Real Wedding: Tess & Eric

This wedding is a HUGE treat for the eyes.  I've been getting excited about putting it up for a few weeks now, because it's a complete explosion of creativity.  And the best thing?  It was pretty much all DIY'd by Eric and Tess, with the help of their immensely talented friends and family, including three, yes three photographers.  Huge thanks to all of them for agreeing to let me publish their pics - do check out their links.  Don't miss the shot of their caterers, Skillet Street Food's Airstream, which has to be the coolest kitchen in the world.  And now....feast your eyes - this has to be one of the most inspiring weddings ever!

All the photos above published with massive thanks to Annie Beedy.

All the photos above published with massive thanks to January Fredericks.
All those below, with thanks to Will Austin.

Check out their gorgeous stationary - I just adore the forest theme, and it gave guests a brilliant hint of what was to come on their big day.  Photos below published with big thank you's (again!) to Annie Beedy.

Message from Tess: We were very lucky to have talented friends involved in our wedding. In addition to having photographers donate their work we also had musician friends play at the ceremony. Our best friend, a very socially adroit and funny funny man, became ordained so that he could marry us; he had everyone guffawing and crying by turns throughout the ceremony.  A florist friend did all of the flowers, and an old family friend made the birch candlesticks. My mother foraged for the birch bark, which I fashioned into cuffs for the vases. Eric and I designed all the creative elements and we also designed both of my rings. In short, Eric and I were able to benefit from all the best elements of being part of a large creative community.

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Real Wedding: Jennifer & Andrew

The emphasis at this gorgeous wedding was the natural world. Jennifer and Andrew are free spirited souls with a strong sense of green living, and they reinforced this through the detailing on their big day. From the mossy centerpieces, to the national park setting, the bride's eco-friendly engagement ring, and the simple seasonal flower bouquets, the happy couple had one eye on romance and the other on sustainability. Inspired? Check out the Green Bride Guide for advice, use pots of plants rather than cut flowers, buy your bridesmaids' gowns second-hand, and save energy by lighting the ceremony with candles. Throw in a wedding breakfast made with locally grown food, and you'll be the perfect eco-couple. Gorgeous pictures as ever from the girls at Simply Bloom.

Message from the happy couple about Jennifer's eco-friendly engagement ring: "Andrew gave Jennifer a sapphire engagement ring on September 5th, 2008, at the chapel at Camp Comer. The ring contains five stones (one sapphire and four diamonds). All of the stones were ethically sourced: the diamonds from Canada and the sapphire from Sri-Lanka. The white gold used to make the ring is renewed gold, or recycled. Additionally, the company provides each ring in a wooden box and prints all certificates of authentication on recycled paper with recycled ink."

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Eco-Chic Week #9 - Brilliant Burlap

Just because it's slightly rough and ready, doesn't make burlap any less chic. In fact, it's its naive rusticity that makes it this season's fabric of choice for eco-chic weddings. Made from vegetable fibres, it's often used to make sacks to transport coffee beans, and it's these bags that are super-easy to recyle into gorgeous accessories and favours. Perfect for a couple keen to be green on their big day. Don't miss the special offers for Before the Big Day readers - details below the pics.

Product Credits {from top left} - My Adobe Cottage, Heart Bag: Lilmissi, Napkin Ring: The French Nest Co, Ring Cushion: Ginie Lee, {from bottom left}, Heart Wine Bag: Lilmissi, Heart Bunting: My Adobe Cottage, Starfish Bag: Funky Shique

Product Credits {from top left}- Table Runner: My Adobe Cottage, Key Cushion: Styled Spaces, Bird Bunting: Funky Shique, Welcome Table Runner: My Adobe Cottage, {from middle left} Crown Lavender Bags: Home Spun Style, {from bottom left} Ring Cushion: The Blooming South, Bee Bag: The French Nest Co, XO Bag: Funky Shique

We ♥ Offers
15% off Lilmissi
10% off  Styled Spaces & Ginie Lee
10% off The French Nest Co

Eco-Chic Week #8 - Rustic Elegance

Is there anything more romantic than getting married in a forest? Happy couple Henry and Isby picked a gorgeous rustic-elegance theme for their big day, and fabulous photographer Jessamyn Harris was there to record every little detail. My most inspirational spots have to be the CD favours (perfect for the drive home), the bold orange napkins and the personalised beer bottles. And I love Isby's gorgeous backless dress, and the seed pearls studding her hair - so pretty!

**If you love getting inspiration from Real Weddings then click here for more**

Eco-Chic Week #7 - Woodland Whimsy

If you're feeling inspired by Eco-Chic Week, why not adopt an entire woodland theme for your big day? Offer your guests a romantic, Midsummer Night's Dream experience, by using rustic accessories and favours, sourced from the natural world. From feathered buttonholes, to mossy ring nests and birchwood vases, many of these accents can be collected on a countryside walk. Cheap and eco-chic! One of my favourite shops for nature-inspired bits-and-pieces, is Pomp and Plumage, {see pics below), who are offering 15% off on any order from today until April 1st {fab!}. Just mention Before the Big Day in your "message to seller". And don't miss the other special offers for Before the Big Day readers - details below the pics.

