2013

Wedding blogs, TNWC included, focus lots on the actual day, but when it’s all over there’s usually the business of thanking those who helped and who came along to share your celebrations with you.

When I spotted these new ‘Thank You Very Much’ postcards from TNWC business Wedding in a Teacup I was certain they would be a hit with a number of my readers.  They combine a number of elements that are so popular here on this blog – beautiful brown card, luggage tags, and postcards.

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2013

This beautiful wedding on an apple farm in California is how I dream of my life being – one day…one day.  When I’m looking for weddings to share snippets of with you here, the words ‘farm‘ usually draw me in.  Some can be a little twee and cutesie, but others, like this one, and just truly heavenly I think.

Let it be said, an apple orchard, late evening sun and a Jersey cow are to have me audibly sighing at my desk.  Oh, and did I mention goats in a similarly romantic setting have the same effect?

I am quite prepared to getting married again when I come across weddings like this.  I’m also about to upsticks and more to the rural idyllic lifestyle that fills my dreams.

Enough about my wistful daydreams.  This wedding is packed with beautiful details, I especially liked their wedding invitations packaged up in glassine envelopes (what a fab idea!) and with a brown craft address label.  Floral postage stamps are a pretty good addition too – imagine one of these dropping through your door!

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2013

We’re kicking off the week with a lovely guest post from TNWC Real Bride Emma, who has been busy sowing wildflower seeds at her outdoor ceremony venue in Cornwall – what a beautiful idea!  She’s also been trying to decide on her wedding transport, so do read on and I hope you enjoy hearing about her wedding plans…

With less than four months to go we have been rapidly ticking off things on the seemingly never-ending wedding to do list, which has been brilliant fun!  We kicked this off with a visit to our venue to meet the event organiser at Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Lee, who was absolutely brilliant!  He made us tea (won me over straight away) and was happy to chat about our wedding for nearly two hours!  We also got to see the new bar that Tim, the custodian of the Eco Park, had built from reclaimed wood found in Plymouth.

Whilst there we were able to scatter our collection of wildflower seeds on the site, which we hope will grow in time for our wedding.  Chris did the scattering and I took some photos.  It was a brilliantly sunny but very cold and windy day, so most of the seeds probably blew away!  We can but try.

This is Chris tucking the seeds, ninja style, into the area around where we hope to have the ceremony, the idea being that the flowers will grow up and around the bottom of the decked area.

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2013

*Please note this competition is now closed 28/03/13*

There are some lovely little businesses out there and when an email drops into my inbox from one who creates a product that I utterly love, it’s a pure pleasure to share details (and a competition!) with you all.  Today I get to introduce you to Sally who runs House of Whatnot creating these beautiful framed maps with embroidered personalised details.

If, like me, you fall head-over-heels for Sally’s delightful keepsakes, then you might want to enter the competition at the bottom of the blog post – one lucky couple will win a personalised framed map, featuring a special location to you picked out with an embroidered heart and your initials.  I am just so envious of whoever wins this!

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2013

I am currently working on some improvements to the website and blog, which I am really excited about and hope to get ‘live’ soon.  I’m hoping one of the those improvements will be a dedicated events pages where you can find out, all in one place, the brilliant events, open days, fairs, and workshops that TNWC businesses are hosting around the country.

In the meantime, with so many coming up in the couple of months I thought I’d do a round-up so you can see if there’s any that take your fancy.

March 2013

Event in a Tent Open Weekend – Cheshire

Event in a Tent Open Weekend on Friday 22nd March 2013 from 3pm – 5pm, Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th March 2013 from 11am – 5pm at Delamere Forest.

“If you want your event to stand out from the crowd then our tipis are just the ticket!  Our tipis are known by a couple of names, Giant hats, Katas and stratus or cirrus tents.  Whatever the name, we know you will love them!  So, if you think the tipis are perfect for your event, get comfy, and have a look around - we’re sure you will love them just as much as we do!”

For full details visit www.event-in-a-tent.co.uk.

Grow Your Own Cut Flowers – Kent

Run by Blooming Green on Saturday 23rd March 2013 from 10am – 3pm at Loddington Farm.

“Learn the tricks of growing a regular supply of organic, long-lasting cut flowers, from sowing to picking to conditioning your stems. Refreshments and delicious lunch using local produce, plus flower goodies to take away.”

Cost: £100.  To book a place visit www.bloominggreenflowers.co.uk/events/grow-your-own-cut-flowers-3.

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2013

You’re probably sick and tired of hearing me saying how the simplest ideas are often the best, but I really do think it’s true.  So often we can overcomplicate what only needs to be a very simple thing – take table numbers, for instance, they can quickly become complicated and over-elaborate if you spend too much time thinking about them, when actually all they need to do it display a number or a name.

I love these rustic wood table numbers because they are so simple, effective, but also quite beautiful when displayed next to some pretty flowers.  The best kind of wood for these if you want a rustic look is salvaged or reclaimed wood, it’s not only more weathered but also each piece is likely to be different (which I love).

We found a fantastic reclaimed timber yard near us that we visited before our wedding to stock up on off-cuts of wood to make our wedding signs.  Search out somewhere like this near to you, or a timber merchant who might be willing to give you, or sell cheaply off-cuts.  Then with a simple lick of colour, paint on your hand-drawn numbers.  You don’t even need to create a fancy stand for them, simply rest them against you vases or pots of flowers.

Images: Raya Carlisle Photography via Style Me Pretty

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2013

It’s that lovely time of the week when we get to hear from one of the TNWC Real Brides.  Today, Myfanwy is sharing details of the homemade elderflower champagne that her and her Mr-to-be Tom have been brewing up for their wedding.  She’s also done a great ‘how to’ guide for these pretty origami flowers she’s been making from old book pages.

If you’re new to the TNWC Real Brides feature, you can read Myfanwy’s first guest post here on her plans for a creative vintage-inspired wedding.  I hope you enjoy Myfanwy’s latest update…

It’s been a busy few weeks finalising the bid decisions for the wedding, the catering, the dress, the DJ!  These are things we wanted to get done over the winter before our shop re-opens at Easter.

So now the major details are pretty much done this leaves plenty of time for us to make and prepare the little handmade details that we feel are important to us.  We’ve made a list (got to love a list!) of tasks to do each month.

Making elderflower champagne

February’s list included starting off the elderflower champagne and making origami paper flowers.  We have decided to have a drinks reception when we arrive the tipi’s for people to help themselves.  We thought of having some bottles of local beer, the inevitable Pimms and really wanted something else a little bit different.  Our friends had made some elderflower champagne a couple of years ago and we’d rally enjoyed it.  It’s lucky we looked into making it so early on, we hadn’t realised that once bottled it needs to stand for 3-4 months!

Equipment was really easy to get hold of in fact Dorset Homebrew sell and elderflower champagne making kit with a recipe and all the equipment you need to get started on you first brew.  Or of course the River Cottage recipe is really easy to get hold of online - we plan on trying this one when elderflower is in bloom.

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