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Rock My Wedding Sponsor Vicky Trainor has just launched a new selection of colours called Miss Fondant for her very popular Vicky Trainor Rose collection. You lucky readers are getting an exclusive sneak peek before even the magazines! Vicky has very kindly offered all the Rock My Wedding readers 10% off all orders received before the 30th of September 2010.

Even better, Vicky has been super generous and is going to GIVEAWAY 50 free save the dates in one of the new colour ways. All you have to do is head over to the site and check out the new Miss Fondant collection and drop a comment below stating which colour way you would like to win this fabulous prize in…

There’s four colour stories to choose from –
Lemon Cream
Fondant Fancy
Citrus & Rosehip
Raspberry Cream

Head on over to the Vicky Trainor website to get browsing or look at her other collections and you can see more images of the collection on her very pretty blog. Commenting will close this TODAY.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Yup that’s right folks - Bunny Delicious.

They make all sorts of wonderful and unique wedding type stuff and the table plans in particular are OUT OF THIS WORLD.

I mean it people – just total knock-your-socks-off super clever loveliness.

Bunny Delicious was created by Zoe Rusga in 2003 after the birth of her second child and coming to the conclusion that the thought of becoming a housewife was terrifying……..

7 years and over 1600 clients later and this lady is positively rocking W-day paper goods.

And if you like me are a design geek/wannabe entrepreneur/lover of kitsch originality then you GOTTA read this piece Zoe put together for Rock My Wedding, ’tis witty, honest and full to the brim of utterly gorgeous images.

My designs, or “My stuff” as I like to call it, was born out of desire NOT to be like everyone else. I hated looking like other people in school/out of school. hated having the same things as anyone at school, so was always on the hunt for unusual, expensive or one of a kind. Naturally when it came to designing stationery, the same rules apply. It can’t be the same as anything else out there. It HAS to be unique, as well as giving people the OMG, I have to have it! reaction. The same reaction that I used to get from a pencil case in Paperchase in Tottenham Court Road/London at 14 years ago, is the sheer hit-you-sideways-with-a-dumb-fascination is what I wanted to bring to my designs. You know deep down its just a pencil case, but you can’t help to be sidetracked by its awe and beauty.

Sticking a feather or anything that came in a pack was such a cop out to me, anyone can do that….so I always made things as difficult and as complex as possible, especially in the early days of design plagiarism, of which I was a constantly pillaged! I almost gave up, I found it soul destroying! What gives these girls to steal the concepts that breed and develop inside my head?? This is turn spurred me on to develop my brand as SO recognisable, that the other girls looked silly copying me, as it stood out a mile as to what they were up to. How can you use a designer that has no design skills?

My inspiration is deep routed into my childhood. I have a thing for detail, I was raised into the world of Art Deco, Liberty prints, William Morris, London, Art Galleries, the V&A, history, foreign travel, exotic foods, hello kitty and things of cute miniature nature. My one stand out thought is a shop that sold every kind of pen, pencil, rubber, pencil case, note book, pencil sharpener, school bag going. It was situated in the Old Town of Stockholm (Gamla Stan) Sweden and it was called Happy Lina. The logo was a fairy, with wings, a big smile, a wand surrounded by a trillion stars. I think subconsciously this is where the star aspect comes into my designs. You can’t help to be transfixed by a star, it twinkles, it draws you in, and saturates your heart will the possibility of a fabulous dream.

I don’t draw on anything in particular for inspiration, I don’t look at other people’s work either. The recent trend for vintage bird cages was very tempting, but I do abhor jumping on a bandwagon. I love to create little “scenes” which is a new tangent for me. Everything you see is drawn on a computer, digitally cut, illustrated and then stuck or built into a picture. Every piece that I make like this, is a one off creation. I am an utter perfectionist, therefore nothing goes out unless I am 100% happy with it. I am my toughest critic!! Thinking about it, other peoples dreams and brief’s are my inspiration. there is nothing more I enjoy, than taking an ordinary, dare I say dullish brief, and turning it into something so amazing the bride cries. You know you did good when that happens.

My most favourite memory was a couple who came to collect their table plan. they stood there for 2 minutes not staying a word. I thought they hated it, no emotion no nothing, they left saying a small thank you, and that was it. I was gutted, to date it was my best piece. She emailed me later in the day to apologise. She said they were so struck by how perfect and how they had never seen anything like it, that they were both lost for words! they couldn’t believe this “thing” was now theirs! They’ve emigrated to Australia now,but she still buys all her friends wedding albums from me! I just ship them over to her!

