Contemporary Cool

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A Splash Of Celtic Colour.

February 21st, 2012

We are over in Ireland today for Dec & Edel’s wedding at Horetown House, Wexford.

Prepare to learn today that coral and green should definitely be seen on W-day. I love the bright single hue bouquet against Edel’s champagne gown and the vast array of personal touches.

Before I hand you over to Edel I would just like to take a few seconds to welcome a not previously featured photographer to theses polka dotted pages. The very talented David McCelland took this perfect set of images.

I get the feeling this won’t be the last time we see his work on RMW.

A Suprise Purchase

My dress was by designer Anoushka G. I bought my dress quite spontaneously one Thursday evening after work at House of Fraser. The mushroomy champagne colour was perfect for my usually blueish shade of pale skin. I loved the simplicity of it. And just loved the vintage look – it’s still available!

Vintage Accessories

I had a birdcage veil & vintage 1940′s brooch both from Dirty Fabulous. It took me a while me to pin this down. If only I had visited the girls at Dirty Fabulous sooner.

Looks Over Comfort

I wore Badgley Mischka shoes. They were definitely skyscrapers – I bought them online at Amazon. I found it difficult to buy shoes in Ireland so spent a good few hours scouring the internet… my shoes were fabulous but my feet paid for it.

True Professionals

My hair was done by Lorraine Browne and Naomh Kirwan did the make-up, they are both from The Wedding Crew. Lorraine had done an amazing job on hair for several friends weddings and she recommended Naomh. They are true professionals – after a peek at the dress, and a few pics of hairstyles, Lorraine and Naomh totally got it.

Home Made Blooms

The night before the wedding, my sister, buddy Jenny and I made the 2 bouquets. I bought the flowers 2 days before at Smithfield Market in Dublin. I was just lucky to find the coral roses for my bouquet. For my sisters bouquet we used gypsophia, white daisies and green flowers. Kate, wedding coordinator at Horetown decorated the house with flowers from the garden.

Thinking Of the Future

We bought Dec’s suit specifically and the groomsman used his own suit. We got my sister, who was bridesmaid, a dress from Monsoon and shoes from Karen Millen – all totally wearable again.

A Colour That Suits

Regarding a theme or colour scheme, I wanted everyone to wear clothes/colours that suited them first and foremost… it fell into place from there.

Travel In Style

Since Dec and I had traveled heaps together over the past 12 yrs, I designed our invites around a travel theme. Our invites were postcard style and I found a cool German stamp on Shutterstock (we met in Germany) for the main invite and an Aussie stamp (we lived in Oz for 3 yrs) for the response card :) .

I found awesome vintage map wrapping paper by Cavallini that I used as envelope liners and for the table plan. Assembly with strings and luggage labels was a labor of love involving both mums and dad in a production line for a few nights. We continued the travel theme for the table plan and table names that incorporated our most memorable places.

Italian Styling

We got Dec’s suit at Brown Thomas, Dublin – he splashed out on Armani – it fits him so so well and of course he will get to wear it again :)

A Trusted Friend

Choosing our photograpner David McCelland was easy. We’ve known Dave for years – we didn’t give it a second thought as his work is amazing and speaks for itself.

The Poor Boys

For background music in the afternoon we made up a iPod playlist of cool old fashioned music (Ella Fitzgerald, Billi Holiday, Bill Withers, Puppini Sisters…). The Poor Boys are brilliant and rocked us into the night.

Sufficiently Unmushy

I can’t quite recall why we chose the You And Me Song by Wannadies for our first dance….. But it was sufficiently unmushy as well as being quite appropriate and a tune from our earlier years!

Time For Trivia

For favours on our tables we had trivia from www.coxandcox.co.uk – we thought it would be a fun and work well as an icebreaker.

A Knees Up

Kate, the wedding coordinator at Horetown was fabulous to work with and listened to our every request. She organised Cath Kidston bunting and table centres, suggested using teacups for vases and she used flowers from the gardens at Horetown House. We wanted to have a very relaxed wedding followed by a knees up.

Our ceremony was small and so lovely and intimate which for us was important – I didn’t want to feel like a deer caught in a headlight as I said I do. We held it in a living room at Horetown and followed it with afternoon tea and horseshoe pitching on the lawn. The rest of our guests arrived in the afternoon to celebrate. We had a most fabulous day. My advice is to trust your suppliers, ours were brilliant, and stick to what feels right for you as a couple.

Venue Horetown House

Dress Anoushka G

Boutique House of Fraser

Shoes Badgley Mischka

Accessories Dirty Fabulous

Suit Armani

Photography David McCelland Photography

Entertainment The Poor Boys

I love those shots of the horse shoe pitching, although being of a slightly clumsy disposition I’m not sure I’d be allowed to play. No one needs a concussion on one of the most important days of their lives.

Those silver buckets with blooms in that lined the outside spaces are a great budget friendly item, really effective too. In fact, loads of great touches here – well done Dec & Edel and thanks for sharing!

Adam.

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How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You

February 16th, 2012

I’m a little bit annoyed with Kevin and Victoria if I’m honest… because they had some immense stationery based ideas that I wish I had thought of…

Just wait till you see the table plan – they had cute little photo’s of every single guest printed and fixed to an envelope. The guests had to spot themselves and then open their envelope to find out where they were seated… What a great way to get everyone mingling, and what a great conversation starter. Also – I LOVE the table names. Pure genius, check them out.

I’m going to go off for a little sulk, but I will leave you in the capable hands of Victoria, who will reveal the story of her big day. A story perfectly illustrated with images from Andy Squires.

