Autumn green wedding date available @ fforest

Ffabulous wedding venue fforest in Wales has just let us know that, due to a postponement (they have been fully booked for 2013 since last year), they now have a weekend wedding date available in the autumn - 28th September 2013.

If you're planning to get hitched before the year end, love the great outdoors, festival style weddings, deliciously prepared food, and want a laid back relaxed affair then this is a date to snap up!

For more information email fforest's wedding coordinator Charissa Duffy, or phone her 01239 623784.

Posted in Green Wedding Seasonal Celebrations , Venues

Wassail!

Here's a lovely idea for a winter wedding theme if you're planning to wed shortly after Christmas. Wassail conjurs up ideas of bowls of apple cider punch, rich colours, bare apple boughs and foraged greenery for decoration, ribbons, wedding tipis with warm fires and candle light, all surrounded by the people you love. What a theme...

Wassailing is an ancient tradition of blessing apple trees at Twelfth Night and asking the spirit of the tree for a bountiful harvest of fruit the following autumn. Some wassailers adhere to the Gregorian calendar and mark Twelfth Night on 6th January, whereas others adhere to the older Julian calendar and leave their wassails until the 17th January, a good time to celebrate a wedding too!

Wassail is an Anglo-Saxon word and is thought to mean ‘Be In Good Health’. Whilst there is a tradition of wassailing neighbours with songs and good wishes at yuletide (similar to the modern tradition of carolling), apple trees had to wait until Twelfth Night, a time when the world is turned upside down, the Lord of Misrule reigns for a day, and the spirits draw close, including those of trees.

People who cared for an apple tree – and the tradition is still strong in the cider growing areas of England and the marches of Wales – set out with gifts of hot cakes and cider as an offering to the spirit of the tree. Usually, a cider soaked cake was hoisted high and left in the fork of a branch, with more cider splashed on the earth over the roots.

In order to drive away any malignant influence, people might shout or bang pan lids together, and some even fire shotguns into the air. Then, all present sing the wassailing song, asking for a good crop of apples the following autumn. If you want to wassail your own apple tree (or, with amendment to the words, any other sort of fruiting tree, or even your own union) here are some traditional words to use.

Posted in Green Wedding Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations

Happy Holidays from GU HQ!

Well that's it for another green wedding planning year and we'd like to wish all our friends a Very Happy Christmas and a Truly Romantic New Year.

We'll meet again in 2013 for an action packed year of eco friendly wedding ideas and plans, introducing you to more lovely green wedding suppliers and services, people who go that extra mile to help make your wedding just the best and most special day of your lives.

Many thanks to Angie Lewin and St Judes for the kind loan of this wonderfully seasonal print. We absolutely love her work.

Posted in Green Wedding Seasonal Celebrations

Naturally gorgeous Christmas wedding gift designs

Take a look at these gorgeous decorations specially created by Paper Tree for Christmas. There are little rosebud wreaths, mini mistletoe kissing sprigs:

Rosebud hearts and rosey wreaths:

For a Christmas wedding you could line up these sweet rose topiary pots all the way down your reception table:

Posted in Green Wedding Decorations & Details , Gifts & Favours , Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations

Spring equinox - celebrate the first day of spring!

Today's spring equinox marks the point in space and time when the sun moves across the celestial equator from south to north and heralds the first day of spring, saying goodbye to winter for another year.

The Vernal Equinox, when the length of day and night are equal, is a celebration for the renewed life of the Earth, symbolised by the egg. Eostre, the goddess of spring with her animal the hare, was taken up by the early Christians and applied to their celebration of the Resurrection of Christ calling it Easter, which is just around the corner.

Planning a spring green union can be an absolute joy with a wealth of decoration ideas. Spring colours are fresh and brand new, and perfumes are divine. Yellow is predominant but there are also subtle tones of blues, dusky pinks and real lime green too. Natural blossom is dripping from the trees and one of our favourite looks is masses of blossom twigs combined with tulips. Don't forget painted eggs and egg hunts for your younger guests if your wedding is close to Easter.

