Beautiful (And Affordable) Wedding Stationery

Brides out there looking to produce beautiful, bespoke and personalised Wedding stationery but are not wanting to spend a fortune, I have found a perfect solution for you. Wedding stationery supplier Candelabra offers fantastic stationery packages starting from just £250 (including invitations, lined envelopes, thank you notelets, table place cards, order of service booklets, menu blanks, table names or numbers and table plan kits). 

So for those of you thinking of going down the DIY route I advise you have a quick look at Candelabra first.  The bespoke artwork service (£100) will allow you to work directly with the talented founder, Sas Mackie, to create a totally unique design tailored to your Wedding.  Sas will do the hard work for you!

"I love nothing more than working with a couple to realise their dream wedding stationery. The invitation is often the very first glimpse a guest will have of the wonderful wedding to come, so it is incredibly important to get it just right." Sas Mackie, Founder.

One word of Bride de Force advice when ordering any print materials is to make sure you ask for samples before pressing the green light. This way you will know exactly what you are getting.

"My source material comes from the curious world of Hackney, where old school tradition meets contemporary art and fashion. I love luxurious paper and print quality, but I can't resist a bargain, so I wanted to bring these qualities to the Candelabra Stationery style." Sas Mackie, Founder.

Vintage Letterpress Love

If you are looking for some quirky and cool vintage style stationery for your Wedding I absolutely love this style produced by Vintage Princess Stationery. 

These typography based invitations feature a selection of vintage style fonts in red and blue with the reply card designed to look like an old fashioned postcard.

The range also includes matching save the date cards, thank you cards, reply cards, menus, place cards, table cards and seating plans.

Save the date ideas - Fridge magnet

Now, I know fridge magnets are not hugely original anymore, but I still think they are hard to beat in terms of a cool reminder of your wedding that will be sure to 'stick around'!  They seem to be the only save the dates that have remained in pride of place in my kitchen, which this morning made me think I should have a look for some unusual, funky suppliers. This was when I came across Breadcrumb. Bedcrumb is a great little company, founded in late 2007 by designer/illustrator Heidi Cannon, born out of a love of colour, illustration and retro glamour. All of the unique prints and designs are taken from Heidi’s original scribblings and every product is made with love and attention to detail in the UK.  The 'Save the Date' magnets that Breadcrumb supply are unique and beautifully designed but what I like the most is that they arrive attached to a lovely card, ready to be sent to each of your guests.

Priced at £2.50 each they are not a cheap solution, but considering all the artwork and printing is sorted for you I think they are actually pretty good value.  They do also offer a discount for larger orders, so make sure you ask.

Breadcrumb also design a great range of other unique wedding bits and pieces, including wedding invitations, RSVP cards, favours, place cards, wish tree tags, thank you cards, wedding signs... you name it. So even if save the date fridge magnets are not taking your fancy be sure to have a peek at their website.

Wedding Monogram Design Inspiration

Looking for a monogram design for your wedding? Something unique and personal to you both, without breaking the budget? I have found a solution. Bellus Designs offer affordable, personalised wedding logos and completely custom monograms "for the chic bride on a budget"!

The great thing is that you have the option to print their designs yourself onto invitations, favours, thank you cards etc or they will take away the pressure and do it all for you!

Bellus Designs offer a wide range of other Wedding stationary accessories. Their personalised acrylic name plates would look amazing at the reception and also make a great keepsake from the day for each of your bridal party.  Priced at £10 each they would be a great addition to the top table.

Monograms help to make your wedding seamless by visually tying all elements together — engagement announcements, save-the-dates, the website, invitations, programs, table numbers, wedding party t-shirts, favor tags, thank you cards, welcome signs, vinyl wall art. You name it!

It is also lovely to frame the original monogram to keep for yourselves.

Wedding Theme A-Z: C is for Candy Stripes

C IS FOR... Candy Stripes.

Classic, wonderfully pretty and utterly delicious... just everything that a Wedding should be! This theme is so now, and for all the right reasons. It gives you a reason to theme every element of your wedding as well as being flexible to a huge range of colours. The only problem with this theme is that there are so many amazing bits out there to buy in candy stripes that it would be hard to know when to stop.