Octoberfest!

We got married on the 1st October 2011 at the gorgeous Hill Place in Swanmore, Hampshire. Our wonderful and generous friends Will and Rebecca, who were able to be guests as well as hosts at the wedding, own this gorgeous venue. For our colour scheme we wanted to incorporate bright and bold pinks, purples and greys. We were lucky as the house is so gorgeous it needed minimal decoration. Overall we wanted it to be a fun and relaxed day. Getting married in October we had planned for rain so we couldn’t have been more delighted by the tropical weather that meant we were able to enjoy drinks and games on the lawn of the house – the perfect topping to the day!

Bow And Brooch

My dress was from Swoon in West Byfleet and was called Staycie by Maggie Sottero. We got married just three months after we got engaged (the venue had a free date so we thought we’d go for it!) and a lot of the wedding dress shops I contacted just couldn’t accommodate that turn around. After trawling Google I found Swoon who specialise in sample and once worn dresses – I also couldn’t help but notice that they were a fraction of the price of most other places too, which was good for the budget! I made an appointment and headed there with a close friend and my Mum – I must have tried on 15 dresses and we quickly narrowed it down to 2. After another try on of each it was obvious which one to go for – I loved the bow, the brooch, the contrast hem and its simple elegance, plus the length and size were basically perfect – it was if it was meant to be!

Contemporary And Angled

I loved loved loved my tiara the moment I saw it on the internet – it was from Blossom Wedding Day Jewellery specialists. I knew I wanted my hair in a simple style and I always part it to the side so having something that sat off-centre seemed perfect. There were so many to choose from but it had to be slightly contemporary and angled to match the brooch on my dress rather than flowery. As soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect and it didn’t disappoint when it arrived – I loved it so much I used to come home from work and try it on almost daily! My other jewellery included pieces that Kevin had given to me as presents (one of which was my something blue) and a gorgeous bracelet that he asked a friend to give me on the day (very romantic and something new!). My veil was (my something!) borrowed from Rebecca and worked perfectly as it wasn’t too long and had just a smattering of sparkles to pick up the light.

Pink Points

My shoes were bright pink pointed courts from Office (my little sister also kindly bought them for my birthday). I love points and being bright pink they perfectly matched they day, I also loved the idea of wearing them again (which I have twice and each time brings back such lovely memories) so they are perfect in every way. Inside my shoe was a sixpence that my friend Michelle lent me… that was my something old.

Nothing Too Fussy

I had a simple bun style hair do, done at my local hairdressers Madeline House Hair. They did an amazing job and it barely moved out of place all day – the most important thing was that I still looked like me, hence not wanting anything too fussy and this also translated into the make up which I did myself. To be honest I hadn’t decided what makeup I would wear until I started doing it but I was pretty happy with the result of smokey eyes but generally pretty understated.

A Family Floral Affair

We bought the flowers from an excellent local wholesaler Nursery Fresh and then my big sister, my Mum and Kevin’s Mum all worked to make some amazing arrangements, buttonholes and bouquets. I love Gerbera’s (don’t they just look happy?!) so we combined them with bright pink (“purple power”) and light pink (“heaven”) Roses, purple Veronica and purple Lisianthus all with grey/green foliage. For vases I headed to Ikea and got everything for under £50 – they looked great and I now have enough vases for many years to come! The buttonholes were very simple bright pink Roses, our flower girl carried Roses and Gerberas and my bouquet was a loose assortment of Roses, Lisianthus and Veronica and I was so pleased with how it all looked.

An Issue Of Continuity

For my best woman Zoe we found the perfect dress in Karen Millen that was a mix of greys and she was able to find some fabulous accessories. My very pretty niece was my flower girl and she wore a party dress from Monsoon – for both the girls I wanted to get something they could wear again rather than just gather dust in the wardrobe. Kevin’s best man Colin was able to find a suit that matched perfectly, we also kitted out both our Dad’s in purple ties and the boys had bright pink ties – we were after continuity rather than everything matching!

Gieves and Hawkes

Kevin looked amazing in a tailored Gieves and Hawkes three-piece suit; the grey made his blue eyes sparkle and looked great with the pink tie. It was the only suit he tried on but as soon as he was wearing it we knew it was perfect – I hadn’t seen the complete outfit till the day so I got to have a (lovely!) surprise too!

Truly Individual

Our amazing photographer was the wonderful Andy Squires. Our first attempt to find a photographer had been a disaster with a capital D, meeting with an old school, staid and very traditional wedding photographer. As soon as we got back from that meeting I hit the internet searching for someone friendly and relaxed who also took excellent photographs – it was quickly clear that Andy ticked all the boxes, his photos are truly individual, capturing wonderful details of the day. After being a bit sceptical and with a bit of gentle encouragement from Andy, I’m delighted that we had an engagement shoot – it was a great chance to meet Andy and talk through thoughts and ideas and made me feel much more relaxed in front of the camera on the day.

When the wedding photos arrived we couldn’t have been more pleased – they are an amazing way to remember the big moments and the small details. He caught so many things that could be easily missed. On the day itself he must have been running round all over the place but he made it seem effortless. We also loved that we were able to go off for a wander and have some pictures of the two of us on our own – one of our favourite parts of the day.

Fruit And Nut Case

Our cake was amazing! We are both chocolate fiends and love Montezuma’s chocolate company. We originally looked on their website for wedding favours – but as soon as Kevin saw the cake he was sold and I didn’t need any persuading! It was an amazing combination of chocolate, fruit and nut cake with a Belgian chocolate sponge cake, all covered in gorgeous ganache and swirls of white, milk and plain truffles – the tasting session was heaven! We were also able to use it for our pudding and still have a stack left in the freezer!!

