Eco-friendly backyard surprise wedding

Amanda and Ricky wanted to do something a bit different for their wedding, while sticking to a small budget and being eco-friendly. While organising their joint 30th birthday party, it occurred to them that this could be the perfect opportunity to surprise their friends and family. From locally grown flowers to BBQ food cooked by their guests, their DIY backyard celebration was full of fun and love.

Love at first sight or gradual attraction?

Ricky and I met in high school and have been together since. I knew I loved him from the start.

We were never engaged. Over the years we talked about the future and knew we wanted to get married but we never made any solid plans. When the conversation of a joint 30th came up, we felt like this would be perfect. The element of a surprise wedding at a cherished place felt like the way to do it!

What inspired your wedding plans?

We didn’t have a large budget and wanted to do something a bit different. We were organising our joint 30th birthday party and we knew that, one day, we wanted to get married. I brought up the idea and we both loved the thought of surprising all our friends and family on the day, making it fun and all about love.

My childhood home, in the woods just outside Bishopton in Renfrewshire, holds a very special place in our hearts as we had our 16th, 18th and 21st parties at the house and garden. It’s nothing grand, quite rough and wild, but it’s perfect and it’s home! Everyone we know has been to the house at some point for a BBQ, Halloween party or New Year’s celebration. It means so much to us and our families that for a long time we couldn’t think of anywhere better or more special for us to get married.

I am very environmentally aware and wanted my wedding to be as sustainable and zero waste as possible. I have a passion for horticulture and flowers, so when looking for a florist I wanted someone who shared my values of sustainable, socially responsible and environmentally friendly. I found Jane (Blooming Heather) whilst working at the Nice Markets in Glasgow, her arrangements were stunning and her ethos is everything I was looking for.

I met with Jane a second time and completely trusted her to create my perfect bouquet with a very basic idea of wildflowers and flowers in bloom at the time of the wedding. I gave her a sneak peak of my wedding dress as inspiration and she picked out all the colours and details on it. The buttonholes, bouquets and flower crown were truly beautiful and I loved them so much! I have all my bouquets dried and around my home.

We designed our own stationery and my aunt, Anne made our wonderful cakes. We also bought 70 strawberry tarts – my favourite! Our family made all the food – we all cooked different items and brought it to the BBQ.

We hired our amazing festoon lights for three days and it was an amazing deal, they looked so good at night and we partied all night under them.

We had to work hard to keep it within our means. In all it cost us just over £4,000.

We love your dress! Tell us more…

As this was not a normal wedding, I didn’t want a traditional wedding dress. I wanted to combine my love of nature, flowers and colour in my dress and it took me a little while but I found my dress online in the French Connection sale. It was a dream come true to find my perfect dress – the blue cornflowers and wildflowers were wonderfully embroidered, so many guests thought I had had it custom made.

No accessories were specifically purchased for the wedding. On the day my mum gave me a sixpence for my shoe (she had them saved for our weddings). My cousin gave me her blue stone Dower and Hall earrings to wear for the ceremony and I wore my bangles. My shoes were Lotta clogs.

My sister, Jennifer did my hair and my friend, Heather did my makeup.

My bridesmaids wore what they wore to the party – none of them knew about the wedding!

Ricky bought his suit for a friend’s wedding. He loved the colour and fit, and decided it was the suit to wear at our wedding. He looked so handsome!

Were there any challenges along the way?

It was challenging to keep a secret, so we had our confidants and helpers to make it a relaxed, fun late summer BBQ. Also helping to organise the secret wedding plans, arranging delivery, picking up items and getting items (my wedding dress) to my parents.

There were little fallings out with family members on the day before – working with family can be hard, especially when they make changes and you cannot say the real reason you’re saying no to them.

On the other hand, so many things we did not plan happened because our family all love a party! My dad got hay bales from the farm, built a stage for us and everyone made amazing food!

We love the way your photos and film capture the day!

We wanted someone who was up for the challenge of capturing the whole surprise – the announcement, reactions, getting ready (in the afternoon), ceremony and a bit of the aftermath. We searched for a photographer who could capture the day for what it was – natural light, colour, guests being themselves and then when we started to tell family members capturing their first surprised reactions.

Sarah Roberts ticked all the boxes for us and when I talked on the phone she made me feel so excited about it all, I had a happy and sure feeling from speaking with her.

Our photos are wonderful… my favourites are of Ricky and I across the road in the field taking a moment to reflect and chill out after the madness. The sun setting and twilight was perfect, and I treasure those photos. Sarah did such an amazing job capturing us in the light, we were so lucky!

When we decided to turn our joint 30th BBQ into a surprise wedding we 100% wanted a filmmaker to document the whole day! It was really a once in a lifetime opportunity and we wanted to look back and remember it all. I had so many friends say the day went so fast and was a blur, and we didn’t want that. Especially as it wasn’t the typical wedding.

Heather Longwell’s style is so modern and fresh… She was amazing and blended into the party and wedding, capturing guests having fun, brilliant surprised reactions and so many highlights from the whole day. The film is a kaleidoscope of memories and sounds that we will treasure always!

What was your first dance song?

We had a few first dances…why not?
1. Our House – Crosby Stills and Nash
2. Home – Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros
3. Jackson – Johnny Cash and June Carter

Any advice?


Take a moment alone together and soak it all up. It goes by so fast, so you want to savour the moment and reasons why you planned this day – because you love each other and the day is celebrating you two.

Honeymoon or minimoon?

We haven’t planned out honeymoon yet but we escaped up to a yurt in the Scottish Highlands. It was wonderful to really disconnect and be together.

What’s the one moment you’ll always remember?

It has to be the first dance. We had so many great moments throughout the day – the surprise, the getting ready, the ceremony were all memorable but we can’t say it wasn’t stressful.

After the ceremony, we had some time alone with the photographers across the road in the field – the sky cleared and we got this fantastic golden hour of light. It was a real break in the day and gave us time to reflect together and have a breather.

Returning to the party and seeing all our friends and family really filled us with joy. Dancing together and singing along to our most cherished song really felt like a fairytale moment that we will never forget.

We love that Amanda and Ricky surprised their friends and family in this way! Watch their wedding film here to see how their guests reacted to the news. All. The. Feels! x