Blog: woodland wedding
Charlie Charlie

Wreaths throughout the seasons: learn how to make a living winter viola table wreath

Charlie

Learn how to make a winter viola and ivy table wreath // Lock Cottage Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

Well what a week it’s been full of wreath idea – and nothing Christmassy in sight. Alice from Lock Cottage Flowers has shown us how to create a January moss wreath, seasonal Valentine’s wreaths, and today she’ll be showing us how to make a table wreath with potted violas and ivy. If you’d like to see all the posts in this feature series then you’ll find them here at Wreaths Throughout The Seasons.

I’ve really loved her use of living plants in her wreaths, and creating living centrepieces is something we’ve previously shared on the blog. I would love to see more weddings using them in creative ways, and as these ideas show they would work beautifully for a woodland inspired wedding or an eco-chic city wedding perhaps.

Over to Alice…

How to make a winter viola and ivy table wreath

Learn how to make a winter viola and ivy table wreath // Lock Cottage Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Tamsin and Alex’s relaxed eco-friendly wedding with woodland handfasting ceremony and the best cake ever

Charlie

Tamsin and Alex's relaxed eco-friendly wedding with woodland hand-fasting ceremony and the best cake ever // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Eco-friendly wedding with handfasting ceremony

What a beautiful way to welcome in the New Year with this down-to-earth, relaxed eco-friendly wedding of Tamsin and Alex. Captured by the lovely Emma of Emma Stoner Photography (and second shooter Heather Birnie), who can be found featured on the Photography + Film page of our directory, this wedding is bound to inspire you. Plus it has my new all-time-favourite wedding cake and wedding hair!

Tamsin and Alex got married in September at Middle Coombe Farm in Devon, where they fell in love with “it’s wonderful inhabitants and beautiful sprawling woodlands.” Here at TNWC we recently fell for the charms of Middle Coombe Farm and are delighted that you’ll now find them on the directory too.

Over to Tamsin to tell us more…

Tiered Victoria sponge wedding cake with flowers, ferns, berries, and yellow raspberries // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Woodland hand-fasting ceremony at Middle Coombe Farm in Devon // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Wedding rings // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Hand-fasting ceremony in a woodland // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Woodland animal themed wedding table names // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Woodland wedding ceremony // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Seasonal late summer bridal bouquet in shades of blue and white // Flowers by In Bloom Devon www.inbloomdevon.co.uk // Photography by Emma Stoner www.emmastonerweddings.com // The Natural Wedding Company

Middle Coombe Farm for a woodland wedding

“[We wanted] a relaxed and rustic [feel], with lots for everyone to do and an eclectic take on decorations and as eco conscious as I could make it. We chose Middle Coombe Farm after finding out about it’s wonderful inhabitants and beautiful sprawling woods. The accommodation was also spot on, with a place for campers, a campervan, family and close friends and little ones! It advertises itself as an eco venue too so we were very sold!

Read more

Samantha Samantha

Claire and Andrew’s secluded woodland wedding with rustic chic handmade details, giants tipis and festoon lighting

Samantha

Claire and Andrew's secluded woodland wedding with rustic chic handmade details, giants tipis and festoon lighting // photography www.andyhook.com/

Secluded woodland wedding with giant tipis and festoon lighting

Set among the woods with a swoon-worthy sunset as a backdrop today’s beautiful rustic chic wedding of the gorgeous Claire and Andrew is pure wedding magic! Stunning creative homemade details, tipi tents from TNWC recommended supplier Papakata  with festoon lighting and page boys in bow ties are just a few of the many things I am sure you are going to love about this wedding.

Secluded woodland wedding venue // photography www.andyhook.com/

Two Birds champagne coloured bridesmaid dresses // photography www.andyhook.com/

Rustic brown order of service with white stamp // photography www.andyhook.com/

Rustic chic wedding table decorations // photography www.andyhook.com/

Bride and groom with giant white balloons // photography www.andyhook.com/

A summer wedding in Yorkshire

Claire and Andrew were wed in the summer in South Yorkshire on a gloriously sunny day. Their reception venue having never before been used for that purpose, required meticulously planning from scratch to create the beautiful day we are sharing with you today.

With bride Claire being a designer by profession, you can understand how it all was executed so perfectly and you are guaranteed to find some fantastic do-it-yourself inspiration along the way. So on that note it is over to the lovely lady herself, beautiful bride Claire with all the details from their big day.

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Jessica and Paul’s natural countryside wedding with a Georgian mansion ceremony and magical woodland evening party

Charlie

Natural countryside wedding

Natural countryside wedding

This week I’m going to spoil you all with another gorgeous real wedding – one in which the groom actually built a beautiful timber framed tent for their wedding reception in a woodland.  It really looks as magical as it sounds!  Wow, wow, wow.

Woodland wedding yurt lit up a night

Rustic wood table name holders

Jessica and Paul were married in Kent in September 2012 and celebrated their wedding with a ceremony and reception in a Georgian manor followed by a magical woodland after party.

