Blog: back garden wedding
Charlie Charlie

Favourite Unique Natural Weddings: from a hiking mountain biking bride to a small city back garden ceremony

Charlie

Favourite Unique Natural Weddings: from a hiking mountain biking bride to a small city back garden ceremony

Welcome to the fourth instalment of our Real Wedding Favourites mini series. So far we’ve covered our favourite natural wedding styles, natural wedding spaces, and natural wedding details. Today we’re taking a look at some of our favourite Unique Natural Weddings.

We’ve done our  Favourite Unique Natural Weddings category a bit different to the others in our Real Wedding Favourites series. Instead of categories, we’ve just chosen some of our favourite weddings that we thought were a little bit different and unique.

A Homemade Eco Friendly Wedding in Wales

Unique Natural Weddings: A Homemade Eco Friendly Wedding in Wales

All the weddings we feature have some element of an eco or ethical ethos behind them, but for this category we wanted to choose one who had a really clear commitment throughout all aspects of their wedding.

Jenny and David’s eco ethical wedding stemmed from their love of plants and the Welsh countryside, and they filled their wedding day with elements that reflected that. They chose a fab eco wedding venue, decorated their tipi reception with potted plants, had bouquets of buttons donated by friends, ‘living’ succulent buttonholes, and made their wedding stationery from recycled card.

Unique Natural Weddings: A Homemade Eco Friendly Wedding in Wales

Unique Natural Weddings: A Homemade Eco Friendly Wedding in Wales

View Jenny and David’s botanical Welsh wedding. Photography by Emma Stoner Photography.

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Gemma and Nick’s flower filled cottage garden wedding with homegrown sweet peas and pale blue bridesmaids’ dresses

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Gemma and Nick’s flower filled cottage garden wedding with homegrown sweet peas and pale blue bridesmaids’ dresses // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

This Real Weddingsis one of those relaxed, family-filled days; brimming with joy and carefully chosen homemade details, it is unique yet classic and timelessly traditional.

Gemma and Nick, who met at university, were married in their beautiful local church and held their reception in a marquee adorned with borrowed bunting and homegrown flowers in the garden of Gemma’s family home.

We asked bride Gemma to fill us in on more details of this picture-perfect DIY wedding, captured by one of our recommended wedding photographers, Maureen de Preez. Over to Gemma…

Rustic hessian wedding table plan // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Gemma and Nick’s flower filled cottage garden wedding with homegrown sweet peas and pale blue bridesmaids’ dresses // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Homemade wedding cake decorated with real flowers // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Gemma and Nick’s flower filled cottage garden wedding with homegrown sweet peas and pale blue bridesmaids’ dresses // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Country wedding bunting // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Gemma and Nick’s flower filled cottage garden wedding with homegrown sweet peas and pale blue bridesmaids’ dresses // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Country wedding place setting // Maureen du Preez Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

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Samantha Samantha

Hazel and Dan’s backyard family wedding with child-friendly entertainment and colourful, DIY details

Samantha

Hazel and Dan's backyard family wedding with child-friendly entertainment and colourful, DIY details // Solen Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Today’s wonderful backyard family wedding is full of colour, smiles, love and laughter –  a perfect wedding recipe.

Hazel and Dan were married October 2015 in an intimate humanist ceremony in their backyard surrounded by their family and friends. Followed with a parade through Arthur Street in Edinburgh they continued their celebrations at their local community hall with child-friendly entertainment and a celidh.

The moments and details of their day were beautifully captured by one of our talented directory member Solen Photography, and to tell us a bit more about it all is lovely bride Hazel…

Hazel and Dan's backyard family wedding with child-friendly entertainment and colourful, DIY details // Solen Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Hazel and Dan's backyard family wedding with child-friendly entertainment and colourful, DIY details // Solen Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Hazel and Dan's backyard family wedding with child-friendly entertainment and colourful, DIY details // Solen Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Hazel and Dan's backyard family wedding with child-friendly entertainment and colourful, DIY details // Solen Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

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Hanna and Guy’s storybook inspired spring garden wedding with a marching band and humanist blessing beneath a tree

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Hanna and Guy's storybook inspired spring garden wedding with a marching band and humanist blessing beneath a tree // Images for Life // The Natural Wedding Company

Today’s wedding is just making me long for those lush spring days when the English countryside is covered in cow parsley and buttercups. Hanna and Guy were inspired by childhood storybook’s and fairytales, with fun details dotted throughout their wedding, which took place in a beautiful family garden.

