Last Thursday Laura and I took a trip down to Brighton to see The Hurly Burly Wedding Circus in full swing.

The Hurly Burly ensemble have been touring festivals for many years and have recently tailored their catering performances and ideas for festival weddings! They have formed The Artillery of Love which consists of theatre makers, dancers and acrobats who creatively deliver food and performance during your wedding breakfast right into the early hours of the morning.

The huge circus tent was set out on the Green, South of St Peters Church in central Brighton. The event was part of The Brighton Family Fringe Festival, offering an eclectic mix of performances, visual arts, workshops, live music and silly games. The festival continues until 27th May so if you are near Brighton be sure to visit for some fun and frolics.

The Hurly Burly team gathered a handful of alternative and creative wedding suppliers to exhibit at the circus with the intention of producing an event that inspired ‘wild wedding ideas for the adventure seeking betrothed!’ There were entertaining and quirky performances with dancing throughout the event as well as a vintage beauty parlour, live music with some amazing acoustic sets, and some really cool and unique wedding suppliers.

Read all about The Hurly Burly wedding options here (we plan to post a lot more about them in the future so watch this space for a real Hurly Burly wedding!)

We wanted to showcase all the cool suppliers and ideas we saw during the evening, so here are our top hits of people, things and ideas we loved…

Miss Cake – Funky cake toppers and jewels

We have to say we have never seen cake toppers like it………..a far cry from the floral wedding designs you see at a traditional wedding fair. You can basically choose any message, icon or shape and have it laser cut in bright colours for your cake. Choose from your names, Mr and Mrs, or your own unique slogan!! Sarah (Miss Cake) also designs necklaces, signs and cool props so perfect for a festival wedding.

www.misscake.co.uk

Duke & Lolly – Cool event and decor design

Duke and Lolly is an Events and Decor company based in Brighton, specialising in creative event management and wonderful decor.

Their stand really caught our eye with lots of quirky and unusual  ideas for table settings, favours, wedding notes and table plans. We loved their Sunday paper confetti idea – so simple and very personal to the couple!

We also fell in love with their jar lighting which was very cool. All hand made, you can choose from an array of coloured bulbs which are then encased in different sized mason and jam jars. Perfect for a retro festival wedding!

www.dukeandlolly.com

Candy Queens – The pink ladies

You couldn’t miss these two with hair as bright as the candy floss they were making!

The Candy Queens spin multi coloured, fruit flavoured candy floss and can colour co-ordinate their floss to match your wedding décor or wedding flowers. Choose from a wide array of yummy flavours, toppings and glitter and the girls will spin some sweetastic treats for you and your guests. Who said candy floss is just for kids!

You may well see these girls at various festivals over the summer, they are at Secret Garden Party and Boomtown with some pretty impressive ideas!

www.candyqueens.co.uk

Reginald Spleen’s Travelling Snuff Bar

Looking for an unusual party idea or a unique take on a vintage stag or hen night? Why not offer your guests free snuff from Reginald Spleen’s Travelling Snuff Bar! We simply loved this idea! Fully stocked with eighteen flavours on display, there is enough snuff to last a party of 100 people an entire evening.

The bar is built into a vintage suitcase and really adds a retro atmosphere to any event. Reginald Spleen is on hand to offer advice on each blend helping guests find their favourite flavour and keep them coming back for more.

Tobacco free options are available so everyone can join in.

For those wanting to take snuff home with them sample tins are available to buy.

Quite simply – A Suitcase Stuffed With Sneezes!

www.snuffbar.co.uk

Ma Fleur – Naturally styled flowers with an edge

We loved their fab quirky floral designs that are inspired by nature and the multitude of seasonal shifts that take place throughout the year. Each unique creation has a contemporary artistic edge whilst conveying an air of sophistication influenced by classic period designs.

As well as mixing the modern with the classic, their signature style is natural but luxurious. They use beautiful colours to create chic designs and incorporate raw textures and elements to achieve the most enchanting results.

We simply loved their designs and they are by far our favourite florist on the South Coast!

 www.ma-fleur.co.uk

Sussex LoveBug – Beautiful Belle 

What can we say about Belle, a beautiful bug with equally beautiful owners (Kelly and Joss). If you are looking for unique and cool transport to your festival field then Belle should be your car of choice! We loved the champagne and sheep skin rug in the back coupled with her uber cool cream and green lino seats.

Due to the age of Belle she is limited to how far she can travel. Do get in touch with Kelly and Joss to see if she can travel to your area and to discuss your wedding ideas and plans.

www.sussexlovebug.co.uk

We thoroughly enjoyed the evening at The Hurly Burly Wedding Circus despite the rain! We met some awesome people and more importantly gained quirky inspiration to share with all our festival loving readers.

We hope you have loved reading about it!!

xx

Photography by Wookie Photography and Festival Brides

Happy Friday Peeps!

Oh do we have a wedding fair treat for you today! For those of you planning a festival wedding, this is one wedding fair you do not want to miss……….