Grand Entertainment

During the drinks reception we hired the lovely Ingrid Dixon to play the amazing grand piano that they have at Hill Place. Our evening entertainment was the fabulous Alan Cross. Alan is an amazing swing singer and had us all up on our feet dancing the night away – at one point there were people dancing in the driveway, the hall and out on the back lawn so he was certainly doing something right! We were able to keep him a surprise from nearly all our guests until he ran up the stairs to sing our first dance – although the second song was possibly more impressive as it was a swing version of the Spiderman theme and very good too!

Swing When Your Winning

Our first dance was dictated by the style that Alan sings, as we don’t really have ‘a song’. But with his help we decided on ‘How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You’ and it was perfect.

For favours we gave little packets of seeds from Cox & Cox that I hope everyone remembers to plant! We thought it was a nice way to get people to remember the day especially as we love growing our own fruit and veg.

Find Your Face

Our table plan was a huge effort but well worth it! Instead of the traditional we printed a picture of each guest, on Moo MiniCards, that we stuck onto an envelope. Then inside there was a card telling them which table they were sitting on and a personal message from us to them. This was then hung by ribbon from a frame that my Dad very cleverly made for us. The guests then had to identify their envelop amongst the others… they had to “find their face, to find their place”!

We also included a postcard that we asked them to write a message on instead of having a guestbook. This was one of my favourite things we did – each message is so individual (I always find that guest book messages can be quite ‘samey’) and some people decided to post them to us after the day which meant we had some lovely surprises to read when we got back from honeymoon!

My brother is an amazing artist and he also drew a picture where people could write a message – it is just fantastic and so personal, its currently being framed and I cant wait to get it back and put it on the wall. For name places we set up scrabble tiles, took a photo and had them printed on MiniCards by the wonderful people at Moo. They looked brilliant and were a nice keepsake for people – they also matched the scrabble cufflinks that the boys wore! Our table name places were postcards depicting covers of our favourite books that we read as children.

In the evening we used the hallway as the main dance area – it was totally transformed with fairy lights running up the stairs and a glitter ball – I think every wedding should have one! To remember the people that couldn’t be with us we lit a candle and wrote a message – it was an understated but effective way of keeping them in our thoughts.

Without A Hitch

Our wedding was special because of the people. Fabulous friends and family, who helped everything go without a hitch, surrounded us. Will and Rebecca have an amazing team at Hill Place which meant that nothing was stressful – a special mention must go to the amazing Ann who noticed with seconds to spare that my bouquet was still in water in the cellar. As the entrance music had already started she ran down and up 4 flights of stairs to get it to me on time and then was even able to make sure my dress was looking its best for the big entrance, amazing!

We also had the use of a great wedding planner, Marie at Isabella Weddings. I think some people worry about the expense or image of having a wedding planner but she was worth her weight in gold for us. Planning a wedding in 3 months wasn’t always easy but she was always at the end of the phone or email with support, advice, ideas or potential suppliers and on the day she was there to make sure everything was seamless and that I never had to do or worry about anything – nothing was too much trouble. For us it also meant that Will and Rebecca could relax and enjoy the day without having to play host so it worked perfectly and I would highly recommend her to other brides!

As far as advice for other brides go don’t be afraid to rip up the rulebook if you want to! Your wedding should be about you and what you want – we had what could be considered a fairly traditional day but had lots of touches that made it unique to us. Above all enjoy it and remember that you’re with friends and family and everyone is set to have a wonderful day. I loved every moment but the ceremony was so special- we chose really individual readings that mean a lot to us. The love and sentiment during that time is what really underpinned the day, there was barely a dry eye in the house!

Venue Hill Place

Dress Maggie Sottero

Boutique Swoon

Shoes Office

Blooms Nursery Fresh

Photography Andy Squires

Planner Isabella Weddings

Pianist Choir Ingrid Dixon

Singer Alan Cross

Ok, I’m finished with sulking. Actually who am I kidding? How can you be mad at Kevin and Victoria, one of the smiliest couples of the century. Looks like they had a perfect day their way. And in just three months. Wow.

If you are on a timeframe like Kevin and Victoria, then you can never underestimate the powers of a decent wedding planner. It will certainly relieve a lot of the pressure both in the run up and on the day its self.

A lot of people see a planner as an extravagance, but it might just be a good way of holding on to your sanity!

Adam.

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Anthony & Cleopatra… Superman & Lois Lane… James & Lucy.

February 14th, 2012

Morning folks,

One of our more ‘off the wall’ titles for an RMW real wedding, but when I saw the picture frame I couldn’t think of anything more fitting.

You are in for a treat today, tradition meets modernity in the Cotswolds and the result? A colour pop-tastic inspiration filled explosion.

God we’re good to you people!

Enjoy all the delicious imagery that today has been provided by the magnificent David Long.

Cup of tea? Biscuit?

Yes? In that case we shall begin…

A Short Stroll

We got married at St Mary’s, Cowley, Gloucestershire with the wedding reception at Cowley Manor. We always knew we wanted to be able to walk from the church to reception, plus ideally we wanted somewhere that would be exclusively ours for the day with room for people to stay.

We came across Cowley Manor and it was perfect for us – traditional and modern design mixed together. I must also say that I would thoroughly recommend the venue to anyone, the staff (especially Elliott) were incredibly conscientious and helpful throughout the wedding planning and really went out of their way to ensure we had a really special day.

