Mike & Michaela

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A festival-style wedding weekend at Kiftsgate Court Gardens, combining a relaxed Friday dinner, a garden ceremony, street food, live music, watercolour favours and a silent disco into one very personal celebration.

The Vision

Mike & Michaela wanted a wedding that felt more like a party than a traditional wedding breakfast.

For 120 guests, the brief deliberately moved away from a formal sit-down reception. Instead, the weekend was built around food trucks, communal tables, benches, gardens, live music and the freedom for guests to move between spaces.

The day was designed around the character of the venue, a ceremony in the lower garden, drinks and canapés in the water garden, street food in the courtyard, live music throughout the evening and a Super Silent Disco running from midnight until 2am. Personal touches were central to the brief too, from strawberries on the tables to live watercolour sketches of guests and a larger painting of the couple.

FRIDAY

The Ceremony & Celebration

The weekend began on Friday, with around 70 guests gathering in the courtyard for an informal dinner. Rather than a formal wedding meal, the plan centred on food-truck catering and a relaxed atmosphere.

The ceremony took place in the lower garden, with an acoustic duo from Tux Fizz providing the music. Flower petals were planned for the ceremony exit, with the garden providing the backdrop. Afterwards, the pace opened up.
Guests moved into the water garden for canapés and drinks, with food from Kan's Kitchen and Saving Nemo. The evening then became increasingly informal, with Thai food, pizza and other festival-style dishes served from food trucks rather than a traditional wedding breakfast.
Tux Fizz provided three live sets throughout the evening, a live sax and drums set followed, before the music continued into the night.
And alongside the food and music, guests could have their portraits painted. Watercolour sketches where completed throughout the day, with the finished pieces clipped together for guests to take home as personal wedding favours.

At midnight, the evening moved into its final chapter, a Super Silent Disco continuing until 2am.

Execution Highlights

120-guest festival-style wedding: The decision to use food trucks rather than a formal wedding breakfast shaped the entire guest experience.
Two-day celebration: A Friday dinner for approximately 70 guests created a relaxed introduction to the weekend before Saturday's main event.
Flexible guest flow: The plan deliberately used the lower garden, water garden, courtyard and marquee, allowing guests to circulate rather than remain in one space.
Multiple food experiences: Kan's Kitchen, Emmanuel's Pizza and Saving Nemo provided a varied street-food offer, with late-night sandwiches available from 10.15pm.
Personal guest favours: Live watercolour sketches transformed entertainment into something guests could take home, alongside a larger painting of the couple.
Late-night entertainment: Tux Fizz combined live sets, DJ/playlist duties and a sax and drums set before handing the final two hours to a Super Silent Disco.
Sustainability considered throughout: The couple planned for compostable food packaging, separate food-waste arrangements and encouraged guests to take leftover food home.

The Result

This was never intended to be a conventional wedding. Every decision pushed the celebration towards something more relaxed, social and personal, from benches instead of formal chairs in the marquee, to food trucks instead of a sit-down wedding breakfast, and live sketches instead of traditional favours.

The result was a weekend structure that gave guests room to move, eat, drink, dance and make the celebration their own.