Thomas Talks Tipi Weddings
with Jodie Bidder of Sami Tipi
I’ve known Jodie and Craig – the dream duo behind Sami Tipi – for many years now. We’ve worked together at loads of tipi weddings where my awesome food has been cooked and served under their amazing tipis. We love working with them. Not only because they get us – they know exactly how we work, what we need in terms of set-up and access and always give us a great catering tent. But because they’re professional, have a real passion for what they do and put their couples at the heart of everything. Their weddings are creative, original and loads of fun – just like our food. Which is why we are a perfect match.
So, I’m pretty excited to talk in more detail to Jodie and hopefully uncover some Sami Tipi secrets…
How did you get started in tipi weddings and events?
This is a question we get asked often. Craig (the other half of Sami Tipi) and I were living in the Middle East and we were about to return to the UK after 5 years. We wanted a new challenge, something to get our teeth into. We literally got out a piece of blank paper, and began to write ideas and a life plan, it soon became apparent that what we wanted was to find a field to host events. So we began looking for land with a barn, but it was tricky to find the right place or opportunity. Then we attended a sporting event in Dubai where we came across some gorgeous tipis and that was it – it all fell into place and we started the ball rolling in creating Sami Tipi, offering tipis for outdoor weddings and events.
Tell us a little about your background.
Craig and I’s skill sets complemented each other perfectly. I have always worked in sales and marketing and love customer service. Craig was in engineering and project management. We brought these skills together, mixed it up and created the gorgeous recipe that is Sami Tipi.
Photos Hannah Hall
How long have you been trading as Sami Tipi?
We registered the business in November 2012. We spent the next year perfecting the business plan, ordering the tipis, pulling together the photos and getting the website ready for our return to the UK. We held our first tipi open event in April 2014 so you can see that it took a lot of time from registering as a business to getting the word out. Our first showcase was at the NEC, where we stood excitedly chatting to couples. But it was the next showcase we held at Bawdon Lodge Farm where things truly took off; this was when the bookings really started to come in.
Certainly, before the launch, we had a lot of moments of “Do we don’t we, do we don’t we?” But we can safely say we did the right thing for us.
And what exactly do you do at Sami Tipi? What’s a typical day look like?
I’m mainly office based, so it starts with a morning meeting with my team, Amy and Abi (events co-ordinators) and Caroline (administrator); we have a quick team huddle, review where we are, what events we have coming up and agree what we want to achieve that day. I grab coffee, sit down and go through emails, new enquires and answer any customer enquiries. I always try and fit in some marketing in every day, which may involve writing a blog, Facebook and Instagram posts and generally keeping ahead of what is happening with the online world.
A lot of my time, is spent in front of my computer or meeting clients. As much as I love the tipis, I do not get to experience them all the time. On the occasions that I am working in the tipis, I love it! I get to see and experience everything that we’ve been planning and talking about; see it all come together beautifully and take lots of gorgeous photos.
Also, a couple of times a week I venture out on site visits. People laugh because for me that literally means a field, so most weeks I’m visiting different fields and private land to look at where our tipis will go and plan the logistics.
Photos Matt Brown
What inspires you to do what you do? What really gets your gears going every day?
It’s the journey, taking someone through to their dream wedding; from them deciding their vision to seeing it all come to life. It’s the look on the bride and grooms’ faces when they enter the tipi for the first time; it’s priceless.
As a family business, I get to work with my husband everyday, have flexibility to plan my time and have open days where the kids come along. As a small business owner there is a lot of responsibility but also the flexibility of also managing a family.
What do you love most about your job/business?
Getting to know a couple. From that very first enquiry (be it an email or phone call), to the wedding we can meet anywhere between two to eight times at our events, open days, planning meetings and site visits. I get to know a couple and they become like friends, building a strong relationship where you are so heavily involving in helping them to plan the big day. It’s sad once the wedding has been and gone as you miss chatting to them but are happy that they are starting out on their journey into married life.
What advice would you give couples starting out on their wedding planning journey?
Enjoy it.
Decide what you both want and stick to your guns; agree on what’s most important and where you are willing to compromise. Start to have those discussions with your family – especially with an outdoor wedding that can be very different from tradition and often hard to get family to understand that you want a more relaxed, less formal day. Explain your vision and stand firm with what’s important. Only compromise on the things that aren’t such a big deal. Have your dream day and enjoy it.
What’s hot and who’s hot in your industry right now?
There is a real movement to having a super relaxed and festival vibe day with no seating plan, not having just one band but a few, creating a day or weekend long event or celebration.
What ambitions do you have for your business?
Craig and I talk about this all the time. It changes a lot but ultimately, we want to keep doing what we love.
Are there any bucket list activities you have to tick off or any high profile weddings you would have loved to be involved in?
We’d like to create other tipi events such as our own pop-up bars, restaurants, or parties, that would be amazing. Obviously, we’d have loved Prince Harry’s wedding but hey, I think that ship has sailed.
How would your friends describe you?
I cheated on this question and asked the BBF’s this one. Their response made me blush; Motivated, loyal, funny, organised, honest, ambitious, generous, driven!!
Where and how can we reach you?
01332 806040 [email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/Samitipievents
https://twitter.com/samitipievents
https://www.pinterest.com/samitipi/
https://www.instagram.com/samitipi/
