budget and we were not afraid to pull in favours from fiends and negotiate or barter where we could. For example, we did our own food and ran our own bar, which not only saved us loads of money (we actually made money on the bar), but meant we could use local independent suppliers. We also cut out the things that we found unnecessary ie wedding favours, chair covers, hiring wedding cars. My dress was brand new, but on eBay for £125 (£650 new) and our bridesmaids and groomsmen all bought their own outfits - when you have 11 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen, this is a huge money saver! Also our parents were very generous and I designed some websites in exchange for services for our suppliers (vintage decorations, crockery, cutlery etc., wedding cake, rings, flowers, sound & lighting). Our amazing creative friends all helped out massively with setting up, lending us bunting, making decorations etc.

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