A Bit Of Sparkle

My dress was Alice from Pronovias – I then added a Pronovias belt to it as I felt it needed some sparkle to the dress. I always thought I wanted a lace dress and knew I wanted something with straps. It was about the third dress I tried on in the first shop and I did love it immediately.

However, for any brides who struggle to make a decision… I did end up buying the dress and cancelling it twice before I bought it the third time! I bought it on the first day we went shopping, then felt I hadn’t tried on enough dresses and was worried there was something better out there, so rang and cancelled before payment was processed. I had another day shopping booked but it got cancelled due to heavy snow, so worried about the VAT increase, rang and bought it again. However, the previous panic set in again and I cancelled the purchase. Eventually I bought the dress from the lovely Windsor and Eton brides who were infinitely patient with my inability to make a decision!

So I would say, don’t worry if you can’t make a decision, but try and trust your instincts on what you like in the first place!

A Vintage Touch

I wanted a vintage style hair slide to wear in the back of my hair, I had an idea of what I wanted and managed to find it on Etsy. For the ceremony I had a full length veil which matched my dress – I loved it!

Shoes To Dye For

My shoes were Marlene from Harriet Wilde – which I then had dyed bright purple! They are fab and Ruth from Harriet Wilde was extremely kind and lovely thoughout our chats about the shoes.

A Loose Bun

I knew I wanted to wear my hair up, something that would suit my dress but not too severe. I decided on a loose large side bun with my slide in the back. A friend of my aunt, who does hair and make-up for films, kindly did my hair and make up on the day. We had a trial before the wedding which was fab, I was totally relaxed on the day as I knew Tamsin would make me look great. Tamsin was generally wonderful on the day, very relaxing and made sure I had something to eat and drink (champagne) so I wasn’t too nervous.

Well Planned Blooms

I think the flowers were one of my favourite parts of the whole wedding planning process. We met with Sue Barnes of Lavender Green and went through our thoughts of the impression we wanted to create with the wedding, what the venue was like and some mood boards I had created of flowers and general decorations for the day (being a marketing manager means that there were quite a few mood boards involved in the wedding planning!)

She then sketched out table centres and other floral arrangements we were going to have on the day. Then, after banishing James, I described my wedding dress to her, which she also sketched with her proposal for my bouquet. Seeing everything come to life how I imagined was so exciting and I knew they were the florist for us.

The final flowers were Vanda Orchids, Sweet Avalanche Roses, hot pink Freesias, hot pink Ranunculas and larger, hot pink roses in the larger designs. The colours were purple, nude pink and hot pink to fit in with our overall colours of the day. I’m not a fan of ivory generally, so my bouquet was completed with a purple ribbon and the bridesmaids had dusky pink ribbons around theirs.

The flowers on the day were just perfect, I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more. They make me so happy every time I see them in the photographs or video. My only regret is that they couldn’t be a permanent arrangement around the house!

Pink, Purple And Pistachio

I always wanted a brightly coloured wedding and love purple, so when we came across Cowley with its bright colour scheme of pink, purple and pistachio (even the flowers in the grounds fit with the scheme), it was another reason it was the venue for us! Rather than try and introduce new colours into the mix, we then decided to use all three colours throughout the wedding with accents of gold in places. We went for an English Country Garden theme for the general décor as this is a general look and feel we quite like at home and we felt it was a good reflection of our tastes

We had 6 bridesmaids, my little sister and best friends from home and university. Having 6 bridesmaids meant I wasn’t keen on having one colour for the dresses as I thought it could be quite over powering and felt two colours would be much the same. We then decided to use all three colours and have two girls in each! This decision did mean a lot of driving round the country to see the right fabric in the right colour and seeing a couple of examples together as I was worried about clashing. It was a good job we did this as the first set of colours I like online would have been way too bright – the girls would have looked like Power Rangers! I would definitely recommend seeing the colours in real life if possible. However it’s up to you how involved the groom gets with the decision – in our best man’s speech he did mention that he never wanted to have a conversation with James again that included the words ‘Dessy’, ‘Pistachio’ or ‘Begonia’!

We bought the dresses for the girls – we went for knee length dessy dresses in a 1950’s style to suit the day. I then added cream ribbons to the waists to tie in with my belt, plus I also didn’t want the girls to look like they’d all randomly turned up in the same dress!

We hired grey suits for the groomsmen from the Marlow Wedding Centre. I liked the place as it was reasonable plus they had a good range, but James assures me that he enjoyed the experience as the Centre has complimentary Marlow Brewery Beer! I then bought pocket squares and cravats from dessy to match the pistachio bridesmaids and they had vanda orchids for buttonholes.

Colour Co-ordinated

James looked fab on the day – he also wore a 3 piece grey suit to match the groomsmen, with a purple cravat and pocket square. He went for some lovely grey-blue shoes from Ted Baker that had purple laces. We even managed to find some cufflinks from Ted Baker with pink, purple and green to match the wedding – it was obviously the shop for us!

James had a white orchid buttonhole, which was beautiful.

Put At Ease

David Long was our photographer on the day and it was one of the best decisions we made for the whole wedding. We saw about 3 or 4 photographers before we chose David – we knew we wanted reportage style but there are so many variations on this you need to find the photographer that suits your tastes best.

Once we met David we knew he was the photographer for us – there was simply not a photo he took that we didn’t like. Plus David is such a lovely guy, we knew he would fit in perfectly with all our guests at the wedding and put people at ease.

I was nervous before receiving our photos, I knew a few people who had got married just before us who said they only liked a small selection of their wedding photos, but I am happy to report I love every single photo David have given us. The only issue we have now is narrowing the selection for our album!

