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If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that this week I am introducing you to the first of my TNWC Real Brides who’ll be blogging their weddings here. On Tuesday we welcomed the first bride-to-be, Emma, who is getting married in Cornwall with a outdoors festival vibe – if you missed reading about her wedding plans check out her first blog post here.
Today I have my second lovely bride-to-be who is going to introduce herself and some of her wedding plans. This lovely lady is Nik who writes her own blog Little House in Town and who was our competition winner last year for the cut flower arranging course. I got to meet Nik on that course and have become good friends with her, so I was delighted to learn that she got engaged over Christmas!
Over to Nik to tell you more about her wedding day plans…
Nik + Chris: 11th July 2013, Wales
When Charlie announced she was looking for ‘real brides’ to feature on TNWC, my stomach knotted with jealousy. You see, I’ve been a big follower of TNWC for years, soaking up all the incredible rustic and eco-friendly inspiration and storing it deep in the recesses of my mind in preparation for my ‘big day’. There was one flaw in my planning – I wasn’t engaged. And if you’re not engaged, you can’t blog about your wedding planning, no matter how much of it you’ve done mentally.
So, when Chris pulled out a beautiful Rust engagement ring as we strolled along my favourite Pembrokeshire beach on Christmas day, my elation was for more reasons than one. I could apply to be a TNWC bride! Woohoo!
There are some ideas I see that get me really inspired, ideas that I think I’ll hang on to and maybe try and recreate one day in my own life. This simple collection of artfully arranged ferns and flickering candles for winter wedding reception tables is one such idea that I think I’d like to steal and do one year at Christmas.
Sometimes with weddings it’s all too easy to get swept up into thinking we need to do and create loads to make them look beautiful – but this idea shows that with a few simple ingredients – ferns and an assortment of candles – you can make something stunning.
Images: Leo Patrone via Once Wed
Today is a very exciting day – I get to introduce you to a fantastic new feature to my blog called TNWC Real Brides. It has been so long since my own wedding that I decided I needed some new brides-to-be to share their wedding details, so before Christmas I invited applications.
Starting today, I have the first of my TNWC Real Brides who are going to be sharing their wedding planning experiences here on my blog – I am so thrilled to be opening up the blog to brides-to-be and I can’t wait to follow their wedding journeys with you.
I’m also super excited because for each couple I have had a fab illustrated picture of them created by my sister Izzy Burton – these illustrations of each couple will be used at the top of each real brides blog post so hopefully you’ll get to know them all by these cute images!
Our first TNWC Real Bride that you get to meet is Emma - I’ll hand you over to her so she can tell you all about her and her fiancée and the wedding they are planning…
Emma + Chris: 13th July 2013, Cornwall
Hello, I’m Emma (currently aged 29 and ¾) and I am going to be marrying the best Chris ever (also on the brink of ‘thirtydom’) on the 13th July 2013. Thirteen is my lucky number. We are planning an eco-friendly, DIY, windswept and romantic wedding at Mount Pleasant Eco Park in Porthtowan, Cornwall.
Chris and I met nearly 5 years ago through mutual friends on many occasions, most of which involved beer and back garden barbecues. Over time I had developed a bit of an embarrassing crush on him and therefore avoided talking to him for around six months, as whenever I got near him I would blush profusely. He happened to be just as shy and it took us well over five ‘dates’ before I made the move with a now or never awkward kiss. The kissing got a little less awkward after that first one.
Chris proposed on New Year’s Day, at the top of a snowy mountain in Bulgaria. He had chosen the most beautiful emerald and diamond ring, I couldn’t stop giggling and slightly hyperventilating as he knelt in the snow with clear blues skies all around us. It was massively unexpected as Chris is THE worst at keeping a secret – and he had been planning it for three months!
Please note the ticket giveaway is now closed 05/02/13
In four weeks time the White Memoirs Vintage Wedding Fair will be once again gracing the beautiful town hall in Stockport. Held on Sunday 24th February 2013, the fair will run from 11am – 4pm and be stocked full of local, hand-picked suppliers to inspire unique brides across the North.
Exclusive to The Natural Wedding Company I have 20 free tickets to the fair and 10 free ‘Bridal Boot’ tables to give away – so read on if you fancy winning either (or both!) of those!
White Memoirs is an independent vintage wedding fair seeking out their suppliers by searching every corner, back alley, road, street and website there is. And, of course, White Memoirs wouldn’t be the same without fantastic live entertainment from the amazing Miss Kiki deVille as well as special performances from numerous vintage acts!
Like they did at the October wedding fair, White Memoirs will be hosting an exclusive bridal catwalk show featuring their favourite bridal boutiques and accessory designers.
This morning I thought it would be really nice to share the beautiful new wedding packaging from one of our TNWC recommended photographers, Rebecca Douglas. First though I have a couple of announcements:
Wedding fair ticket giveaway – on Tuesday morning I have 20 tickets up for grabs for the White Memoirs Vintage Wedding Fair and full details about this year’s fair. PLUS I also have 10 ‘Bridal Boot’ tables to giveaway, so do check back tomorrow for full details.
TNWC Real Brides – you might remember before Christmas I was on the hunt for brides-to-be who wanted to blog about their wedding, well this week on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday I’ll be introducing you to the first two lovely ladies. I am so excited about this new feature!
New features on the website - over the coming month I will be unveiling a few small changes to the website and blog, including some that will hopefully make it easier to find what you are looking for. Keep an eye out for these fab improvements!
But back to today. It’s always nice to hear what my TNWC wedding businesses are up to, and when I spied the new eco-chic handmade packaging from Rebecca Douglas Photography I thought you’d all want to have a look too. Not only is it a real treat for those booking Rebecca as their wedding photography, but it’s also full of inspiration for handmade wedding details.
Rebecca’s new packaging was inspired by her eco-friendly and sustainably sourced Luxe Album: “I love capturing love and once the big day is over my labour of love does not stop there. I get excited about getting home and editing the images. I get even more excited when I post out the images to the wonderful newlyweds and I want the unpacking of the DVDs to feel exciting too. When I introduced my beautiful Luxe Album, I loved unpacking it and pealing back the layers to get to the album. I loved that it was completely eco-friendly and sustainably sourced and these feel good moments have inspired my new packaging.”
Following your wedding day you are bound to have lots of corks from all those bottles of wine and champagne – don’t just bin them when you can turn them into little stamps.
I spotted this idea over on The Simple Things blog, and when I first read the title I assumed it would involve carving into the corks themselves. But it doesn’t – you simply glue little wooden embellishments to the corks which act as the stamp base.
These kind of little wooden decorations are the kind of thing you spot, think they look sweet, and then wonder what you’d do with them. Well here’s one solution! Do check out the ‘how to’ for these Homemade Cork Stamps if you’d like to know more about how to make them.
Image: Neuerstoff.knobz.de via The Simple Things
We are under a deep blanket of snow here in Cheshire (yey!) but my house is decorated with sunny coloured daffodils that are just bursting to open in the warmth of our little house. Seeing daffodils and narcissi popping up everywhere really has got me thinking about spring, and what better way to get started on some spring wedding inspiration that sharing this lovely idea for wedding favours.
These spring bulbs wrapped up in pretty fabric or vintage hankies couldn’t be simpler to do, even for those of you who aren’t super confident with DIY or handmade things. Simply take a small bundle of spring bulbs and wrap them in a square of cheerful fabric (a collection of vintage hankies would work perfectly), gather it up and tie into a little bundle some stripy butchers string or twine.
