Real Wedding – Nikki & Luke

27th November, 2025

Nikki and Luke’s tipi wedding at The Lancrigg in the Lake District was nothing short of magical. Originally from North West England but currently living in San Francisco, this adventurous couple knew that the Lakes would be the perfect backdrop for their celebration. With their love of the outdoors, coffee, and exploring new places, a relaxed and joyful wedding surrounded by nature was exactly what they envisioned.

Choosing tipi hire with Special Event Tipis & Marquees in the Lake District allowed Nikki and Luke to make the most of the stunning gardens and views at The Lancrigg. Their ceremony, originally planned for the wedding barn, was moved into the tipi at the last minute due to rain,  and it turned out to be the most perfect decision to have a tipi wedding ceremony. Guests were cosy inside while the tipi’s open side framed the breathtaking Cumbrian scenery while surrounded by twinkling fairy lights. It was a true showcase of how tipi weddings in Cumbria can combine rustic charm with unforgettable atmosphere.

With three interconnected spaces, a dancefloor, bar, and fire pit/games zone, the couple’s tipi wedding hire in the Lake District created a unique flow for the day. From heartfelt vows to late-night crowd surfing, Nikki and Luke’s celebration was filled with personality, laughter, and love.

Now to hand over to the Bride and Groom … Nikki & Luke – Take it away!

Hi! We’re Nikki and Luke, we’re both originally from North West England but we planned our wedding from San Francisco, USA where we have been living for the past 2 years. I’m a GP and Luke works in tech.

About us: we’re very open-minded, we love exploring the world, coffee, being outside and going on adventures together, so the Lakes was the perfect choice for our wedding. We met in 5 years ago in London where we were both working at the time and got engaged in Colombia in December 2023, and yes Luke did give me an engagement ring the day before we were going on a 4 day hut-to-hut hike!

What made you decide on an outdoor wedding?

Lancrigg is in an amazing setting with the most beautiful gardens and view, so we wanted to make the most of that. We loved the thought of having a reception area ready to go in the tipi as soon as our wedding breakfast ended in the barn. We wanted to get the party started straight away and loved the idea of a party tipi in the garden,

The day of our wedding was 50% chance of rain, so the night before we made the decision to move our ceremony into the tipi too, an amazing brainwave from our fabulous planner Emma Tebbey. The side of the tipi opened so we had the beautiful view behind us, yet everyone was warm and cosy in the tipi. It was perfect, and we couldn’t have planned a better ceremony. It also meant we ended up making quite a unique exit out into the rain after we’d been announced as a married couple

Tipi over marquee, how did you choose?

We loved the look of the tipis and their size considering they still feel surprisingly cosy, yet spacious. Each of the 3 different tipis we had, was a different ‘zone’ – a dancefloor, a bar and a fire pit/games zone.

How did you find Special Event Tipis & Marquees?

We were recommended Special Event Tipis & Marquees by our venue, The Lancrigg, as they’d worked together in the past. They were so responsive and easy to work with especially considering we were planning the wedding from abroad with an 8-hour time difference! When we had to rearrange our wedding due to health reasons they couldn’t have been more kind and helpful. Thank you so so much!

Why did you choose your venue?

The Lancrigg had everything we wanted on paper, amazing location, beautiful views, different areas to explore, and accommodation on site. However, in person it was just incredible. It is a very special place, with such an amazing feel to it and the people who work there really help to make it that way too. It is a real labour of love, and we feel so lucky it was our little corner of the world for that one weekend.

Describe your wedding story…

We got married in July 2025 with 96 guests.

We wanted it to be fun, relaxed and basically a massive celebration in an amazing location for people to come to for the weekend. The colours were pinks and purples, and I used the gardens at the Lancrigg as the inspiration for the theme.

As I mentioned earlier, our ceremony ended up in the tipi, and it was perfect. We were lucky enough to have The Birds and The Bees Celebrant Kerrie conduct our ceremony for us, and she created such a personal, meaningful yet fun atmosphere. The tipi was covered in fairy lights, with the side open to the beautiful view of the Lake District, it felt magical.

