Monday, January 28, 2013

Real English Garden Wedding: Krysten & Matt

I'm taking a quick break from my Before the Big Day Wedding Trends of 2013 series today, to feature this incredible English Summer Garden themed wedding. With pretty pinks, stunning stationery, buckets of garden flowers, and a gorgeous bride and groom, I couldn't wait to show you Sam Johnson's beautiful pictures. Krysten and Matt planned many of the DIY details for their wedding themselves, and created a truly personal big day. Krysten even designed her own wedding dress, with the help of her local seamstress, Julie Dutton - a fantastic idea if you can't find a gown in the shops. Feast your eyes on all the wedding pictures, I've got more of their stunning marquee reception to publish later today!

We celebrated our wedding on Saturday 7th July 2012 at noon in our church in Long Itchington. I was christened there when I was a baby so it's very special to me. My stepdad had been ordained a year before our wedding, so he married us.

Our theme was English Summer Country Garden – we had different coloured flowers everywhere and our day had a real personal DIY feel. Matt's incredibly talented Aunty Luciana made my bouquet and the wedding party flowers – they were perfect!

I searched through several wedding dress shops and couldn't find a gown for me, so I searched the internet for ideas, and then took these ideas to my fantastic seamstress, Julie Dutton, who worked with me to select the lace and tweak the style until I was happy. 


I always wanted bright fushcia dresses for my bridesmaids and I loved Alfred Sung from Dessy. They were ideal for a summer wedding, and I wanted each of my bridesmaids to have a different style {I didn’t want them looking like identical triplets}. I was keen for them to feel unique, comfortable and special - and with plenty of style options, they could choose their own look.



I loved my dress so much - it was perfect and exactly what I'd always pictured. I would recommend having a dressmaker to all brides who have a specific idea in mind – the final cost worked out similar to buying a wedding gown, but it was one of kind, especially for me! I’m very traditional so I decided to have a veil for church, after all, when else would I get the opportunity to wear one, plus I felt it completed the look.

I found my Rachel Simpson shoes at a vintage wedding fair. They were reduced to £50 on the day and a percentage of the money was donated to Breast Cancer Research UK. I love pink, so they were perfect and fitted my vintage style dress. I wore dropped pearl earrings – a wedding gift from my mum, and Matt's mum gave me a wedding gift – a beautiful gold Rolex watch that her mum bought her for her 21st birthday. She also lent me a simple gold bangle with a diamond on it. 


I love flowers so this was a huge part of our wedding theme. From the start I knew I wanted as many flowers as possible. My bouquet and wedding party flowers {bridesmaids bouquets, button holes, flower girls' head-dresses} were all beautiful large English roses, gypsophilia, wax flowers, sweet peas and more!




Matt's outfit was a Ted Baker three piece suit, Next shirt, black skinny tie and Dune shoes – all very classic and to his taste.


Our photographer was Sam Johnson. We went to school with him and I knew he had a very good reputation. Ahead of our wedding he came to visit the church and venue, and we spent time deciding on the types of shots we wanted.


Naturally we wanted Sam to take as many photos on the day as possible but we were adamant that we didn’t want to spend hours having our photos taken, so we were keen to be organised with a list of photos we wanted. We assigned the organisation task to the ushers, so we didn't have to spend ages trying to find people. We are so pleased with our photos, particularly the ones of us on our own in the garden - they're gorgeous pictures that we will cherish forever.



More posts like this one: 
Pretty Pastel Real Wedding
My Wedding in Provence

♥ Want to see pink themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more garden wedding ideas? ♥
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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Before the Big Day Wedding Trends of 2013 - Bright Cakes

The days of the traditional white tiered cake are long-gone. Last year naked wedding cakes were all the rage, but wedding fashions have flown by, and now it's all about the bright cake. Make a statement with contrasting cake and icing, or pick a pastel shade. Ombre shading is still a huge trend, although rainbow cakes are making a come-back, and I reckon we'll see the end of ombre by the end of the year. Cake toppers are changing too - it's no longer about figurines - abstract and floral toppers are top dog. Take a look at my fab wedding cake board on Pinterest for more amazing bright cake inspiration!






More posts like this one: 
Incredible Ombre Wedding Cakes
Glamorous Ombre Wedding Dresses

♥ Want to see wedding cake ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding advice? ♥
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Friday, January 25, 2013

Before the Big Day Wedding Trends of 2013 - Winter Weddings

Traditionally the great British summer was the wedding season. But if you talk to wedding photographers, planners and florists, you'll find a growing trend for couples to celebrate their big day in the winter. Pluses include cheaper venues, chic decor options {Christmas trees & ever-greenery}, and guaranteed bad weather. Warm the cockles of your wedding guests with hot chocolate, mulled wine and a shot of sloe gin, and serve them a tasty roast at your wedding reception. Wedding favours could include marshmallows or chestnuts for roasting on an open fire, and tartan blankets for chilly knees. Bride-wise, why not add a muff to your wedding outfit, and wrap up warm in a cosy white fur shrug. For more winter wedding inspiration, check out my fabulous winter wedding inspiration Pinterest board!

