ABI AND BEN’S ‘TO THE MOON AND BACK’ TIPI WEDDING
THEIR VIBE
A lakeside ceremony followed by reception drinks in a walled garden with string quartet accompaniment. Cream canvas tipis, fully vegetarian menu, curated gin bar, live band and sparklers. Styling was both classic and modern, with white florals paired with accents of gold, pink and neon.
THE VENUE
Spirit Lake is a beautiful 30-acre space that includes manicured gardens, two lakes and a walled garden, surrounded by woodland. Situated in the Surrey Hills just 10 minutes south of Dorking,
We had provided three of our giant hat cream canvas tipis, with a smaller nimbus tipi to offer a shaded chill out area. Victoria Lily had set up a curve of bell tents around the main lake.
THE CEREMONY
Abi and Ben had legally married on the Thursday at Leatherhead Registry Office. On their wedding celebration day they held a ceremony overlooking one of the lakes at Spirit Lake. A beautiful ceremony arch had been covered in foliage and large white roses, orchids and dahlia by Zuzanna of Bloomantic. A string quartet played as guests arrived via the woodland path. White petals had been sprinkled along the aisle and small arrangements of flowers were attached to chairs along the aisle.
The ceremony was conducted by their dearest friend Marcus, who has known both Abi and Ben since they met. Readings were given by parents and a bespoke, dinosaur-inspired reading was given by their friend and flying trapeze instructor James.
After the ceremony, guests made their way to the walled garden for a drinks reception and canapés served by Gastro. Abi and Ben had a few pics with their ushers and bridesmaids and then went for a walk around the grounds with their photographer Kirsty to capture some couple shots, before joining their guests in the garden, who lined up to toss confetti on them.
Canapé list
/ Red pepper arancini with spicy arrabbiata sauce
/ Honey sealed halloumi, served in a sun-dried tomato slider with beetroot slaw
/ Tortilla spoon, salsa verde, sorrel and hung smoked garlic sour cream
/ Spiced sticky cauliflower lollipop, with crushed salted peanuts
/ Pesto crostini topped with sun-dried tomato, baby basil, olive tapenade and smoked cream cheese
/ Charcoal grilled mushroom and caper paté, lemon and chives served on crostini
THE TIPIS
After a couple of hours enjoying drinks and mingling, guests were invited to take a seat in the tipis, which we had built in a triangle formation. With the dance floor and stage in the back tipi and dining stretched across the two front tipis, with space for the bar and indoor fireplace in one end. Coloured spotlights were set to pink to be in keeping with the colour scheme.
The tipis were decorated with tens of white paper lanterns which tussled in the breeze.
On the tables were gold beaded charger plates, gold cutlery, white napkins and white tapered candles. Tables were named after the flying trapeze rigs around the world that Abi and Ben had flown at together, with the top table “High Fly Trapeze”, their current and favourite training rig.
Table names and seating plan were super stylish white with letter-pressed gold foil type from Ink and Paper London.
Two photo walls near the dance floor captured the couple’s history to date and a table was set out with photos, dedicated to those who sadly could not be part of the day. Such a lovely idea.
THE STYLING
Abi and Ben added so many personal touches to their day with the moon being a key theme incorporated in the cake, bespoke neon sign and large wooden crescent moon prop.
“The moon theme came from the “to the moon and back” phrase, which we often say to each other – the phrase has been the theme of many Valentine’s Day/Christmas cards over the years.”
The large wooden moon was a surprise to Abi, set up by Ben and the Little Wedding Warehouse. Abi had seen the large wooden moon online early in the wedding planning journey and fallen in love. Unfortunately, it took them over their props budget so they decided not to hire it. Ben contacted the Little Wedding Warehouse to organise the moon and they were happy to work with Ben to keep it a secret, even going so far as to distract Abi on set-up-day so the moon could be wheeled into place.
THE FOOD + DRINK
Gastro provided a bespoke, delicious and fully vegetarian menu. Abi and Ben are both vegetarian and wanted to be sure they could eat everything on their wedding day. The meal was followed by a joint speech from Abi and Ben, Father of the Bride, David and Ben’s Best Woman and sister, Pippa.