Your guests can be utterly spoilt with such a fantastic excuse to fill your Wedding reception with delicious sweets and treats!

I love the fact that with this theme you can also introduce various different colours, still maintaining the unity of the overall theme. These bridesmaid dresses (as worn by The Saturday's for Una's Wedding!) would be absolutely perfect to incorporate the 'candy' element. With the option to choose just one colour for your bridesmaids or go wild and have one of each.

If the above is just a little too girly for your liking why not go a little wild with the theme. Choose a more 'shocking' palatte to create a really stunning 'wow' factor for your Wedding. I absolutely love these Nail varnish colours from Mavala's new 'Delicious' collection. These six delectable shades conveniently have 'candy names' such as Candy Floss and Lemon Cream. Perfect either as favours for all the female guests or they would look fantastic on each of your bridesmaids. Priced at £4.30 each.

These images are taken from a recent edition of 'Wedding Magazine'.  The stylist for this 'Real Wedding' was Truely Madly Dottie. I thoroughly recommend a peek at her website as she has such amazing style and flair.

Images sourced from: Pastels: Blue invitation / Delicately styled striped cake / Candy stripe garter / Selection of sweets / Paper straws / Pink sweet bags /  Candy stripe invite / Bow detail invitation / Sweet hamper / Coloured twine / Bridesmaid dresses Brights: Paper bags multi / Ribbon

Wedding Theme A-Z: B is for Butterflies and Bows

B IS FOR: Butterflies and Bows...
This is such a pretty, girly theme. Not really 100% my cup of tea, but loved by so many. Butterflies are just perfect for a wedding, enabling you to add a simple touch of delicate beauty or a splash of vibrant colour to almost anything.

I love these line drawn butterfly invitations from Cardinal Ink and the butterflies featured on the cake are all edible (available from Sugar Robot)! Butterflies in your hair look so pretty, available from Glitzy Secrets and Etsy. Fairy Cakes are a must with this delicate theme.

I think bows give a sophisticated, classic edge to a wedding and I love adding ribbons as much as I can to decorations.  The wedding invitations with loose ribbon and petal decorations are available from The Letter Press.

It is definately worth having a look at Alan Hannah's collection this season, he has such a beautiful range of dresses. I just love this over-sized bow detail, perfect to 'clinch' in your waist.  Add a more subtle, vintage inspired butterfly element to your wedding with this beautiful butterfly confetti, available from 'And all things nice', which compliment the tags and little brown favour bags in the above image.

Wedding Theme A-Z: A is for Afternoon Tea

I am starting a new blog series called 'Wedding Theme A-Z'. Giving ideas for new themes every Thursday. I am really excited to share my ideas with you, so I hope you enjoy them. x

A IS FOR Afternoon Tea so quintessentially British and delicious, is such a perfect theme for a beautiful summer wedding. Think antique china tea sets, soft powder coloured roses, vintage lace, garden games, bunting, cupcakes and cream tea. But why not trade in that tea and serve cocktails in the tea cups!

Vintage tea cups and saucers are available to hire from a number of companies however I think it is much more fun to scour local antique markets and find your own. There are some real treasures to be found out there and you will get to keep them at the end of your Wedding Day or give them to guests as their wedding favour. Vintage inspired food flags are perfect for afternoon tea party treats.  Or why not serve baskets full of gorgeous marshmellows, with outdoor fire pits in the evening and have a marshmellow toasting session. A great alternative to the 'sweetie table'. The vintage icecream tricycle looks absolutely fantastic and I am sure would be adored by your guests.

Vintage style confetti cones filled with real rose petals add a rustic charm to the day and these amazing natural wheatsheaf bouquets would look fantastic as table centrepieces or as decoratation for your bar accompanied by sprigs of English grown lavender. Vintage inspired Country bunting and Old school milk bottles would complete the look. Bride De Force are currently working on a 'how to make your own bunting video' so watch this space! If you are looking for an original invitaiton designer with a classic edge take a look at In the tree house.

If you are also looking for a beautiful quintessentially English style wedding dress, this stunning antique lace dress would be perfect. And add a timeless pearl and diamond bracelet and matching earings to complete the look.