A special mention must also go to our videographers on the day for being incredibly lovely and real troopers – Aaron and Andrea at Reel Weddings. Organising a videographer was a relatively last minute decision, but a fantastic one, it captures the feeling and atmosphere of the wedding in such a dynamic way. Reel Weddings also provide a trailer and a short highlights film, both of which are fab to share with people that you don’t want to bore to death with a full film!

Forget About The Price Tag

I fell in love with a cake from choccywoccydoodah originally, but didn’t love the price tag to match. We then luckily found an incredibly lovely and talented lady locally who managed to create the type of cake we wanted.

We had a three tier cake, the bottom was Victoria Sponge, middle was Lemon Cake and the top was a Chocolate and Cherry Black Forest flavoured cake. It was decorated to fit with the Country Garden theme, with two love birds, butterflies and flowers to match the bouquets.

The Gospel Truth

James and I love gospel choirs (I suspect from watching too much Sister Act/Last Choir Standing), so we knew that we wanted one for the wedding. We booked Vocal Works Gospel Choir to perform at the church – we managed to keep it a secret from all our guests so we could surprise them on the day. The choir sung ‘I knew you were waiting’ by Aretha Franklin and George Michael once all the guests had entered the church, then ‘Kissing You’ by Des’ree as the Bridal Entrance. The music as I entered the church was so beautiful, it created such a magical romantic feel.

Mitch Matthews was our marvellous DJ for the evening – he kept the dance floor packed and the atmosphere going all evening. I don’t think James or I stopped dancing all night!

After Mitch finished, we organised for a karaoke machine to be bought out for those guests who wanted to carry on partying. We both love karaoke and it was a great way to end the day that was truly ‘us’.

Your Song

We chose Ellie Golding’s version of ‘Your Song’, simply because we heard it the Christmas before the wedding and both loved it. We didn’t really have ‘a song’ beforehand, but this felt right for us.

Purple And Green

We both love macaroons so knew from the start that we would like to have them as our favours. We had a great day deciding as we went to Lauderee in London and tried every single flavour in our chosen colours! We went for apple and blackcurrant violet (bright green and purple respectively) – our guests had one of each colour in a small box sealed with a pink ribbon and our heart design stamped out on the top.

Rose Studded Décor

We tied in all the décor on the day into the English Country Garden theme. Outside the church we had two bay trees that were studded with pink roses, then inside the church entrance we hung confetti cones for people to help themselves.

Our table plan was a large willow tree with pink roses planted in the base. From this we hung long purple ribbons for each table which had people’s stamped onto.

Each table had a purple runner to break up the white table cloth, then the centrepieces were birdcages with 3d numbers placed inside, surrounded and covered by trailing flowers. I was really pleased with the final look and it tied in to the day beautifully. The numbers were really cost effective as they came from hobbycraft – we just spray painted them gold. I also spent quite a long time looking for birdcage hire that didn’t cost the earth – Do Yourself a Favour were really well priced and Jackie was incredibly helpful, taking pictures of the birdcages for me so I could judge the sizes etc. I hired medium cages for the table centres, then a larger one for people to put cards in.

Carrying on the styling, the place names were cream love birds and we made individual gold embossed menus on pink card for our guests, which James designed a bird and flowers laser cut for the top to match the rest of our wedding stationery.

A Piece Of Pretty

Early on in the wedding planning we found a heart stamp of a couple under a tree that encompassed the look and feel we wanted for the wedding day, so we used this wherever relevant in our decorations, from the confetti cones to favours, which helped make everything more personal to our day.

We tried to make everything personal to our day if possible – for the wedding breakfast room, James made a wooden (Mr & Mrs) sign as our married surname is Brackett, which we spray painted gold and placed on the mantlepiece. We also did things like have a few photos of us from our engagement shoot by our guest book.

My main advice to any bride is to please yourself (and your groom) in what you want first and worry about other people second. We put a massive amount of effort into how things looked on the day and to be honest, there was probably a lot of detail that guests may not have appreciated, but we noticed it all and it made the day even more special to see everything come together how we imagined it. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day!

And now you can even have a little peek of the day, as documented by the completely fantastical Reel Weddings.

I told you we were good to you!

Venue Cowley Manor

Dress Pronovias

Boutique Windsor and Eton brides

Shoes Harriet Wilde

Blooms Lavender Green

Photography David Long

Videography Reel Weddings

Gospel Choir Vocal Works Gospel Choir

DJ The Suburbians

I love that scrum style invasion of the first dance.. There is a whole lot of love on that dance floor ;)

I am seriously loving the colour pop stationery, and the couple shots on the swing… that is simply what it’s all about folks. Serious love.

Ok, I’ve said ‘love’ too much now… Aside from that – what about those blooming great confetti cones? I’m a little lost for words…

Adam.

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Stepping Out In Style.

February 9th, 2012

Today’s bride Ali certainly did, in the highest gold Vivienne Westwood heels I think I have ever seen. And it wasn’t just the shoes that were jaw-droppingly immense either, it was the gorgeous grecian gown, the quirky Hello! Lucky stationery and just how obvious it was that Ali and David fancied the pants off each other…

I almost felt like I shouldn’t be peeking but really really couldn’t help it – you know? Kudos to photographer Claudine Hartzel for capturing all of the sexy as well as the sophisticated moments.

Ali and David were married at St Mary’s on Paddington Green followed by a reception at Kensington Roof Gardens, prepare to want to wear eight inch platform heels for the rest of eternity folks.

Hand-Made

I wore hand-made gold Vivienne Westwood platforms – there’s not many occasions you could wear them for so why not!!

