Naturally different

A tree church is just one of the many wonders in wedding celebrant Felicity Warren’s garden. By Katherine Robinson. Photos by Catherine Cattenach

A wander around Felicity Warren’s garden has its jaw-dropping moments. Even before the living tree church, you will have passed a pair of stone lions, glimpsed a fired-up centaur, and walked through an impressive creeper-covered walkway towards a long reflecting pool. The effect is magical, rather like finding yourself in Narnia, when you are actually 12 kilometres from Martinborough. 

 Coming up with her own design for the garden and tree church, which seats 180 people, Felicity commissioned Carterton artist, Brett Harman, to make the frame.

 “I do like a big project,” says Felicity, with some understatement. Inspired by Barry Cox’s seven-year-old living tree church near Hamilton, she and Brett put their own touches to the frame. 

 “Brett’s amazing, he can make anything you want. He looked at how old barns were made, so he could make the tree church frame incredibly strong though it looks very fine and elegant,” says Felicity.”   

 There’s plenty to delight the eye, such as the gothic church window behind the altar, and two huge urns, also made by Brett. Felicity had the all-weather pews and altar-piece made in Bali.

 Installing the partially constructed, soaring frame was epic, involving friends and family. “We had a huge barbecue and then everyone walked it through the garden, and put it all into place,” says Felicity.

 Planted in 2015 with fast-growing Australian tea tree, a bushy wall already rises above head height. Eventually, branches will be trained upwards, but in the meantime, there are open views of the hills and sky. In bad weather, the frame can be discreetly covered with a clear canopy.

Given that the making and growing of the church, has been very much a family affair, it’s only fitting that the first people to marry there were Felicity’s son Monte and daughter-in-law Anna.

Currently, the tree church is available for ceremonies only, and as an experienced wedding celebrant, Felicity is available to offer her services.

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Fast -growing Australian tea tree has already formed the leafy walls of the Martinborough Tree Church.