On Saturday I shared Jennie Hill’s lovely photos from the Eco Wedding Fair (you can see it all here), and today I’ve got my pictures of my stall and a few more details about how I decorated it. Perhaps you’ll find some inspiration for your wedding or just an autumn or winter celebration you might be planning.

We arrived at Riverstation in Bristol at about 9am and first we had to: unpack a number of boxes of what at first glance probably looked like a pile of junk, carry two heavy buckets of sand up a flight of stairs, and manoeuvre a bundle of 7ft long bamboo canes.  I was so pleased that the other exhibitors had equally quirky bootfuls for their stalls!

My mom and I had two hours to set up before visitors started arriving, so here’s what I did with the mottley collection of items.  I used a pair of curtains to cover my table – they are a rather fun botanical print style curtain with what looks like horse chestnut leaves on them, and they ended up working in perfectly with that autumn feel I was going for.

The two metal buckets of sand went either side of the table and they held some of my bamboo canes – apologies this is the best picture I have which shows the bamboo canes and bunting…

I’d created little recycled brown card signs with each of my key business words – vintage, handmade, eco-chic, and seasonal – and used raffia to tie them to the canes.

My sister Izzy had drawn in silver pen my logo onto a piece of black card which looked really effective.

Between the two bamboo canes I hung a string of the mini paper bunting I’d made for the TNWC birthday party – I know that bunting might have been overdone in the world of parties and weddings, but it really does bring a bit of cheer and strung over my table I felt it really tied my stall together.  Sorry – I didn’t take a close-up but you can see it in one of the images above!

My aim with decorating the table was to try and not overdo the details, I just wanted to make it look nice and seasonal, provide a bit of inspiration, and showcase what my business is all about.

I was lucky enough for the lovely Becca and Maz from The Garden Gate Flower Company to offer to do the flowers for my table – they did me two bouquets in the end and they were beautiful.  I placed the larger autumnal bouquet in an old enamel jug and let it take pride of place at one end. Next to this arrangement I used an old bread board to display some of my vintage jelly moulds that I used at tealight holders – I think this would make a lovely centrepiece for a winter wedding.

At the other end I used an upturned vintage crate to give a bit of height, and displayed the other smaller posie from The Garden Gate Flower Company (great idea of theirs to tie a scrap of fabric around the jam jar), my prized blue Ball jar, and an earthenware pot with a few of the paper straws also left over from the TNWC birthday party.

My paper straws that I’d decorated with handstamped ‘hip hooray’ flags…

Another old wooden crate was used to hold my paper bags of information – these were full of pretty postcards and leaflets from those TNWC businesses based in the south west, a great way to showcase to the brides and grooms the kinds of businesses I have listed on the directory.

I’d had these sweet little ‘Bride’ badges made – my sister Izzy created the design and I had them made by Best Badges.  On Friday Izzy and I made up 100 to go in the wedding fair goody bags – I bought a special hole punch (it’s a single punch that does tiny holes, I got it from this website and I love it!) and we punched a hole into my business cards and then attached a badge to each.

Those that didn’t go in the goody bags went into a jelly mould on my stall for people to help themselves to.  What do you think?

Another idea I’d had for a table centrepiece that I wanted to showcase, was using an old wooden riddle or sieve (I have quite a number of these!) as a kind of holder for some glass bottles filled with flowers.

To keep with my autumnal theme, I used some hedgerow foragings – on Friday night I was found at dusk, pulled up on country lanes scouting for hawthorn berries and rosehips, while my patient 17-year old brother sat in the car looking on at his madcap sister…

My mom also collected holly, ivy, and rosemary from her garden.  She then arranged these cuttings for me in a selection of my blue and green glass bottles and then they went into the wooden sieve.

The final touches were a couple of copies of Unique Bridge magazine displaying the articles I’ve written (if you haven’t subscribed to this magazine yet you must!), plus the Country Living magazine which featured our wedding, and an iPad with the website so people could have a look – I was even able to help one couple find a potential wedding venue then and there, which was such a great feeling.

Hope you’ve enjoyed having a read and look in more detail at my stall 🙂

Keep up to date with upcoming wedding fairs and events by clicking the link and I hope to meet you at one in the future!

Images: The Natural Wedding Company