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The Crafted Garden book review by The Natural Wedding Company

Rustic autumnal wedding decor inspiration from The Crafted Garden

You know how fond we are of a crafted, hand-made project here at The Natural Wedding Company, and a crafted project made with natural, seasonal materials either foraged or homegrown, well that ticks every box in our eyes. It is wonderful projects such as these that you will find in The Crafted Garden: stylish projects inspired by nature a beautiful book by Louise Curley that we are sharing with you today.

We also have a special reader offer for those who’d like to buy the book – you’ll find all the details at the bottom of the post.

Rustic autumnal table display with pumpkins, dried flowers and leaves // The Natural Wedding Company

Book review of The Crafted Garden

I was a excited to receive this book based on the brief synopsis and beautiful cover alone, and although I will admit I was a tiny bit sceptical that it wouldn’t offer anything more than what I could find scouring Pinterest, I will say straight away now that my scepticism was unfounded!

The Crafted Garden winter squash vases // The Natural Wedding Company

The book has been cleverly put together and Louise clearly has a passion for the great outdoors and how you can incorporate it in your home, for a celebration or as a unique gift idea.

I approached the book from a wedding point of view (whilst also already planning how I was going to use each one some how in my home) and excitedly flicked through the pages thinking how each craft could be used or adapted for wedding décor, accessories, gifts and so on and how all the ideas could be adapted through the seasons.

Dried autumn leaf 'Mr & Mrs' wedding garland // The Natural Wedding Company

Although some of the projects may seem simple or obvious, I was surprised at how I hadn’t ever thought of doing them before and it really makes you look around and consider the natural resources you have around you.

The Crafted Garden foraging // The Natural Wedding Company

The book offers 50 crafting projects all inspired by nature and whether you are a crafting amateur or gardening pro it contains a plethora of information beautifully presented to make it easy to read and follow. Broken down into seasons, not only does it provide instructions on craft ideas but really useful tips such as guidelines for foraging ethically, how best to dry flowers (great for after your wedding if you wish to preserve yours) and the best seasonal flowers.

Rustic twig picture frame for an autumn wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Autumnal wedding craft projects

To give you a little insight into a few of the fab craft ideas in the book we tested a few of the autumnal projects out to hopefully offer a bit of seasonal wedding decor inspiration.

Picture frame wreath

The Crafted Garden rustic twig picture frame how to // The Natural Wedding Company

This instantly caught my eye, as I thought how simple yet effective this idea was (and how had I never thought of it myself?!).

I did improvise slightly, as you see I went for more ‘rustic’ looking sticks that I’d spent a couple of hours collecting with my little one, but I feel it just adds to the charm.

Rustic twig wedding frame with dried flowers and twine // The Natural Wedding Company

It really was so simple and quick to make, combined with some of my dried wedding flowers I was really happy with the result. I have chosen to use it to frame the name of the ‘wedded couple’, which could be placed on a card or gift table in the entrance to your wedding venue for example.

Rustic autumn wedding table place name made from twigs // The Natural Wedding Company

But there are so many uses I can think for them; they would be great to use as table numbers, or how about creating a wall of them with wedding photos of your grandparents, or yourselves together throughout the years. After you could use them in your home to display some of your favourite pics from your big day, or a sample of your wedding stationery as a lovely reminder.

Winter squash vases

The Crafted Garden winter squash vases how to // The Natural Wedding Company

I’ve seen numerous takes on using squashes/pumpkins/gourds as décor and have always loved how effective they look so was eager to give this ago myself. Louise provides you with instructions on how to grow your own, by will put my hands up and say this selection is from my local farm shop.

Autumn squash and pumpkin vases filled with dried flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

Super easy to make I’ve filled mine with dried flowers in muted shades, these would be amazing for an autumnal centrepiece, or doted around your wedding venue, combined with candles and tree stumps they are the epitome of autumn.

Carved pumpkin vase with dried flowers for an autumn wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Autumn leaf bunting

This beautiful bunting is effectively free to make. I had great fun collecting and pressing all these leaves, which perfectly represent this rich-toned season.

The Crafted Garden autumn leaf bunting how to // The Natural Wedding Company

Fallen leaves at this time of year are pretty much an unlimited resource, if you are planning an autumn wedding for next year getting collecting now and start pressing.

Autumn leaf wedding cake bunting // The Natural Wedding Company

Leaf bunting could be used in so many different ways; wrapped around your whole marquee, use multiple garlands as a backdrop to your dessert table, make a tiny chain with little leaves as a cake topper or announce you are Mr & Mrs on the backs of your chairs.

Rustic autumn wedding cake table decor inspiration // The Natural Wedding Company

Other rustic autumnal wedding decor ideas

Other favourites that I would love to try; everlasting flower wreath (great alternative idea to preserve your dried wedding flowers after the big day – she even provides instructions on how best to dry them), daisies in a tea cup (perfect vintage spring time table décor) and hessian plant pouches (cute personal wedding favour idea).

The Crafted Garden autumn wedding decor inspiration // The Natural Wedding Company

I really do think The Crafted Garden is a wonderful resource, and it was lovely to have something I could actually hold, and sit with in front of me whilst I went about my crafting. There are so many great ideas and projects that could transcend from wedding décor to home décor after your big day and you start your life as a newly-wed and an abundance of brilliant tips for both crafting and gardening.

I look forward to getting to spend more time adapting the projects and thinking how they can fit within my home.

Special discount price for our readers

If you fancy getting your hands on your own copy, or know a crafty bride to be who you think this would make a great present for you can buy The Crafted Garden (published by Frances Lincoln) from here. The Natural Wedding Company readers can get it at the discounted price of £13.99 including p&p* (RRP: £16.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG355. *UK ONLY – Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.

The Crafted Garden - stylish projects inspired by nature // The Natural Wedding Company

All opinions expressed here are our own, but many thanks to Frances Lincoln and Louise Curley for sending us a free copy of the book to review.

Images: The Natural Wedding Company

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