Your Honeymoon Must-Haves

The cake is cut, the confetti scattered, and the tin cans have clattered behind your getaway car. Your wedding is over, but there's no need to be sad, because your honeymoon is right around the corner! Whether you're planning a break in a Cornish beach hut, an exotic island escape or a luxury cruise - you're going to want to relax and recuperate after all the excitement. We escaped to a little house in the South of France, where we slept and sunbathed, ate French cheese, and drank rosé. It was bliss even when it rained! Here are a few of my honeymoon must-haves to ease you into your honeymoon, and if you're not getting married this summer, they'd work just as well for your holiday! Where are you off to this year?

{I want this!} Clockwise from Top Left 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

Love Before the Big Day? Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our Pinterest boards. Don't miss a single post - sign up to our free RSS feed on BlogLovin! 

Sassi Holford Wedding Dress Sample Sale

Oh yes! In exceedingly exciting news, one of my favourite designers, Sassi Holford is hosting a summer sale in her London and Taunton boutiques. With {wait for it}...... up to 70% off her beautiful handmade gowns, this is definitely one for your diary. Pencil in for 4th-11th July, and call to book an appointment - London 020 7584 1532 / Taunton 01823 256308.

Don't want to miss a single Sample Sale? Click here for free updates by email or RSS. Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.

A Quirky DIY Wedding with a Groom in a Top Hat

DIY weddings are always pretty special, because of all the personal touches. This wonderful Alice in Wonderland themed wedding definitely falls into that category - it's chock-full of brilliant handmade details! Bride Sophie made her own wedding cake and marshmallow favours, her friend made the cute toppers, her sister and mother made all the wedding decorations, including incredible vintage china cake stands, and the groom and his ushers were in charge of all the music, and the brightly coloured 'Drink Me' favours. Even the flowers were provided by a friend of the family. Feast your eyes on these amazing pictures by Sarah Jane Ethan Photography, and be sure to check our the Ceremony and Getting Ready pictures too.

We celebrated our wedding at Crook Hall and Gardens in Durham. We both fell in love with the Medieval Hall and Georgian Tea Room. 

We chose to host an Alice in Wonderland wedding, and the variety of secret gardens fitted our theme perfectly. Crook Hall was the first and only venue we visited. 

My bridesmaids dresses were from TX Maxx. I didn't have a colour theme in mind at the time. They were a taupe colour, and suited my bridesmaids beautifully. They chose their own shoes as I wanted them to be comfortable. They looked stunning. The ushers wore grey suits with red ties and hankies, plus a playing card in fitting with the them!

Our wedding photographer was Sarah Jane Ethan. She did the most amazing job at our wedding. My husband used to be a keen amateur, so we knew what we wanted when it came to style and SJ fit the bill perfectly. 

We reviewed the work of a number of photographers online, and met with a shortlist of five. Sarah Jane’s natural light style and lack of formal structure was really appealing, and as a person, she really lived up to her promise of fitting in just like a guest. She's super positive and her personality really put us at ease during those potential awkward moments. Highly recommended!

My father-in-law owns Grove House Plants Nursery in Greatham so he arranged for our flowers to be supplied by another family business, Blackfords Nursery in Hartlepool. I wanted to have simple rustic greenery and white flowers, so we opted for gypsophilia and white roses, with a red rose buttonhole for the groom.

We hired a self drive vintage VW camper van for my wedding car, in which my mum drove me and the bridesmaids to the venue to get ready. We used it for photo duties too, and have some great family shots in and around it! 

After our wedding ceremony, we hosted a Mad Hatter's tea party in the tea room with plenty of quirky twists, followed by a hog feast in the Medieval Hall, with an open fire and candles for our evening guests, all with appropriate music and decorative touches.

We wanted as many unique touches as possible, and I'm fortunate to have a very creative mum and sister who made the majority of our wedding decorations, from moustache drinking straws to giant card bunting.

Our Afternoon Tea wedding breakfast was by Crook Hall, and our evening feast menu was put together especially for us by Mandy at The Spitting Pig.

We didn't go for traditional take away favours, but added a few edible treats for guests. I made small marshmallow treats for each place setting, and my hubby and his groomsman mixed up some multi-coloured alcoholic shots in small drink-me vials.

