Real Simple Green Wedding: Janina & Lean - Wedding Portraits

In the golden afternoon light, fabulous wedding photographers We Love Pictures,  captured these stunning wedding portraits at Janina and Lean's wedding. I've fallen for Janina's natural wedding style, her bridesmaids' pretty peach gowns, and the ushers' cute bow-ties. If only we could recreate the weather in the UK! This stunning wedding was all about the beautiful kitchen garden venue, so I love how Janina chose simple, green rosemary leaves as the main feature of her wedding bouquet. It was so eco-friendly, even the local, giant tortoise wanted a nibble! There's more from this incredible wedding in the final feature this afternoon - you won't want to miss the reception pictures - have a sneak-peak We Love Pictures' blog.

♥ Want to see green themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more eco-friendly wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Simple Green Wedding: Janina & Lean

It's easy to get caught up in the razzamatz of a wedding, and obsess about every single wedding detail, cluttering your big day with too much fuss. At its worst, this can leave no space for the natural love and magic of a wedding day. Janina and Lean chose a simple green garden theme for their wedding, and let the natural beauty of the venue do the talking. The Babylonstoren is one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms in South Africa, with a beautiful kitchen garden. Janina and Lean drew on the garden's ingredients for wedding inspiration, and you're going to fall for every detail. Huge thanks to We Love Pictures for their beautiful images - I've had to split this wedding into three, there was just too much for one post! More coming soon, later this afternoon!

♥ Want to see green themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more eco-friendly wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Desert Wedding: Julie & Patrick

Yum yum yum! This is a mega-wedding for you, fresh from the desert! As a UK wedding blogger, I love looking at weddings from far across the pond. While we have to worry about rain and wind on our wedding days, US brides are often preoccupied with whether it's going to be too hot. Julia and Patrick hosted their wedding in Joshua Tree at the Sacred Sands Bed and Breakfast, in a stunning desert landscape. Many of the designs and wedding theme were created by the couple, with tonnes of wedding ideas to steal. There were also many eco friendly aspects to their wedding – all the succulents on the tables and even the succulent bouquets were re-plantable, all the food was organic vegetarian cuisine from the couple’s own favorite recipes, and even the Sacred Sands is an environmentally-friendly building (built using straw bale walls as insulation). As wedding favors, everyone received a poster with the couple’s wedding logo and theme from Clone Press {love it!}, and Julie’s gorgeous dress was by Jim Hjelm. The reception was held outside under a canopy of stars, and they had bunt cakes and biscottis for dessert. All in all, a perfect evening! Huge thanks to Stephanie and Isaac at Stephanie Williams Photography for their gorgeous pictures, and description of this fab wedding.

More posts like this one: 
✽ Real Quirky Desert Wedding
✽ Real Desert Monochrome Wedding

♥ Want to see eco wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more blue themed weddings? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Rustic Raw Cotton Wedding Inspiration

Raw cotton has got me in a spin. I've fallen for its fluffy fabulousness and rustic simplicity. It's an fantastic alternative to flowers for winter and spring brides - with the added benefit your wedding bouquet and buttonholes would last forever! String the bolls together for decorations, add them to table displays for extra texture, or create cloudy wreaths. For more fabulous winter wedding ideas, check out my Pinterest page.

{Picture Credit} Jasmine Star via Green Wedding Shoes

{Picture Credit} 1. Unkown 2. Jasmine Star via Green Wedding Shoes

♥ Want more winter weddings? ♥ Or how about more rustic wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Why Eco-Chic Brides Love 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.

Product Credits {from top left} - 1. My Adobe Cottage, 2: Lilmissi, 3: The French Nest Co, 4: Ginie Lee, {from bottom left}, 1: Lilmissi, 2: My Adobe Cottage, 3: Funky Shique

♥ Want more eco-chic wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about wedding details? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Green Living Wedding Favours

Before the Big Day is all about finding new and unusual ideas to make your wedding stand out from the crowd. So I'm always on the look out for something different, particularly when it comes to wedding favours! This wedding trend from the US has completely caught on in the UK, and normally I always recommend foody favours, because then they never get wasted. However, when I spotted these cute LIVING favours by Gem Sprouts, I couldn't resist them. I reckon you'd probably only want to give them to your female guests, but they'd work perfectly at a garden wedding, or a botanical, eco-friendly themed big day. What do you reckon?

♥ Want more wedding favour ideas? ♥ Or how about eco-friendly wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Botanical Themed Wedding: Josi & Jamess Part 2

Botanical-themed wedding Part 2. Such was the fabulousness of this gorgeous South African wedding by We Love Pictures, I had to split it into two! So if you missed the first part, click here. This is truly one of my favourite weddings of all time. Gorgeous Josi and Jamess celebrated their big day in some serious style, and there's tonnes of wedding details you're going to want to steal. Let's start with the bridesmaids' Grecian pink dresses in ombre shades, the flower girls in white with floral crowns and the handsome ushers in marching blue suits with pink ties. Then there's the gorgeous wild wedding flowers, both in the bouquets and tied to the chairs along the aisle. I'm also obsessed with Josi's beautiful half-up, half-down wedding hair-style and her feathery dress, teamed with a cathedral veil. The venue is incredible, the pictures are beautiful, everything is perfect *sigh*!

♥ Want eco-themed wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about marquee wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.