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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.

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As a wedding blogger I find it’s easy to get past Christmas and New Year and suddenly start thinking about spring – in fact, I’m all too guilty of doing this in my everyday life.  It’s a shame, because winter’s only just begun and apart from the rain and dark days it’s not all that bad.

I think that inspiration and ideas for winter weddings can often get overlooked, so today I wanted to share this image of a simple way to decorate your wedding venue for a seasonal winter wedding.  Just because it’s winter you don’t need to feel that seasonal foliage limits you to holly and ivy, or wreaths.  Keep your tables refined and uncluttered with a simple arrangement of candles (I really like how they are varying heights and sizes) and a scattering of fragrant woody herbs, and create a focal point of greenery wound round a metal chandelier.

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There are some ideas I see that get me really inspired, ideas that I think I’ll hang on to and maybe try and recreate one day in my own life.  This simple collection of artfully arranged ferns and flickering candles for winter wedding reception tables is one such idea that I think I’d like to steal and do one year at Christmas.

Sometimes with weddings it’s all too easy to get swept up into thinking we need to do and create loads to make them look beautiful – but this idea shows that with a few simple ingredients – ferns and an assortment of candles – you can make something stunning.

Images: Leo Patrone via Once Wed

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This natural and simple looking Christmas decor is exactly the kind that I love – made from just a few ordinary items, yet beautiful when finished.  Whilst this lovely festive candle chandelier doesn’t come with ‘how to’ instructions, I thought I’d share my thoughts on how I’d recreate something similar – and if you have any tips (perhaps you’ve made something similar) then do leave you advice in the comments box below.

Candle chandelier ‘how to’

For the simplest version, I’d simply create two circlets of different sizes from wire – I’d make sure to choose fairly robust wire and to wind it round a couple of times to ensure it wasn’t too flimsy. Next I’d take my fir boughs or other greenery and using thin wire twist them into place around the wire circles.

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It always nice to see something that feels a little bit unusual – this natural chandelier was something I thought would be a nice touch for a very natural wedding.  It could be created for all seasons, although I do think it looks particularly effective in autumn or winter, strung with brightly hues leaves, dried seed heads and jolly berries.

You could buy a wreath from a craft shop that you could use as your base, or like this one, make a frame from twigs bound together with twine.  I think it’s a really quirky alternative to traditional wedding flowers, and if you’re wanting to reflect the seasons at an autumn or winter wedding a couple of these in your venue could really add to the feel of the day.

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