Enchanted Woodland Festival Feel Wedding

We’re headed to Lila’s Wood in Buckinghamshire today for the enchanted woodland wedding of Chloe and Catherine, who tied the knot on the 31st August 2019. Their day was really magical, with whimsical atmosphere and festival vibes all round.

These two totally pulled out all the stops to give their guests a celebration to remember, from all the fantastic DIY decorations they added (table centres, signs, favours and more), to the brilliant campervan, games and glamping. It really looked like a fantastic time was had by all.

Do look out for the super beautiful attire, the pretty florals and a delicious cake table too.  What a treat it is to share Two-D Photography‘s stunning film and images today, thanks for sharing guys.

The Proposal

We met in London in 2012; Cath’s housemate had lost her keys, so she met her in central London on her way back from a birthday party. Obviously, she stayed out with their friend until the early hours and stumbled across two crazy dancing sisters. Chloe turned out to be little shorter than Cath initially thought as she stepped down from a staged part of the club at the end of the night. Not phased, we dated whilst both living in London and so places began to hold special memories of our first year. The Queen of Hoxton in Shoreditch, Regents Park and the Olympic Park which Cath’s flat overlooked.

Chloe planned a treasure hunt of clues, nearly 2 years to the day prior to our wedding day. On the 30th of August 2017 Chloe fooled Cath into thinking they were meeting our friends. Starting at the street next to the bar where we first met; photo post it cards of clues to our next spot, where had our first date, nights out and laughs; then finally to the Orbital tower at the Olympic Park.

Chloe had contacted the events manager for a special request to propose on the viewing platform shortly after closing. We are not the most comfortable with public displays of affection and so having a private opportunity in a normally busy public space was perfect to say the least. We met the staff member who took us up; a view over the whole of London, Chloe got out a ring box made out of Lego and asked the question we had both been wanting to ask for a while. Cath said yes and the lovely staff at the Orbital met us with a glass of bubbly to take our first cheers into the rest of our lives together.

The Vision

To create the best wedding any of our guest have ever/ will ever go to in their lives!!

We wanted to have an alternative wedding as this wasn’t a position Chloe and I saw ourselves being in. We grow up and always imagine yourselves marrying a man and the typical fairy tale. But we fell in love with each other for who we are not what we are. We thought where and what can make our day most magical for us. We love to have fun and started to think a festival style wedding suited us down to the ground. So, we went on the hunt for the perfect place and finally found it. As soon as we saw Lila’s Wood we just fell in love. It was everything we were looking for and nothing else came close. It was a massive stretch for us but one I don’t regret at all. From there it was all about making the day as magical and as fun as it could be (and with as much alcohol as we can squeeze in!!).

The Planning Process

• Find the venue
• Invites
• Photographer
• Food
• Band
• Flowers
• Outfits
• Centrepieces
• Extra details

Budget

£27,536.99 all in

The Venue

Woodland Wedding

The Flowers

Florist – Flowers by Wetherly

Your Outfits & Accessories

Neither of us knew what each other dresses looked like. We had no idea how similar they would be!!

Catherine’s dress: Hammonds Bridal Bedford

Chloe’s dress: Fleur De Lys Bridal

The Readings & Music

Readings:
Brother in Law: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
Chloe’s Bridesmaid Nat: How falling in love is like owning a dog by Taylor Mali

Music:
Aisle Walk: Say it Again – Frances
Post Ceremony Aisle Walk: You & I – Crystal Fighters
Parent/Daughter Dance:
First Dance: Like and Arrow – Lucy Rose

Beauty

Chloe Make up – Powder Box
Chloe Hair – Toni Hair
Catherine Make up – Silvestre Beauty
Catherine Hair – Ivory Boutique

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Photography / Videography – Two-d Photography & Video

Dan and Sarah – LEGENDS

Literally the most fantastic people, In love with them as much as I’m in love with my photos. Know exactly how to get the best out of people, children and dogs!!

The Details & Décor

Table Centres – Ikea is your best friend; We used 50p plant pot from Ikea and sprayed it with brass spray-paint, I used 2 cans for roughly 20 pots. I did buy some real Ivy but unfortunately it didn’t want to live so we had to replace it with fake Ikea ivy to add green floral to the table in addition to the florist centres. Last but not least we approached a few local pubs to keep Gin bottles aside for us, we paid £1 a bottle and filled them with fairy lights just to add a bit of fairy dust!

