So you want a festival themed wedding, but don’t know where to start? Relax! One of our fab festival brides, Maria reveals her essential festival wedding planning checklist just for you! Jam-packed with festival wedding ideas and inspiration for your epic wedfest!
FESTIVAL WEDDING PLANNING CHECKLIST
We really had so much fun as Maria and Ricky’s festival wedding photographers! Their Glastonbury-inspired festival themed wedding took only six months to plan too. The ‘Dansonbury’ Facebook Event page was also a great way to build the hype and excitement leading up to the day. If you are in the early organising stages, don’t miss this ultimate festival wedding planning checklist. So get some flowers in your hair and your planners at the ready:
1. Find your perfect festival wedding venue
It’s so important to be imaginative when looking for your festival wedding venue. An empty field will soon come to life when your epic tipi or geo-dome arrive. Ideally search for a festival-ready outdoor event space. This way all your music and alcohol licenses should be covered. Phew! Maria and Ricky’s wedding party took place at White Bottom Farm in Etherow Country Park. Also the home of Blackthorn Music Festival. Day-to-day it’s a working farm cow shed. So an awesome festival wedding barn makeover would be required!
Maria says: “A friend-of-a-friend had been to a wedding there the year before. We found a phone number on the internet as they don’t advertise they do weddings. One drizzly day in January we went up to the farm and met the owners. The cows were still in the sheds at this point, so it took some imagination to get an idea of how it could look transformed.
I wanted it to feel like a festival. Lots of music, dancing and laughter. All our friends and family having a good time and that’s exactly what it was. We created our own little festival, in a perfect venue. It’s through a Country Park, so really does feel tucked away from it all. A gorgeous backdrop!”
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2. Glasto-inspired festival themed wedding décor
Look no further than the legendary Glastonbury for the ultimate festival inspiration. Bright, bold and colourful decorations are essential for creating an authentic festival atmosphere. Handmade, recycled and affordable materials can look totally amazing! All great festival wedding ideas. Especially if you or a friend, have a very particular set of skills…
M: “We decided to call our festival Dansonbury. My friend Caroline helped me with wooden signs and lettering which we placed in the barn. With the help of Val, my mother-in-law, we created five huge dream catchers with hula hoops which looked ace. There was hundreds of meters of bunting which my mum had lovingly sewn together. I bought bright fabrics to use on the centre of the tables. Everything was brightly coloured! We painted hundreds of jars for the flowers which people had been collecting for me for months prior. I bought crochet blankets from Ebay which we put over the sofas which the owners had available.
The furniture was from a lovely lady called Jill at Aureum Events. We had the Chiavari chairs and round tables which were all delivered with no problems. It was a big barn to fill, so we had lots of day guests and then further people at the night. I had some old crates and ladders which we placed photographs on and a prop box for people to dress up with.
We had signs up like the Glastonbury ones for people to follow from the village to the venue. We even created a Facebook Event page with pictures and videos and general information. I posted regularly just to add excitement to the big day!”
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3. Festival wedding ideas for grub with a personal touch
There are some fantastic and quirky food vendors out there. Maria and Ricky looked at a converted VW campervan serving fish and chips and fresh wood-fired pizzas (mmmm!) But they finally decided on a carefully considered menu-with-meaning and a Great British twist. Remember, your family and friends might be able to help out to save a few pennies too!
M: “We began with a cream tea. As we spent the first four years of our relationship on holidays to Cornwall, it seemed fitting. I sourced these from Morrison’s as they were reasonably priced, freshly baked and damn tasty! Family members had the task of putting jam and cream into individual pots.
We also decided to do a selection of charcuterie boards for the evening. Again I met with a catering lady at our local Morrison’s who helped me organise exactly the amounts of various cuts of meat and olives etc. I also did a shop at Costco. The bridesmaids pretty much sorted all of this the day before the wedding and were able to stick everything in chillers at the venue. The owners then arranged for all the food to be brought out in the evening. This was a great help as I didn’t want it to become a family member’s responsibility.
I also organised a ‘Great Wedding Bake Off’ with prizes and categories for various deserts. It was a bit of fun and a lot of friends got involved which helped save on the cost of a pudding.
As for the main meal, we love barbecues and always said our wedding would have barbecue food!”
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4. Comfy accommodation for you and your party animals
A venue with grounds for camping space is perfect for your laidback, festival wedding. Quirky glamping options can also provide a luxurious, low-cost overnight accommodation solution. Your campfire celebrations can then continue late in to the night too! Hurrah!
M: “We arranged bell tents through Anji at The Tipi and Bell Tent Hire Company. They looked fab all in a huge circle down the hill. Some people also brought their own tents. I wanted as many people to stay over as possible just so that when we woke up we could have a laugh about the day and share our hangovers together.
It worked out well as ‘Meathead’ came prepared with a barbecue and cooked us all bacon butties, whilst people appeared from their tents still fully clothed from the night before. It was great for starting the clean up as well as people helped with some of that.”
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5. Book your amazing entertainment
Last, but by no means least on your festival wedding planning checklist! Now your stage is set, make sure you budget for the music. You simply cannot beat a line-up of fantastic musicians to set the real festival vibe, man! Get recommendations from friends and suppliers. It’s also a good idea to see your artists perform live and listen to their online material. You want to fill that dancefloor with your fave tunes all night long!
M: “We wanted our wedding to feel like a festival as we are both big music lovers and have been many festivals and gigs together.
My sister had an amazing singer called John Reynolds who performed lots of songs at her wedding; he even did some afterhours singing. So I tracked him down and asked him whether he could help. He was amazing from the first time we spoke. I felt like I’d known him forever. We discussed our budget and it wasn’t realistic to have a band as it would be too expensive, so we chatted about having artists playing. He gave me several names of people he knew and what they would cost, so it was just a case of choosing who we liked, looking through their playlist and choosing what tracks we wanted. John would have the last slot and he was mega, so happy that I found him.
We had Shane Robertson, Danny Clarke who sang some great indie tracks, Amy Lovae who sang and played her saxophone which was epic and then John did a set before DJ Nick Campbell took over on the decks. I’ve been to several weddings where Nick was the DJ and I’ve never left the dancefloor. So there was only one choice in that instance. We gave him a good idea of what we wanted and it was fab, everyone was dancing till the death!”
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So are you planning on having a festival wedding?
We love couples who choose to celebrate their day with a festival themed wedding. Our quirky, creative and documentary photography style might just be what you’re looking for. Happy campers, hippies and indie music lovers, we can’t wait to hear about your wedding plans! Get in touch!
We hope you find this festival wedding planning checklist useful. For more great wedding planning advice and inspiration, check out our other Never Mind The Bunting features.
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