Posted in Green Wedding Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations

A spring bouquet of daffodils

Welcome the Spring with a simple, seasonal wedding bouquet of fresh picked daffodils from the garden, sourced from a British flower grower or bought from your local florist. We found these images on Project Wedding by frolic’s Chelsea Fuss and thought it fun to show you how to make one for yourself.

Gather together:
Some daffodils: try combining 3 or 4 different bunches of daffs and narcissi, some with buds, some open, different shades and sizes and some scented ones. Paperwhites with small scented flowers will give the bouquet a naturally grown and picked feel. (You'll also need some twine, scissors or secateurs and a lovely piece of fabric to wrap the stems - a piece of your wedding dress fabric will work well.)

Posted in Green Wedding Decorations & Details , Flowers , Seasonal Celebrations

A green fforest wedding

Here at GU HQ we get so excited when we discover yet another absolutely unique and exquisite wedding venue that ticks all our boxes.

A wedding at fforest, in Cardigan, Wales, really is unique and captures the essence of what a green wedding is all about, embracing the natural environment and drawing on an ever-changing template presented by the seasons.

fforest is about the great outdoors and is set in 200 acres of woodland, grazed pasture and wild meadow. The farm is bounded by the Afon (River) Teifi and the Teifi Marshes nature reserve with gorgeous views across the Preseli mountains, ancient woodland, water meadow and traditional farmland. The camp provides a natural green canvas for your wedding celebrations and creates a place to enjoy the simplicity, pleasures and beauty of outdoor living in an outstanding natural environment.

Posted in Green Wedding Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations , Venues

Seasonal summer wedding flowers

We're now deep into wedding season with eco-friendly weddings taking place every weekend up and down the country. And as promised we bring you a second installment of our seasonal summer wedding inspiration from lovely Green Union partner and eco friendly wedding florist Julie Ballard. Over to you Julie:

SUMMER WEDDING FLOWERS:
Peonies, Roses, Sweet peas, Alchemilla mollis, Eryngium (see holly), Gladioli, Delphinium, Stocks, Acapanthus, Scabious, Dahlias and Sunflowers.

The loveliest wedding flowers are those that complement the season and it is generally thought that there are plenty of locally grown British blooms to choose from at this time of year. But it was only whilst planning the designs for an August wedding that I began to realize, in fact, that even within the season flower choice changes month by month and there are fewer suitable flowers available in August, than in say June or July. With a little bit of further research it became obvious that the colour palette evolves too, a fact which is well worth knowing when choosing a scheme for a wedding, sometimes up to a year in advance.

Posted in Green Wedding Flowers , Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations

Independent eco florists

A little bird has told us that two of our fabulous eco florists are to be listed in The Independent newspaper’s 50 Best Florists 2011 list this weekend!

Congratulations to Blooming Green and Flowers by Julie B. Its wonderful that the hard work of these dedicated ethical flower designers is now being recognised by the world.

If you want to read all about it make sure you buy The Independent this Saturday!

Posted in Green Wedding Flowers , News , Press , Seasonal Celebrations

Gorgeous autumn apple wedding days

Mounds of red apples, shiny greenery and moss all twined onto a ring is a great way to celebrate our beautiful English Apple Season and makes wonderful green wedding decor.

Grab yourself a florist's wreath ring, wire some moss onto the ring then wire up shiny red apples and greenery and tie onto the ring. Hey presto! A gorgeous seasonal welcome door wreath for your wedding guests. Or hang the ring above the bride and groom's places at the reception as a bountiful kissing ring.

You could continue the theme by making apple place names for your wedding guests at each table setting, then add a long mound of moss and apples down the centre of your trestle tables for dramatic wedding reception decorations. Just let your imagination do the work!

Image from Better Homes & Gardens

Posted in Green Wedding Decorations & Details , Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations

GreenUnion supports the Any Campaign

Through the grapevine we've just heard about a new campaign which we think deserves all the support it can get.

