INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

10th July 2021


INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyThis gorgeous styled shoot was conceived and coordinated by the very lovely Gayle of The Natural Vibe Co. Having relocated from an events background in London to rural Somerset courtesy of COVID, Gayle reconnected with her surroundings and found all the inspiration she could need in nature: “It’s what inspires my style and encourages me to be sustainable in my ways of working and in life. Nature is embraced throughout my designs, how I plan and think, as well as through my decorations and props. I work seasonally, using foraged foliage as much as I can and collaborate with local and other sustainably minded suppliers. All our decorations and props are upcycled and reused, as well as made in-house from coppiced, foraged or reclaimed wood.”

Eager to showcase her work and that of many other talented local wedding professionals, this epic but accessible inspiration embraces the trend, both by necessity and design, for smaller weddings:

“With COVID lurking around, couples have unfortunately been forced to downscale, cancel or postpone their weddings, a day many have been dreaming of for a long time. The initial inspiration was to then create an intimate wedding in a big space, showcasing how couples can still have their desired day despite whats happening throughout the world. 

As part of an ever-growing movement towards a greener future, it's important to showcase how it can be done, inspiring couples to think greener when planning and decorating their weddings, as well as in life. You do not have to compromise your look, but you do have to be mindful in your decision making. This photoshoot was a collaboration of Somerset suppliers (and one from Wiltshire, just off the Somerset border). Working with local suppliers enabled us to reduce our overall carbon footprint, which was just one step in the right direction. A number of suppliers were also carefully considered and selected for their own sustainable ethos, this was through the way they travel, as well as the materials, products and produce they use and source. 

The look, feel and tones of this photoshoot was a combination of natural and rustic styles, which gave a truly earthy feel, bring a sense of the outdoors inside. When a person is immersed in nature, it gives you a sense of calm and that was the feeling we wanted to give off. Every detail was thought about, the foliage was foraged, the flowers were made from ethically sourced paper, the props were either upcycled or made from coppiced, reclaimed or foraged wood, therefore leaving very little to go into waste. 

If I could give anyone any advice about how they could have an eco-friendly wedding, it would be to firstly think about what elements of your wedding you think could be wasteful. These could be your decoration, food and drink, invites or even the fuel being used by your suppliers and guests coming to and from your wedding. Next would be to think about how you can overcome these elements, for examples, if it was your decoration, does everything have to be brand new or could it be pre-loved, upcycled, borrowed, hired or even natural? Remember as well, there are a number of suppliers out there that will think the same way you do, use them for their experience and expertise to help you create your eco-friendly wedding that will leave you with nothing behind but your memories.”

The venue she chose was the picturesque Dairyhouse Farm Barn, a stunning, versatile Somerset wedding venue, located on the edge of an ancient woodland overlooking the beautiful Somerset levels. The barn was built in 1948, which is evident in the finishing touches which give the barn a vintage feel. It was originally used as part of a working dairy farm, but now it has been transformed from the old cattle stall into a beautiful venue.

The Bride & Groom

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Hair & Makeup - Leanne Biggs

As a professional makeup artist and hairstylist aesthetics are important, but I’m very much about how it can give you confidence and make you feel inside. When it comes to products I’m definitely mindful of the impact my business could have on the environment and try to minimise wastage where possible. I recycle all paper, cardboard and plastic and I reuse containers when it’s hygienic and appropriate to do so. When downsizing my kit recently I made a conscious effort to only buy glass jars (for de-potting), rather than plastic, and all disposables, such as mascara and lip wands, are bamboo. This comes at a slightly higher cost to me, but I feel better knowing I’m doing my bit where I can. In this profession, it’s pretty impossible to be 100% eco-friendly as, unfortunately, lots of cosmetic packaging is plastic, but every little helps! All products in both my makeup and hair kits are cruelty-free, too.”

