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Rustic Romance

Sky Blue Peach… Part 3

September 2nd, 2010

It’s the final Part of this Sky blue and Peach rustic DIY extravaganza of a wedding. I knew there was plenty to stretch out over 3 posts but this one truly is a marathon of inspiring style and design.

Without further ado I’ll hand you back over to the extraordinarily talented couple – Becky and Steve.

Decorating The Wedding Breakfast

The place names were created using luggage tags we bought from a stationer; we printed all our guests’ names in the same script font that we had used on the invites – they worked really well and resembled the ‘Eat Me’ and ‘Drink Me’ labels from Alice In Wonderland.

One of my favourite things about the wedding was the miss-matching crockery that we hired for the entire meal – from dinner and side plates to tea cups and sugar bowls, every piece was completely different and totally unique. This really did give our wedding the truly vintage theme that we wanted and was so easy to organise, we hired all the crockery from a selection at The Crockery Cupboard and Idyllic Days.

We found an idea online that we thought was a great way to bring a bit of personality to wedding – we designed and created ‘In Case You Were Wondering…’ cards that we popped into home-made cork holders and displayed on each table. These revealed to the guests some interesting facts about the day – such as where the wedding ale was sourced. Not only did they look cute but they were also a great conversation starter!

Inside the barn – Bonbon dishes, bursting with flowers and draped with strings of pearls, were placed in the middle of the tables. On the top table we wanted something slightly different – we used old jam jars, vases and jugs that we had at home, filled them with flowers and scattered them along the front of the table.

Not Just Any Cake…

We decided to keep the budget down on the cake and didn’t want to splash out £650 for a fancy fruit cake or grandiose gateau. Instead we found a delicious sponge cake from Marks & Spencer – it was covered with a double layer of white chocolate icing and decorated with beautiful chocolate sugar-paste roses, it honestly tasted like heaven.

We did think about cupcakes but felt that the simplistic design of the cake was in keeping with the 50’s vintage theme.

Sweet Tooth Favours!

We did so much research on wedding blogs and in magazines during the planning of the wedding – there are so many fantastic ideas to borrow, no matter what type of wedding you want. One of the ideas I loved every time I came across it, was the sweet table – we bought tons of our favourite sweets, and used them to fill old jars, cake stands and Bonbon dishes. We bought brown sweetie bags and used a rubber ‘LOVE’ stamp to decorate them.

We also made a ‘SWEET LOVE’ sign by buying die cut card on ebay and ribbon from a haberdashery – the font was downloaded for free from urbanfonts.com.
Everyone also had their own fortune cookie waiting at their place on the table.

In and around the venue we also used a few other bits and bobs to personalise the day – we made signs, rented bunting from Idyllic Days and used objects and items from our home. We have a couple of retro Tea Chests that we use as bed side tables – they originate from Kenya (our honeymoon destination), so were perfect for us to use in the barn.

We decided against a formal guest book but instead had a message table where we provided tags and handmade origami hearts – we asked our friends and family to write us notes and peg them up. At the end of the big day we had tons of touching messages to treasure forever!

We also created a photo booth where we gave guests the opportunity to dress up and use props to take photos of themselves. It was a great way for us to see our guests having fun, as well as giving Steve and I a giggle after the wedding!

Dancing The Night Away

We hired a string duo to play before, during and after the ceremony. I walked down the aisle to Air by Bach, but due to the violinist being massively delayed we had to play it from my iPod and blast it into the garden. During the signing of the wedding certificate the strings played a piece called La Valse from one of our favourite films Amelie and walking back up the aisle we chose Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba. The strings created a lovely ambience during the ceremony and reception drinks, they played a mix of old and new while we served Corona and Pimms to all our guests.

During the wedding breakfast we played old-school Jazz from an iPod playlist – songs included Four Brothers by Woody Herman and Dizzy’s Business by Dizzy Gilespie. This was loved by both the older and younger guests – with the two littlest dancing throughout.

For the evening reception we hired a fantastic singer called Aydenne Simone – Steve and I went to see her play in a tiny venue in Wimbledon and were blown away by her incredible voice. She played alongside her band The Jazz Culture Band – made up of a pianist, sax, drummer and guitarist. They played some absolute classics – Fever, Hit The Road Jack, Five-Ten-Fifteen Hours are just a few examples.

