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Charlie

TNWC Real Brides Married! Sarah’s back to tell us all about her homemade child-friendly wedding

Charlie

The fifth of our six TNWC Real Brides is here today to tell us about her lovely summer wedding. Sarah married Lee back in August with a very homemade wedding full of child-friendly touches. After the seasonal wedding flowers all grown by Sarah’s mum, my favourite part is the duck race!

Over to Sarah…

Married at last! Our wedding was back in August. The chaos began on the eve of the wedding…

In the morning me and my now husband went to my mum’s house, where, along with my mum and dad, my brother, his wife and my mum’s best friend were all ready and raring to go with the wedding day prep. All of the flowers we used were homegrown by my mum so we set to work on bouquets, buttonholes and vase arrangements for the tables. After a spot of lunch we loaded my dad’s van with all our wedding day goodies and headed to venue to set up.

Izzy

A Day in the Life … For The Love Of Vintage: styling an English Summer Fete wedding in the Lake District

Izzy

Today we have a lovely guest post from Sharon who runs a vintage crockery company For The Love Of Vintage. For our ‘A Day in the Life’ feature Sharon is taking us along to find out what it’s like to be involved with one particular summer Lake District wedding.

Over to Sharon…

Apart from my life long obsession with crockery and getting to play tea parties every day, the two things I love most about my job are the variety (as no two vintage weddings are ever the same) and the people I meet.

I have styled weddings in all sorts of venues but was especially excited when Kimberly and Tim contacted me to discuss their big day. We met over a year before the wedding, eating cake, drinking tea and talking about the wonderfully creative ideas they had and our mutual love of Cocker Spaniels!

One of the things I loved most about the ideas for the day was Kimberley and Tim’s determination to use artisan crafts people, local suppliers and really bring their treasured Lake District as a theme into the whole day. I just knew from the start this was going to be a very special wedding.

After a year of planning and preparation July 6th was almost upon us. It’s hard to squeeze an event like this into just one day but here is my story of a perfect wedding day!

Charlie

Pen and ink style mini calendar save the date cards that you can print and customise yourself

Charlie

When I spotted this mini calendar style save the date, I loved it’s simplicity and thought that the pen and ink style would be popular with my blog readers as my own save the dates have been so popular.

So you can imagine how delighted I was when I discovered that this is in fact a free printable save the date, created by Bells & Whistles for The Pretty Blog – so you can actually go and download the design, print it off on your choice of recycled card, and add your own names and date.

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides Married! Myfanwy’s back to tell us all about her creative autumn wedding

Charlie

What a treat we have for you today! A lovely post from TNWC Real Bride Myfanwy who’s sharing all the details of her beautiful autumn wedding to her mister Tom – don’t miss the tractor wedding ‘car’ and Arthur the dachshund in his very smart suit!

Don’t forget you can catch up with all the posts from our brides under the TNWC Real Brides category, and we are looking for 2014-15 brides who’d like to be guest bloggers so if you’re interested full details can be found here.

Over to Myfanwy…

Married! What an adventure it was! August to October 5th was a whirlwind! We had planned no days off and to shut the shop 5 days before the wedding, that plan went to pot! Tom’s stag do and birthday was 2 weeks before the big day, the summer had been so busy that when he came home from the weekend we agreed to close the shop, we had so many final details to organise and were so tired that you have to live to fight another day.

Charlie

A Day in the Life … Pyrus: growing seasonal and organic wedding blooms in a Scottish walled garden

Charlie

I am so thrilled to be back with this ‘A Day in the Life’ feature on the blog. Embarrassingly it’s been over a year since I did my first one (have a read here) but I do hope that I can bring it as a more regular feature. The idea behind it is to give you a peek into the lives of some of the fab wedding businesses that you can find on our directory.

Today I’m handing the blog over to Natalya and Fiona who are the dynamic and creative duo behind Pyrus, flower farmers growing seasonal and organic blooms from their walled garden near Edinburgh and weaving them into the most fantastic floral arrangements.