So basically, why do I love my job? I have the creative freedom to do as I like, I feel like an adult 14 year old girl sometimes! My work still has a chidish edge to it and I think thats what draws people in. For as long as people continue to give me orders, and fuel my desire for quirky stationery, I will reign supreme in my own fantasy world.

Um….I want a guest book, I want a honeymoon book, I want one of those hen party invitations, I want the New York inspired table plan and the London one and the FARM one….. Jeez I so want the farm one!!

And I’m not even a bride anymore.

Boo.

But most of you lot are ….. Hoorah!

Go check out Bunny Delicious and tell us what takes your fancy.

Big Quirky Love

Charlotte xxx

Sadly, as it seems with everything (although we’re working really hard to change that!) The US leads the way in terms of quirky cool and beautiful stationery and letterpress is a huge trend right now but this quirky and super pretty company Emma Jo popped into my inbox a couple of weeks back and I just had to share.

Chloe

*Save the Date, Invitation and RSVP card, all part of the Chloe range.

Emma Jo create letterpress stationary with whimsical designs and vintage flair. The Chloe range (above) is prettily Victorian in it’s style and flourishes, lending elegance to your announcement and would suit a very classic English Wedding.

Victoria

*Save the Date, and Invitation, all part of the Victoria range.

The Victoria range draws on the romance of Victoria and Albert using classic silhouettes as were popular in the era. Simple and elegant, it reminds me of an Austen novel and would be perfectly suited to a thoroughly modern millie who’s finally found her Mr Darcy and is planning a country house wedding in the heady summer months.

Olivia

Another design with a Vintage Victorian flair is the statement Olivia. Using a range of diverse typography from the same era, this is a quirky addition to a wedding full of uniquely styled touches, perfect for a city pub wedding.

*Save the Date, Invitation and RSVP card, all part of the Rosalind range and Invitation (middle) from the Olivia collection.

Similarly simple in it’s elegance is the Rosalind collection, using the couples name and scrolling font to keep it chic with modern stripes to update the look.

Perfectly Pretty in Every Way

And my personal favourite? Esme…

*Save the Date, Invitation and menu card, all part of the Esme range.

Always a fan of the floral, combined with these preppy stripes I’m in stationery heaven and wish I’d found Emma Jo before my wedding. Make sure you head over to the site to check out the full range and show her some Rock My Wedding love .

Are you planning on making stationery a priority in your plans and which of these pretty paper treats tickles your fancy?

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Don’t worry, I’ve not got any crazy DIY washing up ideas for you wedding. Or not quite anyway…

I recently received an email from Karen at Wedding Tea Towels with some of the coolest wedding stationery I have ever seen in my life. How about ditching the paper goods and purchasing an eco-friendly, quirky-as-you-like design from Wedding Tea Towels and your guests will be hard pressed to forget your wedding date!

Karen got married last year and created the wedding Tea Towel with her husband to give their wedding their own sense of style…

We wanted something special for our invitation… Something different to create a buzz about the wedding, cheaper than standard paper options, good for the environment and something our guests could keep for ever, that’s how we came up with the idea for the Original Wedding Tea Towel. When we’d finished the design and sent them out the response was so incredible that we knew we couldn’t keep the idea to ourselves and so the Original Wedding Tea Towel was born!

With her project manager past and her husband’s Creative input on the design side, Karen decided to expand the range and start Wedding Tea Towels. Offering options for Save the Date’s, The invitation itself (including variations for day and evening invitees and also thank you’s) I think they make super individual cute and quirky invites. I know I for one would love to receive something so unique from a couple. With the eco and DIY craze going strong in weddings they also fit perfectly with a lot of different themes and styles of wedding that are so popular right now.

I’m so excited to be able to also tell you that Karen and Ben have offered an exclusive to Rock My Wedding design! Shown in full glory below and in the ‘cloth’ above we’re loving the cute birdies and bunting created especially for us! Why we feel famous!

So what do you think about the Wedding Tea Towel? Super quirky and Super Cool?

We think so too!

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

What about though if you just want stationery that exudes elegance, simplicity, femininity and above all is beautifully crafted?

Well lovelies you need to check out Fraser and Parsley who a few weeks ago sent both Rebecca and I the most GORGEOUS press pack – I mean REALLY gorgeous. All ribbons and luxury paper and prettiness…..

And as Fraser and Parsley don’t just specialise in Weddings there is a whole lot of other lovely for you to peak at too.