Main Meal
Sharing bowls / boards
/ Selection of Artisan Bread & Plain Butter
/ Papoutsakia (roasted aubergine, fresh tomato sauce & feta cheese, baked in the oven and served with parsley)
/ Courgette, spelt and cumin fritters, served with a courgette and cashew salad and parsley aioli
/ Traditional and pearl cous-cous
/ Roasted buckwheat and quinoa, with fresh mint, parsley and dried apricots topped with chopped pistachios and pomegranate seeds with a lemon dressing
/ Baba ghanoush
/ Herbed whipped feta
/ Minted yoghurt
Plated
Falafel, roasted vegetables, sun-blushed tomato, queen olives, stuffed vine leaves, caperberries, pan fried halloumi, flatbreads, rocket
Dessert
/ Individual summer pavlova with chantilly cream, red berry semi gel, fresh berries and edible flowers
or
/ Dark chocolate brownie, vanilla soy bean ice cream, macerated strawberries and chocolate glaze
with
/ Tea and coffee with petit fours
WHAT THEY WORE
Abi wore a beautiful low backed, beaded lace gown from Made With Love and long floor length veil. And let’s not forget the silver glitter Jimmy Choos.
“I had seen the dress on Instagram, before we were even engaged and thought it was beautiful. So when the proposal happened I knew that Made with Love would be a stop on the wedding dress hunt. In person, the dress was even more beautiful than online, covered in beaded vines that were perfectly suited to an outdoor wedding, with just the right amount of sparkle! I wasn’t expecting to feel comfortable in such a non-traditional dress but when I tried it on I knew immediately that it was the one”.
Abi’s bouquet was of large white roses, mini orchids, dahlias and stocks.
Ben and his groomsmen all wore a two-piece black suit from Moss Bros with black velvet bow-tie.
The six bridesmaids wore strapless dresses of blush pink, ruched at the hip with high leg split. They carried bouquets of white roses and dahlia.
THE EVENING
After the meal there was time to enjoy the outside a little more. Abi and Ben went for a few more pics with Kirsty. Guests were later ushered in for Abi and Ben to cut their white, three-tiered cake adorned with flowers and moon on top.
Gastro served a full bar provided by the couple and Abi and Ben had set up a personalised gin bar, with hand illustrated descriptions. Each gin marking a key moment in their lives so far together.
During this time Monica and Gastro had switched the tipis to evening mode. Lights had been dimmed, a few tables had been packed away. The fire was lit and the marshmallows were out. The bespoke neon signs, ‘Till death do us party’ and ‘To the moon and back’ came into their own in the lower light. And Abi had changed into a tea length, shimmery dress, chunky alice band and comfier dancing shoes.
Abi and Ben kicked off the dancing with their first dance to Lucky by Jason Mraz. The band kept everyone dancing with a short break to capture some beautiful sparkler images. Evening food was wood-fired pizzas served from Gastro’s vintage horse trailer.
/ Classico
/ Boccaccini (home-made tomato sauce, basil & olive oil)
/ The goat (home dried tomatoes, creamy goat’s cheese, home-made pesto and pine nuts & artichoke).
The evening finished up with a switch to silent disco and guests partied on until the early hours.
“Our wedding day at Spirit Lake was absolutely perfect. The first decision we made while planning was to have an outdoor venue, so that we had total flexibility with vendors and other elements of the day. We loved that we were able to customise every aspect of the day and we are so grateful to all our vendors and family/friends who worked to make it happen! It was also important to us to provide a range of easy-accommodation options for our guests, so Spirit Lake was perfect with nearby hotels and on-site glamping and free camping”.
SUPPLIERS
Photographer / Kirsty Mackenzie Photography
Videographer / Mooncast Films
Tipis / Canvas & Light
On the day coordination / Fiesta Fields
Catering and bar / Gastro
Band / Put together the evening before by Jack Entertainment
String quartet / Surrey String Ensemble
Cake / Claire Owen Cakes
Flowers / Bloomantic
Bell tents / Victoria Lily
Hair & make up / Lucia from Storme Make up
Bride / Made with Love
Groom and Groomsmen / Moss Bros
Bridesmaid dresses / Asos
Props / Little Wedding Warehouse
On-the-day stationery / Victorian letter-pressed by Grania at Ink and Paper London