My sister made cake stands from vintage cups and saucers, which was really effective.

Our magician, Jonathan Pickard was really well received and created some great photo moments with his amazing close up magic. 

Music was a big part of our day, and my husband and his groomsman, Dave, took great care to select fitting tunes for each part of the day, which were played back through a PA system hired from Ingram Sounds. 

I loved planning my wedding. It mainly consisted of Prosecco, tea, cake and lots of lists!! Every weekend was spent spending! My mum had so many lovely ideas and at whatever cost she made them happen. My bridesmaids were and still are wonderful! They kept me calm when things didn’t go to plan or when my husband and I disagreed on things – he wanted a lot more input than most! 

Our parents were utterly fabulous and we could not have done half of the things we planned without them! They supported us in whatever way they were able – financially and materially, with advice, love and guidance. My Dad even missed the football! We are an incredibly lucky Mr and Mrs!

We had a specially decorated vintage suitcase for our wedding cards. Heritage Blacksmith Partnership created a beautiful copper memory box, that my husband gave to me for our engagement. 

My sister made gorgeous hand embroidered hanging clocks and a personalised, hand-stitched guest book designed around the gates of our wedding venue. >My mum made the cute bride bunting from doilies and hand-painted Alice in Wonderland-style signs around the gardens. 

After a lot of deliberation, I decided to design and make the cake myself. This saved us a lot of money plus, as a cake maker, I thought I would put my skills to use. The cake was Alice themed with two tiers, a chocolate sponge and Victoria sponge. We had personalised toppers made by our very talented friend Annie, from Millerville Mini Models.

My advice for other brides? Enjoy the day! Enjoy the planning! Don't stress over the little details, they’ll take care of themselves. Do “six impossible things before breakfast” {I suggest prosecco} and “who is to say what is proper?” – Alice in Wonderland.

Love Before the Big Day? Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our Pinterest boards. Don't miss a single post - sign up to our free RSS feed on BlogLovin! 

An Alice in Wonderland Wedding with Dozens of DIY Ideas

Oooo, I do love a good theme! And there's nothing like a groom in a fancy red top hat and bow-tie! Rick and Sophie chose a brilliant Alice in Wonderland theme for their big day, and they really went to town with the DIY wedding details. I am so impressed with the creativity of Sophie's mother and sister - between them they created all the wedding decorations, from cake stands made from old cups and saucers, the hand-painted Alice-style signs, the giant playing card bunting, the embroidered hanging clocks, and even a personalised hand-stitched guest book based on the gates of the venue. You're going to want to Pin every picture! Huge thanks to Sarah Jane Ethan Photography for her beautiful pictures of the day - don't miss the Mad Hatter's Tea Party Reception.

We celebrated our wedding at Crook Hall and Gardens in Durham. We both fell in love with the Medieval Hall and Georgian Tea Room. 

We chose to host an Alice in Wonderland wedding, and the variety of secret gardens fitted our theme perfectly. Crook Hall was the first and only venue we visited.

My dress and veil were fittingly from Phoenix Gowns' Wonderland 2014 range, purchased from Sense of Style in Darlington. My mum and I found it whilst out having afternoon tea; it was a little hidden gem. 

My shoes were a vintage find from my mum costing a grand total of £6.80! My earrings were from M&S and I wore my Grandma's engagement ring {on my other hand}.

We had an Alice in Wonderland theme for our day, and everything based in the hall was very Medieval in style. We had a Mad Hatter's Tea Party with plenty of quirky twists, and then a hog feast with open fire and candles for our evening guests, all with appropriate music and decorative touches.

We had lots and lots of DIY projects. We wanted as many unique touches as possible, and I'm fortunate to have a very creative mum and sister who made the majority of our wedding decorations.

My bridesmaids dresses were from TX Maxx. I didn't have a colour theme in mind at the time. They were a taupe colour, and suited my bridesmaids beautifully. They chose their own shoes as I wanted them to be comfortable. They looked stunning.

My father-in-law owns Grove House Plants Nursery in Greatham so he arranged for our flowers to be supplied by another family business, Blackfords Nursery in Hartlepool. I wanted to have simple rustic greenery and white flowers, so we opted for gypsophilia and white roses, with a red rose buttonhole for the groom.

