DIY wedding inspiration

Are you looking for some DIY wedding inspiration for your fun & relaxed festical style wedding? Then you must read about Farah & Callum’s wedding here in our wedding yurt, barn and garden this summer!

This was an absolutely wonderful festival wedding that we hosted in our yurt and barn in late May 2024. The weather was not the kindest for a summer wedding, but what this couple lacked in blue skies on the day of their wedding, they more than made up for with smiles and laughter. Callum & Farah were a delight to work with for the 18 months or so before their wedding date, and we were so excited to see their DIY wedding plans come to life on the day.

A DIY wedding is perfect if you love the idea of you, your family and your friends being personally responsible for many details on the day of your wedding – looking back at your photos and knowing that a family member made your cake, or helped with the table centrepieces, really makes those memories extra special, and it helps you stamp your personality on your wedding look in a way that is difficult to do when hiring in professional wedding stylists.

One of the brilliant things about our wedding venue is that our wedding yurt is full of character as standard, being full of colourful bunting and fair lights, and of course the rustic oak frame bringing some detailing to the structure. This means that our wedding couples do not need to do a huge amount inside in terms of styling – so it is perfect for couples looking for a fun and relaxed wedding venue where a DIY approach will fit really well.

My favourite DIY item were the golden animals that Callum handcrafted for place names on the tables. The toy animals were purchased from charity shops and he sprayed them with gold paint, cut a hole in the top and- voila – a quirky place name holder. All the guests had different animals. Obviously I loved the cow! To make the names themselves, Callum & Farah borrowed their friend’s Cricut machine, which made the vinyl stickers. These were used for guests’ names and also the table names. The acrylic discs and stands for these were purchased from Temu.

Callum also designed all of their signage for the day, which looked very professional. I loved the modern feel with the festival wedding vibe font.

Farah oversaw the rest of the styling for the tables, opting for some very simple but beautiful faux florals, also sourced from Temu. The vases were collected from Freddies Flowers in the run up to the wedding – what a brilliant way to reuse items. The napkins were cocktail napkins from IKEA and Farah sourced a custom stamp – she personally stamped 200 cocktail napkins. The effort was worth it as this little detail really helped to add to the personalised vibe running through the day.

The stunning wedding cake was made by Farah’s Aunty Shellina, and they decorated it with some flowers by @ bride_and_bloom, who also supplied Farah’s beautiful bouquet

The photo booth was a borrowed Polaroid camera and Farah, Callum & their friends’ fancy dress collections from over the years! Their friend had an Elton John party last year which meant they had a lot of stuff from that! And as you can see, their guests had a blast in the homemade photo booth!

Farah showed how savvy shopping can help you and your wedding party look your absolute best without spending a small fortune on wedding outfits. Farah’s stunning dress was a sample sale dress @tillys_trotters_brides. Callum wore items purchased from @Next, and Farah managed to find some bowties in the Asos sale that perfectly matched the tulle on the bridesmaids dresses. Farah says she only paid £4 each for the bowties! Internet browsing during your wedding planning time could really help keep costs down for you if you are looking to keep a close eye on your wedding budget.

Farah & Callum also provided a lot of their food for the day themselves. Farah’s dad bought Indian snacks from an Indian store local to her parents, and they brought nuts and chevro, which is a cornflake mix, from Asda and Lidl. These snacks kept their guests very happy after the ceremony whilst waiting for the delicious pies to be served. The evening food was mostly bought from Costco and Asda (pot noodles, chocolates, biscuits, crisps etc) – perfect budget snacks to keep dancing guests energised after a filling evening meal. Farah & Callum even served up dessert themselves, so not only were there many personalised items decorating our venue on the day of their wedding, they also provided a personal service to their guests! By serving dessert personally, it was a good chance to have a chat with every single guest – a lovely idea, I thought.

This really was a joyous wedding celebration, and it shows that there are many aspects of your wedding planning where you can get creative and work within a budget, enabling you to focus your wedding budget on those higher priority elements.