Tags: Yorkshire Woodland weddings

A Whimsical Woodland Wedding: Paul Rayment & Rebecca Fishwick

31 Mar 2015

A woodland wedding that channels the romance of the outdoors in North Yorkshire

Paul, Rebecca and their guests danced in a meadow, partied by fairylight and ate marshmallows by firelight

Image gallery

In a humanist ceremony in the woodland at The Bivouac, Masham, North Yorkshire, Paul Rayment married Rebecca Fishwisk, with celebrations following in a yurt in a grass meadow. Rebecca tells the story of their whimsical woodland wedding...

Photography by Lisa Aldersley

The Woodland Wonder

From the start, we knew we wanted a very relaxed wedding that reflected us as a couple, rather than adhering to traditions for the sake of it. We viewed The Bivouac in deep winter before it was even finished and open for business and instantly knew we had to get married there.

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The Dress

My dress was love at first sight. I had been to quite a few bridal shops with my mum and hadn’t had much success. No one seemed to understand the romantic yet relaxed, bohemian look I was after until I met the ladies at The White Closet who helped me. I knew it was ‘the one’ when I couldn’t stop dancing around in it. I wanted to look like a bridal version of myself.

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Charity Shop and Vintage Fair Decorations

Most of the decorations and crockery were collected from charity shops and vintage fairs. Our invitations were hand-printed vintage hankies, (made by me), the cake was made by my mum and the venue was dressed and styled by both of our families the day before the ceremony.

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Wildflower Arrangements

On the morning of the wedding, me, my mum Loraine Sutcliffe, my sister Laura Fishwick, cousins Sophie and Kelly Burgess and aunt Adele Fishwick went to arrange wildflower vases for the tables and put the finishing touches to the giant reception yurts. Having a true handmade wedding was hard work and I was still setting up the venue two hours before the ceremony. It was worth it though as it meant we could have exactly the kind of wedding we had envisaged – casual, unusual and full of laughter and love. It was very easy for me to slip into bride mode after that and I just floated around getting ready. ‘Team Groom’ – Paul, his best men Dan Wood and Anthony Rayment and his dad, John – set up the ceremony area in the woods. I remember walking down the woodland path with my parents looking at the picture walkway Paul had created which detailed our lives so far in photos and realising how truly lucky I was.

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Choosing a photographer that 'blended seamlessly'

All of the professionals we used were absolutely amazing and really understood the kind of day we wanted to have. Our photographer Lisa Aldersley, blended seamlessly in with our guests and took some absolutely stunning shots.

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The Food

Our wedding breakfast was a barbecue. Our guests then relaxed outside the reception yurt on hay bale seating. I made a play tipi for the children and we filled it with toys (the space hopper races were a particular highlight).

We had our first dance in the meadow and partied until it got dark, then everyone went into the yurt and partied some more under a fairylight canopy. We finished the evening toasting marshmallows around the fire pit.

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