You may have fond memories of dashing through fields between your favourite bands at Falls Festival or dancing in gumboots pressed against thousands of happy sweaty revellers at Homebake. Perhaps you met your partner rollicking in a mud puddle or reclining in a chai tent at Splendour in the Grass. Maybe you’re passionate about live music and want to showcase it at your nuptials. Or you might want your wedding to be an off-beat, relaxed affair rather than a traditional sit-down event. For any or all of these reasons, a festival wedding may be for you. Here’s 10 tips for creating an authentic festival vibe at your wedding.
Make festival themed wedding invites and posters
Create wedding invitations that look like festival flyers or tickets and print posters that you display around the venue to let guests know what’s happening when and who’s performing. You could also make festival-style programs or orders of service that guests wear on lanyards around their necks that include a map showing the various performance spaces, food trucks and amenities. Get design inspiration by brushing the caked mud off your old festival tickets and programs or jump on festival websites.
Encourage your guests to embrace the festival spirit
Even if it’s not pouring rain or muddy, gumboots are a fun way to conjure a festival look and feel and could be recommended attire for your guests. If appropriate at the venue you choose, you could invite guests to camp overnight. Hosting a recovery breakfast of egg and halloumi rolls with chai either back at the venue or in a local park is a fitting way to round off the festival experience.
Hire multiple entertainers
Glastonbury, arguably the world’s greatest festival, is a kaleidoscope of music and performing arts. Channel a Glastonbury atmosphere by hiring entertainers such as dancers, magicians, cabaret, circus, roving performers or fire twirlers to supplement the musical acts. Two or three musical acts is ideal: start with acoustic, progress to a jazz or folk duo or trio and then finish with a funk or rock band to get your guests dancing like mad things. You can of course explore and book local talent on CrowdPleaser .
Let the setting speak for itself
For an authentic festival vibe choose a location that’s naturally stunning. A grassy field with a few picturesque trees or a rural vista is ideal. If the patch of grass you choose is not attached to an established venue or accommodation then you’ll need to organise facilities including power, water and toilets.
Hire food trucks
Food trucks are the quint-essential festival food source. Tacos, burgers, wood-fired pizzas, noodles – everything tastes better when eaten off a paper plate and wooden cutlery while listening to live music in a field. Hiring a couple of food trucks for the evening can also work out cheaper than getting caterers or a dinner package at a venue.
Make your booze mobile
Hire a mobile booze purveyor like a Stone and Wood beer van or use barrels or a bathtub filled with ice to store drinks from which guests can help themselves at various spots around the venue.
Let there be fire
A bonfire will attract your guests like moths to a flame and can be a natural way to wind down the night’s festivities. Fire performers and festivals go together like onions and tomato sauce.
Use bunting and Edison lights with reckless abandon
Hang strands of lights and bunting between trees and structures. Be warned that making your own bunting, though satisfyingly easy, may drive you mad after a few metres!
Have a variety of seating
Source a mixture of chairs and tables, hay bales, cushions and rugs for your guests to recline on and arrange them in different areas around the venue.
Have a couple of undercover areas
Essential in the event of dodgy weather, undercover areas provide performance spaces for your entertainers and places for guests to congregate. If your budget allows, hiring tipis is a great option, otherwise tents or tarps do the job. A chill out zone set up with cushions and rugs on the ground is a good idea.