Blog: summer wedding
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Inspiration for a spring wedding menu featuring foraged wild leaves and edible flowers

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Spring wedding picnic in a field

Sometimes emails land in your inbox that totally inspire you, I had one such email last week from Sarah at Eat My Flowers with her ideas for floral inspired menu.  Immediately I was dreaming up a spring wedding picnic based on her menu ideas and thought that you all might like to be inspired as well.

Why not serve your wedding guests a slightly different take on the English afternoon tea, starting with dainty sandwiches filled with organic free range egg and wild hedgerow leaves.  Almost too pretty to eat!

Free range eggs and wild leaf sandwiches

Sarah suggests “Swap one layer of the free range egg mayonnaise with a selection of wild leaves such as sorrel and hedge mustard, and edible flowers such wild rocket, violas and mustard.  The peppery leaves and flowers make a novel alternative to cress.”

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Lucy and Jon’s rural Peak District wedding handcrafted by family and friends

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Beechenhill Farm organic wedding venue

Peak District wedding handcrafted by family and friends

I am thrilled to be sharing with you another real wedding and one that took place at the beautiful Beechenhill Farm who are one of the wedding venues you can find listed in The Natural Wedding Company directory.

I must say a huge thank you to Timm and Sam at Timm Cleasby Photography who have been incredibly patient with me and for sharing this lovely wedding with us.

Lucy and Jon Peak District wedding

Beechenhill Farm eco wedding venue

Lucy and Jon got married in July at Beechenhill Farm in the Peak District National Park.  With the help of their family and friends they created a beautiful and personal weekend-long wedding amongst this rather special rural setting.

Beechenhill Farm organic wedding venue

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

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natural French countryside wedding

Natural French countryside wedding (part two)

If you missed part one of Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding yesterday, get over there now and immerse yourself in an utterly gorgeous wedding.  Today it’s the second part with some gorgeous photos in woodland and around the stone villa, and their fun reception and rustic decorations.

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

countryside woodland wedding

rustic natural woodland wedding

What a happy looking couple – and those gorgeous lace sleeves and floral headband.  Everything is just so fitting about this wedding, nothing seems out of place or contrived – just simple, natural and beautiful.

antique lace wedding dress

It always helps to have a beautiful rustic backdrop to create romantic wedding photographs, like an old French villa with mint green shutters and a rambling rose (oh France how I miss you!)…

French wedding in an old stone villa

rustic French countryside wedding

stone villa wedding in the French countryside

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

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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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Pretty seasonal flowers from Green and Gorgeous for a beautiful Berkshire wedding

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Green & Gorgeous blue nigella buttonholes

This week I spotted the lovely floral work of Green and Gorgeous at this beautiful wedding of photographer Caro Hutchings.  It’s always lovely to see the work of businesses listed in The Natural Wedding Company directory, especially at real weddings.

Seasonal wedding bouquet

I love the combination of blues, yellows and greens in these buttonholes and bouquets – I’m really loving this kind of blue colour scheme for wedding flowers at the moment and these are a beautiful example.

Locally grown flowers for bridesmaid posies

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An eco-friendly wedding at Riverstation with harbour views and seasonal flowers

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Riverstation eco-friendly wedding venue

Down on the harbourside in Bristol is Riverstation, a fabulous wedding venue with alfresco terraces and harbour views, and a perfect place for an eco-friendly wedding.  Michele from Riverstation recently sent me these photos of an eco-friendly wedding that show off what a spectacular space it is – I love all the natural light and how magical it looks at night.

Riverstation eco-friendly wedding

Eco-friendly wedding venue Bristol

All the wedding flowers were done by Bella & Fifi, another of the great flower businesses listed on the directory, who only source British flowers and where possible from growers in the south west.

Bella and Fifi British wedding flowers Bristol

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Holly and Dean’s village fete wedding with a coconut shy and Morris Men

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country wedding flowers village fete

Village fete wedding with Morris Men

This beautiful wedding photographed by Dawn Potter was inspired by the nostalgia of village fetes, and is full of fun and games for the many children who came – something I think too often gets over-looked.  Holly crafted such a colorful and fun wedding that really went that extra mile for her guests.

village fete wedding flowergirl

Holly and Dean got married in the picturesque village of Loders in Dorset, with the ceremony in the village church and the reception just down the road.

country church wedding

The church was decorated with pretty country style flowers and the order of service is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen – isn’t it stunning, like a page out of a fairytale…

hand made illustrated order of service

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Emma and Gianni’s rustic country wedding ~ part two

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Andy Rapkins Photography

Rustic country wedding (part two)

If you missed Emma and Gianni’s rustic country wedding part one from yesterday, do take a read first.  After their beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony, Emma and Gianni continued their wedding festivities at the beautiful Cripps Barn in Gloucestershire.

The countryside around Cripps Barn is beautiful and provides the most gorgeous natural setting for photographs.

>> Read part one of Emma and Gianni’s rustic country wedding here <<

Rustic country wedding

Don’t you think that Emma’s colour palette of pale dusty pinks and peaches are beautifully reflected in the soft golden colour of this wheat field…

Emma & Gianni rustic country wedding

I love this series of photos – photographer Andy Rapkins has captured such a sweet and intimate moment between Emma and Gianni.

Andy Rapkins Photography

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Emma and Gianni’s rustic country wedding ~ part one

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Emma & Gianni rustic country wedding

Rustic country wedding (part one)

Today is pretty exciting on two counts – the new website has been launched and I get to share with you my first exclusive wedding.  This wedding has not been featured on any other blogs so I am utterly honoured that Emma chose The Natural Wedding Company to be the first place to share her beautiful wedding.

Emma told me that The Natural Wedding Company “was my bible during the planning of the wedding and I used many tips and links that you posted.”  So without further ado, here is part one of Emma and Gianni’s rustic country wedding photographed by the talented Andy Rapkins.

>> Read part two of Emma and Gianni’s rustic country wedding here <<

rustic natural country wedding

Emma and Gianni were married in July 2011 at Cripps Barn in Gloucestershire.  They planned a simple, relaxed and rustic wedding full of handmade pieces, charity shop finds, and meaningful details crafted by family and friends.

The theme was eclectic vintage meets ‘Darling Buds of May’ – we did a lot of the details ourselves and what we didn’t do we worked with friends and local suppliers.

darling buds of may wedding ideas

We chose Cripps Barn because we wanted somewhere relaxed, informal and peaceful.  The owners of Cripps Barn have a really relaxed yet organised approach, also all the food was locally sourced and we’d heard how amazing it was.  Gianni has a large family with lots of children so we wanted somewhere they could be free to play.

cripps barn gloucestershire wedding venue

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A summer season of natural and vintage inspired wedding flowers

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For many of the flower businesses listed on the directory who grow their own flowers, they will have just finished up a long summer wedding season.  Rachel from Catkin Flowers told me she’s been non-stop since May – phew!  So it’s been nice to get a chance to catch up with her and find out what she’s been up to this summer.

Catkin Flowers are based in Lincolnshire where they grow all their own seasonal flowers and foliage in their cutting garden.  Rachel has been sharing with me some of the beautiful creations she’s made for weddings this summer and I thought you’d all like to have a look at them too.

Rachel has done the flowers for a lot of vintage inspired weddings, such as this one in a Papa-Kåta tipi, and this stunning trailing bouquet…

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