On Saturday 12th May at 11am, Sparkford Hall, a stunning new Somerset venue located in 23 acres of beautiful parkland, is playing host to a very cool and very alternative FESTIVAL wedding fair.

Now, we’re not talking about your usual traditional wedding fair; we’re not even talking about an alternative wedding fair! No, this my lovelies is 100% festival related through and through and promises to be an event that’s full to the brim with festival wedding suppliers and inspiration.

The organisers of the show, the lovely Laleh from Potent Productions and the very cool James from Over The Moon Tents, wanted to create a wedding fair that allowed couples to experience their event planning services first hand, as well as bring together the festival and wedding industry.

The exhibiton, set up like an actual festival, will give couples the opportunity to explore the very best in festival wedding suppliers such as the fabulous canvas creations from Over The Moon Tents; stylish venue dressing by A Different World and Crescent Moon; awesome festival flags from Alice Fields; fancy dress hire by the amazing Krumble Empire; air inflatables by Designs in Air; uber cool glamping tents from Blue Bell Tents………I could go on!

There will be the opportunity to meet some amazing wedding/festival caterers that offer unique alternatives to your more traditional wedding breakfast. The Beggars Banquet Music Cafe, a regular on the festival scene, will be providing delicious food throughout the event and their ‘mobile’ banquet is available for wedding hire. In the ‘pizza tent’ you can even make your own wood-fired pizza which is an excellent idea for a festival wedding and something your guests will be talking about for years to come!

Of course, no festival is complete without entertainment and Laleh and James have invited the festival crème de la crème to perform at the event. DJ’s will be warming up their turn tables with this summer’s festival tunes and there will also be circus acts, trapeze artists and storytelling performed by the inspirational Whispering Wood Folk. All of these acts and more will be available to book for your festival wedding.

This event promises to illustrate what south-west festival suppliers can offer wedding couples in planning their special day. They will be showcasing the latest styles and trends that the UK’s vibrant outdoor festival culture is taking into the wedding industry. All suppliers exhibiting have worked at some of the UK’s best festivals like Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Lovebox, Glade, Big Chill & Bestival – you do not want to miss this people!

Oh did I mention that we will be there too!? Yes, Kelly and I will be on hand to talk all things festival weddings and we are MEGA excited about being part of such an awesome event.

We would love to meet you all so what are you waiting for? Cancel any plans you had for next weekend, grab a pen and jot down these details:

Wedding and Events Open Day: 12 May 11am-5pm at Sparkford Hall, Sparkford, Somerset BA22 7LD

Click for Directions.

If you want to read more about the show then check out this article by Country Calling - there’s a little bit about us in there!

All images are courtesy of Potent Productions.

Big bank holiday love

Festival Brides xx

Afternoon Peeps!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Kel and I were working hard preparing for, and exhibiting, at the Save The Date Wedding Event in Nottingham. It was a fab show and we got to meet some awesome brides and grooms to be who are planning festival weddings – if any of you are reading this we’re expecting an invite! Te he!

We’ll be doing a full report of the days events later in the week, including pictures of our stand and our festival scrapbook which went down a treat at the show!

So………..today we bring you part 2 of Hannah and Tim’s amazing festival wedding. If you missed Part 1 then simply scroll down to the next post or click here.

Please show some appreciation for the sofa swings – I want one in my garden!

Over to Hannah and Tim:

“We sat down to a feast of hog roast, and enjoyed the speeches, before everyone proceeded to get up and put on the provided fancy dress!

For our festival music line-up we pulled in favours from friends, professional musicians and DJs. We started with some acoustic rock that played as guests arrived. This then moved on to rum soaked reggae and ska and then a blinding set of drum and bass. To finish the night we had good friend and officially the friendliest man in all ravedom, Mike Freear playing a set that mixed the beach boys with bagpipes all backed with enormous slabs of savage bass. Everyone danced up to (and little bit past) the venues curfew!

We had our first dance and then took the first bite of cake, from the cup cake tower and invited everyone to join in.

The festival music theme really got into full swing later in the evening, when our friends performed a fire show involving fire poi and staffs. The bonfire was lit to allow guests to enjoy the evening and the outside, and a late night BBQ replenished everyone ready to continue to party throughout the night – which we did!

It really was the best day of our lives, and in all honesty even with our excellent experience of organising a good party, we know we shall never beat this!

Favourite Moment of your day?

Hannah: “ We had some fantastic speeches from our two best men and my best friend, which was interrupted dramatically by a 20 minute down poor of rain! We had been expecting the rain, but hoped it wouldn’t come and luckily it was perfectly timed, once we’d all sat down in the shelter of the marquee. Tim’s brother had just begun his speech as all the other ‘Wedding Helper’s’ ran back outside to protect the hay bails from the rain. He exclaimed during his speech ‘Excellent now everyone’s running away’, to great amusement as he had been dreading doing the speech altogether. This amused everyone and relaxed them all into some beautifully worded and memorable speeches. Once the speeches we’re complete we all helped ourselves to the hog roast and feast lay out.”