Oh and nothing beats a great story of two entrepenerial women either – getting together, bonding over their shared passions and making a bloomin’ great success out of it

So without further ado, here is the little story of Rachel and Josie – ’tis well worth the read.

Rachel Fraser and Josie Parsley met in 2002 and soon found themselves bonding over crockery at an Emma Bridgewater sale – they discovered they had vast amounts in common: a passion for classic design, beautiful interiors, organised living, party planning and colour co-ordination not to mention their husbands were already best friends from university!

Rachel (32) and Josie (33) have four beautiful children between them and work from their homes in Kent and Surrey.

And it is beautifully packaged and with a perfect bow – here is a peak at some of mine

Has planning your wedding given you the inspiration you needed to bring out you creative side?

Have any of you newly-weds out there considered moving into the W-day Industry?

A Big Thank You to Josie for submitting the words and images – we have LOTS more lovely from her coming up on the blog soon!

Big Girls Are Doing it For Themselves Love

Charlotte xxx

The Hummingbird Card Company were a brand that I knew of but had never seen their work in person and so I was quite floored by the spectacularly pretty offerings they had on their stand. The colours and shimmering cardstocks used were quite simply gorgeous and I have always loved the laser cut design, their interpretation of which is delicate and bang on trend.

Boutique Range

The laser cut boutique range was the Hummingbird Card Companys first range and offers the full suite of paper offerings to prettify your day and different designs to suit everyone… from vintage inspired, contemporary and unique wedding invitations, to personalised and bespoke wedding stationery

I think the thing I like about these designs most is the delicacy of the designs and the light summery feeling you get when looking at them. For someone planning a dreamy romantic summer-garden affair, I think they are just about perfect.

The collection is also really flexible to blend perfectly with your chosen colour scheme. Pick your favourite design then have a browse through the design section to choose your colours and embellishments. Then you can go on to co-ordinate your chosen invitation with matching wedding reply cards – RSVP cards, place cards, order of service, order of the day, table plans, table numbers, menu’s, favour boxes, and thank-you cards. They’ve got it covered!

Prices range from around £5 per invitation but drop the more you order which applies to all the pieces of stationery.

Silhouette Surprise

Even better, for those wanting to save money we are delighted to be able to share the new Silhouette range from Hummingbird. Starting at around £2 per invitation and dropping to under £1.50 the more you order, this one’s a real bargain. And unlike most budget ranges there no pretty lost here…

The budget crunching key is that the design is printed onto the card in black instead of being laser cut, which gives quite a convincing shadow effect. The actual designs are equally pretty and I’m a particular fan of all the fun and modern quotes you can also choose from.

Word art fans watch out!

We’re always on the look out here at Rock My Wedding for ways for you to get the look you want for a better price and whilst the alternative options are often not that close to the original in terms of keeping the feel of the design, Hummingbird Cards have done a great job here I feel. Well worth checking out, even if you think you couldn’t afford the laser cut range.

So what do you look for in your stationery choices and have you seen the new Silhouette range?

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

PS The Silhouette range hasn’t yet made it onto the Hummingbird website but is available to order samples of and can be seen on their blog.

And today we get to share with you a super cute new stationery company Lucy Ledger Designs which is full to the brim of total and utter gorgeousness.

So if you haven’t picked your pretty paper yet then maybe, just maybe…. this is exactly what you had been looking for.

Over to the lovely Lucy to tell us all about her little enterprise:

* Stationery in Cherry Ever After

I truly believe that picking your stationery is one of the most important and exciting parts of planning a wedding as it sets the tone and atmosphere of what is to come. It is the first thing your guests will see and it will give an indication of what kind of wedding you are planning. When I was planning my wedding, like so many other brides I wanted a relaxed and informal feel to my stationery- something that would make guests feel that they were going attend a warm, personal occasion that was filled with love, fun and lots of laughter.

So if you want stationery that is completely unique, quirky, fun and above all, personal; visit my website or contact me to find out more.

*Stationery in Afternoon Tea

Lucy is offering any one of you gorgeous lot a free A2 seating plan in a “shabby chic” frame if you quote Rock My Wedding and order before the end of May 2010.

And with place names starting at just a teeny tiny 50p and invitations from £2.00 you can get a lot of loveliness for your buck….

Oh and just for some further excitement we have the lovely Lucy’s very own wedding coming up on the blog tomorrow and Friday – ’tis indeed as sweet as cherry pie folks.

Big Unique, Quirky and Fun Love

Charlotte xxx

P.S Go check out Lucy’s “Inspiration of the week” – you may recognise those two BlogQueens!

