Tree House and Picnic Party Wedding: Kirsty & James

Camera Hannah

November 11, 2013

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They met online and with a mutual love of all things nerdy (their first date was eating cheese toasties and watching Dark Crystal) they connected instantly. They were married in August at Sole Street House in Kent. “Our theme evolved into a relaxed, geeky garden party”, wrote Kirsty. “Vintage touches and having the full day to relax into the venue meant that it felt very natural and laid-back. We picked a colour theme of teal and asked all of our guests to wear something to match. As time went on, it became green and blue in all of the shades but it meant that we could relax about a ‘theme’ and still have everything come together.”

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“Our dress code was ‘relaxed but smart’ and everyone looked fab. There were small geeky touches throughout the day, we served Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and the ‘table’ plan featured Team Zissou, the Scumm bar and number of other geeky gatherings.”

The ceremony was held up a tree house on the grounds with their guests watching from below. “One of our favourite moments was our ‘first look’ which is where we saw each other before the ceremony”, she continued. “We had the time to just relax with each other and enjoy the moment. Stepping out onto the balcony of the tree house was pretty special too. We were hiding inside with the registrars whilst all of our friends and family gathered below us. We could hear them laughing and chatting and then when we stepped out together, in full regalia, there was an audible gasp. Pretty good for the ego. It was wonderful to look down and see everybody smiling back at us.”

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“We’re both humanist atheists and not big believers in tradition for traditions sake. We also hate being the centre of attention so, for a while, it was a consideration whether we were going to have a wedding at all. We decided to start from scratch and include elements that meant something to us. No-one gave me away and James had no best man. It took some willpower to trust that it would all be okay but everyone really seemed to get it on the day. One really special touch was our vows, which we almost made it through without crying.”

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Pretty much every single decor item was handmade by either the couple or their friends and family. Kirsty explains, “We DIY’d a lot of the wedding touches. We had activity booklets printed, filled with mingle bingo and crossword puzzles to add into the epic favour bags. We used a lot of online suppliers to make custom pieces like stamped pennies, custom napkins, and rolls of Love Hearts with our names on them. We made the ribbon and embroidery hoop decoration for the tree house and all of the pompoms. James’ mum made the bunting from old curtains that I had snaffled away in a cupboard and also used my ex-Maths Teacher skills to make paper spirals and hearts which twirled in the trees.”

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“We bought MILES of ribbon and spent the day before the wedding decorating the venue with our parents. I also spent months making oragami flowers to make my bouquet, but I gave up on forming them into a ball the day before the main event. Rather than freaking out, we added a single flower into each favour bag and bought a selection of supermarket roses for my bouquet.”

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“Our biggest DIY project was the favour bags. There was an activity booklet, pen, multicolour crayon, finger monster, stamped penny, hand coloured wooden cutlery, white marriage equality ribbon, badge with the hashtag on, bag of pick ‘n’ mix sweets, bath powder, handmade soaps, cake shaped bubbles, origami flower, and a bookmark. It took a lot of assembling but people loved them.”

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