Some Things for the Weekend

Friday lie ins are the best!!

Source

I hope those of you who are lucky enough to enjoy this extra long weekend are having fun?  Today we should be meeting with friends and going in to Birmingham for drinks... Hopefully tomorrow won't be spent in bed nursing a hangover!

~ I'd be a happy bunny if I could sleep here or here

~ This brides make up is stunning

~ Summer wouldn't be complete without one of these

~ Funky fascinators... there's even a cupcake one!

~ Can you hear me. Beautiful illustrations

~ My kind of style!

~ Learn something new every day

~ Up to 50% off at Laura Ashley Home Furnishings, Furniture, Mirrors, Beds, Curtains and Fashion

~ Papercut Garden.  Some people are too talented!

~ More amazing works of paper

~ Manhattan and purple shoes... yes please!

~ I am totally loving this series, for a number of reasons!!  Don't end!

~ Beeeeeeeautiful

~ My cup of tea!

~ An excellent moto for all brides!

~ Completely in love with Vallentyne Photography

April Fools!

Happy Easter

Of course I wasn't being serious when I said I'd found the bridesmaid's their dresses in fact I found the dresses here.  Lovely colour though!

So April is here and we've officially made it through winter.  Thank goodness, it feels like winter has been here for a long time!
I'm looking forward to summer barbecues, festivals, floaty dresses and driving with the windows down.   Warmer weather still feels far away though, especially seeing as I had to scrape SNOW from my car this morning!  I think Mother Nature was playing a little April Fool's herself!  Good one Momma, now bring the sunshine please?!

March wasn't a very productive month in terms of planning.  I haven't really had any motivation to get anything done.  I'm hoping April will work out better.

I did manage to cross off a few things from my list. I visited the National Wedding Fayre at the NEC, we booked the remaining honeymoon flights (yay!), we visited one bridesmaid dress shop and decided on a final design for our wedding invitations.

Taking in to account the jobs I didn't manage to do in March, April's list looks like this.

• Start making up the wedding invitations (Me, Suzie and Hayley have a date next wednesday!)
• Continue the search for bridesmaids dresses, whether that's shop bought or custom made.
• Work on finishing the chalk board place cards
• Research honeymoon hotels
• Start mocking up ideas for the evening invitations
• Work on secret bridesmaid gift project.
• Continue work on song choices for ceremony, wedding breakfast and reception
• Work on another little DIY painting project that will require some nicer weather.
• Start cutting out 160 Chrysler Buildings for the Order of the Day booklets......!
• Plan "Hen and the City"
• Get back on the diet wagon!!!  I've slipped big time, once I've gobbled up all my Easter eggs there'll be no more treats!

I'm looking forward to getting back into wedding mode.  We have 7, yes 7 months to go!  The other night I had a dream that we were 2 weeks away from getting married and I had done nothing.  I hadn't even sent the invitations out!  Maybe it was my subconscious giving me a kick up the bum and telling me to pull my finger out!

I'm postponing trying on my dress until May.  Hayley has a few days off coming up so the plan is for me, Suzie and Natalie to visit as many bridesmaids dress shops as we can and make a short list for when Hayley can join us.  We'll also all visit my dress so I can try her on and probably cry like an idiot!

Have a lovely Easter weekend! x

The BEST news ever!!

Bridesmaid dress hunt is over!!

A friend of a friend at work recently got married and her colour scheme was purple.  She's willing to GIVE me her bridesmaids dress for FREE!
Also - get this!  She had 3 adult bridesmaids, so I'll only need to find a dress for Sophie.

I can't tell you how pleased I am, this is going to save me so much time and money!  She's going to bring the dresses in next week for me to have a look at but has sent me a picture of them.  What do you think?  I know the girls are going to LOVE them!

Photo Booths

Photos are a huge deal to me, growing up I had an entire wall in my bedroom covered in photos I had taken.  Before digital cameras I would save up my money to buy film and then to have the pictures developed, often opting for the more expensive option of an hours processing because I was too impatient to wait 24 hours.
I love taking pictures (especially with my new camera) and I love to be surrounded my pictures of people and places I love.

