Blog: DIY + Inspiration
Charlie Charlie

Late Summer Sustainable Wedding Shoot with Autumn Leaf and Seedhead Curtain Ceremony Backdrop

Charlie

Late summer sustainable wedding inspiration

If you’re thinking of end of summer – early autumn as the time of year you’d like to get married, this beautiful late summer sustainable wedding shoot is full of inspiration to get you started.

A great team of local (to Essex) wedding suppliers, all with a passion to run their businesses more sustainably, got together to inspire couples with their creativity, skills and offerings. Set at Barnfield wedding venue in the Essex countryside, the shoot showcases stunning seasonal florals, a spectacular ceremony backdrop, eco wedding dresses, plantable stationery, a sand ceremony, and more.

You’ll find a full list of suppliers and links at the bottom of the feature, as well as a photo gallery.

Emily Brown Photography and Celebrant Kate are both Recommended Suppliers of The Natural Wedding Company directory.

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Charlie Charlie

Seasonal British Winter Wedding Flowers: an inspirational guide and galleries

Charlie

It’s British Flowers Week 2024 and I am hoping to inspire you throughout this week to choose seasonal British flowers for your wedding – whatever the season (yes, even Winter!).

So far I’ve featured: 

Today I’ll be showcasing the best of British flowers for a Winter Wedding. For the purpose of this feature, Winter is considered December, January and Febraury.

All of the wedding bouquets and floral arrangements you see created from British flowers.

Winter in the UK might seem like a tricky time of year for a beautiful wedding bouquet of British grown flowers, but I hope this post will show you its not! You just need to expand your notion of what makes a wedding bouquet a wedding bouquet (tip: it doesn’t mean roses, peonies and dahlias).

So be inspired by this variety of seasonal British winter wedding flowers – from bouquets and buttonholes of exquisite dried flowers, grasses and seedheads, to lush winter bouquets featuring hellebores, anemones, early blossoms and interesting foliage and berries.

Don’t forget to check out the Wedding Flowers category of our eco wedding directory to find our recommended suppliers.

Why should you choose seasonal British winter wedding flowers?

Most simply put – they are the most sustainable option for wedding flowers. Flowers from the Farm list 6 reasons to buy British flowers (you can read all the info here), which in short are:

  1. Tread lightly on the planet – flowers are grown mainly outdoors without need for additional light and heat; no chemicals needed to extend the flowers life once cut; and the flower farmers care and enrich the soil and land they grow on.
  2. Reduce flower miles – flowers grown in the UK travel much shorter distances than those coming from abroad by boat or plane, some coming from as far as South America, Africa and Asia.
  3. Character and charm – British flower farmers grow small quantities of lots of different varieties, and sometimes that aren’t uniformly straight, but this gives interest and uniqueness to the arrangements they create.
  4. Buy local – support your local economy and community!
  5. Bring the outdoors in – seasonal flowers really capture a moment in the British seasonal year and for a wedding I think that’s pretty special.
  6. Because you’re a flower lover – this is about a love for flowers that look AND smell divine, something you will struggle to find in the commercial flower supply chain.

Important things to remember about seasonal British winter wedding flowers

Each of the bouquets and arrangements featured comes from a flower farmer or florist from all over the UK. It’s important to remember that different places will have different flowers available in season – what’s growing in Cornwall in summer will be different to what’s growing in Scotland.

There are also seasonal variations year to year depending on the weather. When choosing British flowers you need to release some of your expectations and be open to going with whatever is blooming best when you get married.

Do take that into consideration when viewing the images. The best thing you can do is find a florist or flower farmer local to where you’re getting married and find out what might be blooming in Winter.

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Charlie Charlie

Seasonal British Autumn Wedding Flowers: an inspirational guide and galleries

Charlie

It’s British Flowers Week 2024 and I am hoping to inspire you throughout this week to choose seasonal British flowers for your wedding – whatever the season (yes, even Winter!).

So far I’ve featured Seasonal British Spring Wedding Flowers and Seasonal British Summer Wedding Flowers, and today I’ll be showcasing the best of British flowers for an Autumn Wedding. For the purpose of this feature, Autumn is considered September, October and November.

All of the wedding bouquets and floral arrangements you see created from British flowers.

Autumn is a beautiful time of year for British grown wedding flowers – there’s still ample choice of interesting flowers, plus there’s lots of vibrant leaves and foliage, plus grasses, berries and seedheads.

Don’t forget to check out the Wedding Flowers category of our eco wedding directory to find our recommended suppliers.

