If you’re looking for a wedding that breaks free from traditional venues and offers a blend of rustic charm and bohemian elegance, then a tipi wedding might be the choice for you. Inspired by Native American dwellings, tipis are transforming wedding venues into magical, intimate spaces that are worlds away from the ordinary.
If you’re still deciding on your wedding venue, here are five compelling reasons why a tipi wedding might be the perfect choice for your special day. From creating a unique experience to fostering a relaxed atmosphere, tipi weddings offer a fresh take on saying “I do.”
Tipi weddings offer a unique experience
Many couples who view our wedding venues haven’t been to a tipi wedding before and neither have their guests. This makes a tipi a really unique experience for the couple, but also for their family and friends. So, the first reason to choose a tipi wedding is that they really stand out from the ‘norm’ and become really memorable.
Not only do our venues offer unique experiences because they’re tipis, but each of them offers something totally different from the next. Our venues range from a beautiful venue in the Derbyshire National Forest that lends itself to a festival-style wedding, to a quintessentially English garden in the grounds of a manor house in Leicestershire that’s very romantic, to a walled garden venue in Lincolnshire with lots of nooks and crannies, that’s very cosy and intimate.
We also have a wonderful farm wedding venue in Nottinghamshire that’s perfect for celebrations bursting with personality to a fairytale wedding venue in County Durham in a beautiful woodland setting. So, not only are tipi weddings unique for family and friends, but the couple get the wedding of their dreams with a choice of locations to match their vision.
Tipi weddings are incredibly relaxed
Another reason to choose a tipi wedding is that they’re incredibly relaxed and this offers quite a change from the formality of a traditional wedding. Tipi weddings create an atmosphere where people instantly feel they can kick off their shoes and sit on the grass, chatting to family and friends, regardless of whether they’re in black tie or it’s a much more casual wedding.
Many couples specifically say they’re looking for relaxed weddings. But a ‘relaxed wedding’ means different things to different couples. For some it might mean they don’t want speeches, for others they want really informal dining and for others still they want a wedding that brings everyone together but gives all the guests the experience that they want. No matter what, tipi weddings lend themselves to a really relaxed atmosphere and an unforgettable occasion.
Tipi weddings are totally customisable
The third reason to choose a tipi wedding celebration is how customisable they are. From the colour scheme to the catering, to the bar and even down to the lighting, tipi weddings are completely customisable to the couple getting married.
At our tipi wedding venues, we offer a choice of six catering companies and one bar company. We’ve worked with these companies for a long time and they’re trusted partners. By offering this choice of caterers that are proven, trusted and deliver fantastic quality catering, it makes life easier for the couple – because sourcing unknown outside caterers and bar providers can be pretty stressful!
Our catering partners offer choices from barbecues and hog roasts to street food, to sharing platters and three-course fine dining. They’re local to the venues, bringing everything that’s needed and will customise a menu exactly to the needs of the couple getting married. Not only that but they know exactly where the locations are, what they need to bring and have worked alongside our team for years, so it’s like a well-oiled machine!
Each venue has one specific and trusted bar company they work with, so every venue serves the same drinks but once again, this can be customised and the drinks can reflect the style and tastes of the couple, from a champagne reception; Pimms on the lawn or cocktails and flair to mesmerise the guests.
Tipi weddings are really sociable
The tipis at all our wedding venues are the same size and layout and have the same four elements in each location. There’s the bar tipi, the dining tipi, a dancing tipi and also a snug tipi. They’re all joined together and the beauty of these venues is wherever you choose to spend your afternoon or evening, you can still see everything and everyone in all other areas and feel part of the wedding celebration.
Whether guests have chosen to dance the night away, socialise in the bar area and be warmed by the firepit, relax in the snug or just chill at the dinner table and chat with someone they’ve not seen for a long time, everyone remains part of the event, which makes things really sociable and inclusive – more great reasons to choose a tipi wedding for your special day.
Tipi weddings just need decorating
At Wonderland Wedding Venues, we hold a maximum of three weddings a week, which means the wedding couple can come in the day before and decorate their tipi exactly as they want it in a leisurely fashion, not having to rush and do it on the morning of the wedding.
Décor-wise, we provide all the furniture and lighting, so we’ll set up dining tables, chairs, fire pits, sofas for the snugs and outdoor furniture. We’ll provide all the lighting for dining, dance floor and coloured spotlights. The catering team and the bar team come in and prepare everything they need for food and drink service.
All that’s left for the wedding couple is to come in and dress the tables however they want, it’s really just the decorative bits they need to do. Coming in the day before, the wedding couple and their family or friends can have an enjoyable, relaxed time setting things out, so that it’s ready for the following day.
Every two months we have ‘Twilight Evenings,’ which are exclusively for booked couples. The venue is bare and the couples come along, bring their décor and sample flower arrangements to see what it looks like and if it works for them. These evenings help them realise their vision, making sure everything’s perfect on the big day.
Tipi weddings keep everything in one place
With tipi weddings, the ceremony and reception are carried out at one venue, without the need to travel between a church and the reception location. This reduces transit time between locations, logistics of transporting all the guests and leads to a more relaxed and stress-free event.
All of our wedding locations have a permanent structure that’s licenced for weddings – whether a civil or religious service or a blessing and a separate tipi. This means the tipi can be decorated in advance, the service takes place in the licenced building and then everyone moves across to the tipi, with no need for changes before the celebrations can commence! Once people arrive at the venue, they can relax, let their hair down and enjoy the unique experience.
In summary, tipi weddings offer a unique experience that’s hard to match with traditional venues. They provide an environment that genuinely puts people at ease along with providing an intimate and sociable setting so everyone feels part of the special day.
Whether a rustic woodland celebration or a festival-style gathering, a tipi can transform vision into reality. The beauty of a tipi wedding lies in its visual appeal, its special atmosphere and the ability to create lasting memories.
Your perfect wedding day awaits… and it might just be under the peaked roof of a beautiful tipi!
