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Charlie

Introducing our businesses with the new Directory Showcase: Foundation Jewellery, Dale Cottage Farm and Beechenhill Farm

Charlie

Welcome to my newest soon-to-be regular blog post showcasing the businesses featured on The Natural Wedding Company directory. There are so many wonderful businesses offering products or services to help you make your wedding day natural, eco-friendly, seasonal, handmade or vintage-inspired that I thought it was about time I started regularly sharing details of what you can find.

Each week on a Tuesday I will showcase three businesses sharing a snippet of what they do and where you can find more suppliers within the directory. So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to the first of the wonderful businesses…

If you’re looking for Fair Trade gold wedding rings or a diamond engagement ring with full traceability, then have a look at the jewellery created by Foundation Jewellery. They are one of the world’s first jewellers to be registered to craft in Fair Trade gold, and also design in recycled gold and platinum and with 100% ethical gemstones. Visit the directory for a full list of ethical wedding jewellers.

Dale Cottage Farm offer a seasonal, locally grown, eco-friendly alternative to conventional wedding flowers, growing all their flowers themselves on their Worcestershire smallholding. Natural, country-style wedding flowers are their speciality. Visit the directory for a full list of seasonal and eco-friendly florists around the country.

Charlie

A natural and rustic wreath for my front door this Christmas

Charlie

This morning I wanted to share a quick snap of my front door with its Christmas wreath. Everything has been rather last minute this year (our Christmas tree is still not up!) and I hadn’t really given a thought to where I would get a Christmas wreath. Usually I go for something really simple, just lots of greenery, like fir branches, and maybe a splash of colour from a ribbon to tie it to the front door.

When I thought I’d left it too late I was saved by one of the lovely businesses on my directory who was able to make me this wreath over the weekend and post it out. My wreath this year was made by the lovely Chloe of BareBlooms who is based in the Welsh Borders – perhaps not the most local wreath I could have chosen, but I know that almost all of the ‘ingredients’ that went into this wreath were foraged from the hedgerows (I love the old man’s beard!). I am so happy with my natural and rustic wreath and think it looks quite handsome hanging from my front door.

Charlie

Medal buttonholes made from wood and vintage fabric

Charlie

I thought these were so inspired when I spotted them on Etsy. Made in the UK from a slice of a tree branch and hand-stitched vintage fabrics I think they would make great buttonholes. They are quirky and a bit different, and I love the handcrafted and natural look of them. They are made as brooches so come with a metal pin on the back, easy to fasten to suits.

Charlie

Beautiful favours and crafty supplies for the creative bride

Charlie

It was lovely this afternoon to discover that one of the newest businesses to join the directory has featured The Natural Wedding Company on their blog. The delightful Wedding in a Teacup can be found in our Stationery, Details and DIY sections and is a treasure trove of beautiful things for the creative bride. Lots of their products are sourced ethically or eco-friendly, so a perfect match for the directory.

I thought I’d share some of my favourite products from their wonderful website…

Meant to Bee Honey Favour Stickers

Charlie

Allie and Tom’s handmade 1930’s inspired country wedding ~ part two

Charlie

1930s inspired country wedding (part two)

If you missed yesterday’s part one of Allie and Tom’s handmade 1930’s inspired country wedding be sure to read it first – it’s full of beautiful details and photos of their ceremony and how they got Allie’s parents field ready for their wedding. So without further ado, after their ceremony, Allie and Tom had some photos taken whilst dodging the rain showers – what a beautiful vintage car.

>> View Allie and Tom’s 1930s inspired country wedding (part one) here <<

Then everyone headed back to Allie’s parents field where they had Pimms in the marquee, followed by an afternoon tea of cakes, scones and sandwiches, all made by her mum’s friends.

Afternoon tea was served on vintage crockery collected over the year by Allie and her mum. I spent a lot of time the day before the wedding selecting all the crockery and it really did look as I imagined it.

Charlie

1910s Edwardian style cream tiered lace wedding dress

Charlie

I think the Edwardian era must be my favourite when it comes to wedding dresses, or at least the early period of the 1900s. This blog post is purely self-indulgent because I just love this dress and wanted to share it in all its loveliness. I love my wedding dress but how much do I wish I could wear this one!

Charlie

Allie and Tom’s handmade 1930’s inspired country wedding ~ part one

Charlie

1930s inspired country wedding (part one)

It is another of those exciting days where I get to share a wedding from one of my readers with you all. I’ve been in touch with the lovely Allie for a while now and I was even lucky enough to make her wedding guestbook!

It was lovely to hear that The Natural Wedding Company blog was a source of daily inspiration for Allie when she was planning her wedding, and she found a number of suppliers via the directory. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for part two and a full list of suppliers.

>> View Allie and Tom’s 1930s inspired country wedding (part two) here <<

Allie and Tom got married on a very rainy Saturday in September at her parent’s home in Somerset.

Allie told me that her parents was the only place for their wedding. Getting married in the village I grew up in, surrounded by people who watched me grow up just felt really right. We wanted a wedding where all our friends and family and village people could help out. I think we could only have done that at my parent’s home.

Charlie

A romantic honeymoon bolthole in the lavender filled countryside outside Budapest

Charlie

Pippins is a romantic self-catering cottage set amongst the lavender fields and vineyards in Hungary. This pretty honeymoon bolthole has whitewashed wooden clad walls, a private terrace and pool, and is surrounded by unspoilt countryside.

The cottage is set out in an open-plan style with a separate bathroom, and in the winter months you can snuggle up in front of a crackling woodstove. In the summer Pippins runs 95% on energy produced by the PV panels located on the cottage roof, and in winter its heating and hot water are produced by the log fire.

Charlie

Being a wife is hard

Charlie

For many of us, planning our weddings isn’t easy. Being a wife is harder. After all the excitement of getting married there is a the serious task of becoming a ‘good wife’. Six months on, I’m finding being a good wife challenging.

I have a very clear idea of what I want to do for my husband and home, and for myself, but I don’t seem to be achieving many of those things at the moment. Back in the days when I was a girlfriend, even a girlfriend of seven years, it felt a whole lot different. I felt like the bottom line was it could just be about me, I was still Charlie Burton, girlfriend. Now I’m a wife. I’m still Charlie Burton (no name change yet – a much-debated topic on wedding blogs) but I’m a wife and for me it feels different.

Don’t get me wrong, there are so many positives to this change – I feel like we’re a real team, that each other comes first and before everyone else, even family now, and that we’re setting out on this amazing adventure together. We are committed to each other, to spending our lives together, to making our relationship and marriage work no matter what. But for someone who can be incredible hard on herself about not getting things ‘just right’, feeling like you’re being a ‘good wife’ can be challenging at times.

I feel this desperate need to keep a tidy house and clear up my clutter, to cook dinner every night, to prepare lunches for my husband to take to work, to make our house a home, to be a happy, healthy outgoing wife – that girl Mr Rigg first met who was a little bit more care-free and giggly. And that’s on top of all the other things we women want to be. If that’s what I think a wife should be, it’s hard.

Charlie

Fun and alternative ‘save the date’ idea from a couple getting married at Welsh Green Weddings

Charlie

This fun and alternative ‘save the date’ was sent to me by Simone of Welsh Green Weddings – this bride- and groom-to-be are getting married next spring at Welsh Green Weddings. A really simple idea for how to make a ‘save the date’ – you could either email them, print them out at home on recycled card or get them printed as photos and stick them to recycled card.

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