Blog: DIY + Inspiration
Samantha Samantha

Rustic autumnal wedding decor inspiration with pumpkins, dried flowers and leaves from ‘The Crafted Garden’ by Louise Curley

Samantha

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.

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Charlie Charlie

Rustic eco-chic nautical ‘tying the knot’ save the dates and invitations with hessian, lace and twine

Charlie

Rustic eco-chic nautical 'tying the knot' save the dates // The Natural Wedding Company

Nautical tying the knot save the dates

Some of my favourite emails are from brides/couples who have been inspired by the stationery I made for my own wedding – both our save the dates and our invitations. Rachel was one of those brides who got in touch to share photos of what they created and I particularly loved hers because her and her husband-to-be Lee are sailors – so the ‘tying the knot’ version of our save the dates couldn’t be more appropriate.

It is so exciting to hear that couples all over the world have been inspired by the design I created for our save the dates, and it’s pretty satisfying when emails pop into my inbox with photos attached of what everybody’s been busy creating.

>> View Rachel and Lee’s autumn lake house wedding here <<

Rustic eco-chic nautical 'tying the knot' save the dates // The Natural Wedding Company

Nautical graphics for tying the knot wedding invitations

Rachel asked her friend and designer Anne Trencher to design her a few graphics for her wedding stationery, and to choose fonts for them to use – and don’t they look beautiful!

In addition to her save the dates, Rachel also emailed me photos of her wedding stationery – an elegant design with rustic elements of hessian, lace and twine incorporated.

Rustic eco-chic nautical wedding stationery with hessian, lace and twine // The Natural Wedding Company

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Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your spring wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your spring wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your spring wedding

Well what a lovely positive week it’s been following all the goings-on of British Flowers Week 2015 – I hope you’ve been following along on Instagram and Twitter. This week we have covered why you should choose seasonal flowers for your summer wedding, autumn wedding, and winter wedding – now we are finishing off with inspiration for a seasonal spring wedding.

It was evident when I started collating images for this seasonal spring wedding flower feature that is such an incredible selection of British grown flowers available, I think the most difficult part as a bride should be choosing, not deciding whether to choose British or not.

Apple blossom, lilac and cow parsley

Spring wedding bouquet of apple blossom, lilac and cow parsley // BareBlooms // Cloud9 Wedding Photography
BareBlooms (photo by Cloud9 Wedding Photography)

Mixed tulips, blossom and dusty miller

Spring wedding bouquet of tulips, blossom and dusty miller // The Garden Gate Flower Company
The Garden Gate Flower Company

Peonies, larkspur and love-in-a-mist

I would love this one, it’s my own bridal bouquet!

Spring bridal bouquet of peonies, larkspur and love-in-a-mist // The Real Cut Flower Garden // Mark Tattersall Photography
The Real Cut Flower Garden (photo by Mark Tattersall Photography)

Violets and more violets!

Spring wedding bouquet of violets // Bramble and Berry
Bramble and Berry

Clematis, verbena and peonies

Clematis, verbena and peonies for a spring wedding bouquet // Blue Poppy Florist
Blue Poppy Florist

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Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your winter wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your winter wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your winter wedding

I know that on a warm sunny day like to day it seems a bit mad to be talking about winter wedding flowers, but it’s a topic that I feel quite passionate about. When it comes to weddings held during December, January and February, I think it’s easy to assume that there are no flowers growing in this country, and therefore if you want wedding flowers they’re going to be imported.

I’m here to show you that it’s just not true!

And if you’re planning a spring, summer or autumn wedding, we’ve also written posts about these, just click on those links or the ones at the bottom.

With this selection of seasonal winter bouquets, I hope I can encourage some winter brides to fully embrace a truly British grown wedding when it comes to the flowers. So say no to the red and white roses, and fill your bouquets and arrangements with hellebores, anemones, catkins, narcissi, and more!

As with all naturally grown flowers, there will be seasonal and locality variations, depending on when and where you are getting married. We would always recommend choosing a flower farmer or florist who specialises in British grown flowers, and ask for their advice.