Our wedding was a blend of incredible local suppliers combined with DIY and heartfelt touches from us, family, friends and neighbours. We were very lucky!

We had florals from the amazing Cumberland Flower Farm who provided our bouquets, a grounded ceremony flower arch and some other beautiful arrangements which Emma Tebbey repurposed throughout the day.

Combined with different flowers and foliage from family and neighbour’s gardens too. For example, we used the olive branches from my mum’s olive tree for place settings and ivy from our neighbour’s garden draped across the tipi bar.

The welcome sign you see in the pictures was handmade by my 93-year-old grandad with hydrangeas from his garden.

Everything was perfectly tied together by Emma Tebbey our amazing co-ordinator who seemed to read my mind before I’d even thought of the idea and kept things running perfectly on the day.

Our first dance was to I believe in a thing called love – The Darkness, played by Moonshine (from Dirtbag entertainment). One very nice moment, was the night before all our guests arrived and the empty tipi was set up, Luke and I practiced our first dance together in the empty tipi in the rain with just a head torch for light – it was such a nice moment before all the madness began

What did everyone wear?

My dress was from Newhite which I bought at Unveiled in San Francisco and Luke’s suit was from Calvin Klein.
The groomsmen’s suits were from Moss Bros and the bridesmaid’s dresses were each chosen by the bridesmaids from a variety of places!

How did you feed and water your guests?

We had Buzzi Barista serving coffees in the day to make sure everybody was nicely caffeinated!
Our catering was by Kemp and Kemp catering who specialise in delicious and beautiful sharing platters which we chose to keep the vibe relaxed.
In the evening, we had the Love Pizza Land Rover serving up fresh pizza – they had such flexible menu choice (including a number of vegan options!)
And finally, our amazing wedding cake was made by Sally Cooper.

How did you entertain your guests? Did anything fun or unusual happen on your wedding day?

Our wedding favours were locked boxes which everyone had to solve a puzzle to open, with clues hidden in fortune cookies and in the menus. I will admit though, this did seem to drive some people a bit crazy before they got inside! Obviously, the prize was some Grasmere Gingerbread!

Musically, What the Pluck played in our ceremony space and during cocktail hour; they played an amazing cover of Snow on the Beach by Taylor Swift for when I walked down the aisle.

At our reception we had Moonshine (from Dirtbag entertainment) they were brilliant and we danced the night away in the tipi. At one point I even joined them on stage to sing female part of Teenage Dirtbag whilst Luke was crowd surfing.

We also filled the tipi and the garden just outside it full of games in the evening. For example, the bride vs groom football table I made with my mum, corn hole, axe throwing a shot ski etc.

Do you have words of wisdom for our future brides and grooms?

Follow your heart and do what makes you happy, have a rainy day plan and book the on the day co-ordinator!

Supplier shout out – who helped to make your day magical?

Wedding Photography: Toni Darcy
Co-ordination: Tebbey & Co
Celebrant:  Birds and the Bees Celebrant
Flowers: Cumberland Flower Farm
Caterers: Kemp and Kemp Food
Evening Pizzas: Love Pizza Landrover
Coffee: Buzzi Barista
String Quartet: What the Pluck
Hair: Megan Marie Bridal Hair
Make Up:  Hair and Makeup By Heather C
Cake: Sally Cooper Cake Artist
Band: Moonshine Band UK

Big thank you to Nikki & Luke for taking the time to share their tips for this month’s Real Weddings Blog!

To view the full album, please visit Real Wedding Album: Real Wedding Gallery Nikki & Luke

To enquire about having our Tipi Tents, Sailcloth Marquees and Furniture Hire for your own Special Event, please complete our online form at: Contact – Special Event Tipis

We look forward to hearing from you and would love to help with your Special Event!

SPECIAL EVENT TIPIS – TIPI HIRE AND SAILCLOTH TENT HIRE IN CUMBRIA, NORTHUMBERLAND, SCOTLAND, LANCASHIRE AND THE NORTH OF ENGLAND

 

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