Fairies, Drag Queens and Festival Scenes – a wedding at Yonder Meadow on the edge of Exeter

Written by Lucy Tefler

We are very lucky to get lovely guests that come to stay on our glamping site at Yonder Meadow in Rewe. It’s a romantic place – woodland, orchard, meadow and water in a space that is curated to slowly unfurl in front of you as you wander through. I’ve lost count of the number of proposals, anniversaries and special occasions enjoyed under the stars here, but each one adds to the sense of a happy place. During their first stay Liam and Kelly joked “we could get married here.” 4 years later they did.

And what a wedding! Kelly is a Lady Gaga impersonator, larger than life personality with 5 bridesmen. Liam is a softly spoken quietly supportive gem of a man. They arrived 2 days before the wedding and transformed the space into a magical festival celebrating their love for each other, their families and friends. As guests arrived they made their way through a flower arch and then followed photos of the happy couple strung through the orchard, past the chill out tent to the welcome drinks under a large oak tree with a swing, streamers, ribbons and a memory tree honouring Kelly’s Mum. Making her way down through the trees, the bride looked for all the world like a fairy queen. The woodland was strewn with lanterns, brightly coloured fabric and the aisle was hessian, lamps and branches. The ceremony was on a platform looking out over miles of the beautiful Exe valley, with guests watching on from their straw bale benches and soaking up the love as they made their vows to each other. A Wonderland based no-tea gin party in the marquee followed on, with a band and then dancing amongst the trees and shadows by the bar at the bottom of the land.

The guests were fabulous. Lill (Living In Lavish Luxury) from DragRace UK led the glamour stakes but very closely followed by many others. The festival theme allows for individuality and glamour whilst still having the laidback vibes that Kelly and Liam wanted. Tables were decorated with teapots, flowers, butterflies and old books. Appropriately each guest had their own vintage tea cup and saucer to take away – collected over months by Kelly as part of her vision.

Kelly’s brother Ben is @the_bakeking who with 500k followers on instagram and the gig making the ‘cake or not’ idents for The Great British Bake Off could be relied upon to produce a cake that fooled all but the most observant guests. After all, who would expect a 6 foot tree in the corner of a marquee to be built from the richest chocolate fudge sponge?

Disco lights shone up into the trees and the dancing continued into the early hours with Kelly and Liam’s guests embracing the joy of the occasion. Exeter based @flourandflamepizza cured the late night munchies, delivering their delicious wood fired pizzas to the dance floor. Other local suppliers included vagabondmarquees.co.uk, @Devonshireluxuryloos, @fromthewildflorist and @dartmoorkitchen.

Family and the wedding party stayed in the glamping accommodation, with space for tents and campervans as well. This meant that the celebrations lasted for several fun filled days. With capacity for 100 guests, if you are looking for a venue for a wedding in Devon with an intimate feel that you can personalise to match the theme for your wedding get in touch- I want to hear from you on 07397858812.

Lucy Telfer is a freelance writer, content creator and owner of Yonder Meadow homestead and glamping site. Her work has been featured in Exeter Life, Devon Life as well as nationally produced educational materials. Connect with Lucy on Linkedin.