Glamping ...

… and festival season is just around the corner. It's hard to believe with the rain pouring down outside and the short, dark days we're experiencing right now, but soon the shortest day will be behind us and we'll be looking forward to spring, summer and those wonderful festival filled green wedding days.

And we think that nothing could be more romantic than celebrating your unique eco friendly wedding in an aesthetically glamorous arts and crafts style William Morris inspired tent, serving your wedding guests with tea and cake or Pimms cocktails on a lawn scattered with Morris print deck chairs!

To celebrate the centenary of the founding of Morris & Co, The Arabian Tent Company has created this gorgeous William Morris tent that features iconic Islamic prints in its fabrics and furnishings, inspired by the man himself.

‘I launched the William Morris tent to coincide with his centenary this year as he’s someone I have huge admiration for,’ says Katherine Hudson, founder of The Arabian Tent Company. ‘Morris took a lot of his own designs from the Islamic patterns he saw in the V&A Museum, a place I absolutely love and which I too find a source of continuous inspiration. Morris believed that ‘art improves life’ and The Arabian Tent Company believes that art improves parties!’

This design certainly fits a the trend that shows no sign of fading and inspires couples to create their own mini glamping festival wedding weekends in secret gardens and countryside locations throughout Britain in the summer time. If William Morris isn't your style then you're bound to love the Cornish Cream tent (pictured below), perfect for treating your wedding guests to cream teas served on vintage china.

If you think the William Morris or Cornish Cream tents would be perfect for your own glamping inspired wedding and would like to know more, then visit Arabian Tents website, contact them by email info@arabiantents.com or phone Katherine Hudson on 0800 8815229.

Posted in Green Wedding Honeymoon & Eco Tourism , Inspiration , Marquees & Tents

Eco Hero: Linda Moss

Congratulations to our great friend Linda Moss - author of Organic Places to Stay, who has been nominated by Greenhouse PR as their Eco-Hero for September.

"The reason why we love Linda is that she has been passionate about organic holidays for the last 12 years - working her socks off to produce a wonderful guide and website and never giving up - despite difficulties along the way. The outcome is a wonderful guide with truly wonderful organic places to stay" say the people at Greenhouse PR.

We wholeheartely agree with this statement and are delighted to see her efforts being recognised.

Check out her website which lists hundreds of fantastic places to stay in the UK and further afield, ranging from putting your own tent up in a field on a certified organic permaculture farm to a boutique hotel with an organic restaurant, the many options in between include an amazing variety of bed and breakfast and self catering accommodation too.

Perfect for planning your organic honeymoon.

Posted in Green Wedding Honeymoon & Eco Tourism , News , Venues

Halcyon honeymoons

Robert and Diane Kirkwood have been married for 17 years and moved to France in 2000. They live in the village of Busserolles, in the Dordogne area of SW France and they opened their first holiday property, the Woodsman's Cabin (then known as 'Covert Cabin') in 2006. Since then, they have constructed their second cottage, Fisherman's Cabin, nearby. Both Cabins are available all year round. We asked Diane to tell us how they came to be the proud owners of two of the most unique honeymoon getaways that we know of. Over to you Diane...

The northernmost part of Dordogne in France is a beautiful forested area with many lakes and it was to here that we came eight years ago, having done the classic Brit thing of falling in love with an old stone farmhouse in need of TLC and buying it without giving much thought to what we'd do when we got here! Soon after our arrival we discovered nearby a leafy overgrown lane where, hidden among the trees was a little lake. Right from the start, it had a sense of calm and of being untouched by the modern world, the woodland was overgrown with brambles like Sleeping Beauty's forest and, (here we go again!), we knew we had to have it! A few enquiries led us to the owner and a deal was struck, and then a few months later we became the proud owners of not only the lake and 6 acres of woodland, but also a rather ugly breezeblock construction with a corrugated roof. To be honest, we thought about demolishing this eyesore, but further inspection revealed it to be solidly built and then, somewhere along the line, the idea of transforming it into a cabin and the perfect honeymoon hideout was born.

Posted in Green Wedding Honeymoon & Eco Tourism

Southern honeymoon

Eurostar has now opened ticket sales for its summer trains to Avignon in the South of France. Trains will run every Saturday, from 12 July to 6 September. The journey from London, St Pancras takes six hours and fares cost from £99 return. So if you're throwing a green wedding and fancy honeymooning eco style in the beautiful Ardeche region of France, now's the time to snap up a Eurostar ticket. Just jump on the train at St. Pancras and you'll arrive in Avignon 6 hours after the wedding. Let the train take the strain!

Posted in Green Wedding Honeymoon & Eco Tourism

Continental honeymoon

If you're wondering where to go on your honeymoon next year then St. Pancras International in London is the place to begin.

The last Eurostar train leaves Waterloo station today and, tomorrow, a new era dawns at St. Pancras with all services transferring there overnight. So travelling to Europe by train just got easier, faster and cooler. You'll be able to get as far as Madrid in a single day or swan over to Lille for lunch and be home in time for supper.

When the new timetable starts on December 9 trains will get to Paris in two hours fifteen minutes and Brussels in just under two hours. And beyond that, there's the whole of Europe to explore - Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich, Avignon, Marseille, Barcelona and more...

The Man in Seat Sixty-One can help you to plan your eco honeymoon, travelling overland to all of Europe and even more exotic desitnations like Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Russia, Ukraine and even Japan via Vladivostock!

Posted in Green Wedding Honeymoon & Eco Tourism