Over to Natalya and Fiona…

Earlier this year we invited the wonderful photographer Nic Rue to spend the day at the Pyrus flower garden and studio outside Edinburgh, documenting us as we prepared for a late summer wedding.

We first met Nic when she came to one of our flower classes with friends and knew we wanted to work with her on a project. We were nervous about opening our doors to be photographed but we needn’t have worried, in fact it was a pleasure to share our studio with her for the day. She brought a plethora of cameras in her kit bag and the results are a combination of digital and film shots which captured the Colstoun estate we are based on beautifully.

Charlie

A guided tour of what’s on The Natural Wedding Company website for all new brides-to-be

Charlie

I’m a bit late to the game when it comes to wishing you all a very Happy New Year, but a huge warm welcome to the blog to all new and existing brides-to-be and couples planning their weddings – I am so pleased to have you here!

The last 4 months of 2013 for me were completely chaotic after my first baby arrived at the end of August. For any other mummy’s out there you will know how you have no idea beforehand just how much your life will change. Trying to go from ‘me’ to ‘mummy’ as well as running a small business has been challenging, to say the least.

I have a folder stuffed full of the most beautiful real weddings to share with you all as we head into the spring, full of lots of ideas that I’m sure will provide you with some inspiration for your own wedding days. I thought I’d give you a little guided tour of what’s already in the blog archives for you to get stuck into, and if you find it’s ‘you’ then I hope you’ll check back for all the new content coming soon.

The Directory

One of the most important parts of The Natural Wedding Company website is our Directory. It’s stuffed full of some fabulous wedding suppliers who can help to make your wedding day dreams a reality. It’s a wedding directory with a difference though, because all the businesses we work with have underlying eco or ethical principles by which their run.

TNWC Real Brides

Last year we followed the journey of six lovely ‘Real Brides’ who each shared their wonderful plans for their individual weddings. Due to my little one throwing my life out at the end of the summer, I am still catching up with these lovely ladies (who are all now married!). You can read all about their wedding plans on the TNWC Real Brides feature, and coming soon we’ll be featuring some of their weddings.

Become a TNWC Real Bride

Are you getting married in 2014 or 2015? Would you like to share your wedding planning adventure with our readers? If so, you might like to apply to become one of our next TNWC Real Brides – full details here.

Real Weddings

If you are looking for inspiration from real weddings, we have a lovely selection in the Real Weddings category. I loved the wild and seasonal flowers at Chloe’s wedding, the handmade decor and picnic feast from Holly’s wedding, the autumnal touches at Laura’s barn wedding, and the stunning yurt from Jessica’s magical woodland wedding. Do go explore the Real Weddings for tons of real inspiration.

Seasonal Inspiration

Here at The Natural Wedding Company one of the most important things to us is being seasonal – whether that’s seasonal flowers, seasonal food, or simply taking inspiration from the season in which you are getting married. So we have a category completely dedicated to Seasonal Ideas.

Izzy

Hayley and Iain’s rustic and romantic wedding in the country with hessian, lace and daisies for an intimate feel to the day

Izzy

Romantic wedding in the country

I took a look back through the Real Weddings we’ve featured on the blog, and it’s been months and months since we last featured one. In other words, it’s been too long – I know how much wonderful inspiration and ideas that other couples’ weddings provide, and we have lots of pretty ones lined up for you.

Today we have the romantic, rustic country wedding of Hayley and Iain who got married in Cheshire this past September which was sent to me by Christopher Ian Photography, one of the great photographers on our directory. Over to Hayley to share with you the details of their beautiful day…

Charlie

Create your own DIY paper leaf wreath perfect for Christmas decorations and winter weddings

Charlie

We haven’t had much of a chance to get that Christmassy here at The Natural Wedding Company, but today we have a great DIY project to inspire you all to get into the festive spirit. The lovely Julie from Hollyhock Lane has put together this ‘how to’ guide on creating a simple wreath made from paper leaves – ideal for hanging in your home or equally nice to be incorporated into a winter wedding.

