DIY + Inspiration Archives - Page 12 of 19 - The Natural Wedding Company

Blog: DIY + Inspiration

Charlie

Sneak peek of our photoshoot with And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon

Charlie

What a way to spend an afternoon – cakes, pretty plates, desserts, rustic crates and an old milk churn, lovely flowers, and a gorgeous back garden. My little sister and I have just come back from a fab photoshoot organised by Anna from And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon, along with Sharon from For The Love of Vintage, flowers from Laura Coleman Flowers, and Jonny Draper capturing it all.

Here’s a little sneak peek, with more to come shortly…

Charlie

Inspire your younger wedding guests by creating a natural flower carpet

Charlie

I am always on the lookout for something new and original to share with you, so I was quite intrigued when I received an email from Camelia telling me about her wonderful business Sea Mandala and the flower carpets she helps you to create.

These flower carpets are a wonderful way to get your family and friends to create a unique piece of art at your wedding day, and look incredibly engaging for kids.

Before Camelia got in touch I had never heard of a mandala or flower carpets, so I asked her a few questions to help understand the creative process…

So what is a flower carpet? “A flower carpet is an art design that is created out of an exuberance of petals and other colourful natural material through the contributions of children and adults at a wedding ceremony. It is a beautiful and aromatic space that creates a lasting impression on onlookers and participants alike and provides for wonderful unique photographs of the couple placing handfuls of petals onto the evolving design.

The design evolves through the energy of the people that pass through it and their contribution with a handful or more of the materials on display. Children love it and adults feel inspired to contribute a handful of material towards the evolving design through the duration of the wedding party.”

Charlie

Heavenly midsummer photoshoot in a field of cow parsley with pink rose flower crowns

Charlie

Today’s blog feature is just so pretty and I’m delighted to be able to share this series of photos from photographer Svetlana Batura (who you may recently remember from this gorgeous Lithuanian family farm wedding). I spied them on her blog and asked if I might share them, as I know there is a good following amongst you who love cow parsley as much as I do.

These images take me back to an imagined childhood and provide some nice inspiration for bridesmaids for a relaxed wedding – long skirts, pretty blouses, flowers in their hair and a bouquet of cow parsley. Bliss. Enjoy…

Charlie

The pretty village fete wedding of my friend Jen on Love My Dress

Charlie

I couldn’t finish today without sharing the link to my beautiful friend Jen and her husband Chris’s wedding which was featured on Love My Dress today. Jen and Chris got married back in April in the pretty village church in Dunham Massey – I have been lucky enough to get to know Jen through running my website (it turned out we’d been sat in church together whilst she’d been reading my blog!), making me truly grateful for this lovely little business of mine.

Jen and Chris’s wedding is full of pretty handmade details and personal items from their home, many of which have been passed down through the family – as you’ll see from the lovely feature over on Love My Dress, Jen and Chris’s wedding was heavily inspired by their grandparents.

Charlie

A soft and romantic Victorian inspired 1970s wedding dress

Charlie

A purely self-indulgent piece of inspiration this morning, but hopefully you’ll love it as much as me. I spotted this image over on the blog from handmade British knitwear maker My-Shell Me-Shell and was instantly in-love, if that’s possible with an image. I think deep down I must be a soft romantic type, although I claim not to be.

What do I love about this image? What don’t I love more like – I love the soft light, the messy hair, the pretty dress and even the way she’s sat. I think if I was still planning my wedding this would have been bookmarked as part of my inspiration, not necessarily because I wanted to find a wedding dress like it, but just because it captures something I love, a feeling perhaps, that I would have liked to translate to my wedding day.

Charlie

A bridal horse in Indian finery and vintage farm props at our ‘on the farm’ photoshoot at Heaton House Farm

Charlie

Today it’s the final two bridal looks from the photoshoot at Heaton House Farm, if you missed yesterday’s with the very cute calves you can view it here, and the introduction to the photoshoot. Despite the overcast weather on the day of shooting back in April, it provided a stunning backdrop when we headed out to shoot with Tootsie the horse beside the big oak tree.

Fairytale bride and horse by the old oak tree

Thankfully, our lovely model for the day Lizzie was a horse rider making for a much easier shoot, and Tootsie the horse was so well behaved. I’ve heard from Sarah Heath that Tootsie did her first Asian wedding at Heaton House Farm and was a star, in spite of the drums and dancing!

Charlie

A vintage inspired bride and cute calves at our ‘on the farm’ photoshoot at Heaton House Farm

Charlie

Following on from yesterday’s introduction to the fabulous photoshoot at Heaton House Farm that I got to be involved with, today I’m sharing the first of the two bridal looks that we created. A team of wonderful wedding suppliers came together to put these looks together and you’ll find all their details at the bottom of the page.

Today’s bridal looks are accessorised with cute calves and a stonking great big tractor…

1950s inspired bride in the cow barn

This was probably my favourite look of the day, a gorgeous vintage-esque wedding dress with gorgeous lace bodice and cinched-in sash around the waist, red sparkly shoes and blanket covered hay bales.

Charlie

A rustic bridal photoshoot ‘on the farm’ at Heaton House Farm wedding venue

Charlie

You might remember that a couple of months ago I gave you this sneak peek of the fabulous photoshoot I was invited to at Heaton House Farm, well today I finally get to share some of the incredible images taken by Jonny Draper that day, and over the next few days I’ll be showcasing all the different looks we created.

Heaton House Farm is both a wedding venue and working farm in rolling Cheshire countryside with views out over three counties. It is owned by the Heath family, now in its 6th generation and as well as being an exclusive wedding venue they also have 200 sheep, 24 cows and currently 12 very cute calves.

This was my first visit to Heaton House Farm and yet you can feel how friendly and family-run it is, and despite being a large wedding venue that can seat up to 500 guests (!!) it also provides flexible spaces that can accommodate smaller, more intimate functions. As you will see from the photos, there is gorgeous scenery around the sandstone barn and a wide patio perfect for drinks and canapes.

Charlie

Edwardian inspired lace wedding dress for a modern bride

Charlie

I’m sure a number of you will have already seen this dress when the wedding was featured over on Love My Dress, but as regular readers will know I love the Edwardian era and feel the old eras are often forgotten when it comes to ‘vintage’ inspiration for weddings. So I’m hoping I can champion it a bit here at The Natural Wedding Company.

Back in September of 2011 I featured a couple of dresses from Charlotte Casadejus that I’d fallen in-love with for their use of beautiful lace, and when I say beautiful lace I mean the kind that is intricate, delicate and feminine. It was lovely to spot this gorgeous bride on Love My Dress wearing one of those dresses that had been tailored especially for her.

Charlie

A romantic photoshoot inspired by a raspberry and teal vintage plate

Charlie

Aren’t you just in-love with this gorgeous flower crown creation, it’s so soft and romantic!

One of the lovely businesses listed in the directory, Fletcher and Foley, shared with me this beautiful collaborative photoshoot from a group of North West based wedding businesses – just wait ’til you see the flower crown!

Joanne from Fletcher and Foley told me that the day was planned to be “a gorgeous, romantic outdoors shoot” at Sandhole Oak Barn in Cheshire but last minute the vision was changed due to terrible weather – I think they did a fab job and I’m sure you’ll find some inspiration.

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