afternoon tea Archives - The Natural Wedding Company

Blog: afternoon tea

Charlie

Charli and Sam’s sunny laid back village wedding with outdoor ceremony, locally grown flowers and tea cup wedding favours

Charlie

It certainly feels as though Spring has sprung, and what better way to celebrate but with a gloriously sunny, cheerful and laid back village wedding.

Charli and Sam’s special day has an authentically wholesome vibe to it. Just looking at these beautiful photographs by Freckle Photography you get the sense that their day was true to them. While their ‘official’ nuptials took place in the edifying surrounds of historical Bath, their outdoor ceremony and marquee celebrations were set in the village Charli grew up in.

The couple’s decisions typify the quintessential natural English wedding: hay bales, locally sourced wildflowers and homemade bunting, and it really is lovely. Emma of Freckle Photography, one of our recommended suppliers, has captured the happiness of their day perfectly. Let’s chat to bride Charli to find out more…

Samantha

An eco farmhouse wedding shoot with a vintage inspired tea party, pretty lavender details and watercolour invites

Samantha

Eco farmhouse wedding photoshoot

Set at a gorgeous German farmhouse, today’s eco-inspired wedding shoot showcases beautiful simple details including a vintage tea party with a naked wedding cake, loose bouquets of lavender and herbs, watercolour invites, and a truly romantic real life love story.

Curated by the clever people at Lovely White Weddings who wanted to provide a fully eco-friendly inspirational shoot to promote to brides-to-be the talented ethical wedding businesses in Germany, where they have yet to gain much mainstream attention. Lisa, Lena and Dani from Lovely White Weddings explain,

“In Germany we still pretty much live in a ‘green wedding desert’, there really is almost no good blog, magazine or specifically green wedding vendor to be found if you do not exactly know what to look for. Since we ourselves try to live as organic and sustainable as possible, we agreed that it was high time to fill that gap and to push the green wedding trend in Germany by throwing together one of the first truly eco German styled shoots.”

Charlie

A boho picnic wedding shoot on a lake inspired by English picnics and wildflowers with a barefoot bride in a crochet wedding dress

Charlie

I’m quite sure if you’re a regular reader you will remember this magical fairytale woodland wedding shoot from Austria sent to us by the lovely Stephanie of Mademoiselle Fee – well we have another beautiful shoot to share from her today.

A boho picnic wedding with a barefoot bride

Set on a weather worn wooden dock over an Austrian lake, this English picnic and wildflower inspired shoot brings you just the right amount of down-to-earth boho wedding inspiration.

From a barefoot bride in a 1970s-esque crochet wedding dress to the understated (and therefore perfect in my books) tea party, what I love most about the shoots created by Mademoiselle Fee and her team is the genuine, heartfelt love and emotions that emanate from the pictures. Yes, the detailings are beautiful, but it’s the tenderness that is captured, woven in with the pretty details, that make her shoots truly special.

A homage to English picnics and wildflowers

The inspiration from the shoot came from both the lake itself and a flower crown, from one of our own dear friends, Amy Swann. Stephanie told me:

“I love this place at the lake, so do all our friends, and when I saw Amy Swann’s flower crown, I immediately had this picture in my mind of a relaxed couple lying on the deck. Some years ago, when I was engaged, I found The Natural Wedding Company and have been following your inspiring blog posts ever since. This shoot is a homage to English picnics and wildflowers, to bunting and homemade cakes. I love this outdoor way of enjoying life and nature.”

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Vicky’s hunt for vintage glass bowls and doilies to add dash of vintage charm to her wedding tea party

Charlie

As I am so often admitting, I have been fairly ‘behind’ (a polite way of putting it!) with keeping up with last years lovely TNWC Real Brides. Recently we featured Fern’s beautiful wedding, and now I am thrilled to be bringing you a couple of catch-up posts from Vicky.

She did an incredible job of collecting a selection of vintage glass bowls, vases and doilies to add a relaxed vintage vibe to her wedding tea party. Her thriftiness paid off with a fantastic sounding haul – can’t wait to see how it looked all put together on her wedding day!

Over to Vicky…

We always wanted our wedding to have quite a relaxed vintage feel to it but didn’t want to spend too much money in achieving this, preferring to be able to invite more people if money allowed. I’ve always loved the mismatched vintage china that lots of people use but the cost of hiring the vintage crockery was too much to comfortably justify and after a quick scout around charity shops I wasn’t confident that we’d ever collect enough or it would work out any cheaper!

Samantha

A romantic Austrian fairytale woodland wedding with a caped wedding dress and autumnal details

Samantha

Today’s inspirational shoot is like something out of a fairytale, a laid-back modern fairytale but a fairytale woodland wedding nonetheless. Think little red riding hood, with a touch of Hansel and Gretel and a whole dose of an intimate love story to rival any Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.

Set in a secluded forest, this stunning Austrian shoot provides an abundance of autumnal and winter wedding inspiration, with gorgeous shades of green, berry and cream, incredible fashion and a to-die-for candlelit first-dance.

Here’s the film from the shoot to give you a little taster of just how beautiful it is:

Stefanie who created the shoot told us: “Summer might be a classical time for a wedding but in autumn, when it’s cooler outside, a wedding can be equally beautiful. With furs, blankets, candles and fire bowls the wedding party can easily spend unforgettable hours outside. Natural materials, homemade cakes and other sweets turn the party in something unique and personal.”

