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
Over on the blog - more unique wedding ideas
A Halloween Wedding Straight Out of the Movies
A Halloween Wedding Straight Out of the Movies Jyl and Colton’s first date was a horror movie, so perhaps it’s no surprise that they ended up having a Halloween wedding! They tied the knot at Rassawek, surrounded by guests dressed in everything from wedding finery to full-on Halloween costumes. But
A Gothic Wedding with a Petrolhead Twist
A Gothic Wedding with a Petrolhead Twist Takara and Graeme love their cars. So much so that when it came to their wedding at Samlesbury Hall in Lancashire, there was no question of hiring a fancy wedding car. They’d be arriving in their own, thank you very much! Both work
Love Never Dies: A Ghostly Halloween Wedding Shoot
Love Never Dies: A Ghostly Halloween Wedding Shoot Who says love has to end when you die? Certainly not these two! With ghostly lovers, a candlelit picnic, a dark and delicious-looking wedding cake and a rather enthusiastic champagne celebration, this Halloween wedding shoot takes the familiar sheet-ghost trend somewhere a
Love Again: An Intimate Fusion Wedding in Yorkshire
Love Again: An Intimate Fusion Wedding in Yorkshire Sunyi and Lee had both been married before, and both had already experienced big, formal church weddings. When they found love again, they knew they wanted to do things differently. This time, they invited just 20 guests to Hazel Brow House in
They Rented the Pyramids: A British-Indian Wedding in Egypt
They Rented the Pyramids: A British-Indian Wedding in Egypt When Vivek and Monica were asked to describe their wedding in three words, they went with: “Rented the Pyramids.” Which, to be fair, is pretty hard to beat. Their five-day wedding celebration took them from London to Egypt, with a Haldi,
Creating a Personal & Meaningful Wedding with Crystals
Photographer Arielinblue – Courtesy of The Spiritual Celebrant Creating a Personal and Meaningful wedding with crystals For many, crystals hold a certain kind of magic. Whether that comes from their spiritual properties, their symbolism or simply their natural beauty, people tend to find their own way of connecting with them.