Friday, February 22, 2013

Something For Tea Lovers Out There.

If you are looking for a sweet and simple Wedding Favour for your guests The Bellevue Tea Company could be just what you are looking for.
Bellevue’s sweet little wallets of tea with their colourful, contemporary packaging are the perfect gift to delight your wedding guests. They are a great pocket sized treat that your guests can enjoy at home when they take off their party shoes, relax and reminisce about your wedding.
Each wallet contains 6 individually wrapped teabags and are available in 5 different flavours: Breakfast, Earl Grey, Sencha Green, Rooibos and Peppermint.  They are priced at £1.50 each and are available from The Bellevue Tea Company.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Every Bride's Shopping Paradise - BHLDN

Now, who spends as much time internet shopping (well browsing and dreaming!) as I do? Mmmm, perhaps Fleur De Force?! When I discovered BHLDN, Anthropologie's sister wedding brand, I was so excited... a one-stop-shop for utterly gorgeous Wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, accessories,  shoes, decor and gifts!  And in each of those categories they stock such fantastic pieces. Here are just a few of my favourites...
 


Go on... take a peek at www.bhldn.com, it is bound to cheer up your day!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Unique Wedding Stationery - Dottie Creations

I have to admit I absolutely adore quirky, personalised details at Weddings. It is just so important to add your own style and to set your day away from the rest. Which is just one of the reasons why I love the work of Dottie Creations
 Set up by the hugely talented Zoe Vawser, who does all of the designs herself, Dottie Creations offers a 'one-stop-shop' for all of your Wedding Stationery requirements. From invitations to place settings, guest books to favours, menus to table plans, Zoe will create a collection of designs to suit you, your style and your Wedding.  Here are some of her fabulous designs and creations...

Friday, February 15, 2013

The Perfect Personalised Present for your Groom

Men are undeniably tricky beings when it comes to finding presents that they will love... which is why I had to share this finding with you - The Sweeney Shoe Studio.  Not only do they sell great shoes for men but they provide a 'shoe tattoo service' for you to go one step further and create a pair of shoes with your own unique, indelible mark.  THE perfect Wedding present for your Beau I thought.... 
Launched in their first Sweeney Shoe Tattoo pop-up in Selfridges last September, the demand for this exclusive service has been endless. What a perfect way for commemorating your Wedding day with a personalised message, or even a personalised design if you are feeling creative!
The shoe tattoos are hand created onto your chosen pair of shoes using a real tattoo gun and ink (so a permanent mark) and can be designed on either the upper shoe or the sole (or both).
I am afraid it is not a cheap present to buy, shoe prices start from £199 with tattoo prices from £25 (initials) to £45-£100 (designs, subject to complexity), but I think they're worth it?...

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Some Dates For Your Diary!

Planning your perfect Wedding? Need some more inspiration? Perhaps these are some dates that should be marked in your diary...
The National Wedding Show is on 22nd to 24th February 2013 at London Olympia and 1st to 3rd March at Birmingham NEC.
"Whether it’s inspirational ideas straight from the catwalk, expert tips and on-trend advice or the unrivaled range of dresses, nowhere else offers brides-to-be and their closest family & friends such an amazing, fun and stylish day out."
The Vintage Wedding Fair is on 24th February 2013 at Chiswick Town Hall.
"Our aim is to help Brides & Grooms find Vintage Attire and Inspiration.  The Vintage Wedding Fair is held in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with vintage experts on hand to help plan your special Vintage day."

Happy Wedding Planning All!

Wedding Reception Accessories - Cox and Cox

Inspired by a recent 'real bride' on Bride De Force who purchased these beautiful ribbons from Cox and Cox, I couldn't resist having a peek on their website.  And I just love it all... Their Wedding accessories collection is just divine and full of inspiration... but if you dig a little deeper there are so many other treasures to be found.  From amazing candle sticks (that would look fabulous adorning your reception tables) to mirrors and hanging angel wings (amazing decorations for your Wedding venue). 
This blog does however come with a warning label... you could find a lot more on here than just accessories for your Wedding! If only they did a Wedding Gift List service.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Perfect English Garden Party Wedding