Late into the evening we had a disco – we compiled an iPod playlist playing songs that were guaranteed to get everybody on the dance floor. We transformed one section of the barn by changing the lighting, using blue bulbs and setting up a hired disco ball. It turned out to be a fab way of creating a bar vibe without having to hire any entertainment or furnishing.

Steve and I played around with the idea of doing something gimmicky for our first dance – we both love Tarantino and thought about re-enacting the famous dance from Pulp Fiction, when Mia and Vincent do the twist at Jack Rabbit Slim’s. After thinking about it seriously we agreed we could never pull it off and that it may diminish the elegance of the day – plus it’s been done many times before.

A song that means a lot to both of us is Eric Clapton’s ‘You look wonderful tonight’. When we were 17 we went on holiday with a couple of friends to Torrevieja in Spain – one night we decided to go to an English pub where they were doing karaoke and Steve surprised me by jumping on the mic to sing it to me in front of, what felt like, 100 people. It made the perfect song choice for our first dance.

Advice From a Newly Wed

You don’t have to spend a fortune to do things well – there really are tons of Do It Yourself ideas and templates online for the taking, which only make your day all the more personal and unique. Don’t feel that you have to go designer, you can find things just as beautiful and quirky on the high street – it really is what you make it.

I included that last image, no doubt intended for thank you cards, because I wanted to say thank you – to Becky and Steve for allowing us to share their day in all it’s glorious detail, and also to Guy Collier for capturing the details so beautifully alongside the moving images, which tell the story of this unique day so perfectly.

It’s a Peach, don’t you agree?

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Guy Collier is a Rock My Wedding Sponsor, however all real wedding submissions are chosen on individual merit and no part of this wedding has been sponsored.

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Posted in Rustic Romance

Sky Blue Peach… Part 2

September 2nd, 2010

You lucky lucky things – there’s so much more to come of this particularly pretty peach affair that it’s a three parter. First up we have the perfect ceremony with it’s details and a little bit about the photographer extraordinaire (and I should add a thoroughly nice chap) Guy Collier. Thanks goes to him for all the images today…

Wedding Day Chaos…

On the day itself the ceremony was delayed by over an hour and a half due to 2 x massive accidents on the main roads leading to the venue, as well as a Hindu festival resulting in a flood of cars in the area. As a result almost all our guests were seriously late and our celebrant and string duo were massively delayed.

The bridesmaids and I were getting ready in one of the rooms facing out over the garden where our guests and family were slowly arriving. I felt like Rapunzel trapped – but the delay only made me all the more eager to walk down the aisle and declare my love for Steve in front of all our friends and family.

Finding The Perfect Venue

Steve and I did a lot of research into the venue – we knew what kind of wedding we wanted and felt strongly that the venue should reflect the feel of the day. We are both true romantics so were eager to find something picturesque and magical. I have always envisaged getting married outdoors in an English country garden and Bury Court Barn really did tick all the boxes.

The garden is truly stunning and the building is a beautiful old converted barn surrounded by fields, so perfect for the informal wedding we were hoping for. Even the oasts looked like turrets from the outside and it really did feel enchanting.

The flowers were one of our absolute favourite elements of the day. Our florist was one of our best friends Charlotte Cox, married to Kavarn the Best Man. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing she was – the flowers were incredible, exactly what we had asked for and she was a massive help on the big day itself. She is truly talented and I cannot recommend her enough. We were desperate for something delicate, pretty and wild to tie into the venue and surroundings. We knew exactly what we wanted and Charlotte worked with us to bring everything to life, advising on what was possible and which flowers were in season.

To tie into the colour scheme of the day we used a selection of cream and peach Roses and Freesias – classic and simple. Peach Carnations were also added to the list – although they have had bad press with being cheap, they really are beautiful and look totally vintage and delicate; as a result they have been making a big comeback in the last year or so. But I also wanted something to lift and enhance the neutral colours – I love the way peach and blue complement each other and so we used Delphinium to inject electric blue into the scheme as well.