Lots Of Lash

I wanted lots of lashes – and fairly neutral make-up. I chose Kulvinder Samra from Forever Princess as I’d seen her work at another wedding – and knew instantly that’s who I wanted. She was great doing lip gloss for my niece to make her feel special as well as doing my mum and sisters – who all like totally different looks.

Viva Biba

My sister Andrea was bridesmaid and she wore Biba – our reception was in the Biba building and with the London theme it seemed a natural choice. The Groomsmen all wore Paul smith ties.

An Obvious Choice

My gown was Vivienne Westwood from Davies Street London. I wanted simple but stylish – and loved the fact you could wear it in several ways. I wanted my shoulders covered for church, I wanted to match my bridesmaid for the afternoon and have something a bit sexier for the evening. We wanted a London wedding – so British designers seemed an obvious choice.

Something Blue

David wore Paul Smith, I love waistcoats! – he looked amazing. David also loves watches and he was very proud to wear the pocket watch his father (who’s no longer with us) left him.

Spectacular Blooms

I’m no flower expert – but because we were having the roof gardens and such an amazing church I knew we needed something spectacular so we had several meetings with Paula McGhie who just knew what we wanted – she did an amazing job and I was really moved when I stood at the entrance to the church and saw the displays at the front.

Best Of British

We had London buses to take us to the reception – with music and champagne so we got the party started early!. We knew we wouldn’t have a lot of time to talk to everyone on the day, so we spent a lot of time (and next to no money) before the wedding writing personal notes to everyone at the wedding – and tied them using luggage tags on to the stems of their glasses at the table.

We bought an old suitcase from Portabello market and popped it on the gift table along with wedding photos of our parents and grandparents, which meant a lot to us, to think of them all on our special day.

Making Our Day

Our photographer was Claudine Hartzel, I’d seen her work on line and it looked amazing. We met her and we wanted someone discreet – we certainly didn’t want lots of posed shots, Claudine couldn’t have been more amazing – she got everything we wanted and more, I think she really made our day.

Up On The Roof

Kensington Roof Gardens was an amazing location – so high above London, it was a definite for us. Frances West and the team there were really accommodating and didn’t bat an eyelid when some elderly relatives decided they would join us for food after all – about 10 extra after the church service!

You Had Me At Hello

We chose London landmarks for table centres instead of numbers, they were from Hello!Lucky – we loved the quirky designs and Iain was very patient with our demands,the quality was also amazing.

Together Forever

For the first dance we chose Al Green – “Stay with me forever”, it’s one a lot of people won’t know. It’s an uptempo number from a legend and we love it. Plus given we’re terrible dancers –it’s suitably easy to dance to and SHORT!

From Overseas

We had wooden order of service covers which we ordered from the US – but they were really good value for money and looked amazing.

Invitations To Keep

We bought our invites from Wedding Teatowels. They were amazing and reasonably priced – we got so many people thanking us for them, I’d definitely recommend to anyone looking for something out of the ordinary.

All You Need Is Love

We were really lucky to get married at St Mary’s in little Venice – so we walked over the canals to the church which was a lovely way to start the day. We go to the church so it was great that we had our vicar Father Gary involved from the start. He couldn’t have made it more amazing.

The choir sang all you need is love before Ali came in; which got to both of us! We were lucky enough to have a choir of professional singers from the theatre; so while we were signing the reigister they sang some ‘hits from the musicals’ which was really good fun and not too traditional.

Brides Gown – Vivienne Westwood

Brides Shoes – Vivienne Westwood

Brides Make-Up – Forever Princess

Grooms Suit – Paul Smith

Maids Dress – Biba

Reception Stationery – Hello!Lucky

Reception Venue – Kensington Roof Gardens

Photographer – Claudine Hartzel

Firstly a million apologies for making you wait from Saturdays sneak peek for this one – I am a bad bad blogger.

You’ve got to admit it was worth the wait though right?

And who is up for a night out wearing petal-lashes AND gold platform skyscrapers…. me me!!!

Big Stylish Love

Charlotte xxx

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Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

February 8th, 2012

Jenna and Ryan married in the Summer at possibly the best named pub ever – The Crab and Lobster in Thirsk.

It may well be one of the most kooky and interestingly decorated venues that I have ever laid my wedding blogger eye upon too. Jenna and Ryan found a venue that reflected the look and feel that they were after, and so it only required a bunch of candles (and a few other bits and bobs) to give it that touch of W-day romance… Job done…

The sensational images that commit all that W-day romance to print are by RMW fave Anna Hardy.

Showing Off The Curves.

My dress was from a lovely shop called limelights just down the road from my mums in Huddersfield. The staff in there are amazing and so helpful, they made shopping for a wedding dress such a relaxed lovely experienced. I knew that I wanted vintage looking lace but other than that I didn’t really have a clue. I chose a dress designed by Stewart Parvin called “The best is yet to come”, I thought the name was really romantic!! I never thought in a million years that I would choose a fishtail dress!! I’m constantly in floaty clothes but loved the way that this dress showed off my curves and Ryan was also very suprised, he loved it!! I knew it was the one as it was the first dress i’d tried that i didn’t want to take off! I also wanted a dress that wasn’t too heavy and that i’d be able to dance in, it was comfortable all day.

Vintage parkle.

I wore a beautiful headpiece by Jenny Packham called acacia iii it was perfect with my short hair. I wanted something vintage looking with some sparkle. A friend and I went to the Jenny Packham accessories shop in Knightsbridge and we both fell in love with it instantly, but it was a bit more than I wanted to spend. However a couple of glasses of wine later and a lot of justifying to myself (“well I could always wear it again”, “friends could borrow it”, “it will look amazing in the photos”, “i’m not buying a viel, “I can save in other areas” etc) I was back in the shop handing over my money and i’m so glad I did.