Welcome to the fantastic 1920's inspired summer garden party Wedding of an utterly gorgeous friend of mine, Victoria.  Classically styled with cream and navy Victoria wore an absolutely stunning 1920's drop waist vintage Wedding dress and all of the details followed suit.  The croquet on the lawn and Jubilee trio added to the classical British style and made this Wedding an utter delight.  I will leave the rest of the story for Victoria to share with you all...
Henry and I met through a mutual friend at a fancy dress dinner party.  Henry was dressed as 'bad santa' and I was dressed as 'fem bot'! We got married on 24th September 2011 at St Lawrence Church in Chobham and then had the reception in a marquee in my Father's garden. The Church has special memories for me as it is situated next to my Primary School where I played Mary in the nativity play there when I was younger!
I have lived at my family home since I was two years old and I have always wanted to get married in the garden there. When I started organising our Wedding I didn’t have a theme or a colour in mind but as the organising went on I realised that there was a 1920’s theme developing.  My dress was a 1920’s drop waist style, the wedding car was a 1920’s Rolls Royce (as seen in the film, The King’s Speech) and the guest's transport was a vintage Routemaster.
My sister was amazing when it came to finding my dress. She booked me into a whole load of appointments and we went to a few select places together; I wasn’t keen on going to big department stores. I saw “the dress” and said “oh I would love to wear something like that” – once it was bought, altered and at home I tried it on every time I could – I loved it so much!
My bridesmaids wore navy dresses from Coast – not hugely original but they did the trick!
My husband bought his morning dress from Oliver Brown. I love the yellow double breasted waistcoat that he wore and he also wore dogs tooth trousers which I thought were lovely. 
I love organising anyway so organising our Wedding was a great experience for me. We got engaged nine months before we got married which I think was a good amount of time to get everything done. I panicked about the weather as I was so keen on having reception drinks outside and I was also nervous about people not turning up but it all turned out to be great and there was no need for worry.  My advice to future brides would be "not to take it all too seriously on the day, to let your hair down and enjoy it!".  Someone told me that guests at weddings often enjoy themselves as much as the bride and groom do. We had such a fun day and wanted that to filter through to all of our guests.
As my name is Victoria, the Wedding cake had to be a Victoria sponge! A local lady made the tiers and then my florist organised the flowers between the tiers. Sadly I didn’t have any of the cake but I’m told it was delicious.
We got some very pretty ribbons and vintage wedding signs from Cox and Cox which has some lovely pieces.
For the reception drinks we had a Jubilee Trio who really set the atmosphere for a British garden party. After the wedding breakfast we had a band called 29 Fingers who were amazing! The dance floor was full all night long and they really know how to get everyone dancing.
My florist was a friend from University called Rose Hansom who is just amazing at floral arranging. She created the most gorgeous bouquets using vintage roses and we had beautiful candelabras on the tables which were decorated in the same flowers; she also used mint in the arrangements which smelt divine!
The photographer for our Wedding was Vicky Dawe. I had met her at a few friend’s weddings and thought that her photographs were excellent. I actually would have considered changing the wedding date if Vicky couldn’t have covered it. She is such a lovely person to have around, she has recently got married herself so she knows exactly how a bride is feeling on her big day. She is so patient and knows exactly what a bride wants.
I just loved all of our Wedding – being with all of our friends and family at my family home, the weather was beautiful – I just had the most magical day and will remember it forever!

Victoria's Three Top Tips:
1. Plan in advance and do things in bite size portions - don't leave anything to the last minute.
2. Don’t let it all get too overwhelming and remember the point of the day.
3. Enjoy the organising, put as many personal touches to your day as possible and ask friends and family to help.

Suppliers: Dress – Vintage Wedding Dress Company, Veil - Vintage Wedding Dress Company, Shoes - Jimmy Choo, Flowers - Rose Hansom, Make-up – Polly Neary (friend), Hair -  I wouldn’t recommend my hairdresser and I wish I spent more time researching a really good hairdresser - that is my only regret, Bridesmaid Dresses - Coast, Cake - locally sourced, Photographer – Vicky Dawe, Marquee – Claremont Marquees (very good company if a bit overpriced).