We live in the countryside and we love it. Playing in the garden, our daughter is growing up with sheep, cows and even alpaca for neighbours. Anyone who looks through our portfolio can see that we are in love with the outdoors.
Gardens are the perfect canvas for a personal and natural wedding, and we just adore them.
Yes there is a lot of organisation required, but don’t let that put you off. We’ve got your back. Here is the Fox & Bear guide to organising the perfect garden wedding.
Garden Location
Ok, so first thing’s first, do you have a venue that you can use? Perhaps you’re lucky enough to own a sizeable plot of land that would suit, or perhaps a family member owns a farm or field that would be perfect. We’ve worked on number of garden weddings across Cheshire, Shropshire & North Wales where our couples were able to use their family farm/garden. If this is an option for you we’d recommend it whole heartedly. Being able to get ready for your big day in the house that you grew up in is such a special experience.
Space for parking should also be a consideration, you may end up with 50+ cars by the end of the day!
Budget
Reception venues can eat up a wedding budget very quickly and is often the greatest outlay for most couples when they are planning their wedding.
This is one of the huge benefits of having a garden wedding. If you or your family is able to host your wedding, then that is a huge saving. Having your wedding at your family home will give you crazy huge savings. Yes you may choose to hire a marquee, yurt or teepee, but often this is still cheaper than an established wedding venue.
A few extra considerations before you splash all that cash you saved:
Electric – Don’t forget to consider the electric supply for your wedding. Hiring a generator or two is an easy solution for this.
Toilet facilities – Unless you want all your guests traipsing through your family home, consider hiring some port-a-loos for your wedding. They can be pretty fancy nowadays so no need to worry about your dress!
Consider a wedding planner – Many classic venues come with a designated wedding planner. You may be able to organise and plan the day beforehand, but having a wedding planner who is there on the day and making sure everything goes to plan could make all the difference.
Make it a humanist wedding
There are a lot of laws concerning where you can and can’t get married in the UK. One of those include the venue needing to be licensed for wedding ceremonies. Another law involves the ceremony taking place under a permanent, roofed structure. For most this mean’s having your ceremony at a another venue before holding the reception back at your garden. But what if you want the whole day at your awesome garden that you’ve decorated and looks stunning?
Well you could have a humanist wedding! Quite simply a humanist wedding involves getting the paperwork completed elsewhere before having a celebrant conduct a ceremony that is wholly personal to you. We LOVE humanist weddings and have a fantastic post all about them right here.
Weather
Preparing for the weather is just something you have to keep in mind when getting married in the UK. If you’re getting married in a manor house or hotel then you pretty much have things sorted in case of a sudden downpour. Outdoor weddings are a little more tricky so make sure you have considered this in your plans.
Hiring a really good quality marquee, teepee or yurt, will ensure that you have somewhere for you and your guests to party come rain or shine.
Personal
We are strong believers in weddings that reflect you as a couple. Our homes are made up of memories and moments. Getting married surrounded by these memories will be such a treasured experience.
A garden wedding will provide you with a blank canvas, allowing you to let your creativity go wild. Fill your garden wedding with lights, flowers, endless reams of bunting, whatever you want and whatever reflects you!
Colour
Your photos will be filled with colour if you choose a pretty garden location for your wedding. This will not only provide endless photo opportunities, but could cut the cost of your flower expenditure if you incorporate the naturally growing flowers into your design.
Intimacy
So this is one of our favourite bits about a garden wedding. Many garden venues are on the smaller side. This makes is perfect for creating an intimate wedding venue for you and your loved ones to enjoy. Keep the guest list on the small side and make the whole thing special for the select few. Having fewer people AND having those few people be those closest to you will make you so much more relaxed on the day.
What could be better than a lowkey, colour filled, relaxed and intimate garden wedding?