Picking our wedding photographer, as I'm sure you can imagine, was a major job for us.  Luckily Has and I were on the same page when it came how we wanted our wedding to be captured.  We are confident that the photographer we have chosen, Deborah Stott, will match if not beat our expectations.

We want to place disposable cameras on each of our dining tables for our guests to take their own candid shots of the day.  (There are a few taken on Suzie's wedding day that make me look naked!  Not intended I can assure you, let's hope they never make it on Facebook!)
Having spoken to friends who did this a lot of photos end up being either unusable (turn the flash on!) not printable (Who does that belong to!) or of very similar things (I believe Suzie has around 12 photos of the lamb shank we all ate for our main course!)  But some of them really do turn out good.  People pull funny faces or poses because they know they don't have to be on their best behaviour, it's not like when the professional photographer is shooting you, disposable cameras give you the licence to be silly.  That's what I want!

So how do you get good quality silly and fun photographs of your guests?  No. I don't mean plying them with alcohol, although I'm sure that helps!  I'm talking about a photo booth.

People "in the know" are predicting photo booths as the big trend of 2010 and I can see why.  A private space for your guests to leave you with a funny reminder of them on your day.  Most packages come with the option of your guests being able to print two sets.  One they can keep and another for them to stick in your guest book along with a note.  It's such a simple yet great idea!

Photo from Jasmine Star

Of course these don't come cheap, the cheapest quote I've found so far is around £500 for 3 hours. Yikes!  A definite on our "nice to have" list!

Of course there is always the do it yourself approach.  You'd need to ask your photographer or friend if they mind helping out but the results can be fabulous!

Photo from Ben Godkin

These photos from Emma Case prove my point.

Fantastic!!

I've got the Baking Bug!

Last night Has and I made what we are called "Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes"

The surprise being that they are filled with cream!

We scooped out the middle part of the cake and filled it with cream, then put the little lids back on top.

However this meant we were left with quite a bit of excess chocolate sponge... not wanting to waste any we gobbled it up with the left over cream!  Yum!

We sat down to enjoy these bad boys with a cup of tea and an episode of "Come Dine With Me"

What way is the right way?

Before I started to plan a wedding I always imagined I would walk down the aisle with my dad followed by my bridesmaids and never really gave much thought to it.  This is how it has happened at all of the weddings I have ever been to, so never imagined there would be another order to the entrance of the wedding party.

At Suzie and Rob's wedding her Mom was escorted down the aisle first by Suzie's brother James, then the bridesmaids and finally Suzie and her Dad.  Having seen it played out this way, I can't imagine it being any other way at our wedding.

I would love my brother and usher Paul to escort my Mom down the aisle, followed by our 4 bridesmaids and then me on my Dad's arm.  I think it makes sense for the bride to be the last person in the room.

Amelia Lyon Photography via Junebug Weddings

Other things I've come across whilst planning this wedding is whether or not the bride and groom should see each other on the morning of the wedding.  Again I'd always taken it to be bad luck if the groom saw the bride before she walked down the aisle.  However I've found at some weddings in America the bride and groom share a private moment and come together before the ceremony in a "first look" meeting.  This must be such a precious and emotional time.  I can imagine the rush of happiness, nerves and love, sharing that "We're getting married in a few minutes" feeling.  When you walk down the aisle towards your groom you have all eyes on you, so this private meeting must be something special.

Saying that, I don't think we will be breaking "tradition." The first time I see Has on the 5th November will be as I walk down the aisle.  I can be a little superstitious (I'm one of those crazy people who salute magpies!) so although a private encounter with Has before our vows would be sacred it would be on my mind that it's bad luck!

A Cup of Jo

Which brings me to another point.  At a couple of the weddings I have been to, the groom has not turned to watch his bride walk down the aisle.  He has waited until she's reached him before looking at her.  In fact at my cousins wedding, when her groom tried to turn to look at her, the registrar told him he wasn't allowed!  When Has and I spoke about this he told me that nothing would stop him watching me walk down the aisle.  In fact I know when I begin my walk, I'll catch his eye and won't be able to look elsewhere.  Everyone else watches as the bride makes her entrance so why shouldn't the groom?!