For a contrast in texture and to encompass the wild English garden look we were striving for, we threw Hypericum berries into the mix. Charlotte also recommended incorporating Rosemary – it’s a beautiful shade of grey and the sharp shape was a striking contrast to the delicate flowers we had chosen.

The bouquets were stunning – I chose to have the same flowers as the bridesmaids so all were consistent. The groomsmen had matching button holes but Steve had an Avalanche Rose which was a slightly different colour to the others.

For the ceremony we used bird cages filled with white Hydrangeas and stunning pew ends which we hung on the back of the chairs.

The Ceremony

The thing that meant the most to me was that Steve and I were lucky enough to get married outside in a beautiful English garden – it’s the only way I have ever envisaged getting married and it really was stunning. Due to the ridiculous UK laws, the only place you can legally get married outdoors is Scotland – we therefore had a Humanist ceremony which was truly fantastic.

We wrote our own vows and the celebrant’s script focused on our love for each other – it was entirely personal and very intimate.

Guy Collier Photography

We decided that we were not going to have a professional video done, but that photo’s were more important to us, as we felt these would be looked at more often and be a constant reminder of our special day. This meant we had more flexibility with our budget and it was therefore vital that our photographer would not only capture the emotion of the day, but also provide beautiful shots in the style of photos that we like best.

After checking out loads of online photo’s of other weddings, we soon realised that we were quite fussy on what style of photography we were after and that it would be hard to find someone suitable.

We were given a recommendation from someone who had used Guy Collier for a family wedding and after going through these photo’s, realised that he was just what we were looking for. After meeting Guy, discussing his style of photography and looking at other examples of his work, it soon became obvious that he was the perfect choice for us.

Guy was great through the whole process. He was very efficient and always came back to us promptly on any queries prior to our big day.

On the day, Guy was amazing. He was so enthusiastic and adjusted brilliantly to the change in timings that occurred. He even worked with the caterers to ensure everything ran smoothly. We never felt directed or staged and this really showed in the photo’s we received.

Everyone commented on how discrete Guy was and after seeing the photo’s they did not even realise they had been taken. This was so apparent in the pictures, as you could see the true emotion in everyone, which just could not have been otherwise achieved.
The final portfolio of pictures were exactly what we were hoping for. They are absolutely stunning and we almost couldn’t believe it was our wedding we were looking at.
Guy really managed to capture moments in time that had bagfuls of emotion and the pictures convey all of the feelings throughout the day.

We can’t thank Guy enough for the beautiful shots and amazing memories – we would recommend him to anyone.

A Blog-roll of creativity…

We wanted to make the day as unique and personal as possible – trawling through wedding blogs such as; Rock My Wedding, Martha Stuart, DIY Brides, you can find endless ideas and suggestions to borrow and recreate. We pulled together an enormous scrap book full of all our favourite ideas and spent time before the wedding designing, printing, cutting and gluing.

The ceremony took place in the beautiful gardens at Bury Court – we chose to get married in front of a tree overlooking the vast fields and landscape behind. We filled bird cages with Hydrangeas and hung them from the tree with peach ribbon. The venue had some old cricket chairs that we used for the ceremony; we hung pew ends on each of the aisle seats along with a bottle of bubbles.

The venue also had a massive green bench which they kept out of sight from guests, I absolutely loved it and asked them if we could move it outside for the ceremony.

We also created an Order Of The Day for each guest – we wanted something quirky so decided to give them a double purpose and create them as fans. We downloaded a template online, designed both sides in Photoshop, printed on to card and glued together with a lolly stick in between. It turned out to be really hot on the day so the guests got their use out of them.

I asked my mum to make us a ring pillow for the ceremony too – we found some vintage fabric and a doily in an old antique shop and then bought the ribbon from a haberdashery; another unique element of the day that I will treasure forever.

What’s that I hear you say? It’s just too beautiful… there can’t possibly be more?

Well there is. And it’s even better.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Guy Collier is a Rock My Wedding Sponsor, however all real wedding submissions are chosen on individual merit and no part of this wedding has been sponsored.