We adore this kind of wedding, with its down-to-earth feel, involvement by family and friends, and those magical moments – in this case a marching band leading the bride and groom through a field of cow parsley (see below). This wedding was beautifully captured by our friend Joanna Ornowska of Images for Life, one of our TNWC Recommended Suppliers. Over to Hanna to tell you more about her whimsical storybook garden wedding…

Wedding procession with a marching band through a meadow // Images for Life // The Natural Wedding Company

Rustic wedding picnic // Images for Life // The Natural Wedding Company

Vintage wedding marquee in a meadow // Images for Life // The Natural Wedding Company

Fairytale inspired wedding // Images for Life // The Natural Wedding Company

Back garden wedding // Images for Life // The Natural Wedding Company

Hanna and Guy's storybook inspired spring garden wedding with a marching band and humanist blessing beneath a tree // Images for Life // The Natural Wedding Company

A back garden wedding inspired by childhood stories

I liked the idea of having a wedding that was as tailored to our personalities and values as possible, and so the idea of using a venue that was licensed for civil ceremonies and had already hosted countless big days was immediately dismissed. Instead, we decided to have a humanist blessing in Guy’s mum’s glorious two-acre back garden, which is somewhat incongruously hidden away behind a suburban bungalow in rural Cambridgeshire.

We’re both passionate about traditional children’s stories and so we chose to follow a loose ‘storybook’ theme, transforming the garden into a magical fairytale land that we jokingly called ‘Ermine Island’.

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Bree and Mitch’s rustic backyard wedding on the coast of Australia with a blush pink wedding dress by Grace Loves Lace

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Bree and Mitch's rustic backyard wedding on the coast of Australia with a blush pink wedding dress by Grace Loves Lace // OnThree Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Today’s beautiful rustic backyard wedding comes to us all the way from sunny Australia and is a lovely example of how to have a laid back and affordable wedding. Bree and Mitch were high school sweethearts and planned a wedding around their memories of warm evenings sat together in Bree’s parents back garden.

From Bree’s unconventional blush pink Grace Loves Lace wedding dress to rustic handmade details and makeshift bar, this wedding is both beautiful and full of love, but without a huge financial cost. They even had some weather issues, but not – if you’re planning a summer wedding in England – in the way that you’d imagine!

Over to Bree to tell us more about their wedding…

Bree and Mitch's rustic backyard wedding on the coast of Australia with a blush pink wedding dress by Grace Loves Lace // OnThree Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

DIY newspaper love heart decorations // OnThree Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Bree and Mitch's rustic backyard wedding on the coast of Australia with a blush pink wedding dress by Grace Loves Lace // OnThree Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Backyard wedding ceremony // OnThree Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Bree and Mitch's rustic backyard wedding on the coast of Australia with a blush pink wedding dress by Grace Loves Lace // OnThree Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

Bree and Mitch's rustic backyard wedding on the coast of Australia with a blush pink wedding dress by Grace Loves Lace // OnThree Photography // The Natural Wedding Company

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Izzy Izzy

Alison and Rama’s back garden Bedouin tent wedding with a dash of English country charm and a bohemian bride

Izzy

Bohemian English country garden wedding

Back garden bedouin tent wedding

What a treat we have for you today with another beautiful real wedding – this time with a bit of twist.  Usually weddings are submitted to us by the bride or her wedding photographer, but today’s pretty Somerset wedding was sent to us by wedding stylist Kirsten who runs The Little Wedding Helper.