As couples planning eco friendly weddings across England know, one of the most frustrating things is not being able to choose a beautiful spot in a favourite location for their green weddings. If you've always dreamed of tying the knot in a bluebell glade or on top of a mountain, or anywhere else for that matter that does not have a licensed roof then don't hesitate to support this campaign.

ANY: Campaign to Legalise Marriage Anytime Anywhere - is a campaign to legalise marriage ceremonies to be able to take place at anytime, anywhere in the UK. Currently, in England, a wedding ceremony has to take place in a permanent structure between the hours of 8am and 6pm. The aim of 'The Any Campaign' is to enable Brides and Grooms to have the wedding of their dreams!

For further information, visit www.theanycampaign.co.uk. To sign the petition, visit www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/theanycampaign.

Congratulations to the organisers, photographers Tino&Pip. You have everyone at GreenUnion HQ's support.

Oh, and you can also follow the progress of The Any Campaign' on Twitter and Facebook.

Posted in Green Wedding Natural Nuptials , News , Seasonal Celebrations

Celebrate Earth Day!

Get out of the office, home or workplace, walk in the sunshine, look around you and smell the fresh spring air. Look at the flowers, listen to the birds.

Make a pledge to do just one thing today that will make a difference ...

Enjoy!

Posted in Green Wedding Events , News , Seasonal Celebrations

Spring savings on wedding favours!

We've got a fabulous special offer to celebrate the welcome arrival of wonderful Spring sunshine!

Pebble in the Pond are offering an amazing discount of 15% off any of their gorgeous handmade wedding favours ordered during the months of April and May.

Their quirky range of eco beautiful gifts includes:

Handmade soaps wrapped in vintage fabrics
Packets of British wildflower seeds personalised to your theme or colour
Totally natural bath ‘bombs’ hand wrapped in hessian and tied with a ribbon
Unique and unusual tealight holders handmade from recycled greenhouse glass
Lovely smelling vintage fabric hearts stuffed full of English lavender

So there is definitely something for everyone, we think, and the lovely Emma at Pebble in the Pond will be more than happy to send you samples of any of their wedding favours so you can take a close look prior to ordering, This special offer runs till the end of May so there's plenty of time for you to decide which one to choose.

To receive an automatic 15% off, please quote GU2 when ordering. For more information follow the link to Pebble in the Pond's wedding favours page.

Posted in Green Wedding Gifts & Favours , Seasonal Celebrations , Special Offers

Eco friendly flower girls

If you're looking for flowers with impeccable eco-credentials and an authentically quirky edge, you wouldn't go far wrong in enlisting the services of fresh flower company Bella & Fifi.

Bella & Fifi work exclusively with gorgeous, seasonal and locally sourced handpicked flowers in the Bristol area. They create stunning, original wedding bouquets, buttonholes and flower arrangements that demonstrate their individuality, their artistic backgrounds and their self-taught floristry skills, free from the restraints of formal training.

When I asked them what made them start a flower business that concentrates wholly on the local and seasonal flower trade (because, let's face it, it's a whole lot easier to buy flowers off a lorry from Amsterdam) they replied: "We wanted to do something creative, useful and environmental, and above all to spread a little happiness. Sustainable floristry just seemed to tick all the boxes, so Bella & Fifi was born."

Posted in Green Wedding Decorations & Details , Flowers , Seasonal Celebrations

Valentine’s flowers from Rebel Rebel

Earn rave reviews from your leading lady with Valentine’s flowers from Rebel Rebel. Sweep your leading lady off her feet this Valentine’s Day with flowers to take her breath away.

Flowers - gorgeous, fresh, fragrant flowers – are always affordable, always romantic and always rapturously received. Bouquets are beautifully hand-tied, swathed in chic colours of tissue and beribboned, is romance with a capital R.

For an extra romantic touch, you can even send your flowers with a literary message of love - maybe a pocket volume of Everyman’s ‘Love Poems’ or a slim paperback from Penguin’s ‘Great Loves’ series all wrapped up in matching tissue and silk ribbon. Rebel Rebel has teamed up with independent booksellers The Broadway Bookshop to enable you to send the perfect title to your love, even if it is The Gruffalo...