Stefanie of Mademoiselle Fee explains the dreamy vision behind the shoot: “Our idea was to accompany a newly wed couple on a romantic walk through an autumnal forest. The two have just exchanged vows, maybe in a chapel close by.

What we wanted to show was a couple, close to nature and grounded, spending this most beautiful day where their hearts are drawing them – to the forest with a little secluded house.”

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Fern’s plans for an afternoon tea reception with homemade scones and cake

Charlie

Real bride Fern shares her plans for an afternoon tea reception

Fern’s post today is full of lovely recipes (lemon and blueberry drizzle cake anyone?) and some great vintage finds, including an old seed tray her dad has upcycled into a drinks tray for their wedding. Go get inspired!

>> View Fern and Dominic’s woodland bird and country flower inspired wedding here <<

Over to Fern…

Collecting for our afternoon reception

We really wanted to have an afternoon reception rather than an evening one for our guests who will not be attending the whole event to celebrate with everyone straight away. The National Trust have allowed us exclusive use of the Old Stable Courtyard at Montacute House for us to serve refreshments for our guests and park our wedding car, but guest will be free to access the grounds as they wish.

We are planning to serve baked refreshments following our ceremony for our guests while we have photos taken. I have been really inspired by Charlie’s afternoon tea in the garden (and part 2 here) and have spent a lot of time reading and then re-reading the posts about it to absorb every ounce of inspiration. Although Dominic and I are not going for a full English tea party, I really want some colourful vintage china to liven up the rustic picnic and trestle tables we will be using.

I am searching regularly through our local charity shops for vintage china, baskets and cut glass. My ultimate bargain is the green china set which I found for £9 for the lot. I love the beautiful cut glass bird, another charity shop find, who will hopefully find a nice little home for the day.

The other items are a collection of charity and vintage shop finds, were my own already, or I am borrowing from friends and family.

For months, we have also collected jam jars, coffee jars and wine bottles to display our flowers and candles on the day, now filling 2 suitcases. My amazing dad has cleaned up and varnished a seed tray he had for us to hold our glasses for sparkling drinks, I’m blown away with how great it looks, and my parents have also kindly lent us some parasols to keep the sun off on the day.

Charlie

A vintage-eco wedding photoshoot with quirky styling and a brooch bouquet at The Pines Calyx

Charlie

Last autumn a group of local Kent wedding businesses got together to create a wedding photoshoot inspired by all things vintage and eco-friendly. They created a number of different looks and I have some of them here today to share with you, featuring some pretty vintage dresses, dainty crockery, lovely florals and an exquisite brooch bouquet.

The shoot was another collaboration between TNWC photographer Rebecca Douglas and make-up artist Suzanna who created this ethereal harvest shoot I featured last year. This time, Rebecca and Suzanna swapped the English country field for the beautiful eco-chic The Pines Calyx wedding venue, also one of our TNWC businesses.

Charlie

Jen and Chris’ pretty village fete wedding – happy anniversary guys!

Charlie

This time last year my sweet friend Jen was getting married to her Mr, Chris, as it happens in the lovely village church that we both go to sometimes. It’s in a gorgeous little village called Dunham Massey in the countryside south of Manchester. Most of the cottages are owned by the National Trust so it still has this old fashioned feel to it, and the vicar is just the best ever.

I was lucky enough to meet Jen a couple of days after her wedding for my TNWC 5th Birthday Party and we had previously met up for a cup of tea when Jen emailed me and we suddenly realised for a few months we’d been sat in church together whilst she was busy reading my blog – she created some beautiful paper details for her wedding based on our own wedding stationery.

Charlie

Seasonal spring wedding flowers inspired by a very English ‘afternoon tea in the library’

Charlie

The Natural Wedding Company is a huge supporter of seasonal British grown flowers (if you’re interested to know more check out the #britishflowers chat that’s happening on Twitter) and so I want to ramp up my support by sharing truly seasonal wedding flower inspiration with you.

I think what can be so hard some times is knowing actually what’s in season in Britain during each month of the year, and even whether it’s seasonal in the part of the country you’re getting married in – for example, the flower growers in Cornwall tend to have blooms earlier than somewhere in the north.

The lovely ladies from The Garden Gate Flower Company in Cornwall have been playing around with some seasonal spring flowers and created these beautiful arrangements that I’m delighted to share with you. The ideal inspiration for those of you planning a spring wedding!

Charlie

Anna and James’ relaxed country tea party wedding at South Farm

Charlie

Country tea party wedding at South Farm

I’m utterly delighted to be able to share Anna and James’ relaxed country tea party wedding on the blog today. They got married at South Farm in Cambridgeshire back in June and the lovely Dasha Caffrey captured their wedding.

“Our idea was to have a really relaxed country wedding with bunting, vintage tea cups and hopefully an outdoor ceremony if the weather was good enough! James and I are also real ale enthusiasts, so we had a good number of polypins [barrels] of beer on the bar, which along with the pimms and croquet, helped create a lovely village fete type atmosphere.”

“We fell in love with South Farm as soon as we saw it – it has a very natural charm and just felt like a friendly place. We thought it would be totally out of our budget, but decided to go and have a look anyway as it’s only about 20 minutes from where we live.” It turned out a number of Anna and James’ friends had either been married there or been to weddings at South Farm and all highly recommended it. “I guess having so many personal recommendations just clinched it for us!”

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