Country manor house wedding

Bottles of Sloe Gin wedding favours

Read more

Charlie Charlie

A winter woodland wedding photoshoot with lush florals, fur stoles and vintage details

Charlie

Folk inspired bride and groom

Did you see yesterday’s wintry Cornish reindeer photoshoot?  If not you must go take a look – it’s stunning!  Today I’ve got part 2 of the photoshoot that was dreamt up by wedding photographer Sarah Falugo (who also runs Green Photographic) and took place at Cornish wedding venue Gwel an Mor.

Yesterday the setting was a wild and windswept landscape, today a sheltered woodland featuring lush floral arrangements full of ferns and blackberries.  For a photoshoot done on a budget, it is overflowing with lovely inspiration and ideas that can easily be recreated for your own wedding.

Lush woodland bouquet with ferns and dahlias

Natural and wild floral decorations

Despite it’s wintery themes, the shoot took place in August (can you believe it!) which explains the soft blush dahlias you can spot in the floral arrangements – no doubt from The Blue Carrot’s cutting garden.

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Christine and Joe’s intimate woodland wedding with vows beneath a beech tree

Charlie

Woodland wedding ceremony

Intimate woodland wedding with vows beneath a beech tree

I have such a lovely wedding to share with you today, which will be of extra interest to anyone considering a woodland or outdoor ceremony, because Christine and Joe had one of the most beautiful looking wedding ceremonies I’ve seen.

Their photographer, Emma Stoner, is one of the talented wedding photographers listed on The Natural Wedding Company directory, and I’m thrilled to be able to share this wedding with you.

West Lexham wedding venue Norfolk

On a sunny August day, Christine and Joe were married in the grounds at West Lexham in Norfolk in an intimate woodland ceremony beneath the boughs of a red beech tree.  “We wanted an intimate and joyous feel for our wedding, as if we were in the heart of our community and supported by them.  It was important to us that everyone had a good time – despite having to work for it by making contributions!”

Emma Stoner Photography

“We wanted to find somewhere that we could get married outdoors, near trees and water.  I guess you could say it was symbolic to us as I love water and Joe loves woodlands.  In personality, I think of Joe as the strong, grounded one, and me as the strong, flowing one!”

Emma Stoner Photography

“We chose West Lexham because it felt like the right place – we could get married under the boughs of a beautiful red beech tree by a little river.  Also, the site had camping in bell tents, a swimming pool, gardens, rowing on the river, as well as cottages and the manor house.”

Bell tents

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Eco-friendly birch bark cake toppers and confetti for a woodland wedding

Charlie

Birch bark bird wedding cake topper

One of my Favourite Finds recently is this Etsy shop who are creating these beautiful wedding items from biodegradable birch bark.  There is a wonderful selection of cake toppers (like these cheerful little birds above), cupcake toppers and mini flags, birch bark confetti in the shape of leaves or hearts, and even a cute little ring bearers pillow.

This is the birch bark confetti, which is full compostable making it a great eco-friendly option.  I think it would be particularly nice at an autumn or winter wedding…

Birch bark confetti

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Quirky and eco-friendly hand drawn wedding stationery from Hollyhock Lane with an exclusive reader discount

Charlie

Hollyhock Lane quirky hand drawn eco-friendly wedding stationery

I am loving the influx of talented illustrators who are turning their hand to creating stunning wedding stationery that is not only beautiful, but in many cases eco-friendly too.  Today I want to introduce you to Hollyhock Lane, a brand new wedding stationery business set up by artist and illustrator Julie Annis.

Plus, Julie is offering readers of The Natural Wedding Company an exclusive 15% discount on all orders placed before August 20th 2012, so if you love her designs below or want a bespoke design, simply mention The Natural Wedding Company when you get in touch with Julie.

From her little cottage in rural Sussex, Julie is busy dreaming up and creating quirky wedding stationery that has all the charm and creativity that I certainly was searching for when planning my wedding.  Hollyhock Lane provides a collection of ready designed stationery or you can commission Julie to create a bespoke design that intimately captures the essence of your wedding day.

The Hollyhock Lane Collections:

Hazy Woodland

Inspired by Julie’s own woodland wedding – whether you’re getting married in the woods or are using nature as an inspiration.

Woodland inspired wedding stationery

Eco-friendly woodland wedding invitation

Read more

Charlie Charlie

A woodland ‘cherish the dress’ shoot in Devon

Charlie

Devon woodland cherish the dress photoshoot

Back in September, Sarah from The Woodland Shelter in Devon decided to host a ‘cherish the dress’ (or ‘trash the dress’ depending on your inclination!) photoshoot in the woodlands around their ceremony venue.  She invited a couple of real brides to come and wear their wedding dresses again and have some photographs taken by a local photographer.

The Woodland Shelter wedding venue Devon

The Woodland Shelter is a registered wedding venue situated deep within woods in North Devon and is perfect for couples wanting a woodland ceremony, something a little different, an intimate gathering, and one that is a little greener.  The ‘cherish the dress’ photoshoot gives you a glimpse at the beautiful woodland available for wedding photos – including a gentle river.

Read more

Charlie Charlie

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

Charlie

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

Read more