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Samantha Samantha

Beautiful edible flower inspiration of sweet treats and cocktails to wow your wedding guests

Samantha

Wedding day desserts and macarons decorated with delicious edible flowers from Greens of Devon // Taylor Wolf Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Edible flower inspiration of sweet treats and cocktails

One of the loveliest things about our website is meeting and connecting with such wonderful wedding suppliers and locally run companies. And it is even lovelier when our directory’s recommended suppliers go on to create gorgeous things together!

What we have for you today is the MOST beautiful edible flower inspiration; with edible flowers and herbs by Greens of Devon captured by the talented Betti Confetti Photography.

Providing ideas for how to incorporate edible flowers into your wedding day bubbly and sweet treats, these simple touches will not fail to add that little extra magic and will certainly amaze all your guests!

You can read part 2 here >> Delicious edible flower for savoury dishes to wow your guests

Wedding day cocktails decorated with delicious edible flowers from Greens of Devon // Taylor Wolf Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Wedding day desserts and macarons decorated with delicious edible flowers from Greens of Devon // Taylor Wolf Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Wedding day desserts and macarons decorated with delicious edible flowers from Greens of Devon // Taylor Wolf Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

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Charlie Charlie

Tamsin and Alex’s relaxed eco-friendly wedding with woodland handfasting ceremony and the best cake ever

Charlie

Tamsin and Alex's relaxed eco-friendly wedding with woodland hand-fasting ceremony and the best cake ever // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Eco-friendly wedding with handfasting ceremony

What a beautiful way to welcome in the New Year with this down-to-earth, relaxed eco-friendly wedding of Tamsin and Alex. Captured by the lovely Emma of Emma Stoner Photography (and second shooter Heather Birnie), who can be found featured on the Photography + Film page of our directory, this wedding is bound to inspire you. Plus it has my new all-time-favourite wedding cake and wedding hair!

Tamsin and Alex got married in September at Middle Coombe Farm in Devon, where they fell in love with “it’s wonderful inhabitants and beautiful sprawling woodlands.” Here at TNWC we recently fell for the charms of Middle Coombe Farm and are delighted that you’ll now find them on the directory too.

Over to Tamsin to tell us more…

Tiered Victoria sponge wedding cake with flowers, ferns, berries, and yellow raspberries // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Woodland hand-fasting ceremony at Middle Coombe Farm in Devon // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Wedding rings // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Hand-fasting ceremony in a woodland // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Woodland animal themed wedding table names // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Woodland wedding ceremony // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Seasonal late summer bridal bouquet in shades of blue and white // Flowers by In Bloom Devon www.inbloomdevon.co.uk // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Middle Coombe Farm for a woodland wedding

“[We wanted] a relaxed and rustic [feel], with lots for everyone to do and an eclectic take on decorations and as eco conscious as I could make it. We chose Middle Coombe Farm after finding out about it’s wonderful inhabitants and beautiful sprawling woods. The accommodation was also spot on, with a place for campers, a campervan, family and close friends and little ones! It advertises itself as an eco venue too so we were very sold!

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Charlie Charlie

Our guide to some of the best eco-chic and ethical engagement and wedding rings

Charlie

Ethical white enamel and Cubic Zirconia wedding ring from April Doubleday // The Natural Wedding Company

Best eco-chic and ethical engagement and wedding rings

For many the Christmas and New Year’s period will have been a particularly exciting one, having got engaged, and so whilst many of you may already have an engagement ring, we thought it a good moment to introduce the jewellery businesses we work with, all who have a strong ethical and eco-friendly commitment.

The above ring, from April Doubleday, has particular caught my eye, with its chic white enamel band, set with glittering Cubic Zironias. It is elegant and modern, but still retains that ‘hewn from the earth’ natural feel – I could almost believe it came from an oyster shell in a mermaid kingdom…

My main conclusion is that I don’t quite know how you’ll ever choose just one! You can find all our wedding ring suppliers in the Rings section of our directory.

Mahailia Jewellery Design

Bespoke wedding and engagement rings from the romantic, windswept Scottish coast (find out more).