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Posted in Rustic Romance

Sky Blue Peach… Part 1

September 1st, 2010

We owe a massive thank you to Guy Collier this week for submitting todays wedding, which not only put me in the uncomfortable position of scraping my jaw off the floor when I first clapped eyes on it, but also only went and got the whole of peach week started…

(via email….)

Rebecca: Guy Collier Submission – peach and blue, DIY, puff ball BM’s. LOVE. IT!

Charlotte: Oh My Actual God. See us Brits can do it! He needs to send you every single image he used on the blog – they are all amazing.

Some days later…

Charlotte: Have just had immense idea when I was in the shower, about time – maybe my all day headache kicked my brain into gear!…… How do you feel about peaches and cream week on RMW?????

Another day later…

Rebecca: As I never got around to replying to your email I thought I would give some attention to this particular idea of yours – Awesome! Really love it

(- Embarrassingly, this is actually how our conversations go, and Thank God – we also still get just that excited!)

Guy also very kindly kept the images off his blog until we could spill the beans and share it with you… which is what I’m about to do right here, right now.

It’s just Peachy!

Becky & Steve were married 30th July this year and created a ridiculously pretty day….

Sweetheart in Sung

I absolutely loved searching for the dress – I had been told some horror stories about girls never being able to find a style that they were happy with, but dress shopping really was so much fun! I took my two sisters and mum with me and we spent a whole weekend running from shop to shop; I must have tried on roughly 50 different dresses. The first thing we did was to pick out a few different styles (traditional, vintage, Grecian, fishtail) and once we knew what suited my shape then started to delve into designs.

I found my dress first thing on the Sunday morning from Confetti and Lace in Farnham, Surrey. My sister actually picked it out and as soon as I put it on I knew it was going to be the dress I got married in. It was a traditional style – sweetheart neck and corseted waist with a flowing trail. It has stunning detail around the bust; rather than Swarovski crystals it had pearls and beautiful golden crystals, which definitely gave it the vintage twist I was looking for. I adored everything about the dress! The designer was Alfred Sung and I was the first bride of 2010 to get married in it.

Finishing touches

Finding the hair accessory was one of the hardest decisions to make – it is essential to find something that matches the dress but that doesn’t take anything away from it. I have always associated old-school veils with religious weddings so ruled this out straight away – likewise I am not a fan of tiaras so that meant looking for something not so ordinary. I tried tons of head bands, hair slides and retro style veils and fascinators. Eventually I came across a pretty little pearl beaded headband from Monsoon which I felt worked perfectly and complimented the dress – informal but delicate and pretty, it was a bargain at only 15 quid!

Pearly Queen

The shoes took a lot of thought and deliberation – I toyed with the idea of wearing electric blue shoes to add something quirky to my outfit, however I felt it may tarnish the elegant and traditional look I was trying to achieve. I searched long and hard…from designer to high street to vintage boutiques, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. Eventually I went into Monsoon (while searching for hair accessories) and discovered a gorgeous pair of ivory peep-toe heels with the same beautiful pearls that were stitched onto the headband. Honestly for all brides that are on a budget or looking for traditional accessories, go to Monsoon – they don’t have a massive range but their stuff is very cute.

Big Bouncy Curls and Glamour Puss lips…

For my hair, I had decided the first time I tried on my dress that I would wear my hair down on the day. Big, loose curls were what I wanted and my hair stylist was absolutely brilliant at transforming my straight bed hair into gorgeous bouncy curls. For the bridesmaids – I let the girls choose their own hairstyles, they all looked stunning. They all went for an ‘up’ do with a lace braid, which looked fab with their dresses. Keira Cox, our friend and sister of the Best Man, did such a brilliant job. She did my hair and all three of the bridesmaids on the morning of the wedding and was so much fun to have around.

For my face…I did consider doing my own makeup but Guy (our wonderful photographer) advised me to get it done professionally. I was after a 1950s glamour puss look – I tend to wear liquid liner and bright lipstick on a night out and wanted something similar but toned down.

I had heard some great things about Benefit, love their range and use loads of their products. I had a trial with them and they were brilliant. The girls were lovely and did a perfect job of giving me the glamorous look I had asked for. Even better, they came to the venue on the big day and the whole cost was redeemable against product – so I got to cherry pick all my favourite Benefit goodies to take on Honeymoon with me.