Tim: “We had been so busy for months leading up to the day and then the day itself was a whirlwind of activity and emotion. During the fire show I decided to take a few minutes and climb the staircase to the tree house overlooking the site. From here I could see everyone and take some time to appreciate how happy and relaxed everyone was. All were having a great time, from Grandparents sitting around the fire to regular festival goers and party people in fancy dress dancing to huge bass lines.

Venue and Hog Roast: Wise Wedding Venue

Salads: Provided by Waitrose delivery service. Due to the isolation of the venue, no kitchen or preparation area was available as it was in a woodland glade, so we choose Waitrose delivery service for ease!

Wedding Stationery: Tim designed the ‘Wedfest Ticket’s’ himself inspired by tickets of festivals we have been to. We wanted to give the idea of it being a music festival!

Sound system – ldsdiscos.com

Photographer: David Burke Photography

Thank you so much to Hannah and Tim for sharing your awesome wedding with us and to David Burke for his fantabulous photograpy – how amazing were those photos of the fire show!?

Love their take on the wedding guestbook as well.

Hannah and Tim’s first dance will be featured under Independent Love Song later on this afternoon so don’t be a stranger.

Happy Monday guys!

Big Love,

Festival Brides xx

Oh do we have a real festival wedding treat for you today!

Allow me to introduce to you Hannah and Tim, 2 festival lovers from Kent who decided that the only way to celebrate their marriage was to have their very own wedding festival – aptly named WedFest!

Held at the awesome Wise Wedding Venue in Kent (Bob and I viewed this for our wedding – they have hanging sofas in the woods and tree houses - need I say more!), Hannah and Tim enlisted their friends and family to help organise and create a truly unique and memorable wedding. Everything from the flowers, drinks, cakes and decor were down to the efforts of their ‘wedding helpers’ and Hannah and Tim even called in a few favours from festival DJ’s to provide the evening entertainment.

Caught on Camera by David Burke Photography, WedFest is a wedding after my own heart………….wait until you see Part Two!! Fire dancing anyone…………?

Over to Hannah and Tim.

“We didn’t want to follow the traditional route, as that is not who we are. Our friends know us best as party goers and some of our most memorable and favourite experiences have been at festivals and parties so it seemed appropriate to hold our own wedding festival for our friends to celebrate our day. The fact that we had several rails of fancy dress for guests to put on and enjoy says it all really!

We got married at The Archbishops’ Palace in Maidstone, Kent. The guests all arrived on a 1940’s old double decker bus which was really good fun and set the tone for the whole day!

We had a reading from the poetry of Spike Milligan called ‘The Land Of The Bumbly Boo’.

The guests were then transported to the wedding venue, from The Archbishops’ Palace again in the double decker bus; where they were met with banners saying ‘Wedfest’.

Once they had got off the bus they had to go to the ticket desk, where they were provided with lanyards to wear round their necks; detailing the running order and music line up of the day.

We had tea and cakes and PIMMS on arrival and everyone relaxed on hay bales and explored the venue. Tree houses, extravagant lighting installations and sofa’s that were suspended from trees so guests could sit and swing in them, amused everyone on arrival.

Due to the venue location, and the fact that we are the sort of people that didn’t want formality; for our wedding flowers we simply asked our friends to bring a bunch of flowers with them to the venue and a team of ‘Wedding Helpers’ displayed them on the tables and around the marquee on arrival.

Our wedding cake was made by a student of mine (we’re both teachers) and her mother. They provided a cup cake tower consisting of 120 cup cakes of four different flavours, all decorated with our colour theme of red, white and black – yum!

They have a home business and are contactable at: lulu@luluscakes.co.uk.

Part two will be on the blog on Monday and trust me, you don’t want to miss it!

Have a fab weekend guys,

Big Love

Festival Brides xx

Meet Tracy Morter… A fantabulous festival loving photographer that we met on the wonderful world of twitter! When we saw these shots we beamed with festival love and happiness and couldn’t wait to share them all with you.

Festivals can be incredibly romantic and have a tendency of bringing like minded souls together. What we love the most about any festival is their ability to bring out the best in people so it’s no surprise that many couples find or share love over a pint of cider and some awesome tunes!

Tracy has managed to capture this romance beautifully by photographing festival goers, young and old, in secret – and what a grand job she has done too!

Charlie (in the picture No. 5) had been away travelling for 6 months and this was the first time he’d seen his girlfriend since his return! This picture was taken at a wonderful little festival called Brownstock.
Tracy is a music and wedding photographer – what a combo for a Festival Bride!!! Shooting weddings, she is often drawn to taking pictures of couples at festivals.

She loves watching people and playing with the light. Not one to boss she prefers to observe,  catching those funny or moving moments…

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT TRACY - She is responsible (alongside her husband) for Rage Against the Machine getting to number 1 instead of X Factor’s winner Joe McElderry!! Love it!!!

So if you want a true music loving legend to photograph your festival wedding check out Tracy Morter www.tracymorter.com

Worth a follow on twitter to see what mischief she comes up with next!!!

Did any of you lovely readers meet at a festival………….don’t be shy………….fill us in on the gossip!?