Product Credits {from top left}- Ring Cushion: April Hilier Designs, Personalised Sign: Funki Folk Art, Vine Crown: Which Goose, {from middle left} Birch Vases: Bettula, Feather Fascinator: Ginger and Tonic, {from bottom left} Love Sign: Katie Leigh Designs, Birch & Moss Ring Cushion: April Hilier Designs, Moss I Do Letters: Choosing You, Wedding Gown: Sarah Stevens, Tiny Twig Hairpins: Woodland Belle, Leaf Earrings: Briguys Girls, Guinevere Veil: Gardens of Whimsy, Vintage Table Number: Marty Stew

We ♥ Offers
10% off Choosing You
10% off Katie Leigh Designs (with code 10off)
10% off Woodland Belle & Funki Folk Art

Eco-Chic Week #6 - Love Birds

One of the oldest wedding traditions, the wedding toss symbolizes good luck, fertility and prosperity. Whether it's confetti, rice or sugared almonds {ouch!}, you're going to want someone to throw something into the air as you celebrate your marriage. Personally I'm going for bubbles, but for the truly eco-chic bride, the best option is birdseed - as long as your bridesmaids aren't beak-phobic.... And if you're going for a love-bird theme at your big day, why not reflect it in your favours, with these cute birdseed letters and hearts. Nature Favors are even offering 10% off your purchases with the code Big Day - what's not to like?

Product Credits - Bird Seed Sachets: Sarah Shannon Designs, Birdseed Letters: 2 Birds in Love, Heart Birdseed Favours: Nature Favors

Eco-Chic Week #5 - Simply Wood

There's something fabulously tactile about wood favours, and if they're made out of off-cuts that would normally go straight in the bin, they're eco-friendly as well. Perfect for a forest wedding, or one where you want to bring the outside, inside. My particular favourite is the wooden tag Save the Dates. Recyclable as bookmarks, they're the definition of eco-chic.

Product Credits - {from top left} Wooden Bookmarks: Quotes and Notes, Wooden Heart Favours: Indo Bay Textiles, {from bottom left} Inspiration Blocks & Wooden Hearts: Palomas Nest, Customised Favour Tags: Quotes and Notes

Product Credits - {from top left} Clothes Pegs: My Adobe Cottage, Wooden Love Hearts: Aphrodites Canvas, Peg Figures for Personalising & Wooden Heart: Carmelos, Love Pegs: My Adobe Cottage

Eco-Chic Week #4 - Finger Print Tree

This is one of the best ideas I've come across for a long time. It's the brainchild of Hilary and Josh, who celebrated their own wedding in October in California. They made their vows under a huge oak tree, and to continue the theme, decided to create a finger print tree as a commemorative guest book. The idea was such a huge hit, that they now sell peronalised empty trees on their Etsy shop, so you can buy them for your big day. Check out their inspirational wedding photos on the fab wedding blog Green Wedding Shoes.

Eco-Chic Week #3 - Website for the Weak

This gorgeous website is fresh from the south of France, stuffed full of chic home accessories. In La Pomme you'll find unique home décor items, like embroidered pillows, hand-stamped lavender sachets, and plush fruit toys for grown-ups. Designer, Apol Lejano-Massebieau, is big on making her work low-impact on the environment, and she recyles vintage linen, cotton and lace in her work. Perfect for wedding presents or favours and Mother's Day gifts, her site is well worth a visit. Check out her blog too!

Eco-Chic Week #1 - Flowering Love

To celebrate the start of spring, the return of sunshine and the flowering of the daffodils on my roof terrace, I hereby announce that this week shall be Eco-Chic Wedding Week. Which means I'll be featuring a different eco-favour a day, plus any eco-weddings I can find. To kick us off, here are some fabulous flowering favours and an invitation, all made out of seed-embedded paper. Perfect for a garden wedding, these tags, boxes and pellets will grow your guests living memories of your big day. There's also all sorts of anologies with flowering love, but that's a bit too soppy for a Monday morning, even if it is sunny.

Product Credits {from top left}- Wildflower Seed Tags: Jenearjen, Pots of Love Favours: Nature Favors,
{from bottom left} Plantable Favour Boxes: Jenearjen, Thank You Seed Cards: Backward Prints, Plantable Seed Tags: Jenearjen, {second picture} Invitation: Artful Beginnings

We ♥ Offers
10% off all of Backward Prints handmade cards, all of which bloom into beautiful wildflowers.

Lets Hear it for Wood

**Trend Alert**  This summer, weddings are going to be all about wood. "???"  Stay with me here, it'll make sense in a sec. As we all get greener and more eco-friendly, our moods are turning towards natural products, and that's coming out in the number of woody products on the market. Don't believe me? Well check out all the stationery products below - don't you know, paper is soooo passé!

Product Credits (from the top): Love Tags: Perch Papiers, I love you Wood Cards: Palomas Nest, Bird Cards: Cabin, Wood Wedding Invitations & RSVP Card: Baumbirdy, Eco-Friendly Log Card Kit: Co Design, Faux Bois Cards: Paper Pumpkin, Wood Gift Tags & Placemarkers: Emililies, Printed Wood Cards: Night Owl Paper Goods

A Rural Idyll

It's gorgeous getting married in the English countryside - stunning views, peace and privacy, plus cheaper suppliers than in the cities. This beautiful wedding took place on a farm, meaning all their food was seasonal and locally grown, a great idea if you're looking for an eco-friendly big day. The happy couple, Amanda and Jim, also drew on their rural surroundings for inspiration, their cake was decorated with a unique basket-weave motif and they gave each of their guests a pot of raspberry jam on departure. I also love the simplicity of the bride's slim-fit dress and the luxurious purple worn by her bridesmaid. Huge thanks, as always, to Karen Wise for her lovely photographs. And remember, if you love getting inspiration from Real Brides and Grooms, then click here for much more Before the Big Day weddings!