Peachy Puffs

The bridesmaids wore ‘birdsong puff hem bandeau’ – dresses from Coast – I absolutely adored everything about the dresses, they were totally delicate but were also quite fun. When the girls were all dressed up, with their hair and make-up done they looked like they could be subjects of a Degas painting, which I loved!

Ellen and Jemima, the older bridesmaids had matching peep-toe heels and Clementine-Rose, the youngest, wore little satin ballet shoes. Everything was champagne in colour and tied in perfectly to the rest of the wedding.

Grey Groomsmen

The groomsmen wore the same grey suits as Steve – we gave them pale peach ties with hankies to match, tying into the colour of the bridesmaid dresses, keeping everything consistent. The suits were hired from Stafford Tailoring but we asked the groomsmen to wear their own black shoes.

…And a Vintage Groom

Steve looked so very handsome – as I walked down the aisle I kept thinking how dashing he was. Because we wanted the wedding to be informal and laid back we knew we didn’t want tails and cravats, instead we chose a beautiful grey pick-on-pick suit, with lighter grey stitching around the seams. We found a lovely pale blue waistcoat that worked with the suit perfectly and helped with the vintage look and feel we wanted.

We wanted Steve to stand out slightly from the groomsmen so picked him a gorgeous tie and retro cufflinks from Paul Smith. The tie was pretty and floral and the cufflinks injected a bit of fun into Steve’s outfit by bearing a 1950’s naked sailor pin-up.

Peachy perfect right?

Just wait until you see the rest… accents of blue, DIY overload an outdoor (yes, outdoor!) ceremony and so many reception details I might just burst with excitement.

Don’t even get me started on the florals!

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Guy Collier is a Rock My Wedding Sponsor, however all real wedding submissions are chosen on individual merit and no part of this wedding has been sponsored.

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Posted in Rustic Romance

Country Garden and Games… Part 2

August 5th, 2010

Welcome back for Part 2 of this relaxed country wedding with loads of steal-able ideas including casual florals and lots of fun touches.

Thanks again to Guy Collier for providing all the images.

Garden Florals

My husband owns a florist in Wimbledon called Fleurtatious, so our flowers were done by Tam, who works there. We wanted plenty of colour – purples and pinks – and we wanted to have an English country garden feel.

My bouquet had purple calla lilies, Coolwater and aqua pink roses, mauve lisianthus and hydrangea blooms and tree fern and the bridesmaids had white peonies, white & lilac lisianthus, veronica and tree fern.

The table arrangements were made up of scabious, white & lilac larkspur, purple veronica, English stocks, white bouvardia, pink & purple lisianthus, tree fern and ivy. Instead of vases we used gorgeous shabby-chic cream tin watering cans which I found from a garden centre advertising on e-Bay.

A Guiding Photographer

Our photographer was Guy Collier. He is one of the photographers recommended on the Gate Street Barn website. We were very impressed by Guy’s photos on his website, and his personality also came across really well on the website too. He seemed like a relaxed, fun and personable man, so we decided to meet him, after which we had no hesitations to sign him up.

Tom and I are not great posers, so Guy did well to guide us through our photos. During the ceremony he was snapping away (we have the photos to prove it), but we didn’t even notice he was there. We love our photos, and I still look at them every day.

Detail Fun

As mentioned, our theme was country garden and games, so our flowers were oozing out of watering cans and they looked great in the barn. We also had gorgeous twiggy hearts decorated with purple scabious and some ivy hanging on the beams against the front wall of the barn which added a romantic touch. For the table plan we used a large cream wire work heart and we used small single cream wire work hearts to hold the table names, both ordered online from Live, Laugh, Love.

We decided against favours, but instead put a few fun things on the tables for our guests to enjoy. We had two table trivia boxes per table and also some silver party blowouts. We thought it would be fun and all our friends love games and making some noise. Tom’s father made the name cards, table names and seating plan for us using Scrabble font which he downloaded from the internet. We used games as our table names – Scrabble, Monopoly, Balderdash etc.

