Charlie
Charlie
Here’s a sneak peak at the upcoming photos from my hen party last weekend. I am awaiting the full set of photos from my little sister, who took the pictures. Can’t wait to share them all!
Charlie
Charlie
We have spent the last few weekends making jam jar lanterns for our wedding. I have had friends and colleagues at work saving all their jars for us, Mr Rigg has been busy soaking off all the labels and together we have been attaching wire to make handles.
They are so simple to make, just time consuming! Especially attaching the wire. They’re not particularly beautiful, the wire is a bit twisted, but I love the handmade look of them, all that glass and silver wire, and the fantastic shapes and sizes of the jars.
Charlie
Charlie
One of our newest editions to The Natural Wedding Company directory is a photographer from the North West of England called Mark Tattersall.
Just a glance at his website and you can tell he takes exquisite pictures, so I had to share this beautiful handmade vintage winter wedding he shot.
Marie and Karl were married in the Forest of Bowland and chose a personal, DIY approach to reflect their eco-conscious principles – delightfully combined with elegant, vintage and natural touches.
Their reception was held at an organic farm in a gorgeous 17th century barn with wood burning stove. Guests were treated to mulled wine, hot vimto and spiced biscuits made by Marie. Everything was served in a beautiful array of mis-matched vintage tea cups and saucers.
Charlie
Charlie
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.
Charlie
Charlie
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.
Before you start, download your petal templates and print them out.
Charlie
Charlie
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
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.
Charlie
Charlie
What better way to guide your friends and family to your wedding ceremony or reception (or to the summer cocktails!) than with a simple, homemade sign. There are some fantastic ideas for wedding signs out there, from old planks of wood casually painted, to those painted soft vintage pastels with the text in elegant black lettering. This is my version which is perfect for popping on a table rather than staking in the ground: perhaps you could write your wedding menu on it, or a fun message to your guests.
Charlie
Charlie
I love to cook, so I thought it was about time that I posted a creative food idea for all of you planning a more down-to-earth wedding. Cupcakes would be perfect if you’re thinking about creating a colourful and relaxed wedding. Even if you’re not confident about your cupcake or fairy cake making skills, I’m sure most of us have a family member or friend who is a bit of a whizz when it comes to cake making. Besides, everyone should have a go at making fairy cakes as they’re really simple, taste so much better when homemade, and you can decorate them any which way you choose!
By making your own fairy cakes, you can ensure that the ingredients are organic, fair trade, or local depending on your preference. From organic flour to local eggs, fair trade sugar or farmhouse butter, you will be able to make positive choices about what goes into your wedding cakes.
Now for the recipe. I use the following recipe, though I can’t remember where I got it from, which produces lovely fairy cakes. However, there are loads of fairy cake or cupcake recipes out there, or you may even have a tried-and-tested family favourite.