This particular paper princess will always have a special place in my heart though, not only did Shari Amos the creator and owner of Bijou Woo design a suite of gorgeousness that was totally “us”, she was also one of the loveliest and sweetest ladies I have had the pleasure of meeting in my wedding industry journey so far.

And she put up with my completely Bridezilla-esque last minute colour tweaks and text changes (!)

It gives me great pleasure to share with you the newest styles from Bijou Woo’s chic, unique and utterly delicious latest collection. Shari has kindly offered to share some of the detail behind her business savvyness and stationery fabulousness………

Over to Madam Amos:

I started Bijou Woo 2 years ago and it is really growing! My sister Kelly is now on board, creating a real family service. Having been in the design industry for ten years, I am still amazed at how excited I get when I see the final results, whether it’s designing wedding invitations, name cards, table plans or silly badges for the best men to wear. Maybe I am just a design geek….

Weddings have become a passion of mine, the diversity and ever changing fashions mean that it’s an area that is constantly evolving. It’s a privilege to be part of such an important event, to be involved right from the beginning and to create designs that mean so much to the couple to be. I love hearing how romances were started, how families get involved with the special day and just how much thought and creativity is part of people’s ceremonies.

Cupcake Cutie

I was inspired by Anne Marie from the Urban Bakery’s delicious creations! It’s brilliant to have such a vibrant and fun design added to the collection.

Blooming Lovely

Just to prove that inspiration really does come from anywhere, this design was inspired by an amazing photo of some fairy lights which were hanging over a mirror at home. The shapes and forms were just stunning.

Seeing Spots

This cute, retro design reflects how weddings are now keeping up with the times, long gone are the invites with bows and dried flowers hooray! Pastel prettiness is where it’s at.

Till Death Do Us Part

Bijou Woo accommodates all tastes and unique styles through their bespoke service. Till Death Do Us Part, was created for a lovely, funky couple who were married recently in Mexico. The bride loved the design so much that she is going to add it to her tattoo collection ….we can’t wait to see where it goes!!

Photography courtesy of Rachel Spivey and cupcakes supplied by The Urban Bakery

A huge Thanks a million to Shari Amos for her piece ( and generally being a huge supporter of RMW)

Big princess paper pretty love

Charlotte xxx

However, all of that doesn’t even come close to the excitement of what happened this week, when our lovely winner Ashley got in touch and showed us what she picked…

Even better, Ashley told us all about what she was going to do with them, and doesn’t it just bring a little ray of sunshine to the gloomy middle of January?

Hi Rebecca and Charlotte!

Ashley x

I had to share this with you all, firstly because the gorgeous cards she chose were just zinging off the page at me shouting, blog me, blog me! And secondly, because we love to hear that our sponsors provide great customer service – because we want to be shouting from the rooftops about companies that get these kind of reviews.

So well done Ashley, and do keep us informed of your wedding plans, I can’t wait to see what you do with them. Oranges and yellows are such fun, fresh, modern wedding colours (in fact that reminds me of a little zingy inspiration board Charlotte did a while back…) and they are going to look A.mazing in Ibiza!

Yours Truly,

Contra
xoxo

I’m talking about Chartula, the couture stationery company based on Londons Portobello Road, who’s designs are so chic and unique in fact, that they have gathered quite a celebrity following. With expertise in traditional techniques such as engraving, whilst benefiting from founder Charlotte Hewson’s illustrating skills and design heritage, Chartula excel in making modern stationary of the highest quality. Fresh colour ways such as contemporary fuschia pink and dark chocolate, classic sage and ivory or bold violet and pistachio set the designs apart from every other wedding invitation that will be dropping on your door mat next summer.

In recent years Chartula have branched into cutting edge technology to create some of the prettiest invitations around, utilising laser techniques to cut delicate lace-like patterns into striking two tone cards. The results are lavish, romantic and best of all totally and utterly unique. With a White Christmas on my mind, it was the very seasonal and very lovely Snowflake design that caught my eye. On the Chartula blog, Charlotte imagines it paired with ‘flickering candles, ice blue table linen, crystal candelabra and a fabulous mirror table plan.’ Charlotte Hewson we like your style! I can feel an inspiration board coming on…

Best of all, as Chartula is somewhat of an, ahem, pricey option, they have recently brought out a credit crunch busting range called Chartula Create! This fabulous idea allows you to custom create your own colour scheme and laser cut design from a selection, then delivers everything you need to create your invitations. Another excuse for a bottle of vino and a night in with the girls me thinks….

Enjoy!

Yours Truly,

Contra
xoxo