Planning · Wyre Forest, Worcestershire

How a woodland wedding actually works

The order things happen in, what you book and when, what it costs beyond the hire fee, and the questions people ask us at eleven o’clock at night.

In this order

What to book, and when

Two things fill up before everything else: us, and the registrar. Almost nothing else is urgent, whatever the wedding internet tells you.

First
The date and the registrar

Book us, then book Worcestershire registrars the same week. They are a separate diary and they run out sooner than couples expect. Everything else can wait months without consequence.

Second
The caterer

Six to twelve months out. This is the biggest line in your budget after the venue, and good caterers who are happy working from a field kitchen get booked early. We are glad to tell you who works well here.

Third
Photographer and music

Six to nine months. Tell your photographer it is a wood — the light is completely different from a hotel, and someone who has shot in trees before will thank you for the warning.

Fourth
Drinks and the bar

Three to six months, once you know numbers. Ask us about bar arrangements and corkage before you buy anything.

Fifth
Rooms for the night

Three months. There is no camping on site, so guests stay in Bewdley or Kidderminster. Send two or three suggestions with the invitations and the question stops coming back to you.

Last
Everything Instagram says is essential

Signage, favours, a seating chart on a mirror. None of it changes whether the day works. Do it if you enjoy it, skip it if you do not.

A rough shape

What Saturday tends to look like

Saturday, earlyYour suppliers in, canvas dressed, the site finished before anyone arrives
Late morningYou arrive to a site that is already finished
Early afternoonCeremony in the clearing
AfternoonDrinks in the wood, photographs in the trees
Early eveningWedding breakfast under canvas
DuskFire pits lit, festoons on
ElevenMusic stops, fires burn down
Sunday morningSuppliers collect; the site is cleared

Nothing here has to be flipped, turned around or cleared while your guests wait. The ceremony, the meal and the dancing happen in different places, so each one can simply be left as it is.

The whole budget

What a day here costs, beyond our fee

Our hire fee is published and includes the structure. These are the going market rates for everything else, so you can build a real total rather than discovering it in stages.

Venue hire, structure includedFrom £6,950
Registrar (Worcestershire, 2026–27)£575–£700
Street food or vans£15–£30 a head
Sharing feasts£35–£60 a head
Seated three courses£60–£100 a head
Photographer£1,500 typical
DJ£500–£1,000
Band£1,000–£2,500
Flowers£1,200 typical
Drinks and corkageAsk us

Third-party figures are UK market averages for 2026, not our prices.

Asked most often

The eleven o’clock questions

What if it rains?

It moves under canvas in about fifteen minutes and the day carries on. We decide with you around eleven in the morning, not at ten to two.

Is it muddy?

The paths are chipped bark and level. It is still a wood, so heels sink in grass and boots are sensible for setting up, but nobody is wading.

Can older or less mobile guests manage it?

Yes. The clearing, the canvas, the bar and the washrooms are all step-free and reachable on level path. Tell us in advance and we will get people close.

Can we bring our own drink?

Ask us about bar arrangements and corkage before you buy anything.

How do our guests get home?

Music stops at eleven and people are away shortly after. Parking is inside the wood a short walk from the canvas, so cars come to you rather than anyone walking out to a road in the dark. If you would rather your guests drank, a coach back into Bewdley or Kidderminster is the cleanest answer — one vehicle, one pick-up, and no scramble for taxis at the end of the night. There is room for a coach at the gate. If people are coming by train, Kidderminster is the nearest mainline station, about fifteen minutes away, with four an hour from Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street. Tell us the pick-up time and we will have the gate open for the coach.

Where do our guests stay?

There is no camping or accommodation on site. Bewdley is the nearest town with Kidderminster a little further, and between them there are hotels, inns and holiday cottages. We keep a list of the ones we would send people to, with the coach and taxi firms worth ringing, on getting here and staying nearby. Put two or three suggestions in with the invitations and the question stops coming back to you.

What do you take to hold a date, and when is the balance due?

Ask us for the deposit, payment schedule and cancellation terms in writing before you commit to anything — and be wary of any venue that will not put them in writing for you.

Do we need our own insurance?

Most couples take wedding insurance whatever the venue; it covers suppliers failing and illness rather than anything to do with us. Your caterer and anyone running a bar will each need their own public liability cover. Ask us for our own certificate and for exactly what we require from your suppliers.

Do we need a wedding planner?

No. Most couples here do not have one. If you want one they are very welcome, and the site is simple enough that a good friend with a clipboard usually covers it.

What about midges and mosquitoes?

A British wood in July has insects in it. Citronella in the fire pits helps, and it is the sort of thing worth putting in the welcome note rather than pretending away.

Can children come?

Yes, and a wood is one of the few venues where they entertain themselves instead of sitting through a long meal. There is room to run and the paths are level enough for a buggy.

What happens the morning after?

Your suppliers come back to collect everything and the site is cleared that morning. You do not need to be there for it. We clear the site itself; you take away what you brought.

Next step

The rest is much easier to explain standing in it

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