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A token of love – my ring

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Now, although I love all things wedding related, I don’t go in for overly romantic gestures of love.  My poor boyfriend Mr Rigg (fiancé is still too weird a word to be using at this stage!) always has a lot of pressure with what I do and don’t like – you could probably call me fussy, or particular, or plain difficult – but I’d rather be honest and everyone be happy ultimately.

With all this in mind, the lovely man in my life managed to commission a ring especially for me, that was designed and made by the lovely Etsy seller Kate Szabone, in Canada, with a conflict-free diamond, and get it all the way to Italy to ask me to marry him without my knowing.  Impressive, eh?

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Pomegranate place name holders

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I had wanted to make this month’s creative project with those cute miniature pumpkins that start to appear in the shops in the lead up to Halloween, but I was unable to find any.  Instead, I have used a pomegranate, which works equally well as a place name holder.

At the bottom of this post you’ll find some other lovely place name holders using fruit.  If you’re looking for a low cost creative option for your wedding, this creative project couldn’t be any simpler.

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Reader offer from Falling Star

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The lovely Christina from Falling Star, who filled our free goody bags will samples of her soya wax fragrancers at the Great Big Green Wedding Fayre, has a fantastic special offer exclusively for our readers.

Falling Star make handmade, 100% natural, eco-friendly and ethical candles.  Made in Christina’s cottage in the heart of Devon, Falling Star candles are made from soya wax, with natural cotton wicks and scented with pure essential oils.

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The wax fragrancers that Christina provided for The Natural Wedding Company goody bags at the wedding fayre are handmade using soya wax and essential oils, like all Falling Star products.

The fragrancers make ideal wedding favours, and can be popped in drawers and cupboards to fragrance your clothes and linen, or you can melt them in a burner or a pot on your radiator to scent the room.  Plus, they’re available in 5 different scents and are a bargain at only £2 each including p+p.

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A free tutorial from Ruth Singer: Camelia flower corsage

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The lovely Ruth Singer has provided an exclusive tutorial for visitors to The Natural Wedding Company blog – a ‘how to’ guide to making one of her beautiful Camelia flower corsages.

Ruth will guide you through how to create your own corsages perfect for brides or bridesmaids using fabric remnants – perhaps even left over material from making your own wedding dress!  These flowers are really simple to make and work well with heavy weight satin and silk dress fabrics.

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Before you start, download your petal templates and print them out.

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Exciting news!

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We are back from our week in Italy having eaten our way around Naples and the Amalfi Coast.

Perhaps most excitingly of all…the lovely man in my life got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!  After five and half years together, the answer was “Of course, yes!”

Our families are so thrilled and it is exciting and daunting all at once.  More to come, including “the ring.”

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Our weekend at The Great Big Green Wedding Fayre

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As some of you will know The Natural Wedding Company headed over to Liverpool last weekend to The Great Big Green Wedding Fayre.  Last week was a bit manic – there was so much to get ready, and on Friday evening I wasn’t sure I felt prepared.

Luckily my lovely assistant Maria turned up on Friday evening and helped me to stuff my 200 goody bags with the lovely leaflets from some of our directory businesses.  Those businesses included Blossom, Diva Stores, Green Paper Wishes, Oria Jewellery, the Pines Calyx, The Real Cut Flower Garden, and Vintage Memories.  The bags also include a free gift from Falling Star – a May Chang scented room fragrancer which had a wonderful citrus scent.  We have an exclusive offer for all bride- and grooms-to be from Falling Star that I’ll tell you about soon!

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Back from the wedding fayre

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So this was me on Friday – madly getting ready for The Great Big Green Wedding Fayre.  I have survived the weekend, albeit it a little tired (!), and promise to get some photos and details posted this evening.  My partner and I are off on holiday to Italy on Friday, so it’s that mad pre-holiday rush at the moment.

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Stylish homemade “save the date” cards

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September’s creative post is designed to help inspire you to create your own wedding stationery – or at least,  your own stylish homemade ‘save the date’ cards.  ‘Save the date’ cards seem to be relatively unknown in the UK, but they are popular in the US.

For anyone who’s not sure what a ‘save the date’ card is, you send them out to your guests with the date of your wedding and your names, and perhaps the location of where your wedding will be.

The great thing about ‘save the date’ cards is that you can send them out before you have confirmed all the details of your wedding, such as time and venue, which are needed for invitations.  Friends of ours who recently got married sent their ‘save the dates’ out in the form of a magnet, which we stuck on our fridge.

The below images were created using home photographs, and edited on a free online website called Picnik.  This website is easy-to-use and allows you to create high quality images with different effects, borders, and text.  I see ‘save the date’ cards as an opportunity to be quite fun and lighthearted, or you could tie them in with your wedding stationery if you know what it will look like.

Some design ideas and tips

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The photograph of the donkeys was taken on holiday in Menorca, and I thought would make a great ‘save the date’ as the donkeys look like they are kissing.  I added a sepia affect to create the two-tone colour so that they text would stand out against it, and used a tool on Picnik to soften the edges of the photo but keep the donkeys in focus.  I used all the same font for the text, and used the ‘stickers’ option on Picnik to create the heart by the couples initials.

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Preparing for the wedding fayre

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So it’s the last weekend before the Great Big Green Wedding Fayre.  We are spending the bank holiday weekend with my family in the Cotswolds.  Last week I was madly rushing around trying to get together the items I need for my stand.

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Special offer on tickets to the Great Big Green Wedding Fayre

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The lovely Amanda and Jemma who are organising the Great Big Green Wedding Fayre are giving our readers a special offer on tickets.  You can buy 2 tickets for just £8 (normal price £6 each) – to book your tickets to this fantastic wedding show just email your details to info@biggreenwedding.co.uk and quote ‘NWC‘ as the reference.

If you are getting married and are planning your green wedding, the Great Big Green Wedding Fayre is the perfect opportunity to come and experience, at first hand, the ingredients that will create your special day.

The event is showcasing the very best innovative wedding suppliers in a way that will allow couples to sample the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of a real green wedding.  This event will be one of a kind, a sample green wedding celebrationcomplete with afternoon tea served on vintage chinaware, beautiful music from harpist Rebecca Joy Sharp, and pamper sessions from the Body Shop at Home.

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