Bridalwear & Shoes - Rookery Bridal

Rookery Bridal supports local suppliers as much as it can by recommending and using local resources where possible: “We have designers who are from the UK, family-run businesses as well as larger designers who take sustainability seriously. Our sample dresses, once we have finished with them are sent on to be sold via another boutique that believes in being eco-friendly too. Our beautiful boutique is furnished with up-cycled furniture, making it unique and, we feel friendly on our planet.”

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Groomswear - Astaires

Weddings have become very commercial and the personal care and service can be lost with the larger companies. Smaller independents, such as ourselves, can offer a more personal approach to make your wedding day perfect for you and not just a format. It was great to support Gayle with this photoshoot as we always try to support local people and businesses as much as we can. If anything has been learnt from this last year it is that we all need to look after each other.

The Flowers - Cooper Floral Design

Cooper Floral Design is a designer/maker of delicate paper flowers for wedding bouquets and arrangements that are kind to the environment and beautiful to keep. Each flower is handcrafted and coloured with natural plant dyes. Foraged from local plant materials the dyes produce a range of soft and subtle colours. The flowers are constructed using homemade flour-based glue onto naturally sun-bleached Midelino (rattan) sticks. British and organic homegrown dried grasses and ferns are also included, adding extra texture and movement to the long-lasting bouquets and arrangements. The used dye material and any offcuts from making the flowers are home composted and all the materials and packaging used by Cooper Floral Design are biodegradable.

The Ceremony

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

The Rings - Eco Wood Rings

We offer beautiful, handcrafted rings, lovingly made from salvaged or sustainably sourced wood, along with recycled or Fairtrade precious metals. Whether you’re looking for an ethical engagement ring or an eco-friendly wedding ring, our unique designs aim to capture the spirit and warmth of the wood. In addition to our range of stunning ‘pre-designed' Collection rings, we also offer a custom design service and love working with customers to create truly one-of-a-kind wood rings that tell their story. Our rings can be made from one of the many kinds of wood that we stock, or from wood that you provide. Furthermore, we can often incorporate any other materials with meaning to you. Previous commissions have included everything from beach sand and pebbles, sea glass and guitar strings to gold shavings from an heirloom ring. Finally, we can add finishing touches such as moissanite or other cut stone, or perhaps an inscription inside of the band.”

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

The Music - Lucy Harvey

Musicians rarely get the chance to be involved in styled shoots but having live music can make such an impact on a wedding. Performing a couples favourite or meaningful song for their wedding is such a joy. As a one women band, I'm fortunate that my impact on our planet is low. I have a low emissions car that gets me from wedding to wedding. I use a battery-powered speaker to reduce my power usage, I send booking forms digitally to cut down on paper. When I need to purchase specific music for a wedding, I generally look to buy second hand, however, if not I usually purchase and print it only once. I try to live by the motto of 'reduce, reuse, recycle' if I can. Also, my favourite colour is green, which I share via the colour of my sax, just my added touch.”

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

The Celebrant - Isla Macleod

Isla is devoted to celebrating our relationship with the natural world, enriching her ceremonies with the elements and creating meaningful and magical ways to enhance the connection of all those present. She works intimately with her clients to craft a bespoke ceremony that is authentic and honours what they hold sacred in their lives.

The Portraits 

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Cindy Kitchker Photography

From an eco-friendly point of view, I buy high-quality and durable equipment, use a digital camera with rechargeable batteries, and my galleries are delivered digitally. I often buy second-hand equipment and I avoid wrecking nature when I take an image, plus I don’t do any printing.”

Gemma Rose Photography (second-shooter)

My love of photography developed as I sought to ‘bottle’ the feeling of contentment I was lucky enough to experience, growing up on a farm in rural Somerset. I find myself inspired by natural resources, colours and tones, letting nature take the lead. Capturing candid moments in natural light, with a relaxed approach, I seek unposed expression and emotion. In a collection of images, I aim to encapsulate not only a memory but a feeling.”

The Stationery

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Ailsa Rose Design 

I design bespoke stationery for all occasions. All my designs are hand-painted and produced to my clients' exact specifications. I use recycled materials as much as possible.”