Rebel Rebel delivers anywhere in London. Visit www.rebelrebel.co.uk or call 020 7254 4487 for personal advice and orders.

Hand-tied bouquets from £40
Flower-filled handbags from £80
Book supplement from £10

REBEL REBEL
5 Broadway Market
London E8 4PH

Posted in Green Wedding Flowers , Gifts & Favours , Seasonal Celebrations

A special Christmas gift voucher

Penrhos can solve your Christmas shopping dilemma. They are offering a special gift voucher for Christmas which includes:

Special Offer - three nights for the price of two on one of their courses during January.

Stay an extra night and totally unwind with a free massage.

2 day Women's Health 8th - 10th January 2010

2 day Food & Health 13th - 15th January 2010

To buy a Gift Voucher follow one of the links above or phone: 01544 230720
or email: info@greencuisine.org

For more information on all Greencuisine courses visit www.greencuisine.org

Posted in Green Wedding Gifts & Favours , Seasonal Celebrations , Special Offers

Christmas wreath making fun

Favourite florists Rebel Rebel will be joining in the festive frolics at Broadway Market in London with their own Christmas wreath-making workshops.

Everyone is welcome to try all sorts of different styles, from traditional pine and dried fruit numbers to feather boas and sweeties, like a winter version of this fluffy summer wreath.

Rebel Santa will be on hand with heaps of help and advice......

Broadway Market’s late night shopping evenings are on the next two Thursdays December 10th and 17th.

Posted in Green Wedding Events , Flowers , Seasonal Celebrations

Luxurious layers for a winter wedding

When Louise Broad joined our wedding directory we just knew that a winter bride's dilemma of how to dress in up layers to keep warm but still look gorgeous was finally solved. Just look at the pictures and say you don't agree!

Louise makes the most beautiful shrugs, shawls, wraps and hair accessories by fusing gossamer light silk and merino wools together creating the most beautiful ethereal fabrics. It's called nuno felting and it's all done by hand.

Posted in Green Wedding Dresses & Gowns , Seasonal Celebrations , Shoes & Accessories

Crackling bonfire wedding theme

We love autumn and think the end of October and Bonfire Night are the perfect excuse to throw an alternative wedding. Not only do you have the chance of finding a really great off season deal on your wedding venue but it can also be the best excuse for a dress down wedding party. Forget formal and think more cosy wollies, snuggly boots and fireside tales.

A giant tipi in the garden warmed by a fire pit, candles and fur lined benches will keep guests piping warm for a feast of crackling locally sourced sausages, baked potatoes, zingy chilli and organic roasted squash. Scrumptious apple cake served with clotted cream will round off the warming feast. Keep it casual with eco friendly disposable picnic plates.

Dot the garden with cut out pumpkins glowing with tea lights and create richly coloured seasonal decorations of apples and colourful squashes piled high on organic table linen glowing with fragranced candles.

Serve grown ups with home made steaming mulled wine in porcelain mugs and let the children sip hot chocolate with marshmallows. Hand out cones of roasted chestnuts and cosy blankets as the evening draws to an end and the finale of chinese flying lanterns will have your guests sending wishes high into the sky.

Images courtesy of Martha Stewart

Posted in Green Wedding Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations

The most magnificent bridal suite in Somerset

It's renowned for the most magnificent bridal suite in Somerset and the King's Room is a truly magnificent bedroom to spend your wedding night in. Incredibly sumptuous with a huge four poster bed, the 'Great Bed of Maunsel', deep rich red walls, luxurious antique furnishings, a copper bath and old masters on the walls.

If you've always dreamed of a wedding steeped in history and the English countryside you couldn't choose a more perfect venue than Maunsel House in Somerset. With its history dating back to Doomsday, the most recent incumbents have been there since 1772 and take special care to preserve their heritage. It is without doubt, a great party house and comes to life when packed full of people. The atmosphere, flow and configuration of it’s rooms lends an enormous amount to any occasion, helping your family and friends to feel relaxed, comfortable and most of all, at home.