Hellebores and silver foliage

Hellebores and silver foliage buttonhole // The Garden Gate Flower Company // Taylor & Porter Photographs
The Garden Gate Flower Company (photo by Taylor & Porter Photographs)

Rosemary, narcissi and lichen covered twigs

Winter bouquet of rosemary, narcissi and lichen covered twigs // The Flower Field // Jennie Hill Photography
The Flower Field (photo by Jennie Hill Photography)

Hellebores, foliage and narcissi

Winter wedding bouquet of hellebores, foliage and narcissi // The Real Cut Flower Garden
The Real Cut Flower Garden

Berries, paperwhites and anemones

Winter bouquet of berries, paperwhites and anemones // Common Farm Flowers
Common Farm Flowers

Hellebores, ferns and foliage

Green winter wedding bouquet of hellebores, ferns and foliage // Blue Poppy Florist
Blue Poppy Florist

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Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your autumn wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your autumn wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your autumn wedding

In the UK we are pretty lucky to have such defined seasons, and when it comes to weddings I think it means your quite spoilt – it also makes it harder to choose which time of year you want to get married in!

This week we are supporting our many flower farmer florist friends across the country for British Flowers Week, and the best thing I think I can do is just inspire you with what’s available throughout our different seasons (here’s our posts on winter, spring and summer flowers).

The autumn months – September, October, November – still offer an incredible selection of British grown blooms and foliage (as you will see below), and so shouldn’t always be overlooked in favour of summer.

Do remember that there are variations year-to-year and across the country. Here’s to being inspired for an autumn wedding

Cosmos, rosehips and blackberries

Autumn wedding bouquet of Cosmos, rosehips and blackberries by The Garden Gate Flower Company // The Natural Wedding Company
The Garden Gate Flower Company

Zinnias, snapdragons and grasses

Seasonal autumn wedding bouquet of Zinnias, snapdragons and grasses by Mayfield Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Mayfield Flowers

Leaves, scabious and cosmos

Autumn wedding bouquet of Leaves, scabious and cosmos by PYRUS // Kitchener Photography // The Natural Wedding Company
PYRUS (photo by Kitchener Photography)

Delphiniums, ammi and verbena

Autumn wedding bouquet of Delphiniums, ammi and verbena by BareBlooms // Owen Howells Photography // The Natural Wedding Company
BareBlooms (photo by Owen Howells Photography)

Dahlias, ammi and ivy

Autumn bridal bouquet of Dahlias, ammi and ivy by Wild Bunch Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Wild Bunch

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Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your summer wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your summer wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your summer wedding

In case you missed yesterday’s post, this week we are celebrating homegrown seasonal blooms by supporting British Flowers Week 2015. We are hoping to inspire you each day of this week with a feature on each of the seasons, and provide you with loads of ideas for your own wedding flowers.

Without further-ado, let’s launch into this seasonal round-up of wedding flowers with summer, because that’s where we’re up to in the year. The summer months I’m focussing on here are June, July and August, so if you are looking to have a wedding during one of those months, here are just some of the seasonal flowers you can expect to find in the UK.

(And if it’s other seasons your looking for, do check out out seasonal flowers posts for autumn, winter and spring).

Cosmos, cornflowers, borage flowers

Summer wedding bouquet of cosmos, cornflowers, borage flowers by The Flower Hive // The Natural Wedding Company
The Flower Hive

Poppies, dahlias and dill flowers

Summer bridal bouquet of poppies, dahlias and dill flowers by The Garden Gate Flower Company // The Natural Wedding Company
The Garden Gate Flower Company

Garden roses, sweet peas and ivy

Summer wedding bouquet of garden roses, sweet peas and ivy by Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Common Farm Flowers

Love-in-a-mist, ammi and larkspur

Summer bridal bouquet of Love-in-a-mist, ammi and larkspur by Fletcher & Foley // The Natural Wedding Company
Fletcher & Foley

Grasses, lavender and gypsophila

Summer wedding bouquet of Grasses, lavender and gypsophila by Catkin Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Catkin

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Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal wedding flowers – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal wedding flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

Seasonal wedding flowers in support of British flowers

When I first started out with my business there was only really one or two people growing flowers for weddings in the UK. Now 8 years on and there are flower farmer florists all over the country, I imagine in every county, in varying degrees of growing their own to supporting British growers. That is just SO incredibly exciting, especially if you a bride-to-be.

