Picture this lovelies: it’s a gloriously sunshine-filled blue sky summer day, you’ve found the perfect spot under a tree to unpack a delicious spread on the blanket, arranged the cushions for later reading activities, and taken a sip of hot tea from the Thermos. A picnic in the outdoors may just be my favourite thing to do and when my not-so-intrepid husband suggests it, I leap at the chance (as a native Brit, he has experienced one too many episodes of rain just as he got comfy, so is a little jaded poor chap). This beautiful couple adore the outdoors too and was the inspiration behind their camping picnic wedding held on the 6th of August 2016 at Braid Farm in Smarden, Kent. Trust me, you’ll believe that you were a guest after you view these lovely images by Dominika Miechowska Photography and feel the relaxed vibe of their totally bespoke day.
“We love the outdoors and camping and were looking for somewhere in the countryside where we could have our own camping picnic wedding. We wanted to be away from everything and avoid having any packages, so as to be completely free to do what we wanted. We’re also used to sharing and eating together as part of Chinese culture, so really wanted a wedding where everyone brought something and ate together. We also wanted to make sure as much as possible was secondhand and was given back to secondhand shops afterwards. And on the night of the wedding we had all of our guests camping in the same field as us, which made it even more special.”
Photography by Dominika Miechowska
Beautiful Bonnie donned two gowns on the day. Firstly, and in keeping with the theme of the day, she wore a secondhand J Crew dress paired with silver shoes that were handmade in Hong Kong, a pretty floral hair accessory made by her sister-in-law, a veil from Tao Bao, and earrings from Anthropologie – and Lee’s sister Georgina did her pretty hair and makeup. She then wore a rather fabulous red Chinese gown for the tea ceremony. Simply stunning.“I’m a Mandarin Teacher and Lee works as a Technology Lead in a digital agency and we met through friends while cycling in Hong Kong and became engaged after about two years of being together. We then signed the legal documents for the wedding in Hong Kong and got married in the UK one year later.”
Bonnie’s father flew all the way from China and accompanied his daughter down the aisle for the outdoor ceremony, with guests seated on hay bales in a field. I’ll hand over to the groom to fill you in on a special touch his bride added to the ceremony.
“We walked to ‘Stand By Me’, a cover by Playing For Change who are a group of street artists that we both love. We wrote our own vows and Bonnie blew everyone away when after a minute she started ad-libbing and had everyone in tears.”
Lee chose a Ben Sherman suit, a funky shirt and tie, and shoes from Debenhams. The groomsmen all bought their own suits with the instruction to dress snazzy.
“Brighton has always been special to us and when we met the guys in Camelot Jewellers in Brighton Lanes we couldn’t say no. We still have a great photo of Bonnie and the guy who sold us the rings together. It has a real family feel and a lot of passion goes into their business.”
“We searched for a long time to find someone like Dominika who matched and understood our style of wedding. When we met her in Brighton a year before the day we knew she would be great. She has a big heart and she manages to capture the best moments of the day without even being noticed. We couldn’t have been happier with our wedding photos and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone. She is talented and lovely and a real addition to the wedding day.”
As the couple were keen for an environmentally-friendly wedding, they sourced decor secondhand and incorporated many handmade elements into their day, including bunting and colourful pom-poms.
“All our plates, cutlery, games and lots of decorations came from secondhand shops, as together we have always both tried to waste as little as possible. We also made all our own bunting, tablecloths and drinking jars, which we donated to secondhand shops afterwards.”
Smoking Hot Pig provided delicious cuisine for all to enjoy at the outdoor picnic celebrations – and the tempting sweet cake was made by Bonnie’s aunt and mum.
Many of you will know that I’m a little bit potty about wildflowers, but it’s because they really are just so blooming beautiful! Bonnie and Lee chose Blooming Green Flowers as their florist, with a helping hand from family, for Bonnie’s stunning bouquet and utterly gorgeous and colourful jam-jar table arrangements.
“Blooming Green Flowers grow wildflowers and we were able to go along and pick our own. All our flowers were then put together by my sister-in-law.”
“‘If You Wanna Be Happy’ by Jimmy Soul was our first dance song, as we wanted something light hearted and funny. When we first heard this song we both thought it was hilarious and decided it had to be our first dance.”
“In a funny way our favourite part of the day was the bit that messed up. I had planned a surprise VW camper van to pick Bonnie up and then park in the field to be our wedding night accommodation. However, due to my own fault, I messed up the pick up and was left on the night before the wedding with no car and no accommodation. In the end though it couldn’t have worked out better; we slept the night in our marquee that we put so much effort into decorating and had real time to sit back and appreciate what we had done. It was a fantastic end to the day.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Do everything for yourselves and don’t try to please everyone. Relax, it will never be perfect and just let it be the best day it can be. Don’t be too picky, and just enjoy being with the best people in your life. It will be the best day of your life whether you plan every second, or relax and enjoy it. Remember to stand aside with your spouse at a few points in the day to stop and appreciate what’s happening.
The only thing we would have changed would be to have a master of ceremonies to tell everyone what to do so we weren’t relied on so heavily on the day.”
I know what I’m doing this weekend lovelies – a picnic in the great outdoors with my love (with cake, lots of cake)! I want to thank Bonnie and Lee for sharing all the magical moments with us – and also to Dominika for perfectly capturing the relaxed and fun vibe of their delightful day.
Take a look at these beautiful weddings featuring Chinese tea ceremonies that we’ve previously highlighted, for even more inspiration.
Love Jo -xo-
