An Intimate Woodland Wedding Breakfast at Wrag Barn

Celebrating a wedding in 2020 can either be viewed as a challenge, or an opportunity to tear up the etiquette book and do it entirely your way. Receiving lines can be swept to one side, formal photographs of endless line ups may be replaced by ingenious stage managing or collages and dancing aswell – who knows? 

The Whitewed Directory holds regular wedding shows throughout the year and there is always an area called the 'Inspiration Zone.’ The presence of Coronavirus means that these events have been postponed, so we decided to create some ideas in the form of a photo shoot in collaboration with other Whitewed members; Sandra Trusty from Fabulous Functions UK and Steffen Milsom Photography.

The ceremony setting for the photo shoot was in the middle of a meadow with a mass of daisies and surrounded by trees. For our continued celebrations, we decided to take the ‘outside in’ with an abundance of greenery. The golf course can spare armfuls of branches and we picked a selection of silver birch, oak, beech, alder and young holm oak as the first step to creating a romantic rustic setting.

Sandra and her team built a floral canopy over a lovely oak table from Linda’s Vintage Hire and we used the same rustic chairs as we’d used for the ceremony from Hospitality Services.

In amongst the greenery she hung little bubbles which hold tea lights and add to the romantic atmosphere, fairy lights would look beautiful too.

Setting the table with silver knives and forks, Sandra chose to assume that everyone was from the same bubble and didn’t impose any distancing rules.

To reduce hire costs, plates from the golf course were laid on silver chargers; we didn’t add any napkins or place cards, but the silver/white theme would lend itself to sourcing these very easily.

We had options for decorating in the centre of the table, but in the end chose a cream / silver runner and silk flower arrangements in mirror vases interspersed with candles at varying heights.

One word – stunning!

Thinking about ideas for table plans:

This table could just be reserved for the just married couples for a larger gathering.

Other table groupings could be in households or bubbles, with those who don’t fit into either category sitting 2 meters apart.

Another idea following the outdoor wedding ceremony could be to have a picnic, with rugs and hampers, or individual picnic boxes.

How to involve guests who are unable to attend your ceremony:

Attending events remotely will be a common occurrence for the rest of 2020, but there are ways you can involve guests who can’t attend due to travel restrictions or shielding.

When my son got married in New Zealand, we watched the whole ceremony via Zoom and sent videos which he and his wife watched during the ceremony – we were able to adapt to the different format and were grateful that we could take part. If you have an order of service, send a copy to those at home.

Some couples are sharing the menu they plan to have at their reception so that those watching from a distance can cook it at home; this is a perfect opportunity for a home delivery company to send the ingredients.

Send cupcakes, or bottles of wine to arrive with distant guests on your wedding day that can be shared while online.

In the end, a marriage is about 2 people and sharing it with friends and family, but if some people can’t be there, we at Wrag Barn will try and explore these ideas further to make your day special.