The bride and groom – Alison and Rama – had a down-to-earth wedding held in their garden full of bohemian styling, Moroccan lanterns, and a dash of English country charm.  The couple decided not to have a wedding photographer, but lucky for us they allowed Kirsten to bring along her own photographer to capture some of their day and gorgeous details.

Bedouin tent wedding ceremony

One of my favourite parts of Alison and Rama’s wedding is that guests were invited to bring flowers rather than gifts, which were then used to create the table decorations – what a lovely idea and one that created a vibrant palette of colour that really complements the Bohemian feel of their wedding.

So it’s over to Kirsten to tell you about Alison and Rama’s wedding and how she helped style it…

Black board menu & Bedouin tent

Romantic pale pink flower crown

Back garden wedding with Bedouin tent

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Izzy Izzy

Sarah and Sam’s old fashioned country village wedding with a pretty garden party reception on a shoestring

Izzy

Sarah and Sam's old fashioned country village wedding

Old fashioned country village wedding

I’m thrilled to be sharing another exclusive real wedding with you on the blog today – a gorgeous June wedding set amongst stunning North Yorkshire countryside.  The bride Sarah, was one of the lovely girls who joined me for my TNWC 5th Birthday Party last April, so it’s especially lovely to share her wedding after hearing about their plans last spring.

For anyone planning a wedding on a ‘shoestring’ then this wedding is for you – as Sarah mentions later on, they took ideas they saw and worked out how they make it themselves.  It’s a real DIY wedding on a budget, but a totally beautiful one.

Over to Sarah to tell you all about her beautiful wedding to Sam…

Country bride and groom

Bouquet toss

Sarah and her husband Sam chose the 23rd June 2012 to get married, “because it was the Saturday closest to the midsummer solstice and there’s an old English tradition of weddings on that day.  We wanted an old-fashioned country wedding with an informal feel, and we tried to make everything homemade if it possibly could be.”

“The week before the wedding was a crazy whirl of preparations because it was such a DIY affair.  Luckily we had a fantastic team of family, friends and neighbours who worked tirelessly to finish preparing the food and decorations.”

Bride with bouquet of country flowers

Wooden wedding sign

Garden party wedding

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Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding ~ part one

Charlie

Natural French countryside wedding

Natural French countryside wedding (part one)

It goes without saying this might possibly be one of my favourite weddings ever.  Shot by American photographer David Blair, this oh-so-pretty wedding of Mariette and Benjamin took place at a family-owned, rustic stone villa in the French countryside.

>> View Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding (part two) here <<

Rustic French countryside wedding

French wedding rustic villa

If you’re regular readers of the blog, it won’t come as any surprise that the brides dress is one of my absolute favourites – I’m not sure I’ve seen many more that I think are more exquisite.  I even told Nick that I might have swapped my own wedding dress for it – he was shocked!

Antique lace country style wedding dress

Antique lace wedding dress

I love the delicate lace sleeves and the way the front is loosely draped and edged with more lace.  I love the ribbon sash around the waist that is fastened in a bow at the back and the way the skirt falls simply to the floor – the lace hem full of dainty detailing.  It seems quite Edwardian inspired – one of my favourite eras for wedding dress inspiration.

French wedding dress with lace sleeves

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

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Handmade 1930s country wedding

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 <<

1930s country wedding dress inspiration

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

handmade country wedding signs

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. 

country bride wedding inspiration

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Charlie Charlie

A Devon wedding in a tiny windswept church

Charlie

I feel very lucky to be able to share today’s wedding with you all – the wedding took place at St Michael De Rupe Church on the top of Brentor in Devon.  Not only is this tiny, windswept church one of the highest and smallest in England but it’s also very close to my heart.

My granny grew up on a farm in Brentor village that sits beneath this ancient hill.  A large part of my family come from this part of Devon, I have ridden across Blackdown (the surrounding moors) throughout my childhood, and my great granny had her 90th birthday on Brentor.

So before I get carried away with my family history, this is a special place to me – so a big thank you to photographer Sarah Falugo of Green Photographic for letting me feature this wedding.

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