Exclusively yours for the duration of your wedding, with no restrictions on how you wish to celebrate, Maunsel partners with excellent, reasonably priced caterers providing delicious, locally sourced, seasonal food to suit all tastes. You can choose to have your wedding guests stay at the house with you all weekend for a fabulous house party in the 13 beautifully furnished bedrooms.

Posted in Green Wedding Seasonal Celebrations , Venues

Happy Christmas

It's been quite a year!

Year of the Frog, Olympics, Obama, black holes, Planet Earth, glorious green weddings...
Now it's time for a break, for family and friends.

Whilst we're off for the Christmas hols, we know you'll be planning for your 2009 (or 2010) weddings so we leave you with ideas for your green wedding, a list of the finest ethical wedding suppliers and beautiful hand made and eco friendly products to buy.

If you're worried about the credit crunch and wondering how to promote your eco friendly wedding business find out more here.

So, celebrate and rejoice, it's a beautiful world. We'll see you on the other side.

Till then...

Posted in Green Wedding Seasonal Celebrations

Samhain or Hallowe'en?

Samhain (pronounced 'sow'inn'), at the end of October, marks the beginning of a whole new cycle for the Celts, where they believe that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of seeds below ground. For Christians, 31 October is Hallowe'en or All Hallow's Eve and 1 November is All Saints' Day. Many faiths mark this time of the year as one of significant change - Hindus celebrate Navarati and Muslims mark the end of Ramadan with Eid-Ul-Fitr.

The harvest has been gathered in, the animals sheltered for the winter and its a joyous time as families come together for warmth and to chase away the spirits with bonfires and feasts. What a wonderful time for a loving union of souls - a time of new beginnings, warmth, golden light, apples and nuts, loved ones are remembered.

Think gorgeous, glowing golds and reds, candle light, flares and bonfires for atmosphere. Roasted chestnuts, delicious squash soup, poached pears and baked apples, spices and mulled cider. Hot toasted sausages, baked potatoes and apple pie.

Do I need to go on...

Posted in Green Wedding Decorations & Details , Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations

Greetings to the Winter Solstice

If you plan to propose this Christmas consider throwing a solstice wedding in 2008 - a perfect time to start your fresh lives together and an auspicious time for the greenest of green weddings.

May the light now increase, shine your blues away and encourage the chickens to begin laying eggs again!

Posted in Green Wedding Seasonal Celebrations

Celebrate on Apple Day

What a brilliant idea for a wedding theme!

Throughout October, wherever apples are grown and loved round the world, communities celebrate their own apple day. In England its 21st October, and throwing a green wedding on, or around Apple Day will go a long way to demonstrating to your guests and the world that you are in tune with the countryside and the seasons.

Celebrate the wonderful variety of our apples which vary from region to region, even village to village in some cases. Have your wedding feast in the midst of an orchard, use apples in your floral decorations, drink apple juice, cider, cider brandy or have a warm apple punch to welcome your guests to the reception.

Posted in Green Wedding Caterers, Food & Drink , Seasonal Celebrations

Samhain or Hallowe'en?

Samhain (pronounced 'sow'inn'), at the end of October, marks the beginning of a whole new cycle for the Celts, where they believe that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of seeds below ground. For Christians, 31 October is Hallowe'en or All Hallow's Eve and 1 November is All Saints' Day. Many faiths mark this time of the year as one of significant change - Hindus celebrate Navarati and Muslims mark the end of Ramadan with Eid-Ul-Fitr.

The harvest has been gathered in, the animals sheltered for the winter and its a joyous time as families come together for warmth and to chase away the spirits with bonfires and feasts. What a wonderful time for a loving union of souls - a time of new beginnings, warmth, golden light, apples and nuts, loved ones are remembered.

For your late Autumn green wedding think gorgeous, glowing golds and reds, candle light, flares and bonfires for atmosphere. Roasted chestnuts, delicious squash soup, poached pears and baked apples, spices and mulled cider. Hot toasted sausages, baked potatoes and apple pie. Do I need to go on...

Posted in Green Wedding Inspiration , Seasonal Celebrations