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Charlie

Fairtrade and organic summer bridesmaid dresses in vintage inspired floral prints

Charlie

People Tree is one of the original fair trade clothing brands in the UK and one that I love. As ‘ethical’ and ‘fairtrade’ has become more mainstream it has been great to see People Tree’s collections grow and there to be even more choice of beautiful clothes.

I ended up on their website checking out what was in their sale when I spotted a number of dresses that I thought would make perfect summer bridesmaid dresses and knew I had to share them with you.

Please bear in mind these are currently in the January 2013 sale so they might not stay around long. Even if you come across this post later, do check out their current collections as I’m sure there will be more lovely items – www.peopletree.co.uk.

Lora V Neck Dress

This vintage inspired dress is made from a pretty floral print in 100% organic Fairtrade certified cotton and is £37.50 (50% off) in the People Tree sale. Perfect for a English country garden wedding.

Charlie

Wishing you a Happy New Year with a half price offer on wedding stationery from The Little Cornish Design Studio

Charlie

Wishing you a very Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely break over Christmas and have an exciting year ahead to look forward to – I had a somewhat exhausting 2012 so I’m hoping that 2013 is going to involve more quality time and a better life balance. How about you?

Let’s kick off the New Year here on the blog with a fantastic and exclusive half price discount – yes, half price! – for my readers. The lovely Natalie from The Little Cornish Design Studio is offering TNWC readers a 50% discount on all printed wedding stationery ordered before 31st January!

Charlie

A winter woodland wedding photoshoot with lush florals, fur stoles and vintage details

Charlie

Did you see yesterday’s wintry Cornish reindeer photoshoot? If not you must go take a look – it’s stunning! Today I’ve got part 2 of the photoshoot that was dreamt up by wedding photographer Sarah Falugo (who also runs Green Photographic) and took place at Cornish wedding venue Gwel an Mor.

Yesterday the setting was a wild and windswept landscape, today a sheltered woodland featuring lush floral arrangements full of ferns and blackberries. For a photoshoot done on a budget, it is overflowing with lovely inspiration and ideas that can easily be recreated for your own wedding.

Despite it’s wintery themes, the shoot took place in August (can you believe it!) which explains the soft blush dahlias you can spot in the floral arrangements – no doubt from The Blue Carrot’s cutting garden.

Charlie

A wild and wintry Cornish photoshoot with reindeer and timeless vintage styling

Charlie

I am so thrilled to share this photoshoot with you, and what could be lovelier than a bridal shoot featuring a reindeer, some owls, the beautiful windswept Cornish landscape, and a lush woodland? Oh, and a handful of TNWC recommended wedding suppliers.

Well, in my book, there aren’t many things lovelier, so I was delighted when Sarah Falugo (who also runs Green Photographic) got in touch to see if I would featured this stunning shoot.

There are just so many lovely photos from this shoot that I struggled to narrow it down – so rather than only share a handful I’ve decided to split the shoot into two parts to allow you to enjoy them all.

Charlie

Beautiful floral arrangements from an autumn hedgerow inspired wedding with rosehips, teasels and old man’s beard

Charlie

The lovely Alicia from Grace & Green recently got in touch with me to share photos of the autumnal wedding flowers they did for a bride who found them via The Natural Wedding Company. Getting emails like this are guaranteed to make my day, not only because there’s lots of beautiful pictures but because I was able to match up a bride with a TNWC business to make their vision come true.

Having seen the photos I really wanted to share them with you all too, so very kindly Alicia from Grace & Green is here to share some more details on the brief for this wedding along with the pictures of her creations:

“The original brief for the wedding was wildflowers, but given that the wedding was in November we knew that there wouldn’t be many ‘wildflowers’ available at that time of year. So I started thinking about what you do see in the wild in November, like old man’s beard, teasels, seedheads, rosehips and lots of other lovely berries, and suggested the idea of ‘hedgerow‘ style flowers instead.”

“The bride and groom had been to a lot of weddings already this year, and really wanted the flowers at their wedding to be a bit different. The bride’s mother, who I met with, and who organised the flowers, really loves flowers, as does the bride’s grandmother, so she really wanted to give her daughter something very special on her wedding day with the flowers.”

