Intimate Ethical DIY Wedding With Vegan Food and Vintage Vibes

Can this ethical DIY wedding get anymore up our street? It’s full of romance, ethical elements, DIY wins, vintage touches and a beautiful vegan buffet. Couple Jen and Shamen defied the odds when it came to their wedding day and with a little help from their friends and family, they were one of the few weddings to go ahead in 2020. They show us how love will always win, and with a bit of resilience (and luck) we can make things happen. They definitely did it their way and we catch up with Jen who tells us all about their ethical DIY wedding.

“Shamen proposed in 2018 on a secluded beach in Suffolk and we decided to have two years planning the wedding. Originally, we had booked a village hall with around 70 guests invited. It was always going to be a bit of a DIY wedding but we didn’t realise quite how much so! Shamen had always wanted to get married in a castle so on the top of our list was the Norwich castle registry office! However, as the time drew closer we recognised that we were going to have to make some changes. It was incredibly hard to decide whether to still go ahead with the wedding or if the government would even allow it. Weeks leading up to the event, things were rapidly changing however we decided that at the end of the day we both just wanted to get married and that was the most important thing. We figured as long as we could invite our closest family, with our maid of honour and best man, then that was okay and luckily the rest of our family and friends understood.”

“I was keen to make the wedding as safe as possible for everyone attending so I spoke to Shamen’s parents to feel out whether they would be up for hosting the reception in their garden. It was a big ask but they were more than happy. Everyone was incredibly understanding and really keen to help our new vision of the day to go ahead. It was really hard as we wanted to still support everyone we had chosen and luckily for the most part we could. The registry office contacted us and stated we could have 15 people attend including ourselves which made it difficult to decide who could go however we were mainly just happy it would still be going ahead. Both our parents were the rocks during all of this as they went full on planning mode and then did the most amazing job of turning it into a reality! They spent the week before assembling everything from flower garlands to the tiki bar and flamingo area. Our parents wouldn’t let me or Shamen go anywhere near as they felt it would spoil the surprise! Most frustrating! The finished look was incredible!”

“We were unable to walk down the aisle in the actual wedding ceremony, so they had bought a reel of red carpet and covered it in glitter leading up to the marquee. The had bought an archway and then decorated it themselves with flowers and lights to really make it special. They had constructed a tiki bar out of a gazebo and had decorated the garden in fairy lights and had bought old lamps from charity shops which also lit up in the evening. My dad had been trawling charity shops for months and months before and had collected cake stands, vintage teapots for the flowers to be put into and other nic nacs to decorate the garden with. Everything was decorated by our parents which was no small feat.”

“They were also keen to keep me happy by creating a vintage hand cleaning area on the way in to the garden and having tables set out to allow for social distancing. I had said from the start I only wanted to have it go ahead if we could keep it safe for everyone. The wedding was always going to be done on a budget and as a result I managed to get my dress off ebay with a cheeky bid! I had researched vintage looking dresses and long had my eye on dresses by Lou Lou Bridal so when it came up in my size it was meant to be. My mum had given me her pearls to borrow and my veil was another win from ebay. It was covered in glitter and again knew it was perfect. I found some Irregular Choice glittery shoes (again ebay)! I have loved Shazam vintage pinup hair flowers for years so when I came across a red diamante piece, again it felt like my outfit was coming together!”

“Shamen’s suit was from Tru Clothing, an online store specialising in reproduction vintage suits. Shamen lives in his vegan Dr Martens so when he found a formal version of them, he knew he wanted to wear them for the day. The bridesmaid’s dresses were from British Retro.”

“The cake was made by the fab Iced Vegan, we had been going to fairs to get her cakes for a long time prior to this and her flavours have always blown us away. The colour theme of the day was red, white and blue so cake matched perfectly with polka dots and red flowers. She also made cupcakes for all the cake stands in several different flavours.”

“Flowers were from the Florist Shop Wroxham, with my bouquet made up of roses with diamantes. We had Namaste Village do our food. They set up their own gazebo in the corner of the garden and put on an amazing buffet (all vegan) made up of curries, naan bread, rice, bhajis and pakoras. I was most proud of us trying to support local independent business, from the food, cake, flowers and hair stylist all were local which we were really keen on. Most things we used to decorate the garden were second hand from charity shops and everything was vegan. We wanted it to be a wedding that was completely us and I felt we did really well to do just that. The day flew by but apart from saying our vows to each other, the best part of the day was sitting around the fire pit in the evening with sparklers, the garden all lit up, having a giggle with everyone.”

“I have been into the vintage style for about seven years now and usually wear vintage/reproduction in everyday life. Although Shamen isn’t quite so keen on the attire, he appreciates old cars and motorbikes. The Morris Minor we used to go to the ceremony and reception was a project of Shamen’s. We had bought it in quite a bad state and he had spent a lot of time making it road worthy and reliable. In terms of having an intimate wedding, I am so glad we did. We ended up with 25 people including ourselves and it felt like the perfect number. Everyone we knew incredibly well and as a result it was a very relaxed wedding, hopefully enjoyable for everyone.”

The Team – Intimate Ethical DIY Wedding With Vegan Food and Vintage Vibes

Photographer – Grace Elizabeth @graceelizphoto

Ceremony – Norwich Castle Registry Office / Hair – Flamingo Amy @flamingoamy / Cake and Cupcakes – Iced Vegan @theicedvegan / Food – Namaste Village @namastevillage / Shamen’s suit – Tru Clothing @truclothing.uk / Shamens shoes – Dr Martens @drmartensofficial / Dress – Lou Lou Bridal @loulou_bridal / Bridal Shoes – Irregular Choice @irregularchoice / Hair flower – Shazam Vintage Pinup Hair Flowers @shazamvintagepinuphairflowers / Flowers – The Florist Shop @thefloristshopwroxham / Hired Table and Chairs – The Banqueting Hire Service @banquetinghire / Bridesmaids dresses – British Retro @british_retro / Brides Face Mask – Deadly is the Female @deadlyfemale