An Outdoor Wedding with Chandeliers & Tea-Cups

If you're thinking of a shabby chic wedding with a touch of glamour, you're going to fall head-over-heels for this exquisite summer wedding. Liz and Chris celebrated their big day at The Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse in the wine country near Santa Barbara, with a flurry of gorgeous details. I'm loving the outdoor chandeliers, the peach and silver florals, blackboard menu and the old-fashioned striped straws. Don't miss their gorgeous stationery - complete with elegant calligraphy, personalised stamps and a hand-drawn map. I've always thought truly exceptional wedding stationery is the secret to getting your guests excited about your big day, and this suite proves it! Huge thanks to Aaron Delesie for his stunning photographs. He's new to Before the Big Day, but we've got plenty more gorgeous weddings from his portfolio coming soon!

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! 

A Pretty Vintage Wedding with a Brownie Wedding Cake

Take the prettiest of pink details, gorgeous Art Deco bridesmaids gowns, and a stunning English rose bride, and you've got wedding heaven. Lovely Nicola and James celebrated their wedding day at Dulwich College, and I've fallen for its stunning historic rooms, and lovely grand staircase. Nicola chose a pretty vintage feel for her big day, and spent months planning DIY ideas and creative projects on Pinterest. The end result is a gorgeous wedding day with tonnes of stealworthy wedding ideas. My favourite details? Nicola's elegant chignon and veil combo, her beautiful Sarah Seven gown with its lace back, and the white taxi transport! Beautiful pictures by Lily Sawyer Photography. Be sure to check out Lily's blog - I'm a huge fan of her work. Don't miss the wedding reception pictures - coming later today.

We celebrated our wedding at Dulwich College on the 23rd May, which was just around the corner from James and my first home. We'd always thought it to be a beautiful place, whenever we walked past on a sunny afternoon. 

The ceremony was in the old library and our reception was in the Barry Buildings at the college which have some amazing features. 

My wedding dress was made by an American designer called Sarah Seven that is stocked at Frou Frou Brides in Tunbridge Wells. The dress was the biggest challenge of my wedding planning as nobody tells you that a bespoke dress has at least a six month lead time and I was searching for a dress only four months before our big day.

Short of time, I took advice from a friend that was already married, and started in the shop where she bought her dress. It turned out I actually bought one of the dresses I first tried on, but I did have a few more appointments at different boutiques just to make sure it was the one! 

I also made some small changes to my wedding dress - adding a cap sleeve and swapping the lace design, to one from another dress from the same designer. So if you're looking for a wedding dress, it's always worth asking if something isn't quite right.

The shoe choice was easy - my 21st birthday present was a pair of Manolo Blahniks so they were my something old. That left me with budget for a sparkly pair of French Sole flats for dancing!

My bridesmaids dresses were from Adrianna Papell, a designer stocked at House of Fraser. I wanted the dresses to be beaded, and these were perfect. I let them all pick the shoes they felt most comfortable in, so they were a mix of Dune and Kurt Geiger. We choose feather boleros from Coast but it was warm enough that they didn't need them.

My wedding florist was the The Fresh Flower Company in East Dulwich. They did an amazing job and really listened. The shop is just lovely and they have great taste. I had a fifteen minute consultation with them to discuss what I wanted, which was great fun. They were happy to look at my ideas from Pinterest and elsewhere, and then mock up a few ideas.

I was quite relaxed about the flowers chosen to create the look I wanted and put my trust in them as experts. We agreed on Sweet Avalanche roses and gypsophila for the bridesmaids and button holes, but my bouquet changed the day before the wedding, as they called me and said the most amazing peonies have just arrived, and would I like to use them? I did, and the bouquet was perfect.

I lucked in with my veil as it was a friends, so that was my something borrowed. For jewellery my maid of honour bought me a beautiful silver bracelet, and I wore earrings that were a present from James. I was really lucky, as not only were these things sentimental, it also meant I didn't blow the budget on accessories.