I also wore a pair of pearl earrings that my dad had bought my mum for their pearl wedding anniversary, these were really special.

Looking For A Bargain.

After over spending on my headpiece I decided to try and save money on my shoes. I wanted something comfy but also with a bit of height (Ryan’s 6ft and i’m 5ft 1). I found some lovely ivory shoes with a bit of sparkle and a 3.5inch heel in the dune sale and then saved even more by buying the display pair, bargain!!! They were perfect, vintagey looking and I managed to keep them on all day which is very unlike me. I’m normally the first one on the dance floor with bare feet!!

Keeping It Short.

I’ve had short hair for about 3 years now and as soon as I got engaged people kept asking me if I was going to grow my hair…… NO!!! I like my hair short and wanted to look like myself! Dean Atkins came to do mine and the bridesmaids hair. Dean is a family friend has been my mums hairdresser for years. He did a great job and had us in stitches all morning!!

A lovely lady called Sam did my make up. She was recommended to me by a friend and she was great. I wanted quite a natural look but also wanted to wear my favourite hot pink lipstick, I feel a bit naked without it!! Sam also applied some individual fake eye lashes a few days before the wedding and they were fabulous!! I didn’t want to wear mascara as I knew the day was going to be emotional and there would be a few tears, I wasn’t wrong!

Wild An Natural Blooms.

Lovely Helen and Steffi from The Flower Shop were our fabulous florists. As soon as we met them we knew that we could completely trust them 110% and the flowers were going to be really special. They have such a passion for what they do and were really excited by our ideas. For the bouquets I wanted them to be really wild/natural, like we’d just picked them on the way to the wedding. I wanted them to be all different and in a mixture of colours. I also wanted forget-me-nots in my bouquet, in memory of my wonderful dad. My dad also loved herbs and so we wanted herbs incorporated into the button holes and table decorations. We let Helen and steffi work there magic and the result was amazing. The bouquets were out of this world, I couldnt have asked for anything more perfect. Rosemary was incorporated into the button holes, which smelt amazing. The whole place was filled with lavender, rosemary and candles, it looked fantastic. I also asked them to make a heart out of lavender (also for dad) for the entrance to the service which was beautiful.

Grey And Apple Green.

My brother and Ryans best man wore lovely grey suits hired from limelights. The ushers wore their own suits. I decided on apple green for the bridesmaid dresses as it fitted in well with the natural feel of the flowers and herbs. I wanted the dresses to be floaty and found the perfect ones from Dessy. I took a chance and ordered them online from house of brides in America as they were half the price to ordering them from the UK. It paid off and the dresses arrived in plenty of time in perfect condition. They just needed a few alterations. Out of my five bridesmaids one had a 2 week old baby, one was 8months pregnant and one had a broken leg. They all looked beautiful!!!

It’s All Gone Heart Shaped.

My gorgeous husband also wore a hired grey suit from limelights with a grey waistcoat and silver tie. I’d also given him some heart shaped cufflinks from Paul Smith as a gift for the wedding. He looked lovely and it was nice to see him looking so smart as he’s normally very casual (top hat and tails was his worst nightmare!!) The grey looked lovely against the apple green and colourful flowers.

The Most Beautiful Wedding Photo’s Ever.

For us the photographs we’re so important as apart from the memories there the one thing that once the day’s over you can treasure forever.

We chose Anna Hardy as our AMAZING photographer. Anna was recommended to us and as soon as we looked at her website we instantly fell in love with her work. We loved the way she seemed to capture so many special moments and also the way she wrote so beautifully about peoples weddings. We didnt want to spend hours on our wedding day having lots of formal/group shots so Anna’s relaxed style was perfect. We cannot recommend Anna enough. The moment we met her for our engagement shoot we instantly got on and she felt like an old friend, she made us feel so much more relaxed about having our photos taken on the actual day. Having Anna at the wedding felt like having a friend who just happens to be the most AMAZING photographer. The photographs are more than out of this world and she captured so many special memories that we’ll treasure forever. So many of our friends and family have commented that they’re the most beautiful wedding photos they’ve seen. We’ll never be able to thank her enough.

Three Is The Magic Number.

Our cake was made by the lovely Clair at Just Darling Cakes. We had 3 tiers fruit, chocolate and carrot. Ry, myself and my mum chose a flavour each. It looked beautiful and more importantly absolutely delicious. Clair also gives a 10% discount to NHS workers which is very handy when you’re on a budget, Thanks Clair.

Free Beer!

We wanted the day to have a really relaxed and fun feel to it. The venue had a pitch and putt golf course so after dinner Ry and his friends went for a quick game which was fab. The venue also had a hidden beer pump that entitled guests to free beer if they could find it, not suprisingly this proved very popular. Even a few of my very girlie friends were spotted drinking pints!! We also had a table full of bits of fancy dress and props, just so guests could take some silly pictures. We didn’t want to have too much going on as it was important to us that people just got to chat and relax. In the evening we hired a band Sophie Garner and the new breed. We found them through a website called alive network (alivenetwork.com) who were very helpful. The band performed a mixture of jazz, soul, rock and some modern songs. They we’re great and had everyone dancing.

Something To Swing To.

