DIY Garden Wedding: Bring a Vintage Vibe to Your Big Day
A beautiful garden wedding made by hand could be the beginning of a marriage made in heaven
We can’t all afford a celebrity wedding planner and a no-expense-spared reception, but getting married out in the garden can be just as special, and all the more meaningful if it reflects the bride and groom’s personalities and how they feel about one another. A theme that gives your big day a handmade or vintage vibe (or both) can be humble and beautiful, and as delightful for guests as it is for the newlyweds celebrating their union and future together. Here are some ideas to get you thinking about the possibilities for your own wedding, even if the question hasn’t yet been popped.
Arrange seating in a way that lets guests move around and mingle. Getting stuck sitting at a table for hours gets old fast. At this wedding – for interior designer Luci Dibley and now-husband Tim – hay bales were placed under market umbrellas kept upright with the help of giant cotton-reels.
Photo by Liz Ham
Photo by Liz Ham
If hay bales are a little too casual (or prickly) for your liking, provide plenty of spots guests can sit and relax. Small tables with chairs dotted around the place will be appreciated, as will a shady shelter like this one, complete with comfortable couches for guests to put their feet up.
See more beautiful garden designs
See more beautiful garden designs
Keep it cosy
Cordon off the area in which you’d like guests to congregate with bunting you’ve made yourself. If you can gather scraps of vintage or retro fabric to make the flags, so much the better. And don’t worry about restricting your colour palette – bunting has a habit of turning out well regardless.
Photo by Liz Ham
Cordon off the area in which you’d like guests to congregate with bunting you’ve made yourself. If you can gather scraps of vintage or retro fabric to make the flags, so much the better. And don’t worry about restricting your colour palette – bunting has a habit of turning out well regardless.
Photo by Liz Ham
Make centrepieces yourself
If you are having a sit-down meal, the table centrepieces offer you a chance to get creative. Old wooden spoons with the table numbers painted on and some cuttings from the garden are charming at this lovely wedding.
Photo by Liz Ham
If you are having a sit-down meal, the table centrepieces offer you a chance to get creative. Old wooden spoons with the table numbers painted on and some cuttings from the garden are charming at this lovely wedding.
Photo by Liz Ham
If you opt to have a colour theme – floral centrepieces that match your bouquet or the bridesmaids’ dresses, for example – bring in a vintage touch by displaying them in a tin wrapped in lace with string.
The art of table setting
The art of table setting
Mix and match
If you don’t want a cookie-cutter wedding that will soon fade from peoples’ memories, do it differently. Details such as mismatched plates, teacups and glasses add a quirky vintage touch … and it can be fun trawling through secondhand shops picking up old plates for your collection.
Photo by Liz Ham
If you don’t want a cookie-cutter wedding that will soon fade from peoples’ memories, do it differently. Details such as mismatched plates, teacups and glasses add a quirky vintage touch … and it can be fun trawling through secondhand shops picking up old plates for your collection.
Photo by Liz Ham
Photo by Liz Ham
Layer it up
The beauty of a small wedding is the ability to personalise it without going to huge expense. The starched white tablecloths gracing the tables of more formal weddings can bring a sense of occasion, but so can something a little more colourful. Layers of hemmed fabric – even if only over the cake or gift table – will pretty up any venue, inside or out.
The beauty of a small wedding is the ability to personalise it without going to huge expense. The starched white tablecloths gracing the tables of more formal weddings can bring a sense of occasion, but so can something a little more colourful. Layers of hemmed fabric – even if only over the cake or gift table – will pretty up any venue, inside or out.
Make every guest feel special
Setting each place with care sends a message of gratitude – not just that they’ve come to your wedding but for the role they play in your life. A little gift, or wedding favour, guests can take home with them is customary, but one that’s homemade will be all the more meaningful. A jar of jam with a label saying thank you, a handful of cookies in a sturdy paper bag tied up with string, handmade soap in a cellophane wrapper … you get the idea.
Setting each place with care sends a message of gratitude – not just that they’ve come to your wedding but for the role they play in your life. A little gift, or wedding favour, guests can take home with them is customary, but one that’s homemade will be all the more meaningful. A jar of jam with a label saying thank you, a handful of cookies in a sturdy paper bag tied up with string, handmade soap in a cellophane wrapper … you get the idea.
Make it magical
If your celebration is likely to linger into the night, use plenty of candles to set the scene. Floating candles in glasses of water on the tables, tea lights in paper bags weighed down with sand lining pathways or garden beds, lanterns hung from trees … or all of the above. Assign one of the guests to keep an eye on the candles and replace them if they burn down or go out.
If your celebration is likely to linger into the night, use plenty of candles to set the scene. Floating candles in glasses of water on the tables, tea lights in paper bags weighed down with sand lining pathways or garden beds, lanterns hung from trees … or all of the above. Assign one of the guests to keep an eye on the candles and replace them if they burn down or go out.
A set-and-forget alternative is the plug-in kind. A string of lights down the centre of each table (or just the bridal table, if you prefer) and strung up in trees can make for a magical setting.
Romantic schemes to fall in love with
Romantic schemes to fall in love with
Communicate in style
In keeping with the homemade theme, direct guests to tables with the help of some DIY chalkboard signs. That way you can keep a little control over who gets seated next to whom, and maybe do a little matchmaking while you’re at it.
Photo by Liz Ham
In keeping with the homemade theme, direct guests to tables with the help of some DIY chalkboard signs. That way you can keep a little control over who gets seated next to whom, and maybe do a little matchmaking while you’re at it.
Photo by Liz Ham
If you’ve opted for the ease of a buffet meal, let guests know the gastronomic delights that are in store with a chalkboard sign …
Photo by Liz Ham
Photo by Liz Ham
… or a printed menu. Designing and printing your own is a snap these days, and the clipboard is a cute way to display it.
Photo by Liz Ham
Photo by Liz Ham
Have a little fun
If you’re not jetting off to an exotic island in a sea of confetti when your wedding day draws to a close, why not surprise your exhausted partner with some bedroom humour. Assign a guest to the task so you don’t have to sneak away during the reception.
If you’re not jetting off to an exotic island in a sea of confetti when your wedding day draws to a close, why not surprise your exhausted partner with some bedroom humour. Assign a guest to the task so you don’t have to sneak away during the reception.
Let it linger on
Photos of your big day need not all be hidden away in your wedding album. Print out some of you, your new spouse and your guests having a good time to keep those memories alive.
YOUR SAY
Have you had a garden wedding? Share your tips and stories from the big day in the Comments below.
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Photos of your big day need not all be hidden away in your wedding album. Print out some of you, your new spouse and your guests having a good time to keep those memories alive.
YOUR SAY
Have you had a garden wedding? Share your tips and stories from the big day in the Comments below.
MORE
Browse home design ideas
Part of the joy of getting married is watching the friends and family you’ve chosen to invite enjoying themselves and sharing in your happiness. A garden wedding with limited space gives you the perfect excuse to invite only those people you truly want at your wedding – not that long lost uncle who gave you nightmares as a child, or the colleague you’ll never see again once you leave that place of employment.
Photo by Liz Ham