My husband chose a smart navy linen mix trouser and a grey linen jacket with brown brogues all from Marks and Spencer. We then picked the accessories together, so that they complemented the colours I had chosen for the bridesmaids and flowers.

The pink pocket squares were from Reiss and the grey and white ties from John Lewis. James loves pink, so he also picked pink socks from Charles Tywritt.

For our wedding decorations, I was keen to a have theme that complimented the venue which is why I opted for a pretty vintage feel. It all just sort of evolved as I planned. I didn't have anything in mind at all, so headed straight to Pinterest as soon as the venue was booked, and started my own wedding pinboard. 

The colour scheme came from the bridesmaids dresses which were the first things I bought after seeing them on Pinterest, and madly dashing around London to find the right sizes.

I had key ideas like I knew I wanted to wear lace, so with that, and my venue I started building up a picture of a vintage wedding with typically British elements such as jam jars and tea cups. 

Our wedding photographer was Lily Sawyer. We choose her from looking at her shots online, we didn't want the photos to be cheesy or too arty and she got it just right. 

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! 

A English Country Garden Wedding with Pretty Vintage Details - Part 2

A vintage tractor, bridesmaids in wellington boots, and military men in uniform - just a few of my favourite things about this quirky big day. Andy and Catherine planned their spring wedding with only four months to spare, and personalised every detail, thanks to the help of their friends and family. In the build-up to their big day, they held craft evenings to cut and sew the bunting, put covers on homemade jam jar wedding favours, and design the wedding stationery. They even prepared an Easter Egg hunt for their guests. Enjoy these fantastic pictures by Sarah Relf at Lawless Rose Photography, and don't miss my favourite wedding detail - the fabulous cake by Dippy Design.

We celebrated our wedding on Saturday 19th April at St Mary the Blessed Virgin Church in Brabourne, Kent. Our reception was at The Thatched Barn in Farthingloe, and we had an English Garden wedding theme.

We were only engaged for four and a half months, so planning our wedding was quite a rush. We partly chose our venue based on what was available at such short notice, but The Thatched Barn was a beautiful venue, which fitted perfectly with our theme.

My husband and the best man wore military uniform, and we had an usher who wore a morning suit with a blue tie. There was also a guard of honour of ten soldiers, who were also all in uniform.

I had six bridesmaids, they wore a floor length pale sage green dress, with capped sleeves and high necks, with a flower detail on the shoulders. They came from Debenhams - they fitted my theme perfectly and suited the various shapes and sizes of my bridesmaids.

We also gave all our bridesmaids wellies from Joules as a gift on the day - an in case it rained. These doubled up as fantastic props for the portrait pictures!

Our wedding florist was Sharon Foreman Flowers. They were English country garden in style. We included gypsophila, eryngium {for a Scottish feel} small pink roses, eucalyptus, and a whole load more. 

Our wedding photographer was Sarah Relf at Lawless Rose Photography. She's an old friend who has a fantastic flair for capturing beautiful pictures.

The way all my family and friends pulled together to make it come true in such a short space of time. We held craft evenings at friends’ houses to cut and sew the bunting together and had a few nights of a production line, putting the covers on the jam jar favours (which my mother in law made).

If my husband to be hadn't been so hands on, it would have made the short timeline quite stressful. However, delegating to him and my fabulous friends and family made the whole thing completely low stress and really enjoyable. People like having a job and a role to play, don't be scared of giving them something to do!

Our wedding cake was made by Dippy Design and it was STUNNING! It was a three-tier cake, with layers of fruit, chocolate and Victoria sponge, and it was covered from top-to-toes with garden flowers made from sugar. 

We topped it sugar wellington boots and a bunting flag. We also had a nod to Andy's military background with a 'drop zone flash' in the middle of the second tier. It was absolutely amazing.

I wanted our flowers to look like I’d gone out in the garden and picked them, and then shoved them in jam jars, wellington boots and various teapots and jugs. Nothing too formal or structured. They were wonderful.

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!