What Is a Festival Wedding? A Devon & Cornwall Couple's Guide
There's a particular kind of wedding that's taken over the West Country in the last decade or so, less "top table and toastmaster," more "hay bales and hazy golden hour." Call it a festival wedding, call it a wedfest, call it whatever you like. The couples choosing it aren't chasing a theme. They're chasing a feeling: a day that unfolds at its own pace, in a place that actually means something to them, surrounded by the people they love.
We've been building festival weddings across Devon and Cornwall since 2007, and if there's one thing we've learned, it's that the best ones are built on good decisions made early.
Setting the Scene: Choosing Your Location
Forget the Saturday slots at a fixed venue. The real charm of a festival wedding starts with choosing somewhere that's actually means something to you; your family farm, a beautiful beach, a garden that's hosted every birthday you can remember. The beauty of a tipi is it comes to you, not the other way round.
Fields and farms take a tipi with remarkable ease, but a little homework goes a long way. Check the site can take delivery vehicles comfortably, that the ground sits reasonably flat, and whether there's a noise curfew if neighbours are nearby, most bands and DJs will happily plan their set list around one if they know in advance. If the location is a little further off the beaten track, coaches, pre-booked taxis, or even on site camping turn "remote" into part of the romance rather than a logistical headache.
Why a Tipi?
A tipi gives you something really special, the rise of the poles, the curve of the canvas, a shape that draws a crowd in rather than lining it up in rows. A tipi fits beautifully in any location, a field, a country house or the sea you fell in love with stays part of the day from the ceremony right through to last orders. It's a structure built for exactly this kind of gathering, sociable, unpretentious, and completely at home outdoors.
The Practicalities
Here's the part that separates a good festival wedding from a great one: the infrastructure nobody sees, because it's been done properly. Power, usually from a generator. Toilets, elegant trailer units rather than the standard portaloo, since they suit the setting far better. Catering that ranges from a hog roast to a full mobile kitchen, entirely down to your taste. And lighting, festoon bulbs strung overhead, a fire pit glowing as the evening cools, which doubles up as both practical necessity and the exact atmosphere you were picturing on Pinterest in the first place.
None of this needs to be daunting. We know the right people for every part of it across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, and the couples who enjoy this stage most tend to be the ones who see it for what it is: total creative control over every detail of their day.
Building the Atmosphere
This is where a festival wedding earns its name. Wood fired pizza or a horsebox cocktail bar instead of a formal sit-down. Ticket style invitations and fabric wristbands to set the tone before guests have even arrived. An acoustic set drifting over afternoon drinks, giant garden games scattered across the lawn, a silent disco lighting up the night once the curfew kicks in. Hay bales lined along a ceremony aisle, wildflowers marking the path in, the details that make guests say it felt like nothing they'd been to before.
Setting Your Own Pace
The single greatest luxury of this kind of wedding is time. No handover to the next booking, no rigid running order unless you want one. Some couples keep things relaxes, food trucks, entertainment, dancing whenever the mood strikes. Others prefer a touch more structure, with timed speeches and a set band slot. Both are unmistakably a festival wedding. The choice, is entirely yours.
Contact Us
If you're picturing this kind of day for yourselves, we'd love to help you plan it properly. Give us a call for an honest conversation about what's involved, what it costs, and whether a tipi is the right fit for your setting.
01271 851160 | info@world-inspired.co.uk
