Sustainable Style – A Real Wedding, Gillian & David

Posted on: 08/12/2010

.   

Don’t say I never spoil you.  Have I got an amazing Real Wedding to share with you this morning!   

.   

This couple are truly inspiring.  They show that you can have your dream Real Wedding without making a huge impact on the environment.  Hats off to them!  This is one beautiful eco friendly affair, bursting with personality.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

Could you go green?   

.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

Gillian shows us how its done: Being environmentally minded is important to both of us in the way we live our life so naturally we wanted our wedding to be as sustainable as possible. We wanted a high quality wedding celebration that would be as environmentally sensitive as possible without affecting the style and substance of the day.    

.   

.   

..   

   .

.

  , .

.

.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

The venue was the first thing we found. The Craven Arms is a beautiful real ale gastro-pub in the Yorkshire Dales with the most amazing barn tucked away behind it. The food and drink is all delicious as well as being local and seasonal and the Dales setting is spectacular, especially if you are as fortunate as we were with the weather! Mark and the team were a joy to work with throughout, making our guests feel absolutely welcome at all times.    

.   

.   

 .   

.   

.   

Our next fantastic find was from a recommendation from our friend Nicola. Photographer Olivia Brabbs specialises in eco-weddings – using recycled materials where ever possible, sourcing sustainably produced albums from the UK and even running her office on renewable energy. Olivia’s photos were perfect for our wedding as we wanted relaxed shots rather than spending lots of time posing. Many guests commented that they didn’t even notice she was there which was wonderful.   

.  .

   ..

….

.

   .

.

.   

.   

Olivia recommended a florist who also specialises in eco-weddings. Joanna, at Twisted Willow, took our sustainable brief and David’s enthusiasm for cactii and other succulents and created some of the most unique and spectacular bouquets, buttonholes and decorations we have ever seen. They were a real talking point all day and the nice thing for us was that most of the flowers and plants were locally sourced and grown. Plants were taken from David’s parents’ garden and even from the walls around The Craven Arms. The table decorations used plants rather than cut flowers so they could be given as gifts to family and friends after the wedding.   

.   

.   

  .   

.   

.   

.   

.   

There were lots of other little things that we ensured were “green”. All the invitations and orders of service were printed on recycled card, we hired a coach for guests to reduce the number of people driving cars, we sponsored a woodland for our guests to visit through The Woodland Trust instead of table favours and the DJ even used low energy lights.   

 .   

.

.   

.   

We had the most amazing day and never felt that sustainability meant we had compromised on style. It may have occasionally taken a little longer to source things but it was amazing how, once we found one supplier, they were able to recommend so many others doing similar.   

.   

.   

.   

.   

Overall we would say that you can have a fabulous, fun and classy wedding and not make a huge impact on the environment.   

.   .

Little Black Book: 

Photographer – Olivia Brabbs

Flowers – Joanna, Twisted Willow

Ceremony venue – Leeds Town Hall

Reception venue – Craven Cruck Barn, Appletreewick.

Favours – The Woodland Trust

Stationery – Ruth Child at Olive Wedding Stationery

All paper for the order of days, place cards etc – Eco Craft

Brides dress – Essence of Australia design, supplied by Ava Rose Hamilton, Silsden

Bridesmaids – Alfred Sung design, supplied by Angel Brides, Horsforth

Suits – hired from Moss Bros

Make up – Beauty by Julie

Hair – Mandy Spence

Engagement ring and bracelet – Mirri Damer supplied by Element Jewellers in Hebden Bridge

Wedding rings – made by David’s father Peter Hemming

Wedding car – Diamond Class

Bridesmaids car – JWS

.

Contact Brides Up North today to submit your Real Wedding!   

.   

.   

This is not a sponsored post.   

Contact Brides Up North today to submit your business as a Featured Supplier   

.   

.