Ethical diamond and sapphire wedding ring from Mahailia Jewellery Design // The Natural Wedding Company

Ethical topas engagement ring from Mahailia Jewellery Design // The Natural Wedding Company

Ethical personalised wedding band from Mahailia Jewellery Design // The Natural Wedding Company

Slade Fine Jewellery

Handmade engagement & wedding rings from 100% eco gold and silver (find out more).

Ethical ruby engagement ring from Slade Fine Jewellery // The Natural Wedding Company

Ethical engagement ring from Slade Fine Jewellery // The Natural Wedding Company

Ethical grey rosecut diamond engagement ring from Slade Fine Jewellery // The Natural Wedding Company

Vintage Bijoux

Beautiful diamond & gemstone set antique and estate rings (find out more).

Vintage Art Deco inspired engagement ring from Vintage Bijoux // The Natural Wedding Company

Vintage opal and diamond engagement ring from Vintage Bijoux // The Natural Wedding Company

Vintage old cut diamond cluster engagement ring from Vintage Bijoux // The Natural Wedding Company

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Charlie Charlie

End of year reflections from a self-employed mummy and looking to the year ahead

Charlie

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I’m pretty sure the last time I wrote a ‘from the heart’ post I was saying how challenging (and bloody hard!) it is becoming a mummy whilst trying to run your own business too. I’ve had a tricky time of it, and at various points I’ve concluded how hard the first 6 months were…the 1st year was…and now here I am concluding how hard the first 2 years have been. Older wiser mummy’s could have probably told me all that.

But 2016 I feel more positive about, even if I’m sulking a little bit that the new refreshed website hasn’t been launched in time to bid farewell to 2015 (coming real soon though!). What these challenging few years with a baby (and now toddler) have taught me is huge, I have learnt so much about myself and, well, everything! I have overcome my PND/PTSD, and not just overcome it, but I’ve emerged from the fog more determined and happy than the woman I was before my daughter was born.

2016 will be good. Good because I want to make it that way. Good because I have a wonderful sweet mama working alongside me (albeit it from the other end of the country), someone to dream dreams with for this little business. Good because I will have a refreshed website that will work harder ‘behind-the-scenes’ for me on all the practical parts of running this directory, and give me back time to work on the the more enjoyable parts.

So I’m going to put away the guilt tonight that I haven’t done a round-up feature (or features!) on the best bits of 2015 from the blog, that I’m not super prepared with blog features for the New Year (although there’s loads of lovely content waiting to be shared), that I’ve been a pretty rubbish mummy (and wife) the past few weeks working on the new website (“no more wuck mummy” I hear all the time), and so much more.

Instead I’m going to be kind to myself, feel excited for 2016 and all the new couples and wedding suppliers I’ll get to meet, and all the wedding loveliness I’m going to share with you, and tonight I’m going to “savour life and all its magic.”

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

P.S. If there are any other mummy’s reading this who run their own business, or who are thinking about starting their own business, please come join our little Facebook community that I set up to provide support and advice.

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Samantha Samantha

Matt and Jo’s relaxed outdoor Cornish wedding with a barefoot bride in a vintage wedding dress and festival inspired decor

Samantha

TNWC Matt and Jo''s relaxed outdoor Cornish wedding with a bare-foot bride in a vintage wedding dress and festival inspired decor

Relaxed outdoor Cornish wedding with a barefoot bride

We are absolutely loving Matt and Jo’s laid-back homespun wedding that we are sharing with you today. We know warm summer days currently feel like a distant memory whilst it is so dull and grey outside and Christmas is but days away, but this beautiful outdoor celebration is most definitely going to bring a little sunshine to your day.

Married this summer in the forever charming Cornwall this wedding is the ultimate in rustic, relaxed style. For starters the bride went barefoot wearing a vintage dress, the groom sported shorts and the bridemaid’s showed us how to perfectly pull off white.  And that is without even touching on all the incredible festival inspired decor and the amazing locally-sourced feast that was served to the guests.