Over to Julie to tell you how to get crafting…

So it’s that time of year to adorn our houses with pretty ornaments and festive decorations and if you have even the smallest urge to make something, now is as good a time as any to get crafty.

Of course, if you’re getting married, then you probably have even more reasons to get those hands busy, so here’s a tutorial for a wintry wreath which can work as a Christmas decoration, but it’s not so obviously Christmassy that it could also work as an elegant wedding decoration. Think over the front of a church door or, perhaps, adorning a table or the back of an important chair or pew.

Materials Needed

Paintbrush
Scissors
Wreath base, mine was 30cm diameter (or you could make your own by winding together some hazel/willow twigs)
Decorative fake berries
Craft knife (not pictured)
Cardboard cereal pack (not pictured)
Super glue / hot glue gun / contact glue
Acrylic paint – white and brown (I used raw umber for my brown)

Charlie

Get a vintage, rustic or festival look for your wedding flowers with ideas and inspiration from Fletcher & Foley

Charlie

I can hardly believe that Christmas is so near now! This year has gone by in such a whirlwind for me what with having little Tilly at the end of the summer, and I imagine all of your brides- and grooms-to-be who are getting hitched next summer will be feeling like it’s not long now once the New Year is upon us.

Today I have another lovely treat from one of our recommended wedding suppliers. This guest post has been put together by Joanne of Fletcher & Foley (a fab Manchester based florist) using the same selection of flowers and foliage, but in three quite different styles: Rustic, Vintage, and ‘Wedstival’. I love the selection of old pots Joanne’s used for the vintage styling, but I most like her use of colour for the ‘Wedstival’ theme, perfect for all of you inspired by summer festivals for your wedding day.

Over to Joanne…

Get the look

Getting the styling right for your wedding can be a daunting prospect. So much to think of. In fact writing this blog I’m a little worried myself as to where to start. Ok, let’s start with a little inspiration, and this can come from anywhere. Without rambling too much, a visit from my mother-in-law means a whole heap of glossy magazines will be left behind. A trend piece in Vogue. It screams autumn.

Using key words may help. For this little project I’m going to break it down into three wedding trends. Rustic, Vintage and Wedstival.

See what we’re doing here? Building up a picture of the overall feel for the big day by taking it slowly. Not getting bogged down in too much detail. No micro managing. Giving yourself a break so you can enjoy it.

The flowers

From a florist’s viewpoint, it doesn’t matter if you know nothing about flowers. Give us some idea of colour and seasonality or if you prefer a particular flower and let us do the work. Or even just tell us what you don’t like. That can often guide us in the right direction too.

I used the following flowers and foliage for the three wedding themes: Amaranthus, Dahlia, Free Spirit and Coffee Break Roses, Sedum, Hydrangea, Elder Berries, Nigella (Love in the Mist), Rosemary, Aster, Cornflower, Eryngium, Hawthorn, Scabious Seed Head, Mokara orchid, Rowan, and Virginia Creeper.

Izzy

A how to guide to make your own pretty linen and lace pocket wedding favours filled with dried petals from The Brides Table

Izzy

We are really getting spoilt at the moment with lovely guest posts from some of our recommended wedding suppliers, and today we have another DIY project to inspire all you crafty brides. If you are looking for wedding favour ideas to make, then Katy and Kath at The Brides Table have a great step-by-step guide to making these pretty petal pockets.

If you love the look of these petal pocket wedding favours but don’t feel crafty enough to have a go making them yourself, or if you already have a wedding ‘to do’ list as long as your arm, then visit The Brides Table website where you can buy them instead. They would also make beautiful bridesmaid gifts.

Over to Katy and Kath…

These petal pocket favours are filled with dried petals or lavender and not only do they smell divine, they look so pretty too!

You could ask your family and friends to save flowers from their gardens for you to use (roses work particularly well). Just before the petals drop, collect them on a tray and leave to dry in the sun or on a very low heat in your oven.

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