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.”

River Cottage Eco Luxe Elopement Wedding Venue

Nestled in a picturesque valley on the Devon-Dorset border and surrounded by the rolling fields, the beautiful countryside of River Cottage is the perfect backdrop for a wedding.

Couples can say “I do” in the famous farmhouse or the walled kitchen garden, or the beautifully restored threshing barn. River Cottage really is the perfect setting for an unforgettable eco luxe elopement wedding.

The Eco Luxe Bridal Look

Eco-chic lace wedding dress

For the photoshoot the team selected three wedding dresses for their elopement bride.

The first, the ‘Beach’ wedding dress, is made by Luna Bride and available from The Conscious Bride. It’s handmade in the UK by Luna Bride from organic silk, bamboo and French lace.

Bespoke heirloom silk wedding dress

The second wedding dress is a bespoke heirloom silk gown made by The Conscious Bride’s own label.

Hannah from The Conscious Bride told us, “This dress was created especially with this shoot in mind. The lace on the top was purchased from a fair a few years ago and I had been hanging onto it for something special.

Teamed with hand-loomed fair trade silk from Cambodia it is a wedding dress that keeps traditional techniques and skills alive. The dress is lined with non-bleached bamboo (from a closed loop system). It’s still all about stunning and slightly daring backs, and because the lace was only a small piece it influenced the design.”

Eco-chic two piece wedding dress

The final wedding dress was the ‘Meraki’ two piece, also from The Conscious Bride’s own label’.

Created from vintage broderie anglaise, Hannah says, “I wanted to create something from cotton that had form and structure. So many wedding dresses are in silk and I wanted to find away to utilise beautiful vintage cottons and still create a wedding dress that was comfortable and striking.”

Ethical bridal shawls made in Devon

To take the chill off, two pure cotton Mantilla shawls in different creams were used. Handmade in Devon from natural yarns and ethically sourced, the beautiful shawls are from Cadogan Cardigans.

Eco-friendly wedding make-up

The make-up was inspired by the colours used in the shoot, so a smokey look, with some coral and gold added to the mix.

The make-up itself has an impressive list of crednetials, including eco-friendly, zero waste, recyclable, carbon neutral, sustainably sourced ingredients, non-toxic, non-GMO, vegan, and much more.

Vegan wedding hairstyling

A soft, natural textured looking hairstyle was created by The Up Do Girl.

Hair stylist Ellie told us, “I felt it would suit the brief and the beautiful countryside venue location. The hair products used are a brand called Maria Nila, their products are vegan and cruelty free, they use climate compensated packaging, working with Zeromission and Plant Vivo which helps farmers plant trees in poorer parts of the world for reforestation.”

Up-cycled bridal headpiece

The headpiece was up-cycled from a selection of beautiful vintage finds. Julie of Hey Jules! told us, “I managed to find some gorgeous 1940’s vintage fabric millinery flowers from a local vintage shop, which I used as part of the main headpiece along with some beautiful blush vintage pearls and other antique beads.”

“I love the 3D effect and the softness of the pearl sprays and glass leaves. The gold and lavender crown contains the most beautiful vintage brooch that had been in my collection for a number of years just waiting to be used in something special! The soft colours and organic structure were perfect for the River Cottage theme.”

Vegan wedding shoes

To complete the bridal look, the team sourced shoes from Beyond Skin who create simple, beautiful, ethical and elegant vegan shoes.

Eco-Chic Wedding Bouquet

The eco inspired wedding bouquet was created from foraged greenery, succulents and seasonal spring flowers such as helebores and tulips. A beautiful example of a seasonal spring bouquet in delicate shades of green.

Denise from Petal and Posie told us, “With responsibly foraged greenery, home propagated succulents and seasonal helebores and tulips, I tried to keep the environmental footprint of the bouquet as light as possible.

I hoped to achieve a natural, ‘just gathered’ effect, constructing the bouquet loosely and putting the emphasis on the foliage and the succulents. The bouquet was finished with a binding of cream sisal twine in keeping with the relaxed and natural theme.”

Eco Luxe Groom Style

Sustainable groom tweed suit

The groom wore a classic hemp long sleeve shirt, organic chino trousers and Cock and Bull Tweed Collection’s handsome and colourful tweed waistcoats and caps.

Cock and Bull use the finest hand-woven tweeds from the Isle of Lewis, paired with organic hemp/silk linings to provide excellent quality and sustainable style.

Eco-friendly wooden bow tie

The solid wood bow ties worn by the groom are from Patore’ and the grain ensures no two are alike. They are lovingly handcrafted by a family run company based in the heart of Transylvania.

Vegan men’s wedding shoes

To complete the grooms look he wore sophisticated men’s shoes from Bourgeois Boheme. They provide ethically made, sustainable, vegan shoes with a minimal footprint.