Charlie

New Wives Club Christmas Special: quirky illustrated recycled wrapping papers and tapes from Alice Palace

Charlie

Have you wrapped your Christmas gifts yet? If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you’ll know that I’m way behind this year due to some home renovation, but I’m looking forward to getting festive this coming week when hopefully all will be finished. Yey!

My wrapping paper of choice is most often a simple brown paper parcel tied up with raffia, but when I saw these from Alice Palace with their beautiful hand-drawn images I was in love.

Decorated with joyous festive images such as robins, mince pies, geese, holly berries, Christmas puddings and even a lovely snow bunny – they are so fun and I’m sure your family and friends would be delighted to received parcels wrapped up in this paper. What’s even better is that Alice Palace’s wrapping paper is made from 100% recycled paper and printed using vegetable inks.

Charlie

A ‘how to’ guide to making frozen flower ice bowls with seasonal British blooms

Charlie

I don’t know about where you are, but it’s flipping freezing here! With these frosty days in mind, I wanted to share with you these beautiful ice bowl creations made by Anne-Marie at Forage For (she also grows flowers in her Suffolk garden for weddings so do check her out if you’re getting hitched in that part of the country).

Anne-Marie has been making these wonderful frozen ice bowls using her seasonal British flowers to decorate them. I love this idea and it’s so simple to create (just scroll down for the instructions) and could be made at any time through the year. Whether you made them for your wedding or for a party, I’m sure they would cause a bit of a stir!

Can’t you just imagine these as focal points on a dessert table filled with ice cream or a larger version could even keep your drinks cool. Anne-Marie filled this yellow chrysanthemum ice bowl with lemon sorbet to show you how they can be used.

Charlie

Exclusive 15% discount on hand-illustrated wedding stationery from Rebecca Lancaster Designs

Charlie

How fantastic to be able to offer you a whopping 15% discount on wedding stationery today – it is so nice to work with such generous businesses who want to offer my readers such great discounts.

The lovely Becky from Rebecca Lancaster Designs wanted to showcase some of her new designs to my readers and is also offering an exclusive 15% discount to TNWC readers on all stationery ordered before 1st February 2013. Becky’s designs are all hand-illustrated and she is committed to running her business in a more eco-friendly way by sourcing recycled envelopes, and her ‘Vintage Type’ design is printed on my favourite recycled brown card.

Watercolour Collection

Perhaps my favourite of all Becky’s designs are her watercolour collection – they have a beautiful dreamy quality to them. Her invitations start at just £1.99 each but a full price list is available on request – Becky can also create bespoke designs just ask.

Charlie

New Wives Club Christmas Special: a rustic driftwood star garland from Miki Organic

Charlie

Following on from last week’s gorgeous willow Christmas tree skirt I’m back to share another lovely festive find. This string of driftwood stars is available from online eco-chic shop Miki Organic and would be a pretty addition to your Christmas decorations, especially if you love the natural look.

Each garland is just under a metre long and costs £15. If you haven’t come across Miki Organic before you must check out their beautiful collection of homewares and gifts all underpinned by their ethos of sustainable, ethical, and beautiful.

Tomorrow I’ve got a fantastic DIY Christmas project so do check back for more festive fun as part of my Natural Wedding Christmas Special.

Image: Miki Organic

Charlie

Becoming ‘A Natural Wedding Bride’ – come and join me to share your wedding plans on the blog with all my other brides

Charlie

Please note as of February 2013 I have closed applications for this feature. However, if you are planning a wedding for 2014 and are interested in being a guest bride blogger later in the year, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at charlie@thenaturalweddingcompany.co.uk.

I thought it was about time I opened up these pages to someone else’s wedding plans, a bride-to-be who’s creating a handmade wedding that fits with my ethos of natural, eco-friendly, seasonal, vintage and homemade.

I get so many emails from creative couples who are crafting wonderful sounding wedding days that I’d like you all to have a voice here too, and to inspire others who are just starting out on this mad wedding journey.

I don’t have a specific number of contributors that I’m looking for, it seemed a bit daft to request a certain number when it’s the first time I’ve tried it, I would just like to open up the invitation for you to get in contact if you’re interested and keen.

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