Barnardos X Tower Hill Barns

This Earth Day, we partnered with Barnardo’s to celebrate love in a manner that leaves a positive impact on our planet and society without compromising on style.

The aim? To demonstrate that making eco-conscious choices as part of your wedding planning is ANYTHING but boring.

Spoiler Alert: Preloved bridal is the way forward! #BarnardosxTowerHillBarns

In an era where conscious consumerism is gaining momentum; weddings – incredible as they are – should be no exception. After all, the UK wedding industry represents a devastating impact on our environment each year; with the average wedding producing around 14.5 tons of CO2 and 20kg of plastic waste on average.

You know we’re passionate about sustainability here at THB; so this Earth Day we jumped at the chance to partner with Barnardo’s retail division to launch an epic campaign. Our shared goal? To celebrate love in a manner that positively impacts our planet and society without sacrificing style.

Brief: An Epic, Sustainable Styled-Shoot

The vision was clear: An epic, quirky, sustainable styled shoot, to demonstrate that making eco-conscious choices as part of your wedding planning is anything but boring.

By showcasing elevated pre-loved wedding attire, stunning repurposed décor, and exquisite British-grown wedding blooms in collaboration with a handful of talented eco-conscious suppliers. With an added sprinkling of girl power c/o four gorgeous, inclusive, eco-conscious influencers who became our enthusiastic models for the day; we’re confident we achieved our goal (and then some!).

A Warm Welcome For Our Eco-Warriors

The atmosphere was buoyant as the Barnardo’s team arrived (from London!) bright and early on the day of the shoot to blue skies and the kind of uplifting spring feels that can only truly be experienced here in the beautiful Welsh countryside – the perfect backdrop for some gorgeous wedding photography.

With a jam-packed schedule (and numerous outfit changes) planned, there was no time to waste. After a whistle-stop tour of our luxury countryside barn venue, our wonderful models AKA successful, eco-conscious, social media influencers @bridget.nzen, @fatgirlfashioninspo, @Thriftyfinnie and @izzy_Manuel were spirited away to our bespoke makeup and dressing room for Made Up By Cathryn and Lindsay McElmeel Bridal Hair to work their magic.

An Incredible Showcase Of Pre-loved Bridal Dresses, as well as Repurposed and Eco-Friendly Wedding Supplies

Our models got wedding-ready, selecting their outfits from a wide array of pre-loved bridal dresses and bridesmaid dresses handpicked by the Barnardo’s team from their retail stores. The THB team and Emily, owner of sustainable, Chester-based florist Linden Lea, were hard at work ensuring the venue looked on-point too.

Emily hit it out of the park, transforming the Barns with beautiful, foam-free floral arrangements and bouquets using only locally sourced, in-season British-grown flowers – her speciality. (Check out our ‘5 Ways To Make Your Wedding More Sustainable‘ blog to see why we love this!). We’re sure you’ll agree the results were breathtaking, proving that you don’t need expensive, imported florals with thousands of travel miles under their belt to create dazzling floral décor!

La Pièce De Résistance

Of course, no quirky, girl-power-orientated wedding shoot would be complete without an appearance from Birdie Campervan! Owner, Kitty is the queen of all things vintage, preloved, and repurposed. Each vehicle in the Birdie lineup has at some point found itself tired and unloved; before being rescued by Kitty and lovingly restored by her partner Dave to its former glory!

For this shoot, Mini-Birdie took centre stage in our oak-framed dining hall. Proudly displaying not one but two gorgeous (and more importantly, delicious) cakes provided by THB fave Julie (Red Rose Cake Co). Meanwhile, Birdie’s Photobooth provided the pièce de résistance of all photo backdrops for our blushing brides (and bridesmaids) as the sun began to set over the rolling Welsh hills – an influencer’s dream!

Our Final Thoughts:

This shoot was upbeat and SO fun to do. You know we’re generally up for anything here at the Barns, and we LOVED having the opportunity to do something a little bit different while advocating for an issue close to our hearts. Aoife and Ash did an incredible job capturing the energy of the day; we were blown away.

It never ceases to amaze us how versatile our beautiful countryside venue is. From black tie sophistication to this eclectic, colourful, girl-power-inspired, pre-loved celebration. Everything looks good on us (if we do say so ourselves).

Ultimately, we can’t decide whether it was the retro styling, the breathtaking wildflower floral arrangements, our fabulous eco-conscious models, or the beautiful array of pre-loved bridal dresses and accessories that stole the show! We love it all. But one thing we can say for certain is sustainable weddings are anything but boring.

We hope this sustainable styled shoot has inspired you to incorporate eco-conscious choices into your wedding day. For more eco-wedding inspiration, check out the Barnardos X Tower Hill Barns campaign on socials and find ‘5 Ways To Make Your Wedding More Eco-friendly‘ and ‘8 Recommended Suppliers With A Focus On Sustainability‘ on our blog. Happy Planning!

You Might Also Like:

• Our Earth Day Eco Pledge to Sustainable Weddings
• Earth Day Pledge Update: What We’re Doing So Far
• How To Choose Your Wedding Venue
• An outdoor wedding venue perfect for the summer