Relaxed Outdoor DIY Wedding

Clare & Behn

Clare & Behn had one of the most relaxed outdoor DIY weddings I have ever seen and there was no doubt it was always going to end up on the blog. Their day was full of beautiful personal touches and creative decoration ideas that are simple to plan and build. It’s a huge source of inspiration for couples planning their own relaxed outdoor DIY wedding so I had to share it all with you!

Clare & Behn chose a newly renovated village hall in Stalisfield for their humanist ceremony. The renovation created a beautiful blank canvas inside and opened up the hall to the garden at the back, bringing the outside in. This is the perfect way to connect an outdoor wedding ceremony with the rest of your day. The garden at Stalisfield village hall was the perfect size for your average wedding and had views over the nearby fields (great for group shots), this became the setting for Clare & Behns extradinary DIY humanist ceremony.

 

Clare & Behn created a ceremony layout I haven’t seen before but it worked so wonderfully and gave me so much freedom to capture natural moments throughout the ceremony. The chairs were set out in a circle around their hand made foliage arch… that’s right, a hand made foliage arch! It was the center piece of the ceremony and a popular spot for guests to take a selfie later in the day too.

Having this set up at an outdoor ceremony allowed me to see the couple from every angle. I could get close ups either side of the arch, through the foliage, in between heads and also I was able to get lots of photos of their guests reactions too.

 

The creative decorations outside didn’t stop here, they had more imaginative and personal touches to wow me with after the ceremony too.

Clare & Behn lined the fence at the edge of the garden with streams of ribbon and huge white balloons, which was such a great backdrop to add a unique twist and unique feel to the photos.
Not only did they put these beautiful decorations together but they also concocted some incredible homemade drinks for their ‘help yourself’ bar. I was so sad I didn’t get to try them, the lavender sounded yummy!
 
Being such a relaxed and fun loving couple the wedding breakfast was a chilled out affair too. The seating indoors was laid out in the shape of a U, which meant everyone could get a good view of the couple and their speeches (yes the bride did a speech, yay!).
It appeared they had thought of everything, by decorating the back wall in the hall they created a striking balloon backdrop for the speeches. I mean how epic does that look???
To top off this awesome wedding there was a cake table full of desserts made by friends, family & the couple themselves (as if they didn’t have enough to do already). All this was then followed by an ice cream truck as a surprise for the guests and boy did it go down well.
Clare & Behn were one of the most relaxed couples I have worked with and their guests were hilarious, making the whole day so much fun. It was definitely one of my favourite weddings from last year.
If you are planning a relaxed outdoor DIY wedding I would love to hear from you. Get in touch and tell me all about your plans and ideas! xx
 
Brides speech breaking wedding traditions