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Charlie

Win your wedding photography with Bohemian Weddings

Charlie

We have a wonderful competition for you to win your wedding photography with our photographer friends Bohemian Weddings. This month – March 2017 – we are celebrating our 10th birthday, and are blown away to be able to offer this truly remarkable gift to one lucky couple.

Having spent a weekend with Michael and Andrea of Bohemian Weddings last spring, I can hand on heart tell you that they are some of the best people you’ll ever meet.

Take a look at their website and the weddings they’ve captured, read about them, and see if you feel a connection. If you feel that connection, you’re getting married in this year (2017) and you haven’t found your soulmate photographers yet, read on for how to enter.

Win your wedding photography

I shall hand you over to Michael and Andrea to introduce this truly special competition that they are offering to The Natural Wedding Company couples…

We are all about making meaningful connections full of love and life. We love capturing memories through our creativity but we are also suckers for a good story. You can often find us blubbing behind our cameras at a good speech.

The Natural Wedding Company has connected us with so many great couples it would be our pleasure to give something back. As part of The Natural Wedding Company’s 10th Birthday Celebrations we are offering free wedding photography for one lucky couple getting married in 2017.

Charlie

Exclusive wedding offers to celebrate The Natural Wedding Company’s 10th Birthday

Charlie

I truly can’t believe this time has come – March 2017, the month that I get to celebrate The Natural Wedding Company’s 10th Birthday with you all. And what a way I get to celebrate, with a month jam-packed with exclusive wedding offers from our fabulous suppliers just for you.

It doesn’t feel that long ago that I was just dreaming up the idea for the directory. I had little idea then that it would turn into a business that would become my ‘full time’ job. Just five years ago I was celebrating with a lovely group of girls in a spring party at my house. I’m even still really good friends with three of those girls – how amazing is that.

Here I am another five years on, and I’m delighted to share another month full of offers and goodies for you all.

Exclusive wedding offers

We’ve put together all these exclusive offers in this one handy blog post. I suggest you grab a cup of something warm and set aside some time to digest the wonderful offers we have. There are offers covering all areas of your wedding, from wedding photography to wedding venues, wedding flowers to wedding rings. And more!

You’ll also find all these offers on our main Offers webpage, just look out for the ‘special offer’ badge marking them out. These offers are time-limited and only available to claim during March 2017.

Win your wedding photography

For your diary – tomorrow morning we’ll be launching a very special birthday competition to win your wedding photography. This is such a wonderful offer coming from fabulous photography duo Bohemian Weddings. Full details will be on the blog tomorrow, and again, the end of March will be the closing date for entries.

Giveaway to win a box of personalised biscuits

If you fancy winning a scrumptious box of personalised biscuits for a friend or loved one, keep an eye out on our Instagram account. We’ll be hosting a giveaway with our friend The Kitsch Hen to win a box of 12 biscuits for someone you love.

Onto the offers…

Charlie

Fairtrade gold mining and the difference you can make by choosing fairtrade gold wedding rings

Charlie

Freshly mined fairtrade gold for fairtrade gold wedding rings // April Doubleday // The Natural Wedding Company

We share a lot of pretty things here on our blog, like most working in the wedding industry. The wedding industry is big business and with that there can come a price, a price that we may not always consider. When we are investing so much money into certain aspects of our wedding day it can be worth taking a minute to open our eyes (and hearts) to the reality behind the items we purchase. Most of us are aware of issues that have arisen from diamond trade but have we ever considered the cost of gold?

In 2013 our friend and jewellery designer April Doubleday visited one of the few fairtrade/eco gold mines in Colombia. She took her son Jon and filmed their adventure, producing this 9 minute long film.

Fairtrade gold wedding rings // April Doubleday // The Natural Wedding Company

Where do your wedding rings come from?

Everyone should watch this short film before before buying your wedding rings. Let’s be open and honest about where these precious and symbolic love tokens come from. That means considering who mined the gold, how it was removed from the land, and the state the environment is left in.

In your next tea break we’d love you to watch April’s film and gaining an insight into the lives of those who mine the gold for our jewellery.

“Fairtrade and its standards offer miners a better choice and a way out of poverty” – April Doubleday.

Charlie

Dear bride-to-be, wear a wedding dress you can move in

Charlie

Our friend and TNWC recommended photographer Maureen du Preez has a wonderful way with words. She is writing about wedding issues that we think are really important – not just what flowers to choose, or how to do your hair.

When looking for your wedding dress, have you prioritised how easily you can move in it? We’re not talking about just how well you can walk down the aisle, but truly move in it. Can you dance all night in it, be hugged all day, and eat all the good food? Is it a wedding dress you can wander through a forest in or hike across the moors in. Can you even get muddy in it?

If I haven’t already convinced you to think more about this, perhaps Maureen du Preez’s beautifully written words will.

Why You Should Choose A Wedding Dress You Can Move In

Dear bride-to-be,

Wear a wedding dress you can move in. You can love in. A gown that makes you feel like a queen who can dance all night until your bones ache, and be held tight by your loved ones all day long.

A dress you can climb hills in, explore forests, to reach that special place you long your love to be captured. Where the magical light spills in, and the trees canopy around.

