dried flowers Archives - The Natural Wedding Company

Blog: dried flowers

Charlie

The Truth About Valentine’s Flowers: What’s Really in Season in the UK?

Charlie

Valentine’s Day and red roses go hand in hand – or at least, that’s what we’ve been told. But if you’re looking for flowers that are actually in season in the UK in February, the classic bouquet of red roses just isn’t it.

Most supermarket and high street bouquets come from far-flung places like Kenya and South America, clocking up huge air miles before they even land in your hands.

So, what should a seasonal Valentine’s bouquet look like? And what are the best options if you want flowers that are both beautiful and genuinely sustainable? I asked British flower farmers and florists from across the UK to share their thoughts – and their alternatives to imported blooms.

Samantha

Rustic autumnal wedding decor inspiration with pumpkins, dried flowers and leaves from ‘The Crafted Garden’ by Louise Curley

Samantha

Rustic autumnal wedding decor inspiration from The Crafted Garden

You know how fond we are of a crafted, hand-made project here at The Natural Wedding Company, and a crafted project made with natural, seasonal materials either foraged or homegrown, well that ticks every box in our eyes. It is wonderful projects such as these that you will find in The Crafted Garden: stylish projects inspired by nature a beautiful book by Louise Curley that we are sharing with you today.

We also have a special reader offer for those who’d like to buy the book – you’ll find all the details at the bottom of the post.

Book review of The Crafted Garden

I was a excited to receive this book based on the brief synopsis and beautiful cover alone, and although I will admit I was a tiny bit sceptical that it wouldn’t offer anything more than what I could find scouring Pinterest, I will say straight away now that my scepticism was unfounded!

The book has been cleverly put together and Louise clearly has a passion for the great outdoors and how you can incorporate it in your home, for a celebration or as a unique gift idea.

I approached the book from a wedding point of view (whilst also already planning how I was going to use each one some how in my home) and excitedly flicked through the pages thinking how each craft could be used or adapted for wedding décor, accessories, gifts and so on and how all the ideas could be adapted through the seasons.

Although some of the projects may seem simple or obvious, I was surprised at how I hadn’t ever thought of doing them before and it really makes you look around and consider the natural resources you have around you.

The book offers 50 crafting projects all inspired by nature and whether you are a crafting amateur or gardening pro it contains a plethora of information beautifully presented to make it easy to read and follow. Broken down into seasons, not only does it provide instructions on craft ideas but really useful tips such as guidelines for foraging ethically, how best to dry flowers (great for after your wedding if you wish to preserve yours) and the best seasonal flowers.

Autumnal wedding craft projects

To give you a little insight into a few of the fab craft ideas in the book we tested a few of the autumnal projects out to hopefully offer a bit of seasonal wedding decor inspiration.

Izzy

A how to guide to make your own pretty linen and lace pocket wedding favours filled with dried petals from The Brides Table

Izzy

We are really getting spoilt at the moment with lovely guest posts from some of our recommended wedding suppliers, and today we have another DIY project to inspire all you crafty brides. If you are looking for wedding favour ideas to make, then Katy and Kath at The Brides Table have a great step-by-step guide to making these pretty petal pockets.

If you love the look of these petal pocket wedding favours but don’t feel crafty enough to have a go making them yourself, or if you already have a wedding ‘to do’ list as long as your arm, then visit The Brides Table website where you can buy them instead. They would also make beautiful bridesmaid gifts.

Over to Katy and Kath…

These petal pocket favours are filled with dried petals or lavender and not only do they smell divine, they look so pretty too!

You could ask your family and friends to save flowers from their gardens for you to use (roses work particularly well). Just before the petals drop, collect them on a tray and leave to dry in the sun or on a very low heat in your oven.

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides: Nik’s floral conundrum and her thrifty ideas for wedding flowers on a budget

Charlie

I hope you are all enjoying reading the wedding adventures of our TNWC Real Brides – they are all planning such varied but personal days and I can’t believe that it’s almost time for some of them to actually get married! Today we have the lovely Nik who is planning a two part wedding and she’s got some fab ideas for being thrifty with your wedding flowers….enjoy!

Tick Tock!

Before I launch into today’s post, I just wanted announce that there’s only just over two months to go ’til we say “I do”!!

This is both terrifying and very exciting. On the one hand, soon I will be married to the love of my life, which is indescribably surreal and wonderful; but on the other hand, I’m a terrible coordinator in charge of the biggest day of my own life, and am constantly terrified that I’m forgetting something important! I hope this is a normal fear, and I keep reminding myself that we want a simple, relaxed day and that the ONLY important thing is that we come away from it married to one another.

All Things Floral

This month, I thought I’d give you a rundown of the many ways we plan to feature flowers/plants in our wedding celebrations. With our wedding being split into two parts, two days apart, it was crucial that we came up with floristry solutions that would ensure we could decorate both our venues, but that also fit within our relatively small budget of £200.

Fortunately, I’m not a fan of huge arrangements or expensive blooms – I much prefer a rustic, simple, ‘thrown in a tin can’ kind of feel and adore wild flowers and abundant foliage, so I’m happy to go with a ‘whatever I can get my hands on’ approach.

Charlie

A choice of two vintage inspired confetti mixes for my natural wedding – which do I pick?

Charlie

I am trying to make up my mind which of these two vintage inspired confetti mixes I want for my wedding. These samples arrived in the post from Bespoke Confetti and I can’t decide which to go for – any thoughts?

There’s this pink, deep pink and ivory mix of dried cornflower and larkspur petals…

Or this lilac, pink and ivory mix…

Charlie

Delightful alternative uses for natural petal confetti

Charlie

There are some lovely companies out there producing natural petal confetti and some like the lovely Rosie at Bespoke Confetti even grow the flowers to produce the petals.

I have been inspired by some of the creative and alternative ideas they have for using natural petal confetti, and knew I had to share them with you.

Natural petal confetti scattered around your table centrepieces – perfect for a vintage wedding

Natural petal confetti in paper cones at the entrance to the church – perfect for a country wedding

Dried flower heads to adorn your flowergirls or bridesmaids hair – perfect for a rustic wedding

Charlie

Wild winter wreaths with seedheads, herbs and dried flowers

Charlie

Utterly gorgeous handmade winter wreaths from The Real Cut Flower Garden. I am certainly considering forgoing the traditional Christmas wreath in place of one of these.

Would also make a divine decoration at a winter wedding – perhaps on the entrance to the church or hall where you’re getting married, or just to decorate part of your venue.

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