The Reception Space

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Lighting & Table Hire - South West Marquees

At South West Marquees, we are outside every day, our connection to the countryside and natural environment runs right through everything we do. We are determined to do everything we can to protect the environment, from upscaling deliveries onto larger vehicles enabling us to multi-drop, manufacturing marquees in-house to reduce the transport of goods, to carrying out site visits in an Electric car or by Zoom. These are just a few ways we work and we are always looking for more as well as working with like-minded people across the industry to provide a joined-up service.”

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyINSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyINSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyINSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyINSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Crockery, Cutlery & Linen - Havercroft Hire

Havercroft Hire, based in Burnham on Sea offer a large portfolio of quality products. Their breadth of product range lets you 'have it your way’: “From chair sashes to tabletop to kitchen equipment, Havercroft Hire is there for you. We source all our products from local suppliers and wholesalers in the South West ensuring we reduce the carbon footprint as much as possible. We also ensure this is the case by limiting our area of supply, ensuring we don't travel excessively and unnecessarily, which not only keeps our carbon footprint low but also ensures delivery charges are kept to a minimum for our South West customers.”

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Wine - Smith and Evans 

Smith and Evans produce the finest English Sparkling Wine in the Heart of Somerset. Much of the land at Higher Plot is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) It is rare unimproved limestone grassland that has never had any form of chemical fertiliser or herbicide applied and so has a huge range of grasses and wildflowers. We manage it to encourage a wide range of flora and fauna to the extent that when it was originally surveyed, the land was said to have the widest bio-diversity to be found in Somerset. There are more than 20 butterfly species and rare orchids including Bee, Pyramidal and White Hellebore. The orchard is hundreds of years old and lies on terracing that is possibly Roman or more likely, Saxon Lynchetts and so more than 1000 years old. We work by replacing trees and grazing the land with sheep from Pitney Farm.

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

The Favours - The Woodland Wax Company

"Scent is the strongest tie to a memory and we want you to relive that every time”. Handmade in Somerset, The Woodland Wax Company make beautiful, strong scented home fragrance products that are vegan and eco-friendly.

The Wedding Cake

INSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyINSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyINSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker PhotographyINSPIRATIONAL EDITORIAL - An Intimate Sustainable Wedding Concept In The Somerset Countryside, Captured By Cindy Kitchker Photography

Cake Design by Holly Miller

Here at Cake Design by Holly Miller we are striving to be more mindful of our environmental impact and about how running our cake business impacts our environment. We endeavour to be as environmentally friendly as possible. A few changes we have made so far are to swap the use of plastic dowels when stacking cakes to more environmentally friendly compostable cake supports. We also try to source and use local produce, such as butter and eggs and have the philosophy, that ‘British is best’. We have also introduced a bigger range of vegan cake options to meet the needs of clients that are particularly aware of the environmental impact of what they are eating.”

The Film

Claire Deacon Films

"I shoot in a documentary style that focuses on capturing nature and emotions. It is important to me to capture the beauty of our natural environments."


My thanks to Gayle and the team for sharing this gorgeous inspiration with GREEN UNION!

KEEP SCROLLING TO VIEW THE FULL GALLERY...

Credits

Concept, Styling & Coordination: The Natural Vibe Co

Venue: Dairyhouse Farm 

Photographer: Cindy Kitchker  

Second Shooter: Gemma Rose Photography  

Videographer: Claire Deacon Films

Paper Florist: Cooper Floral Design 

Wedding Cake: Cake Design by Holly Miller  

Celebrant: Isla Macleod Ceremonies  

Bridalwear & Shoes: Rookery Bridal  

Groomswear: Astaires  

Wedding Rings: Eco Wood Rings  

Hair & Makeup: Leanna Biggs 

Lighting & Table Hire: South West Marquees 

Crockery, Cutlery & Linen: Havercroft Hire 

Wine: Smith & Evans 

Stationery: Ailsa Rose Designs 

Musician: Lucy Harvey 

Wedding Favours: Woodland Wax 

Models: Courtney Winkworth & James Reid 

 


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