Why should you choose seasonal British autumn wedding flowers?

Most simply put – they are the most sustainable option for wedding flowers. Flowers from the Farm list 6 reasons to buy British flowers (you can read all the info here), which in short are:

  1. Tread lightly on the planet – flowers are grown mainly outdoors without need for additional light and heat; no chemicals needed to extend the flowers life once cut; and the flower farmers care and enrich the soil and land they grow on.
  2. Reduce flower miles – flowers grown in the UK travel much shorter distances than those coming from abroad by boat or plane, some coming from as far as South America, Africa and Asia.
  3. Character and charm – British flower farmers grow small quantities of lots of different varieties, and sometimes that aren’t uniformly straight, but this gives interest and uniqueness to the arrangements they create.
  4. Buy local – support your local economy and community!
  5. Bring the outdoors in – seasonal flowers really capture a moment in the British seasonal year and for a wedding I think that’s pretty special.
  6. Because you’re a flower lover – this is about a love for flowers that look AND smell divine, something you will struggle to find in the commercial flower supply chain.

Important things to remember about seasonal British autumn wedding flowers

Each of the bouquets and arrangements featured comes from a flower farmer or florist from all over the UK. It’s important to remember that different places will have different flowers available in season – what’s growing in Cornwall in summer will be different to what’s growing in Scotland.

There are also seasonal variations year to year depending on the weather. When choosing British flowers you need to release some of your expectations and be open to going with whatever is blooming best when you get married.

Do take that into consideration when viewing the images. The best thing you can do is find a florist or flower farmer local to where you’re getting married and find out what might be blooming in Autumn.

Read more
Charlie Charlie

Seasonal British Summer Wedding Flowers: an inspirational guide and galleries

Charlie

Choose seasonal British flowers for your Summer Wedding

It’s British Flowers Week 2024 and I am hoping to inspire you throughout this week to choose seasonal British flowers for your wedding – whatever the season (yes, even Winter!).

Yesterday I featured Seasonal British Spring Wedding Flowers, and today I’ll be showcasing the best of British flowers for a Summer Wedding. For the purpose of this feature, Summer is consider June, July and August.

All of the wedding bouquets and floral arrangements you see created from British flowers. They come in all shades of colour, and lots of different styles. There’s loads of choice of blooms, plus beautiful grasses and foliage.

Don’t forget to check out the Wedding Flowers category of our eco wedding directory to find our recommended suppliers.

Why should you choose seasonal British summer wedding flowers?

Most simply put – they are the most sustainable option for wedding flowers. Flowers from the Farm list 6 reasons to buy British flowers (you can read all the info here), which in short are:

  1. Tread lightly on the planet – flowers are grown mainly outdoors without need for additional light and heat; no chemicals needed to extend the flowers life once cut; and the flower farmers care and enrich the soil and land they grow on.
  2. Reduce flower miles – flowers grown in the UK travel much shorter distances than those coming from abroad by boat or plane, some coming from as far as South America, Africa and Asia.
  3. Character and charm – British flower farmers grow small quantities of lots of different varieties, and sometimes that aren’t uniformly straight, but this gives interest and uniqueness to the arrangements they create.
  4. Buy local – support your local economy and community!
  5. Bring the outdoors in – seasonal flowers really capture a moment in the British seasonal year and for a wedding I think that’s pretty special.
  6. Because you’re a flower lover – this is about a love for flowers that look AND smell divine, something you will struggle to find in the commercial flower supply chain.

Important things to remember about seasonal British summer wedding flowers

Each of the bouquets and arrangements featured comes from a flower farmer or florist from all over the UK. It’s important to remember that different places will have different flowers available in season – what’s growing in Cornwall in summer will be different to what’s growing in Scotland.

There are also seasonal variations year to year depending on the weather. When choosing British flowers you need to release some of your expectations and be open to going with whatever is blooming best when you get married.

Do take that into consideration when viewing the images. The best thing you can do is find a florist or flower farmer local to where you’re getting married and find out what might be blooming in Summer.

Read more
Charlie Charlie

Seasonal British Spring Wedding Flowers: an inspirational guide and galleries

Charlie

Choose seasonal British flowers for your Spring Wedding

It’s British Flowers Week 2024 and I am hoping to inspire you throughout this week to choose seasonal British flowers for your wedding – whatever the season (yes, even Winter!).

I’ll be doing a feature on each season, starting today with Spring Weddings. For the purpose of this feature, Spring is consider March, April and May.