Signage – Luckily, I could get hold of these lovely frames and easels from work and I did all the artwork myself. I then got the local printers to print the large posters and again all done pre-site making it a smooth transition for the install morning.

Favours – We wanted to give something that doubled up as part of the design, something people would want to take and something that if left wouldn’t go to waste. So, opted for small succulents and used bamboo little pot signs for name cards. Doubled up well. I actually got the succulents for free as I purposely suggested these for a job earlier in the year so took them after the show, the biggest challenge was keeping them alive!!

Tent Signs – I wanted a good way to show people which was there tents but as it was the height of summer and a short build time, we didn’t have time to stake something into the ground. Plus these kind of signs where too expensive when you multiplied it by the amount of tents. So we bought a cheap freestanding Ikea leg and printed customised signs and attached with cable ties. Quick and easy and the prep was all done before ready to go.

Cake Stand – These are surprisingly expensive. So I cheated…used a few extra sprayed pots, turned them upside down, bought 3 brass trays from Ikea £8 each and boom..3 cake stands that cost me all together £26 (My wife is trying to kill me with the knife!).

Ping Pong / Beer Pong & Giant Deck Chair- I picked this up for free as these where being thrown away, did some sexy artwork. Got the vinyl printed and applied it in the garden with my sister. We bodged it well enough that everyone loved the attention to detail.

Campervan – Susie Q is Catherine’s family campervan. Her dad bought it as a kind of midlife crisis but it’s something we’ve all embraced. We really wanted Susie Q to be there in and amongst the scenery as she’s a beautiful van and we all try to spend as much time in her as possible. But mainly because Catherine’s dad passed away 5 years before the wedding and we felt it was like having him there in spirit.

Not without a bit of fun though, Catherine and her sister Beccy had to drive her over to the venue at 12 midnight the night before the wedding…and well Catherine had to go for a bush wee on the way there! Then after the wedding was all done, Susie Q broke down less than a mile from home and had to be towed home. It was an adventure for sure!!

Groomsmen

Jacamo Waistcoat
Jacamo Chinos
Shirt – Next
Tie – Next
Shoes – Next

Bridesmaids

Stacies online
Blue mid length dresses with pockets ☺
Brown gladiator sandals not matching for individual comfort
Children’s floral navy Next playsuits

The Honeymoon

We actually went on our honeymoon before! We loved the venue so much that the only date available was the last day of the school holidays. Therefore, we didn’t want to wait so we thought…why not go before?! Have a fantastic time and get a great natural tan for the wedding!! We prepped as much as we could before we left, paid all the final payments so we could relax and get excited about what was to come. We came back a week before the wedding to do the final preparation and grooming required!

But the actual honeymoon was in Malaysia. We flew to Kuala Lumpur and stayed for 3 days. Lots of food and drink to see us through the sights, our favourite was a going to the Heli Lounge Bar with a 360 degree view of the city and sunset. From there we moved onto Shangri La in Borneo for our luxury adventure to begin. Jungle trek’s, river kayaking, and the most strenuous of all luxury spa! Then to really live the life of luxury we decided to finish off at the luxury Island resort just, 10mins speed boat ride from Kota Kinabalu to lap up the sun and taking in the sights.

The Cake

The Cake: The Maypole Cake-a-tiers

Brownies – Little Brownie Company

Memorable Moments

Catherine

When I arrived at the venue and saw my brother for the first time, he looked so proud and elated. He had the same look on his face as my father had on the day I graduated.

Looking across the forest at one another, catching our breath before Chloe’s dad Chris and Catherine’s brother Neil gave us away to walk up the aisle together.

Dancing with my mother to a special parent daughter dance.

My nieces dancing like the whole world was watching and loving it.

Singing at the top of our lungs when the music was turned off.

Advice For Other Couples

Keep your budget updated constantly.

Try and do as much yourself, you will save more money!

If you wouldn’t take your guest out for dinner and pay, then don’t invite them.

Think outside the box on how you can use something in a new way.

Surround yourself with suppliers you get that good feeling from, pay a bit more if you have too because you have to have 100% faith in them.

Find a great bunch of people to set it up for you if you can’t yourself – and give them a document to help guide them. Even though they’ll props have to go with their gut half the time it’s peace of mind ☺

Have a blast because it goes way too quick.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Wow! I do love a woodland wedding. Didn’t Chloe and Catherine look just stunning?

Chloe and Catherine thank you both so much for sharing your wedding with us, it looked so amazing xo Lou