We hired a self drive vintage VW camper van for my wedding car, in which my mum drove me and the bridesmaids to the venue to get ready. We used it for photo duties too, and have some great family shots in and around it! 

Our invitations were fantastic, made by my mum and sister. They worked very hard at making them meet our very specific ideas. Created like a little book, the back page of each invitation had a playing card which determined their seat for afternoon tea. It also allowed them a free drink, but only if they remembered to bring it! 

The invitation was titled 'It’s about Time' as this was a frequent response to the news of our engagement and tied in perfectly with our Alice in Wonderland theme.

My Mum made beautiful wicker hearts and spades to hang on the back of the chairs for the ceremony, along with cute bride bunting made from doilies.

My husband and I have a connection with the Gladiator soundtrack! I bought him the CD as a gift when we first got together. When he suggested we used it, everything seemed to fit really well with the venue and I agreed straight away.

The track we used for walking up the aisle was 'Now we are Free' from the soundtrack, and we used the second half of the same track {which is a bit happier!} for the way back! Our first dance was 'She’s got a way' by Billy Joel.

My geeky Husband is hugely grateful to Halfdan Hansen of Jens Hansen who created a custom version of their 'One Ring' for his wedding band.

My husband chose his own outfit so we'd both be surprised on the big day. He wore a three-piece mid-blue suit from French Connection, with white shirt, bright red bow tie and matching vibrant red top hat from Christy's, complete with Mad Hatter 10/6 price tag. 

Extra details included playing cards to go with pocket squares, and pocket watch bought by our friend {and grooms-woman} Sarah.

Our wedding photographer was Sarah Jane Ethan. She did the most amazing job at our wedding. My husband used to be a keen amateur, so we knew what we wanted when it came to style and SJ fit the bill perfectly. 

We reviewed the work of a number of photographers online, and met with a shortlist of five. Sarah Jane’s natural light style and lack of formal structure was really appealing, and as a person, she really lived up to her promise of fitting in just like a guest. She's super positive and her personality really put us at ease during those potential awkward moments. Highly recommended!

My sister made the hand-painted Alice in Wonderland-style signs to put around the venue and the maze.  

To entertain our guests, we placed giant lawn games in some of the gardens, which we purchased from Uber Games.

Love Before the Big Day? Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our Pinterest boards. Don't miss a single post - sign up to our free RSS feed on BlogLovin! 

Pretty Perfect Vintage-Style Shoes for Your Wedding Day

Wedding shoes need to be two things - beautiful and comfortable. The two don't often go together. Luckily one of the UK's best shoe designers has got the combo nailed. Rachel Simpson's Shoes are prettily perfect, with vintage styles and sensible heels. Many of them have crossbar straps, like dancer's shoes, meaning you'll never lose a shoe on the way down the aisle! What I really love, is that Rachel's made it her mission to perfectly cut each shoe to compliment the foot. It's so refreshing to find a designer with comfort in mind! Her shoes aren't cheap, but if you buy a pair in a colour other than white, you'll be wearing them for years to come.

{I want this!} Rachel Simpson Mimosa in Mint, £170

Love Before the Big Day? Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our Pinterest boards. Don't miss a single post - sign up to our free RSS feed on BlogLovin! 

Mirror Mirror Wedding Dress Sample Sale

Wedding dresses can be a huge part of your budget if you pay full price. Luckily there are lots of sample sales each year in London and around the UK. Follow me on Twitter, to make sure you don't miss a single sale! Mirror Mirror has got to be one of London's best designer wedding dress boutiques, so you can imagine how excited I am to discover the dates of their summer sample sale. It's taking place on Sunday 28th June 2015 11am - 4pm at their shop at 56 Penton Street in north London. They're promising a fantastic selection of dresses from top designers, including Pronovias, Atelier, Cymbeline, Yolancris, Gemy, La Sposa, Raimon Bundo, Paloma Blanca, Alan Hannah, Mirror Mirror Couture, and much more. Most of the gowns are from 2015 collections!

Love Before the Big Day? Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our Pinterest boards. Don't miss a single post - sign up to our free RSS feed on BlogLovin!