Mille Holloman

I've learnt so much during my time as an engaged lady.  I've come to realise that there is no right or wrong when it comes to weddings.  What ever YOU want to happen on YOUR day goes.  Just because it's the "norm" or "that's how it's always happened" doesn't mean it has to be that way for you.  

At my best friend Suzie's wedding she broke tradition and totally rocked a stunning midnight blue dress because it was her.

Just because ever woman in my family before me wore a veil, doesn't mean I have to.  If I want to wear purple shoes or wellies on my wedding day then I will!

I'm not saying our wedding will be a million miles away from "traditional" but we will be personalising our wedding to suit us.  In my opinion I think that is what helps make a perfect wedding.

Headbands

Ever since I started trying on wedding dresses and I was forced to try on tiaras and veils with the dress to "complete the look" I realised I didn't want one.

I'm 99.9% sure I won't be wearing either a veil or tiara on my wedding day.
It's just not me.

As stupid as it sounds, wearing a veil and tiara conjures up images in my head of me as a little girl playing dress up.

Therefore, I want a headband that makes a statement.  I love the headbands which have the detailing on the side.  Flo and Percy have gorgeous accessories.  Suzie wore their Clarice headband from the Gatsby collection during the evening at her wedding, which is absolutely gorgeous!

I really like their Chesire headband from their Wonderland collection

(model is a bit scary looking though!)

I'm having a real struggle at the moment finding something I'm in love with.  Don't get me wrong there are loads of gorgeous headbands out there, I just have trouble picturing them being worn.  A lot of websites provide photos of the headband, but I think it really helps to have one of a model wearing it.

They have quite a few cute ones on Etsy.

This Rhinestone Headband is from TessaKim

Swarovski Rhinestone Headband from Brenda's Bridal Veils

I like the pearls in this Heirloom side tiara headband from Glitzy Secrets

I found the Jennifer Behr website a while ago.. she tempts me with her stunning headbands.  Especially Dahlia

Want to know a secret...?  I haven't actually tried on a side headband!  Yes, I could be fantasising on something that will look completely pants on.  Only one thing for it, mass headband trying on session is in order!

How was your weekend?

I've had a lovely relaxing and quiet weekend filled with my favourite things.  Baking, crafting, visiting Hobby Crafts and watching films in bed with Has.

First of all my ring from Oh, hello, friend came.

It's gorgeous and I love it!

Saturday I visited Hobby Craft and picked up some ribbon so I can make a start on the invitations.  I also picked up some purple sample paint pots for a separate project I'll start soon.

Has' Mom Sue found her wedding outfit yesterday too!  A complete bargain and it's gorgeous!  Not only did Sue manage to find her outfit she also walked straight into Next and found the perfect shoes to match... extra bonus, they were on sale!!

We've spent most of the day in the kitchen  Has made his famous meatballs and spaghetti and I made a chocolate sponge cake.  The frosting didn't turn out as chocolatey looking as I had intended but our local shop only had milk chocolate rather than dark  Oh well it tasted yummy!!

Some Things for the Weekend

I've decided to expand my Friday Photo feature into "Some Things for the Weekend"

I read so many great blogs, forums, articles and tweets daily about weddings, crafts, design and a hole host of other things that I want to share and remember.   I thought instead of dedicating a post to each I'll collect them up and post them at the end of the week.  So without further ado... Some Things for the Weekend!

I have those purple shoes!

~ I heart We Heart It - in fact I'm addicted

~ Check out this bad boy!  *drool*

~ To hire or not to hire?

~ The cutest little Easter craft project... will I have time to give it ago? Hope so!

~ An engagement shoot with cupcakes? Now you're talking!

~ 10 top tips for getting the best photos on your wedding day

~ This wedding blew me away!  Love, love, love the polka dot ties!

~ Hawaii in pictures

~ Under a tree

~ Easter brunch inspiration

~ Half price sale now on at Debenhams!

~ To die for!

~ DIY spring florals

~ Invitation inspiration

~ Crushing on chalkboards

~ Same hill, different day

~ OMG posters, OMG indeed!

~ The cutest stationery I've seen in a long time!

What do you think? Some Things for the Weekend better that Friday Photo?

Happy Weekend xxx