The day was beautifully captured and shared with us by TNWC directory business, Sarah Brittain Edwards Photography.

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Retorrick Mill outdoor wedding venue

Matt and Jo chose the beautiful Retorrick Mill in Cornwall as their wedding venue, a place close to their hearts.

”We used to live in Cornwall but moved back to Leicestershire when we had our children so we felt we had to get married in Cornwall as it was where it all began! We had stayed at Retorrick Mill the previous summer. We were camping and loved how laid back the venue was. The owner, Wilf, is equally as laid back and friendly.”

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Samantha Samantha

Celebrating the launch of the ‘Grow Your Own Wedding Flowers’ book with a magical bloggers tea at Clifton Nurseries

Samantha

'Grow Your Own Wedding Flowers' book review by The Natural Wedding Company

Grow Your Own Wedding Flowers book launch

A few weeks ago the TNWC team were lucky enough to attend a wonderful afternoon tea to celebrate the launch of Grow Your Own Wedding Flowers by Georgie Newbery, a beautiful, insightful book that does exactly what it says on the tin; cleverly guiding you from start to finish in the whole planning process of growing and styling your own flowers for your big day.

Seasonal winter wedding flowers by Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

Georgie Newbery from Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

Seasonal winter wedding table flowers from Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

The launch took place at the incredible Quince Tree in Clifton Nurseries,  a hidden little gem in the middle of Little Venice, London. Upon entering under an arched canopy, settled among a row of tall white town houses, we were greeted by rows of fairy lit Christmas trees and found ourselves in a secret garden bursting full of flowers and foliage.

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Charlie Charlie

Pre-Raphaelite and Flower Fairy inspired loose and natural wedding bouquets and seasonal flower crowns

Charlie

Cornflower and fern flower crown // Flowers by Catkin // The Natural Wedding Company

Pre-Raphaelite and Flower Fairy inspired loose and natural wedding bouquets

What a treat we have today, featuring an array of beautiful floral wedding ideas inspired by dreamy pre-Raphaelite paintings and a sprinkle of fairy magic from Cicely Mary Barker’s ever-loved Flower Fairies.

Shot against the evocative backdrop of Doddington Hall, an Elizabethan manor house in Lincolnshire, the floral designs were created by our friend Rachel at Catkin, using all homegrown blooms from the walled garden she tends to on site.

Peach coloured hydrandgea and fern flower crown // Flowers by Catkin // The Natural Wedding Company

English meadow bouquet // Flowers by Catkin // The Natural Wedding Company

Moss and purple hydrangea flower crown // Flowers by Catkin // The Natural Wedding Company

Wild bridal bouquet of ox-eye daisies and cow parsley // Flowers by Catkin // The Natural Wedding Company

Pre-Raphaelite inspired wedding flowers // Flowers by Catkin // The Natural Wedding Company

Rachel is a long-standing member of the British Flowers community, so putting English grown, seasonal flowers at centre stage was vital.

The flowers she chose – garden roses, scabious, cornflowers, nigella, sweet peas, pinks, astilbe, larkspur, ammi and daisies – all contributed to the ethereal look Rachel was after, imbuing her floral creations with natural movement and texture.

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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

TNWC Real Brides: Fern shares some of her handmade wedding details from napkins to paper garlands

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Fern shares some of her handmade wedding details from napkins to paper garlands

Real handmade wedding details

I am terribly behind for various reasons with my lovely Real Bride posts, so here is a post from Fern that she wrote in the run up to her August wedding sharing some of her handmade details like paper garlands, napkins, and table centre making. The photo of her little boy helping to paint the blackboards is just too sweet!

>> View Fern and Dominic’s woodland bird and country flower inspired wedding here <<

Over to Fern…

It’s all in the details

It’s less than five weeks to go to the wedding and I’ve officially turned into a crazy person. Not in a angry, bite your head off way, (ok only once) but in a running around the garden at 5.00 in the morning looking at pieces of wood and measuring how long my garlands are, and trying to work out which of my plants will be flowering in August kind of way.

