Wedding at Cornish Tipi Weddings

Alice and Tom originally met through mutual friends as teenagers. "Friendship quickly turned into more", reveals Alice, and a few months later, Tom asked her out in the local nightclub.

After more than a decade together, the pair were sharing some drinks at home when Tom suggested going for a walk to Hampstead Heath. "At the top of Parliament Hill, overlooking the London skyline, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife!" recalls Alice.

The couple legally wed with immediate family in St Albans a few days before their weekend of celebrations at Cornish Tipi Weddings. Their laid-back wedding embraced the outdoors through rustic decor such as old milk pails, wild, unstructured bouquets and foliage chandeliers; the palette blended neutral tones and greenery with splashes of colour from the wild flowers. "The venue is so picturesque already it meant we could embrace it as part of the decoration," says Alice.

Dressed in a dreamy lace gown, Alice was rowed across the lake by her father to a pontoon where Tom was waiting for their on-the-water ceremony against the most scenic of backdrops. The festivities then kicked off in earnest with an acoustic musician lending the soundtrack while guests enjoyed lawn games and a fancy dress Polaroid caravan before a Mexican feast was served in the marquee.
 

A gin bar, performance by a live band and a DJ set all formed the evening's entertainment, which continued with an after-party in the tipis. The next day saw guests enjoy Alice's carefully planned schedule of hangover cures: cannonball, swimming and fishing in the lake along with more dancing and wood-fired pizzas cooked by the venue's on-site cafe, Gastropod.
 
"Prioritise whatever budget you have on things that matter to you - don't do things just because you think it's what 'should' be done at a wedding," says Alice when asked how she embarked upon planning her day. "The most important things to us were the food and music. We didn't bother with a big fancy cake or wedding favours because we didn't see the point! If many of your guests are travelling quite a distance, try to tie-in some kind of activity the next day. It was invaluable to us as the day goes by so fast and you don't want the fun to end!"

She also reminds nearly-weds: "You're likely to feel quite stressed in the final few weeks. The chances are, you'll be worrying over the most insignificant things like the colour of your nail varnish, but when you look back you'll realise how minor these things are, so stop over-thinking everything in the final run-up and trust that everything will be amazing!"
 
Photography Craig Nicholas craignicholas.com Irene Yap ireneyapweddings.com
Venue Cornish Tipi Weddings cornishtipiweddings.co.uk
Celebrants The Guild of Cornish Celebrants cornishcelebrants.co.uk
Dress Grace Loves Lace graceloveslace.com.au
Bridesmaids' dresses Dancing Leopard dancingleopard.co.uk
Groom & groomsmen's outfits suit French Connection frenchconnection.com shoes Loake loake.co.uk
Hair Ro Hair rohair.co.uk
Make-up Suzi Winter suziwinter.co.uk
Flowers George Mackay Flowers georgemackayflowers.com
Entertainment Joe Hurworth joehurworth.bandcamp.com The Supers thesupersband.com DJ Hutch