We have a beautiful real wedding for you today! Sarah & Kat’s camp and colourful wedding was full of fun, colour and love! All the best things, right?! They wanted to create a fun and relaxed atmosphere whilst also considering the environment. These gorgeous photos were sent to us by one of our awesome Unconventionals, Freeformimages, and we think you might love them!
Words by Sarah Costis-Upton
Sarah & Kat’s wedding Story
Me and Kat met 3 years ago in Soho and immediately we clicked. We talked for hours about our travels around the world, laughed a lot, and went through quite a lot of gin. 2 years later, at the top of Mount Batur in Bali at sunrise, Kat asked me to marry her and of course I said yes. What she didn’t know is that I also had bought a ring for her and planned a surprise proposal for when we got back with all our friends and family down in Brighton.
Planning A Camp & Colourful Wedding in Covid times
When we talked about our dream wedding, we knew we wanted a colourful, fun experience for everyone. We also didn’t want anyone to feel stressed or hungry! When we visited Ash Barton and saw the disco balls, colourful dance floor and fairy lights, we knew that was our wedding venue. We could picture all of our 160 guests dancing until dawn and there was no turning back… Until Covid hit and changed everything.
We ended up having about 6 different wedding plans with varying amounts of people. In the end, we chose to have 30 of our nearest and dearest celebrating with us.
Camp & Colourful Wedding Styling
It made our day seeing our vision come to life with the incredible Katie at Best Day Ever. She made everything look so beautiful and incorporated my dad’s lettering he made for us saying ‘Love is Love’. Everything just came together so well.
Our theme was ‘camp and colourful wedding’ and we tried to inject that into everything we did. We bought coloured candles, lanterns and foam to make the hearts on sticks. We got a lot of things second-hand to keep the cost down and also not have waste, which was really important to us.
Unique Wedding Catering
For our camp and colourful wedding, we wanted afternoon tea with a twist for the reception drinks with cocktails and cakes for everyone to enjoy. Emma at Mrs Smudger’s Kitchen provided all the goodies – we asked for scones, cream cakes, cinnamon rolls and a beautiful rainbow wedding cake and she delivered without us even meeting her! Emma catered for our vegan friends with delicious vegan treats too that even our non vegan guests wanted to eat! To this day, everyone is still talking about the cakes!
For the evening meal, Heather and Trevor at Family Food Company provided us with laid back food that everyone can enjoy. They turned up and served delicious food in their van with sustainable packaging. Again, everyone enjoyed their food and kept their stomachs lined!
Camp & Colourful Wedding - Special Moments
One of our most special moments was our ‘first look’. Our photographer, Laura at Freeformimages, came to our accommodation in the morning where we were getting ready and arranged a quiet moment for us to see each other in our dresses. As we had to travel to the venue in a taxi, we wanted to have a moment with each other before actually tying the knot.
Another favourite moment for me was when my dad and brother surprised me by wearing rainbow ties- I didn’t know but they had asked Kat if they thought I’d like it the day before the wedding.
Finally, our dad’s speeches made everyone cry- hearing both of them reflect on our journey as a couple and how proud they were of us was so special. Hearing Kat’s father talk about how she has taught him that love has no gender was a moment that will be with us forever.
Sneaking off to the beach!
The perfect addition to our camp and colourful wedding was sneaking off to the beach for just 20 minutes. Even though it was freezing, it was so worth it to have that time as a newlywed couple! Freeformimages captured some beautiful moments!
The Suppliers involved in this Camp & Colourful Wedding:
The happy couple – Kat & Sarah Costis-Upton
Planning & styling – Best Day Ever
Photography – Freeformimages
Wedding cake & treats – Mrs Smudger’s Kitchen
Food van – Family Food Company
Wedding Venue – Ash Barton
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