Tom and I call each other “Woolly”, so as a joke we ordered two Wool pens for guests to sign the guest book with. We specifically chose a giraffe as Tom is often teased for having a long neck, and a frog, because Tom says I sometimes pull my face in a way that makes me look like a frog!

Relaxed Fun

Our ceremony was very special as Tom and I had written our own vows, so saying them and hearing them was very emotional. We wanted our wedding day to reflect our personalities 100% and we wanted the day to feel relaxed and fun. To help create this atmosphere we went for bright and happy summery colours and played some Johnny Cash while guests were being seated.

We had the garden games to keep people busy (and so we could have a play!) and for our meal we chose to have a hog roast and a fun fondue style dessert. We were very lucky that the weather was lovely, warm and sunny so we spent a lot of time outdoors, which is what we wanted.

My best friend, Nina, made a “wedding newspaper” for us called “The Marston News”. It was full of funny photos and stories that our friends and family has sent Nina about Tom and I when we were young or about us as a couple.

It caused a number of laughs and was a really nice and personal touch. Our wedding day was by far the happiest and most special day of my life, and I would love to do it all over again! I wouldn’t change a thing about the day – it was perfect.

I Love the way this couple managed to make their wedding fun whilst still pretty and have so many details that really reflect them as a couple – those pens are fab!

Thanks so much to Melissa and Tom for sharing so many inspiring details.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Guy Collier is a Rock My Wedding Sponsor, however all real wedding submissions are chosen on individual merit and no part of this wedding has been sponsored.

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Posted in Rustic Romance

Tags: Country Garden florals Country Garden wedding Garden Games Gate Street Barn Hog Roast Wedding Purple wedding

Country Garden and Games… Part 1

August 4th, 2010

Todays wedding is everything a wedding should be – fun fun fun! The subject of our Sneak Peek this week, the couple in question managed to put a big fat Fun stamp on the day with tons of personal touches that really reflected them as a couple. Now thats what we like to see.

Many thanks to Guy Collier for submitting this to us and providing all of the brilliant images.

Choosing a Venue…

Our wedding was held at Gate Street Barn in the Surrey Hills on 25th June 2010. We chose Gate Street barn not only because it is a stunning venue based in the Surrey Hills where Tom and I have spent many weekends walking, but the barn gives you a blank canvas to work with so we could completely add our own personalities to the venue. The barn also gives you a choice of caterers and they don’t charge corkage if you wish to bring in your own drinks. Gate Street Barn ticked all our boxes.

A Dress that Fits

I tried on dresses in various shops and had some friends with me to help me choose. I found it very confusing with so many opinions so I eventually took myself off on my own and that’s when I found “the one”. I chose a beautiful ivory dress by Essense of Australia, and I bought it from All that Glitters in Wimbledon. Even though the sample dress was way too big for me, as soon as I put it on, I knew it was the one.

I love classic, elegant and simple clothes, which is why I think I was so drawn to my dress. I felt that the style was perfect for my figure and I could dress it up with accessories if I wished to. I was very lucky as the dress was discontinued shortly after I ordered it, so I got one of the last ones. The dress came with a vintage style brooch on the left hip, but I removed the brooch and replaced it with one which was more my style – a cluster of clear crystal daisies from Brooches and Pins.

Dressing your Hair

I decided to keep my look simple and elegant so did not wear a necklace or bracelet. At first I was adamant that I did not want a tiara, but after much internet research looking for hair combs I came across my “Daisy” headband at Starlet Jewellery . In the end I ended up wearing it as a side tiara rather than a headband, but I loved it so much and it worked so well with my hairstyle so I was very happy with my decision. My earrings were made for me by a lady called Paula, who is a friend of my now sister-in-law www.coco-ria.com. I sent her pictures of the tiara and she made me a few samples based on that. I chose very simple round crystal beads, and I’ve worn them on evenings out since the wedding, which is great. She also made earrings for the bridesmaids – violet crystal flowers.

Hair and Make-up Heaven

I got ready for the big day at a hotel in Godalming and didn’t fancy the thought of heading out to a hairdresser so I found a mobile hairdresser who came to the hotel. When I had my hair trial I had no idea what I wanted, other than wanting my hair all up. As Paula (the hairdresser) started experimenting we happened across the “half up with curls over the shoulder” look, and I loved it. I thought it was very glamorous.

