The owners of Scaldersitch Farm in the Peak District, one of the country’s original and longest standing glamping businesses, has seen a significant increase in people seeking glamping and festival wedding tips and advice – as couples start planning for events in 2024.
Higher costs of living coupled with the fact that the economy is still recovering from the global pandemic, appear to be shaping the way that people celebrate with more intimate, personalised, and budget-friendly weddings soaring in popularity.
“Many of our recent wedding customers and those enquiring have said that they don’t want to spend thousands on a huge event,” explains Catherine Hine, founder of Scaldersitch Farm. “Firstly, more couples are funding their weddings themselves, which has to be a factor, but on top of that, they are far more interested in having their closest friends and family around them, having a fantastic time and celebrating over a long weekend rather than just a day. Lots of people are realising that you don’t have to spend a fortune to do that.”
“Couples want to break the wedding mould and organise something that everyone will remember. A glamping wedding or ‘wedstival’ can be completely tailored to the couple, and also turns the event from something that lasts just a few hours to an all-weekend affair. Along with the opportunity to stay in a luxury canvas, yurt or tipi, guests can be treated to yoga, wellness packages, countryside walks, and festival-themed games fitted around the wedding celebrations. That way, they get to remember a weekend of festivities with friends, rather than the whirlwind of one night.”
Glamping Wedding Tips
1. Find the perfect spot. Glamping and festival weddings are all about the location. Choose somewhere that makes your heart skip a beat and that will make you smile when you see it in your wedding photographs. For some people that will be the rolling hills of the Peak District, for others it will be a woodland glen or a lakeside spot in Scotland. Once you’ve found your place, you can build your glamping wedding around it and pick a theme that suits you and the location.
2. Decide on a theme. There is so much you can do to customise a glamping wedding, to make it completely personal to you. Some couples opt for a festival theme with bunting, bold, bright colours, and DIY wooden signs, while others go down the more whimsical, fairy-tale route with hundreds of tealights, bundles of wildflowers, and a crackling firepit. Anything that’s a little rustic and complements the outdoor environment will work well.
3. Get creative. The sky is the limit with the finishing touches at a glamping wedding. Create a mood board for your theme and add things as you think of them or see them in magazines or online.
4. Have fun with the menu. Glamping weddings usually have a more relaxed vibe, which means you don’t have to stick to a traditional sit-down wedding breakfast, if that’s not your thing. You could organise a pop-up woodfired pizza van, a glamorous picnic spread, a barbecue or even a bumper fish and chip delivery, if that’s your dream.
5. Refine the guest list. Most glamping sites won’t have space for hundreds of people, so it’s worth sitting down and being very selective with the guest list. Only invite your nearest and dearest (a glamping wedding isn’t the time to invite that friend of a friend that you last saw ten years ago).
6. Extend the festivities. Remember, a festival-style or glamping wedding doesn’t have to be about just a few hours, with many choosing to organise a weekend-long celebration. Organising some activities will keep the party atmosphere going and ensure that everyone is entertained. Tailor it to the interests of yourselves and the guests – anything is possible, from carnival games outside, wine-tasting, a meditation session, a competitive treasure hunt, or simply bacon butties followed by a relaxing countryside walk.
Scaldersitch Farm was founded by Catherine and her husband, Ian in 2011 when glamping and boutique camping was still in its infancy. They started with Secret Cloud House Holidays, in the Staffordshire Moorlands, before adding the Scaldersitch Farm site in 2015.
It is set in some of the Peak District’s most stunning countryside, with the wide open skies making it ideal for star-gazing and sunrise watching. It is surrounded by footpaths and cycle trails, and close to Hartington Village, famous for its cheese, and home to a range of shops, pubs and tea rooms. It is also convenient to numerous other Peak District attractions, such as the Tissington Trail, Dovedale stepping stones, Arbor Low, Buxton, and Bakewell.
Every last detail has been considered in the five award-winning, luxury yurts and tipis at Scaldersitch Farm. From the Scandinavian hot tubs, which are heated to the perfect temperature prior to arrival; to the fridge that is stocked with premium breakfast produce; super king beds; private outside seating area; and beautiful finishing touches, such as homegrown, freshly picked flowers, it is the ultimate special setting for a getaway with friends or family.
For more information on Scaldersitch Farm, visit scaldersitchfarm.co.uk.