Kelz and Will wanted a completely relaxing and fun wedding day, without the taking the typical approach to a traditional celebration. They told us, “The ceremony was partially inspired by pagan and natural aesthetics and our love of the outdoors and woodlands, the reception was inspired by a medieval feast and the party was inspired by us being metalheads!”

They chose the woodland at Edgeworth Polo Club in Gloucestershire for their ceremony, clearing a large circle and walkway from the reception tipi. Kelz explained, “We lined the walkway and the circle with fallen branches, logs and sticks that we cleared from the woodlands which created a really cool stick fence and decorated it with lanterns and jars of flowers. We also built our arch using large branches that we found in the woodlands which we then dressed with paper flowers and material matching our chosen colours.”

Taking a ‘make it yourself’ approach, the couple created each element of the day themselves. The bride bought her dress online and her Nan customised it for her. The flowers, invites and décor were all done by them too. They wrote their ceremony with their good friend, Ollie, who led it, and and even put together the axe-throwing and entertainment! They told us, “We basically didn’t want to pick our wedding out of a catalogue as we felt that it didn’t capture what we wanted our wedding to be like, so we decided the best approach would be to break all the rules and make it ourselves.”

Being gamers, Kelz and Will chose some of their favourite game soundtracks to feature in their ceremony. “We had light hearted tracks from Viva Pinata playing whilst the guests made their way to the ceremony location and we waited for Kelz”, Will told us. “Kelz then walked in to To Zanarkand from Final Fantasy 10, which was a game that we sessioned hard over one of our winter hibernations.”

The ceremony combined the couple’s personalities within it, including reflections instead of vows. Will explained, “We decided to do both reflections of our time together and also promises instead of vows. These were a mixture of funny stories, promises to each other and of course a bit of mushiness! We opted to do a handfasting during the ceremony, with seven ribbons placed on our arms, three by the bridesmaids, three by the groomsmen and one by our celebrant. We then had a ring exchange and wrapped up the ceremony by pouring each other a cup of mead! Good times!”

With a clear emphasis on having fun and doing things their own way, Kelz and Will advised, “Remember to have fun with it. The planning is such a great part of it, a time where you can really spend some quality time together. Make sure you come up with your concept and then delegate accordingly with clear instructions. It really doesn’t have to be stressful, it’s all about how you approach it!”