Blog

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: introducing Caroline and Gareth’s laid back eco-friendly farm wedding

Charlie

It’s pretty exciting to be into the third week of introducing you to my TNWC Real Brides – so far we’ve met Emma and Chris, Nik and Chris, Myfanwy and Tom, and Sarah and Lee. If you haven’t yet read about their wedding plans, grab a cup of something hot and enjoy a lovely read all their different ideas.

This week I have two more TNWC Real Brides to welcome, starting today with Caroline who is marrying her Mr-to-be Gareth on their family farm in Nottinghamshire. I love that Caroline dreamed of being a farmers wife and ended up falling in love with a farmer – happy reading everyone!

Caroline + Gareth: 18th May 2013, Nottinghamshire

As soon as I met Gareth I had a sneaky feeling he was ‘the one’ – I’ve always had a little dream of living a simple life and being a farmers wife, surrounded by the smell of freshly baked bread, with roaring fires, and of course reality isn’t actually quite like that – the smell of bread is usually overpowered by the smell of cows, and being woken up at 4am each morning as the boys start work isn’t always brilliant when you fancy a little lie in on a Sunday , but I still love it just as much as I always thought I would!

Charlie

Win wedding prizes worth over £1000 with the White Memoirs Wedding Wishes competition!

Charlie

*This competition is now closed 23/02/13*

Regular readers will have seen me announce the upcoming White Memoirs Vintage Wedding Fair that is coming to Manchester at the end of the month, well today I have a fabulous competition with an absolute bounty of prizes that wedding fair visitors could win. If you’re getting hitched and have bought your ticket to the wedding fair, then you mustn’t miss this opportunity to win a treasure trove of prizes.

White Memoirs exhibitors have contributed some fantastic prizes worth over £1,000 and one lucky bride-to-be will win them all! If you fancy winning all of the items below then scroll down to find out how to enter…

What an incredible prize that is for one of you lucky ladies! If you’d like to enter the competition you’ll find details below of how to do so, and please have a read of the terms and conditions at the bottom of the page. The lucky winner will be announced at the White Memoirs Vintage Wedding Fair on Sunday 24th February 2013 – you must be present at the wedding fair.

Charlie

Treat your mum this Mother’s Day with special offers on seasonal floral courses from The Garden Gate Flower Company

Charlie

It is an exciting time in the world of British cut flowers, so many small growers are coming together to promote seasonal, English blooms and I am delighted to be doing my bit through promoting them for weddings. If you haven’t considered sourcing British grown, in season flowers for your wedding, you must check out the Flowers section on the directory – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

One of our lovely recommended flower farmers – The Garden Gate Flower Company – are offering an exclusive 10% discount to TNWC readers on two of their upcoming floral courses. Having been on a couple of flower arranging courses, and those specifically offered by flower growers, I can highly recommend them as being a lot of fun and full of top tips.

The Garden Gate Flower Company are based in Cornwall on their family-run farm where they grow organically. The 10% discount applies to the following two courses:

A Mother’s Day Workshop – Saturday 9th March 10am – 12.30pm

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: introducing Sarah and Lee’s homemade child-friendly wedding

Charlie

This week I’ve already introduced TNWC Real Bride Myfawny who’s planning a creative and vintage inspired wedding celebration with her Mr-to-be Tom (oh and Arthur the dachshund!), so today it’s ‘Real Bride’ number 4 – the lovely Sarah.

Sarah and Lee are getting hitched in Nottinghamshire and are making their wedding a child-friendly (they have two cuties called Ava and Archie) and homemade affair – I can’t wait to hear all about it as their plans unfurl.

I’m also really excited because I met Sarah’s mum Susan last summer on the Catkin cut flower course (she’s growing lots of flowers for their wedding!). So it’s over to Sarah to tell you all about their plans so far…

Sarah + Lee: 24th August 2013, Nottinghamshire

Hi my name is Sarah Milner I am 26 and engaged to the handsome Lee Broadhurst who turns 30 on Christmas day! We have 2 children Ava who’s 5 and Archie who is 21 months old. Our wedding is taking place on August 24th 2013, we are tying the knot at the gorgeous old vicarage in Elkesley – it’s a beautiful old building which is a private home in which they allow 12 weddings a year to take place.

The ceremony would take place inside the house and afterwards we move into the marquee set in the beautiful gardens where we are having an informal tea party for guests and a BBQ later in the evening. It’s the perfect setting for the relaxed, homemade, family wedding we really desire.

My lovely mum is playing a big part in my day, she is growing and arranging the flowers for the big day. She is also making hand knitted toy dogs as favours for young guests, handmade lavender bags for the ladies and we are still deciding what to do for the men!

Rachel from Catkin Flowers showing my mum and Charlie from The Natural Wedding Company how to make a hand-tied bouquet:

Charlie

Jodie and James’ epic weekend wedding full of feasting, festivities and handmade details

Charlie

Epic weekend wedding with handmade details

Today I have an incredible real wedding. It is utterly epic (I don’t use words like that often) and it’s not short on beautiful ideas and inspiration if that’s what you’re looking for. I’ve even broken it down into headings because there is so much to share with you!