All of the wedding bouquets and floral arrangements you see created from British flowers. What’s apparent to me is just how diverse a seasonal Spring wedding bouquet can look, it’s not just got to be pastel shades.

Don’t forget to check out the Wedding Flowers category of our eco wedding directory to find our recommended suppliers.

Why should you choose seasonal British spring wedding flowers?

Most simply put – they are the most sustainable option for wedding flowers. Flowers from the Farm list 6 reasons to buy British flowers (you can read all the info here), which in short are:

  1. Tread lightly on the planet – flowers are grown mainly outdoors without need for additional light and heat; no chemicals needed to extend the flowers life once cut; and the flower farmers care and enrich the soil and land they grow on.
  2. Reduce flower miles – flowers grown in the UK travel much shorter distances than those coming from abroad by boat or plane, some coming from as far as South America, Africa and Asia.
  3. Character and charm – British flower farmers grow small quantities of lots of different varieties, and sometimes that aren’t uniformly straight, but this gives interest and uniqueness to the arrangements they create.
  4. Buy local – support your local economy and community!
  5. Bring the outdoors in – seasonal flowers really capture a moment in the British seasonal year and for a wedding I think that’s pretty special.
  6. Because you’re a flower lover – this is about a love for flowers that look AND smell divine, something you will struggle to find in the commercial flower supply chain.

Important things to remember about seasonal British spring wedding flowers

Each of the bouquets and arrangements featured comes from a flower farmer or florist from all over the UK. It’s important to remember that different places will have different flowers available in season – what’s growing in Cornwall in spring will be different to what’s growing in Scotland.

There are also seasonal variations year to year depending on the weather. When choosing British flowers you need to release some of your expectations and be open to going with whatever is blooming best when you get married.

Do take that into consideration when viewing the images. The best thing you can do is find a florist or flower farmer local to where you’re getting married and find out what might be blooming in Spring.

Read more
Charlie Charlie

Wild Welsh summer wedding inspiration with foxgloves and ferns

Charlie

Wild Welsh summer wedding inspiration

When is comes to sustainable, eco-friendly weddings I always look to the seasons and the place where a wedding is to take place. This beautiful wild Welsh wedding shoot organised by Ness of TogetherNess Weddings does exactly that – she was inspired by the hedgerows and meadows in June for this wild Welsh summer wedding inspiration shoot.

“With local and seasonal in mind, I took my inspiration from hedgerows in June hoping to create a sense of hazy summer moments mixed with the bright pinks of our native flowers at this time of year. I hoped to highlight the simple yet exceptional beauty that can be created by combining the talent of local artisan business’s with what our doorstep nature has to offer.”

This wild Welsh summer wedding inspiration shoot is full of foxgloves, ferns, and natural fabrics set against a backdrop of a whitewashed chapel and a meal in a meadow.

Ness used her expert styling skills and collaborated with a small team of talented Welsh wedding suppliers and artisans to create this beautiful wedding shoot. I hope it encourages you to look to the place and season in which you are getting married for inspiration.

TogetherNess Weddings is a Recommended Supplier of The Natural Wedding Company directory. Find out more about them here.

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Charlie Charlie

Eco luxe elopement wedding inspiration photoshoot at River Cottage

Charlie

Eco bride and groom at River Cottage

Eco Luxe Elopement Wedding

This photoshoot is inspired by an eco luxe elopement wedding held against the stunning backdrop of River Cottage. The photoshoot team wanted to embrace as much as possible the ethos of being eco whilst staying in harmony with the wedding venue. It also features a number of our TNWC Recommended Suppliers – you’ll find all the details at the bottom of the post.

As Laura, photographer at Freeformimage Photography, told us, “A wedding a River Cottage will always inspire and enchant.”

Eco luxe wedding elopement at River Cottage

Eco luxe wedding elopement at River Cottage

Alternative spring wedding bride and groom

Eco chic bride and groom with succulent bouquet

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Charlie Charlie

Wild Celtic wedding inspiration for a winter solstice celebration

Charlie

Wild bouquet - Celtic wedding inspiration // Emma Stoner Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

It’s been a little quiet on the blog, we’ll have more details to share on that soon. But today we are delighted to be sharing with you this very special Celtic wedding inspiration shoot from TNWC photographer Emma Stoner.

I love the wild and natural styling from Emma Stoner and The Prop Factory. It is earthy and organic, with the most beautiful natural colour palette that reflects the surroundings. For any couples who are looking for Celtic wedding inspiration, this is a truly beautiful styled shoot to give you lots of ideas. These Celtic wedding ideas are subtle, refined, and elegant.