As it’s British Flowers Week I wanted to do a mini showcase of how you can have British flowers for your wedding all year round, it’s just about embracing seasonality and celebrating the wonderful blooms being grown in this country. So coming up over the rest of the week will be a post dedicated to each season (links below) and a snapshot of the kinds of beautiful seasonal British flowers you could choose for your wedding.

As a long time supporter I wanted to dig through my archives and share some of the great posts we’ve previously featured that are full of seasonal flower inspiration and ideas.

And don’t forget to go and treat yourself to a bunch of British grown seasonal blooms this week in celebration of British Flowers Week – and download a copy of this seasonal chart of British flowers and foliages.

British Flowers Week // The Natural Wedding Company

Seasonal blooms for weddings all year round

Be sure to check out all the posts in this series for lots of inspiration and ideas for your wedding:

Seasonal blooms for your spring wedding

Seasonal blooms for your summer wedding

Seasonal blooms for your autumn wedding

Seasonal blooms for your winter wedding

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Charlie Charlie

A May wedding bouquet of apple blossom, cow parsley and other exquisite English wildflowers and spring flowers

Charlie

A May wedding bouquet of apple blossom, cow parsley and other exquisite English wildflowers and spring flowers // Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

May wedding bouquet of apple blossom and cow parsley

If you’ve been reading this blog long enough you’ll know by now that I’m an absolute sucker for a May wedding. In fact, just the month of May in general. I love it for so many reasons – it’s my birthday month, it’s the month we got married, it’s the month of bluebells, cow parsley, hawthorn blossom, and so much more. So I am always excited when this month arrives to see what creations my fabulous flower farmer and florist friends create for May weddings.

This bridal bouquet from Common Farm Flowers caught my attention immediately at the mention of May bouquet with apple blossom – really, what could be lovelier?

A May wedding bouquet of apple blossom, cow parsley and other exquisite English wildflowers and spring flowers // Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

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Charlie Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Ellie and Jon’s DIY guide to making your own giant light-up letters

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Ellie and Jon's DIY guide to making your own giant light-up letters

DIY guide to making your own giant light up letters

It is so lovely to be back with TNWC Real Bride Ellie today after a bit of a gap in posts. I have just this week been contacting a handful of (hopefully!) new TNWC Real Brides to introduce you to. Today we have a Real Brides first – a groom-to-be has written this fab post (thanks Jon!), which details how him and Ellie created a set of giant light-up letters for their up-coming wedding.

Over to Jon to tell you how to create them…

DIY guide to making your own giant light-up letters // The Natural Wedding Company

A how to guide for making giant light up letters

We were looking for giant light-up letters that we want to hang at the end of the field when we get married in May – a huge ‘J & E’ to welcome everyone to the party. However, each letter cost nearly £200 each to buy – and not much less to rent. This was way out of our budget. However, I was a bloke looking for a blokey wedding job – and confidently proclaimed that they’d be easy enough to make. It turns out (fortunately) that it was actually quite simple!

I’ve included a step-by-step on how to do it below. It is significantly cheaper to build them yourself – all three letters’ raw materials came to about £150 (mostly electrics), and they take a bit of time to put together, but if you’re like me and enjoy pottering around outside with a cup of tea and some power tools, then read on!

TNWC Real Brides: Ellie and Jon's DIY guide to making your own giant light-up letters

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Charlie Charlie

Pastel iced doughnuts decorated with edible crystallised primroses, cowslips and violas for a spring wedding treat

Charlie

pastel_crystallised_flower_doughnuts

Pastel iced doughnuts decorated with crystallised edible flowers and mini chocolate eggs? Could these be any more pretty and totally perfect for a spring wedding.

Made by TNWC Recommended Supplier Eat My Flowers, inspired by Martha Stewart, these doughnuts are made using bought doughnuts, a simple icing, and crystallised flowers. I would love to try this out with mini ring doughnuts (if such a thing exists!) – packaged in individual brown craft boxes wouldn’t they make lovely wedding favours? In fact I don’t think they’d make it home!

pastel_crystallised_flower_doughnuts2

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