I have had my first wedding dress fitting and we have all had our hair trial at the salon. So it’s all getting very real now. We are still working on lots of projects for the wedding so here are some sneak peeks, without giving away too many secrets.

Paper decorations

After making the envelopes for my invitations I was left with lots of strips of paper where I had trimmed the papers down to size. I was determined not to throw them away but find some way to use them to make something for the wedding. Then I found this idea (above) on Pinterest for paper garlands. I borrowed a die cutting machine and got to work changing all my strips of paper into little hearts and I have stitched them together on the sewing machine.

For the larger pieces of paper I have made some paper rosettes which, although beautiful, have required some deep engineering to stay in place.

Handmade paper rosette decorations // The Natural Wedding Company

Handmade napkins

I really don’t want too much of a colour theme at my wedding. There is some pink sneaking in to places where it counts, but I really don’t want it to be too “in your face”. I was really inspired by an idea for patterned napkins on Show Me The Pretty and decided to make my own for my wedding.

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Charlie Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Vicky tells us about her locally sourced wedding meal and ‘help yourself’ popcorn dessert table

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Vicky tells us about her locally sourced wedding meal and 'help yourself' popcorn dessert table

Locally sourced wedding meal details from real bride Vicky

A weddig topic close to my heart – food! In the past I think wedding food has often been an after-thought, but more and more it’s becoming something that couples really put a lot of thought into. Here are Vicky and Steve’s plans for their wedding feast!

>> View Vicky and Steve’s DIY village fete wedding here <<

Over to Vicky…

A hog roast with handmade cutlery packages for guests

The food and drink we’ll be serving at the wedding is at the forefront of my mind at the moment as we firm up numbers and start to make the final purchases.

We decided from the very start that we wanted to keep it quite simple to help save the budget for other areas and keep the day relaxed. In the end we settled on a cream tea reception followed by a hog roast is the evening.

The hog roast was easy to organise as our best man’s father-in-law does these as a sideline to his farming. A quick chat on the beach, followed by an impromptu dance lesson (only in Devon!) and we had booked a hog and ram roast with a few roast potatoes thrown in the bottom for good measure. Excellent!

We’ve put together a little bag for each guest to pick up before they eat which have a napkin, wooden cutlery and a hand wipe in. They have been decorated with a personalised stamp which we found on Etsy.

Paper bag eco-friendly wedding picnic cutlery

A cream tea wedding reception

After that came the trickier task of finding a company to do the cream tea for us. Lots of the caterers we approached seemed keen to sell us their idea of what we wanted rather than what we wanted. A simple cream tea became a full-scale afternoon tea. It all sounded amazing but it wasn’t what we wanted.

Thankfully a friend then recommended the lovely Hannah and Sima from The Kitchen Table in Totnes. They have been brilliant, sticking to what we wanted, answering many questions about scone sizes (seriously, how did I turn into someone who worried about the size of a scone?) and even talking us down on quantities.

Even better they are advocates of using local produce, which fits our day perfectly. They will provide the mini pasty canapés, sit down cream tea and all the salads and rolls for the evening do, plus some vegetarian options. Their food looks beautiful and I can’t wait to try it all.

Salad with edible flowers

Victoria sponge wedding cake

They also put us in touch with Queen Bee Cakes, who make the most amazing wedding cakes and are a supplier on The Natural Wedding Company. Sadly they were already booked for our weekend leaving us with no choice but to try and re-create something similar ourselves.

So my lovely Mum and Aunt have gamely taken on the challenge of making the cake. From reading about other weddings I know this is quite common but my Mum is not the most expert of cooks, once serving up a dessert of sausage pie and custard – don’t ask!

Her cakes, however, are normally really good and with the amount of practice runs she’s been doing I’m sure it’ll be great, even if we won’t fit into our dresses any more! She will be making two sponges, which will sit on top of a fruit cake which my Aunt is busy soaking with brandy.

I’m planning on adding a liberal scattering of flowers and icing sugar to make it look pretty! Hopefully it will eventually turn out something like these cakes.

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