We chose “Crazy little thing called love” by Queen as our first dance. Ry and I love dancing but aren’t very good at it so we just wanted something that we could swing each other around to and have a bit of fun with. That song always gets it on the dance floor. Also towards the end of the evening our family and friends formed a big circle and the band played our favourite snow patrol song. Ry and I danced in the middle with everyone singing around the edge. During this Ry said to me “Look around everyone we care about is in this room”, it was a really special moment.

For A Good Cause.

We made a donation to cancer research instead of having favours. Each guest then got a little card telling them what we’d done with a cancer research pin attached to it. I lost my dad to cancer, therefore this charity is very poignant for both of us. It was lovely to see all the guests wearing their badges after dinner. It’s such a great way to support a good cause and when it comes down to it who really needs a bag of sugared almonds!!!

The Crab And Lobstrer.

One of the reasons we chose the crab and lobster was because of its unique decor. It’s an amazing venue full of vintage bric a brac and therefore didn’t really need much extra decoration. We lit lots of candles during dinner to create a romantic atmosphere.

Originally we wanted an outdoor wedding but due to the laws in the UK this isn’t possible. When we saw the amazing conservatory at the venue with the sun shining in and the doors wide open we instantly knew it was perfect.

All The Special Bits.

My family, friends and myself all got ready together in a beautiful big barn, a close friend drove me to the wedding in his amazing vintage car, Our sister in law sang as I walked down the isle, friends chose their own readings, we had beautiful speeches outside in the sunshine, Ry had a game of golf with his friends. We wanted to share our day and it was these personal touches that made the day extra special.

My biggest piece of advice would be to ALWAYS remember the reason why you’re planning this special day. Of course the little details are important but on my wedding day I married my best friend and whether it had been in a castle or a car park, whether i’d worn a bin bag or a designer dress, it would always have been the best day of my life xxx.

Oh and don’t have a meltdown that you forgot to rub out the pencil lines on the table plan, people don’t even notice!!!

Venue The Crab and Lobster

Dress Stewart Parvin

Boutique limelights

Accessories Jenny Packham Acacia iii

Shoes dune

Blooms The Flower Shop

Photography Anna Hardy

Cake Just Darling Cakes

Yay! I love this wedding. Anna Hardy has a brilliant knack for capturing emotions and this set of images is certainly testament to that.

Despite the fantastically off-the-wall venue, this wedding is all about the people… you can see joy in every singe image.

Also, can I just say that a hidden beer pump somewhere on the course may just be the motivation I need to take up golf.

Adam.

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Your Number One.

February 6th, 2012

There is something really calming about Nadine and Andrew’s wedding. Maybe it’s the cool ice-cream colour palette or the simple hydrangea theme that runs through the arrangemennts, bouquets and even the stationery – tying everything together beautifully.

This afternoons wedding is the perfect antidote for those of you who still have racing pulses after this mornings frank and intimate discussions. Prepare for the W-day equivalent of a chill-pill.

The cool, calm and classic imagery this afternoon is all down to the wonderfully creative Anushe Low.

A Northern Wedding.

Our wedding took place on the 22nd of July 2011 at Woodhall hotel and Spa, Wetherby, North Yorkshire.

Sister Selected.

My wedding dress was from the J-CREW wedding collection. Both my sisters, who were my bridesmaids helped me to decide, I loved it the minute I tried it on, and had to have it!!

Indian Jewellery.

My Father had my jewellery custom made in India. The design was a combination of both our ideas.

Peep Toes.

My shoes were peep toe, which I purchased in a bridal shop in Ripon, where my husband is from!

The Locks and Looks.

My sister-in-law is a hair dresser, she was made up when I said she had to do my hair! I had my makeup done by a makeup artist from the hotel Spa.

Hydrangea and Carnations.

My flower arrangements were a mixture of hydrangea and carnations from a florist in Ripon called The Greenhouse Florist.

Graphite Grey.

My theme colour was graphite grey and light coral pink. The groom and the best man wore a charcoal grey suit, with a darker silk tie.

Our Photographer was the very talented Anushe Low – her amazing images speak for themselves!!!

Non Traditional Cake.

We had simple rustic style cream topped lemon drizzle and chocolate cupcakes.

That’s Jazz.

Our first dance was to ‘the tide is high’ by the Paragons. For our entertainment we had a small local three man jazz band that played during the first half of the evening.

After that we had a DJ for the later part of the night, when the partying began.

A Favour For Charity.

Our favours were a small donation to two chosen charities in lieu of gifts to each guest, to represent this and let our guests know we had coasters made for the tables with our wedding logo and message on it, mentioning the charities.

Simple Decor.

The room was decorated very simply, with a lot of hydranges and frilly coronations, the table cloths and linens were were white with cream muslin sashes around the chairs. We also had vintage votives and scattered hydrangea petals on the table.

A Little Advice.

Make it your own style, stay on top of everything, let your sisters deal with it all on the day! Especially if one is an event manager and the other a graphic designer who helped with the designing of the the logo on our wedding stationery, they were both excellent on the day and prior!! Oh and also just ENJOY and relax on the day!!!!

Venue Woodhall hotel and Spa

Dress J-CREW

Blooms The Greenhouse Florist

Photography Anushe Low

Is everyone relaxed and breathing normally again now? Good.

Such a simple affair, but with the few basic themes that ran through Nadine and Andrew’s wedding they ended up with a very cohesive day with a strong identity and a wonderfully chilled feel.

I love the stationery, Nadine was obviously very lucky to have two sisters who were bridesmaids but who doubled as an event manager and a stationery designer – but as we often say, don’t be afraid to pull on the skillset of your family and friends.

9 out of 10 times your nearest and dearest will be only too happy to help make your special day one to remember for the rest of your lives.

Adam.

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