Charlie

Laura and Jamie’s autumn village hall wedding with statement flower crown, emerald green bridesmaid dresses and a squirrel cake topper

Charlie

In nature, autumn is a blaze of vibrant colours and this week’s Real Wedding is all about those quintessential autumnal colours. Emerald green bridesmaid dresses, rusty orange leaves, plump purple blackberries, soft brown fur and deep red dahlias. This autumn village hall wedding is a feast for the senses too; the textures are intense with pheasant feathers, ears of wheat and berries adorning the dahlia bouquets, buttonholes and hair clips.

Captured by TNWC recommended photographer, Amy Taylor Imaging, Laura and Jamie’s autumn village hall wedding is the product of a whole community coming together and pitching in. The ceremony took place in her parent’s tiny local church and the celebrations unfolded in the village hall in which her youth clubs were hosted when she was a teenager.

We chat to bride Laura to find out more about the their special day…

Autumn village hall wedding

Charlie

Our Top 10 Eco Valentine’s Day Gift Guide featuring ethical British businesses

Charlie

Our 2017 Eco Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Samantha and I are sharing our favourite finds for a possible Eco Valentine’s Day gift for your loved one – women, men, and even a gift from your little ones. We’ve stuck to all UK based businesses and artisans, most of them small independent businesses. You’ll also find we’ve tried to include ideas across a span of costs, with only one true ‘blow the budget’ gift.

In putting together this guide we discovered that neither of us celebrate Valentine’s Day in a big way. I’m sure lots of people choose to celebrate their love and gratitude towards each other on a daily basis. But for those who are looking to give something special or just a token of their love, here are some ideas.

Personalised Valentine’s Biscuits

The Kitsch Hen is run by a former TNWC Real Bride, Caroline (part one + part two of her wedding is not to be missed). Her iced biscuits are homemade from locally sourced ingredients, and all handstamped. We love this option because it can be personalised to a meaningful message – lyrics from ‘your’ song, a love quote from your favourite novel, or just a simple ‘I Love You’. A scrumptious Eco Valentine’s Day gift.

£12 for 6 personalised biscuits – Buy them here

You Are My Favourite Valentine’s Day Card

Our friend Lucy Says I Do always has a fab offering of Valentine’s Day cards, and we love this design. Short and sweet, perfect for anyone not wanting to give an overly mushy card full of text. Printed onto FSC approved card and with a brown kraft envelope it’s a great card for the eco-chic.

£3.25 – Buy it here

Fairtrade Gold Heart Ruby Ring

Charlie

Alex and James’ intimate natural wedding with vintage French lace wedding dress, local pub reception and pavlova wedding cake

Charlie

We’ve got a treat for you in this week’s intimate natural Real Wedding. This couple decided to do things their way and it turned out to be all about friends and food.

They dug up their garden the day before the wedding to fill rusted tins with sweet peas, rosemary and lavender, saved the partying for the weekend after their big day, and ceremoniously cut into a berry-topped wedding pavlova at their reception. Intrigued? You should be.

Luckily it was all captured beautifully by TNWC recommended Oxana Mazur of Oxi Photography, who is renowned for her natural and intimate documentary style. So let’s delve into the rosy-hued pictures and learn more from bride Alex…

Samantha

A Southend Barns autumn wedding inspiration shoot with Minna wedding dress, seasonal foliage and lanterns

Samantha

Please note: Minna is now Indiebride London.

Today’s Southend Barns autumn wedding inspiration shoot is bound to cheer up any ‘January blues’. Think soft glowing lights, trailing foliage in vibrant autumnal hues, jewel-toned seasonal flowers and ethereal bridal style evoking visions of Elven folk from a Tolkien novel.

This beautiful shoot was dreamt up by the rustic farm venue Southend Barns in Chichester and To Have and To Hire wedding stylists. The shoot aimed to showcase local and ethical wedding businesses which of course we always love to see. The styling was a celebration of autumn to reflect the beautiful textures, forms and colours it has to offer. Everything was perfectly captured by award-winning wedding photographer Kelly Hearn.

Charlie

Elena and Simon’s colourful handmade wedding with rustic outdoor ceremony, felt heart garlands and a unicorn

Charlie

This week’s Real Wedding is vibrant and carefree. There’s a marquee bedecked with sweet felt heart garlands and hundreds of handmade pom poms, and wildflowers and hay bales adorning the open-air ceremony space. This colourful handmade wedding is an inspiration for anyone who wants a laid back and fun vibe for their big day.

Beautifully captured by one of our TNWC recommended photographers, Emma Stoner, on a horse rescue farm. Join us as we find out more about this September wedding from bride Elena…

Charlie

Rachel and Lee’s autumn lake house wedding with outdoor ceremony and sunflower bouquets for this boat loving couple

Charlie

For this Real Wedding we travel across “the pond” to the beautiful East Coast of America. Rachel and Lee’s early autumn lake house wedding is a feast for tired January eyes. They held their wedding at Rachel’s family’s Lake House in Maryland under the hazy September sun.

Before we catch up with bride Rachel to learn more about this rowing boat-filled, sunflower-adorned day, a few words from to TNWC’s Charlie…

This wedding feels close to my heart, which might sound strange when I’ve never met Rachel or Lee, but I have got to know Rachel a little over the past year. Firstly she shared with me her nautical wedding invitations inspired by my own save the dates. I especially loved that the “tying the knot” element (inspired by this version of mine) had such relevance to their love of sailing.

Since their wedding, Rachel and Lee have been on the most incredible 12 month adventure sailing around America in their yacht. I have followed their adventures on Instagram and have kept in touch following their return to dry land, where Rachel has set up her own business Rachel Kendall Events. I am so thrilled that we get to share their wedding with you.

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