Jodie and James got married on 15th September 2012 and spent the whole weekend celebrating with their family and friends. Jodie has kindly told me so much about their incredible weekend celebration, and I am sure that many of you brides-to-be will find lots of helpful snippets throughout from Jodie and James’ experience.

Without further ado, I’ll hand you over to the lovely Jodie to tell you all about their epic wedding weekend…

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: introducing Myfanwy and Tom’s creative vintage wedding

Charlie

Another week and another two TNWC Real Brides to introduce to you. If you missed last week’s features, do check out the details on Emma and Chris’ outdoor festival wedding and Nik and Chris’ relaxed coastal farm wedding – they sound fab!

Today I my next TNWC Real Bride to introduce you to, her name is Myfanwy and she’s marrying her Mr-to-be Tom in North Wales, not to far from their cafe and shop Pethau Melys. So over to Myfanwy to tell you all about how she met Tom and what they are planning for their wedding…

Myfanwy + Tom: 5th October 2013, North Wales

This is us…Tom and Myfanwy, we met in 2008.

I’d just finished uni in Liverpool and had moved home to North Wales to decide what to do next. I had two choices, to start my own business right at the beginning of a recession or move to London to work for a big fashion house.

Charlie

Win a romantic bridal headband from Pearl & Co to celebrate the launch of their new collection

Charlie

*This competition is now closed 16/02/13*

I have a wonderful competition on the blog today to celebrate the launch of a new, handcrafted bridal collection from Pearl & Co – full details on how to enter to win their beautiful ‘Anastasia’ headband are below.

The Natural Wedding Company readers can also claim a fantastic 10% discount on all orders placed with Pearl & Co before the 28th February 2013 – simply quote ‘TNWC’ when ordering.

Their new collection, Adorna, features a versatile range of headpieces, sashes and garters, alongside opulent brooch bouquets and embroidered ring pillows.

For the new Adorna collection, designers Helen Lancaster and Carly McLoughlin wanted to merge luxurious glamour with soft, subtle feminitity, which can been seen in the range from the petite, pearl Evelyn forehead band, to the jewel embellished Deva hair adornment. Pearl & Co also incorporate a number of vintage embellishments and up-cycled fabrics for their pieces.

What I love about this new collection is the versatility of a number of accessories, which can be worn as either headwear or sashes. Martha (below) is an example of one of these pieces, created using a frosted white textured fabric featuring a whimsical, floral pattern that has been hand-finished with tiny silver beading.

Charlie

Arrow shaped blackboard with recycled Sari hanging tie from Nkuku

Charlie

Occasionally I like to share some of my Favourite Finds on the blog, but I’m quite picky about what I think is worth sharing – I want to make sure it’s something I think you’ll really like. These chalk boards (they come in an arrow shape and a square) from Nkuku – one of my favourite online shops – are affordable, come from a company that has an ethical sourcing policy, and the hanging ties are made from recycled Sari’s.

Plus, they would be perfect for wedding signs if you don’t have the time nor inclination to make your own from wood and blackboard paint. I feel that buying items like this for your wedding is a worthwhile investment (if you are only after a few) because they have so many future uses around your home – blackboards are always useful whether it’s for writing down your shopping list or just leaving each other sweet messages.

Charlie

Exclusive 10% discount on eco-chic wedding and party tableware and decorations from Little Cherry

Charlie

Ooh I do love a good offer, and especially those that I can give exclusively to you, my lovely brides-to-be. Today I have a fantastic 10% discount on all orders placed with Little Cherry who have a huge range of biodegradable and compostable tableware, fabric bunting, eco balloons, wild flower seeded gift tags, and much, much more!

If you are planning a festival inspired wedding with a casual meal, or perhaps a beautiful picnic for your guests, then Little Cherry’s palm leaf or natural bamboo tableware would be ideal.

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: introducing Nik and Chris’ relaxed coastal farm wedding

Charlie

If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that this week I am introducing you to the first of my TNWC Real Brides who’ll be blogging their weddings here. On Tuesday we welcomed the first bride-to-be, Emma, who is getting married in Cornwall with a outdoors festival vibe – if you missed reading about her wedding plans check out her first blog post here.

Today I have my second lovely bride-to-be who is going to introduce herself and some of her wedding plans. This lovely lady is Nik who writes her own blog Little House in Town and who was our competition winner last year for the cut flower arranging course. I got to meet Nik on that course and have become good friends with her, so I was delighted to learn that she got engaged over Christmas!

Over to Nik to tell you more about her wedding day plans…

Nik + Chris: 11th July 2013, Wales

When Charlie announced she was looking for ‘real brides’ to feature on TNWC, my stomach knotted with jealousy. You see, I’ve been a big follower of TNWC for years, soaking up all the incredible rustic and eco-friendly inspiration and storing it deep in the recesses of my mind in preparation for my ‘big day’. There was one flaw in my planning – I wasn’t engaged. And if you’re not engaged, you can’t blog about your wedding planning, no matter how much of it you’ve done mentally.

So, when Chris pulled out a beautiful Rust engagement ring as we strolled along my favourite Pembrokeshire beach on Christmas day, my elation was for more reasons than one. I could apply to be a TNWC bride! Woohoo!

Seasonal wedding ideas:

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

DIY + Inspiration

Real Weddings

Suppliers + Products

Browse the blog:

Planning

Advertise

Get your eco wedding business listed on our directory