{Photo Credit} Jennifer Eileen - more on Ruffled Blog


{Photo Credits} 1. Ryan Ray - more on Style Me Pretty, 2. More on Martha Stewart Weddings

More posts like this one: 
✽ Snowy Weddings
Real Vintage Winter Wedding

♥ Want to see winter wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding advice? ♥
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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Before the Big Day Wedding Trends of 2013 - Origami

The first of the HUGE trends for 2013 is wedding origami. It's DIY, cheap and cheerful, and completely personalised, making it the perfect recession-beating wedding detail. And it's easy! With the help of YouTube videos and cheap squares of origami paper, I managed to create a very cute origami heart and origami duck yesterday. Check out my pictures on Pinterest. I'd recommend adding origami details to your wedding invitations and wedding favours, and you could even create an origami swan backdrop for your wedding vows. Plus, did you know that in Japan, a thousand paper cranes are traditionally given as a wedding gift by the father of the bride, to wish the happy couple a thousand years of happiness and prosperity? So romantic! Here are just a few wedding origami ideas - for tonnes more take a look at my Pinterest board.


More posts like this one: 
Origami Crane Wedding
DIY Origami Love Notes

♥ Want to see wedding theme ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding advice? ♥
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Before the Big Day Wedding Trends of 2013

Now that we're nicely settled into January, and our thoughts are firmly turned towards the year ahead, I thought it the perfect moment to start my new Wedding Trends of 2013 series of posts. No one needs their wedding to be fashionable, but it's fun to surprise your guests with the latest wedding trends, and hopefully make your big day bash stand out from the crowd that little bit more! With all the latest trends in wedding stationery, wedding flowers, wedding dresses, wedding favours and wedding cakes, you'll want to check back to Before the Big Day every day. Stand by for some serious wedding inspiration....and keep yourself going by checking out my Pinterest boards. {Picture of me, standing by.....}



{Photo Credit} Caught the Light

More posts like this one: 
✽ 100 Wedding Ideas

♥ Want to see wedding theme ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding advice? ♥
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Monday, January 21, 2013

Real Sunshine Summer Wedding: Erin & Steve

Plenty of gorgeous wedding details for brides to snaffle from this stunning summer wedding. Erin and Steve picked yellow for their theme colour for their garden wedding, and the weather obliged, as the sun shone all day long. I'm super-excited to see freesias in Erin's bouquet - with their sweet scent and many-hued blooms, I'm guessing they're going to be the go-to flower for 2013. Other wedding ideas to copy are the handmade cider glasses, replicated in graphic form for their order of service. Also loving Erin's use of rafia as a recurring design detail - simple, cheap and totally brilliant for a garden wedding. Huge thanks to the team at Our Labour of Love for these gorgeous pictures!


More posts like this one: 
Rustic Raw Cotton Wedding Inspiration
Real Rustic Cherry-Inspired Wedding

♥ Want to see summer weddings? ♥ Or how about more rustic wedding ideas? ♥
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Real Tower of London Wedding: Vix & Rory - Reception Details

It's time to take a look a the fantastic reception details from this gorgeous London wedding. Vix and Rory chose The Dickens Inn on St Katherine's Dock for their wedding reception, and decorated it beautifully with traditional British bunting, pretty woven-willow hearts, and floral displays of sweet-smelling stocks teamed with baby's breath. They spoilt their wedding guests with not one but two, tiered wedding cakes - one elegant white and one made of cheese! I love the apple place markers, and the little fancy-dress favours, cheap and cheerful, they're the best ice-breaker, and make for hilarious photographs. Stunning pictures published with thanks to Erika from PhotoMadly and second shooter Dade Freeman from Krysalis Photography - great London Bridge portrait pictures.












♥ Want to see London wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more pub reception ideas? ♥
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Monday, January 14, 2013

Real Tower of London Wedding: Vix & Rory

Every now and then I feature a wedding where I really wish I'd been a guest, and Vix and Rory's looks like a riot! They celebrated their big day in London, with a lovely church ceremony, followed by their wedding reception at The Dickens Inn on St Katherine's Dock. I've fallen for Vix's elegant wedding style, her beautiful strapless gown, fur cape, cathedral length veil, and vintage lace fan. Bridesmaid bouquets were made up of white peonies and baby's breath, and I love the flower girls' cute baby's breath flower crown. Don't miss Part 2 of this wedding tomorrow, when I'll feature all the fabulous wedding details. Huge thanks to Erika from PhotoMadly and second shooter Dade Freeman, for their gorgeous pictures - I particularly love the portrait shots taken against the London skyline!




















♥ Want to see London wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more pub reception ideas? ♥
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