Eco Luxe Elopement Wedding Decor

Hexagonal wooden ceremony arch

Outside River Cottage’s iconic front facade, the team used a hexagonal handmade arch to frame the bride, groom and celebrant.

Natural hand-dyed fabrics and foliage table runners

They used natural fabrics hand-dyed with natural pigments to add coral colour tones. These flowed out from the foliage table runners creating a wonderful natural but luxury feel to the tables.

Macrame plant hangers and seasonal flowers

Slate chargers gave depth and contrast to the wooden tables and they used gold cutlery and gold tea light holders to bring more luxury elements in.

To give the Threshing Barn an extra dimension they hung macramé plant hangers filled with gorgeous seasonal flowers such as tulips, narcissi, hellebores and lots of foliage for a lush, green ‘just gathered’ spring look. This created a celling of natural luxury and framed the top table in a unique way.

Hexagonal wood table plan

A handmade hexagonal wood table plan was strung with matching stationery to the table settings, and was naturally at home with the wedding cake and gift area of the room.

A River Cottage Wedding Ceremony

Handfasting elopement wedding ceremony

Everything about River Cottage chimes sustainable, from the stunning surroundings to the ethically sourced food, so it was important to create a wedding ceremony to fit.

Local celebrant Nixie James-Scott told us, “As a Celebrant my main creativity is through my words; however for the shoot I used my old favourite wooden lectern and created a beautiful handfasting cord plaiting together all natural cotton and linen ribbons and cords.”

“Lastly I made a Besom style broom from a hazel stave and dogwood twigs wrapped round with sisal and linen ribbons. This was for our delightful bride and groom to jump over into their new married life together.”

Eco wood wedding rings

Rings are symbolic and such an important part of a wedding so it was only fitting to ask TNWC ‘Reommended Supplier’ Eco Wood Rings to provide the wedding rings for the shoot.

Steve from Eco Wood Rings told us, “You have a unique opportunity when you choose a custom eco wood ring to create something truly meaningful. Your ring can tell a story, capture a moment in time and be a beautiful reflection of what really matters to you.”

“Most of our customers use their wooden rings as an opportunity to tell their unique story. You can add in materials from special places including wood from the River Cottage HQ or a treasured possession.”

Natural flower petal confetti

Even the confetti was hand picked and lovingly made for this shoot. Hops, delphinium and lady’s mantle were the choice of petal and the soft scents were perfect for the ceremony in the River Cottage garden.

River Cottage Wedding Feast

Wedding food at River Cottage

It goes without saying that River Cottage and its chefs are renowned for cooking up incredible feasts featuring the very best produce that the area has to offer.

All the wedding menus feature the finest, seasonal, organic ingredients which they source from local farms and fishermen, as well as using produce grown and reared at River Cottage.

Edible flower and gold leaf wedding cake

The wedding cake for the shoot was kept simple and elegant, with a touch of luxury from the gold leaf. It was decorated with edible organic primroses from the Sweet Temptations garden. All the ingredients were sustainably and locally sourced to make the cake eco-friendly and in keeping with the shoots ethos.

Romantic Bridal Bell Tent

To complete the shoot the team invited Native to set up one of their bridal bell tents. A truly romantic way to end your eco luxe elopement wedding, snuggled up under canvas.

Native aim to be as green thinking as possible. They told us:

“We choose high quality, long-lasting bell tents made from sustainably sourced cotton. Our canvas tents are arguably more eco-friendly than the modern nylon tents. Our furnishings are largely bought from a fantastic North Devon based business who sell up-cycled, recycled and secondhand goods all following fair trade standards to the highest degree. Much of the furniture in our tents is pre-loved and lovingly restored in-house to suit our unique style.”

A big thank you to Laura from Freeformimages Photography for sending us this beautiful shoot full of inspiration. You’ll find all the details of the Suppliers involved in this photoshoot below.

{ Details }

Photographer: Freeformimages Photography
Venue: River Cottage (TNWC Recommended Supplier 2019)
Dresses: The Conscious Bride (TNWC Recommended Supplier 2019) and Luna Bride
Brides Shoes: Beyond Skin
Shawls: Cadogan Cardigans
Make-up: Michelle Stanford, Arbonne
Bridal Hair: The Up Do Girl
Bridal Accessories & Stationery: Hey Jules!
Celebrant: Nixie James-Scott, Unique Ceremonies
Confetti: Keslowena Confetti
Floristry: Petal and Posie
Cake & Sweets: Claire’s Sweet Temptations
Grooms Attire: Thought Clothing and Cock and Bull Tweed Collection
Grooms Shoes: Bourgeois Boheme
Grooms Accessories: Patore’ UK Wooden Bow Ties
Rings: Eco Wood Rings (TNWC Recommended Supplier 2019)
Bridal Bell Tent: Native
Styling: Vicky Murdoch, Do Me A Favour
Macramé: Hooky Madness
Models: Paul Hobbs & Roksana Skrabka