Over to Emma Stoner to tell us more…

Celtic wedding dress - Celtic wedding inspiration // Emma Stoner Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Winter wedding table - Celtic wedding inspiration // Emma Stoner Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Wild Celtic wedding inspiration // Emma Stoner Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Wild beach wedding hair - Celtic wedding inspiration // Emma Stoner Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Wild bouquet with feathers - Celtic wedding inspiration // Emma Stoner Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Cornish picnic wedding - Celtic wedding inspiration // Emma Stoner Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

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Charlie Charlie

Favourite Special Wedding Moments: including a breastfeeding bride and the bride who cut up her wedding dress on the day

Charlie

Favourite Special Wedding Moments: including a breastfeeding bride and the bride who cut up her wedding dress on the day

This is the final part of our mini series on featuring our Real Wedding Favourites. If you haven’t viewed the other six parts, you can find them all here, or individual links at the bottom of this post.

Today we are going to round up this series with our Favourite Special Wedding Moments. These are particular moments from the real weddings we’ve featured that really stuck in our minds. Tender moments, a detail that made us feel a bit teary, and even a moment that we found quite scary!

Groom Washes the Brides Feet during their Wedding Ceremony

Favourite Special Wedding Moments: Groom Washes the Brides Feet during their Wedding Ceremony

It’s always lovely to see how couples choose to personalise their wedding ceremony, and this was one of the most tender and intimate moments that we’ve featured. As part of their outdoor wedding ceremony in the French countryside, groom Benjamin washed bride Mariette’s feet as a symbol of his commitment to her.

I imagine it’s not the kind of act that every couple would choose to incorporate into their wedding ceremony. But I love the symbolism, and the moment of quiet and calm that I imagine it would bring to your wedding ceremony. A great reminder to personalise your ceremony and do it your own way.

This beautiful moment was from Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding. Photography by David Blair Photography.

Awesome Breastfeeding Bride

Favourite Special Wedding Moments: Awesome Breastfeeding Bride

Both Samantha and I have become mums in the past few years, so these images of bride Elena breastfeeding her daughter during her wedding really stand out for me. Elena chose a wedding dress that she would be able to breastfeed her young daughter in and photographer Emma Stoner captured these precious images of the two of them.

A great reminder that your wedding day and wedding dress shouldn’t restrict your personal circumstances, whatever they might be. Make them work for you.

Favourite Special Wedding Moments: Awesome Breastfeeding Bride

Read the full story at Elena and Simon’s colourful handmade wedding. Photography by Emma Stoner Photography.

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Charlie Charlie

Favourite Natural Seasonal Weddings: inspiration from spring weddings, summer weddings, and autumn weddings

Charlie

Favourite Natural Seasonal Weddings: inspiration from spring weddings, summer weddings, and autumn weddings

Today we are looking at our Favourite Natural Seasonal Weddings in the sixth part of our Real Wedding Favourites series. You can find all the previous posts here or individual links at the bottom of this post – they are full of wedding inspiration!

We like to champion seasonal weddings so it’s been fun looking back through our archives for some spectacular seasonal weddings to share. There are so many we could have chosen, but we’ve chosen six of our favourites to feature here. You’ll notice we haven’t featured any winter weddings in this post as we haven’t really featured any yet.

If you are looking for seasonal specific wedding inspiration you can find it all here – spring wedding, summer wedding, autumn wedding, and winter wedding.

Our Favourite Spring Weddings

An English Spring Wedding on a Dairy Farm

Favourite Natural Seasonal Weddings: An English Spring Wedding on a Dairy Farm

Caroline and Gareth’s spring wedding on their farm holds a soft spot for me because they got married at the end of May, just like I did. This time of year is one of my favourites, and their wedding captures spring in the countryside, with cow parsley and a lovely palette of pastels pinks and purples.

They used seasonal flowers for the bouquets, aisle decorations, and I love the little pots of cowslips displaying the table names – all named after cows as they live on a working dairy farm. The whole feel of their wedding is so reflective of an English spring, making it my favourite spring wedding that we’ve featured.

Favourite Natural Seasonal Weddings: An English Spring Wedding on a Dairy Farm

Favourite Natural Seasonal Weddings: An English Spring Wedding on a Dairy Farm

Favourite Natural Seasonal Weddings: An English Spring Wedding on a Dairy Farm

Charlie’s favourite spring wedding is Caroline and Gareth’s spring wedding on their farm (part one and part two). Photography by Milestones Photography.

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