I had been for a make-up trial at Lime Tree Beauty Clinic in Godalming, and the beautician also came to the hotel and did my make-up in the room while my hair was in curlers and the girls were getting their hair done. I had 6 bridesmaids and 2 flower girls, so the room was buzzing, but it was great fun. Like having a pyjama party with all my best friends.

Pretty in Purple

For the bridesmaids I went for an After Six dress (style 6531) in African Violet. I ordered it online from House of Brides in the US, but in hindsight I would have gone through All that Glitters. Once all the customs charges were added to the shipping the cost worked out the same and there was some stress about the dresses being completed on time.

Regardless though, the girls all looked stunning and the colour was beautiful. My two flower girls wore dresses from Monsoon.

Weaving a personal touch

The ushers, fathers and page boy all wore their own grey suits, white shirts and black shoes, but the waistcoats and ties were all made by one of the ushers who owns a weaving mill in Lancashire. Tom decided on the colours he wanted for them (lilac ties and ivory waistcoats), found a pattern he liked and sent it all through to Duncan who made them as a special favour.

Tom looked incredibly handsome in his grey suit, which he had made by Palmer on Northcote Road in Clapham. Tom’s tie and waistcoat were also made by Duncan, but Tom’s tie was African Violet, made from the same fabric as the bridesmaid’s dresses, and his waistcoat was lilac.

To jazz the outfit up he wore a tan belt and very cool tan Barker shoes. Very cutely, he wore striped purple socks!

Playing a personal game

Our cake was very special, as Tom’s mother made it for us based on our love of Scrabble. Tom and I are big games fans, as is evident from the theme of our wedding. Patti came up with the idea of making us a Scrabble cake and we think she did a perfect job. The cake was orange sponge and she also made square cupcakes and decorated then as Scrabble squares.

The main cake was a Scrabble board and she had spelt out “Melissa Thomas Together Forever”, which was very special. She also made a personalised cupcake for James, Kayla and Megan – our nephew and nieces and very adorable page boy and flower girls.

Garden Games

To keep our guests entertained we hired a selection of giant outdoor garden games, again tying in with our theme of “country garden and games”. This seemed to go down well with the guests and Tom and I managed to enjoy a few games too.

For the evening we had a DJ. We chose a DJ over a band as Tom and I love to dance and sing along to our favourite songs, and so do all of our friends. We used Chess disco, and they were great, playing all the power ballads I had requested beforehand!

Come back tomorrow for the beautiful garden style flowers, a ton more personal details and fun, fun, fun!

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Guy Collier is a Rock My Wedding Sponsor, however all real wedding submissions are chosen on individual merit and no part of this wedding has been sponsored.

15 comments »

Posted in Rustic Romance

Tags: country flowers Essense of Australia garden flowers Garden Games Gate Street Barn Purple Scrabble cake

An Eat Drink Chic Wedding…

July 30th, 2010

I’ve been super excited about this post for a while.

One of my favourite blogs is the brilliant Eat Drink Chic by the very talented Amy Moss. Amy is a graphic design turned style blogger who makes the best free downloadables and printables which she very kindly shares on her blog. It still has me checking on a regular basis for cool projects and I’m sure we will be featuring her work regularly in DIY Devotee.

I might have a bit of a girl crush on Amy. Not only does she have a super pretty blog with the most stylish ideas and shares, she also had what I reckon is close to my perfect wedding. What I would do if I had to go and do it all again… wait for it, Amy has a surprise wedding!

Amy has very kindly given me permission to blog about her wedding using excerpts from her own wedding blog posts, for which I am eternally grateful. Thank you so much Amy and I hope you all enjoy the eye candy and the sentiment.

An Engagement Party to Remember

On Sunday March 28 at 2pm, our guests, believing they were about to attend an engagement party, began arriving at our beautiful backyard picnic. One hour into the proceedings we shocked them with a surprise wedding ceremony!

The looks of astonishment and delight on the faces of our guests were pure gold. After 10 years of friendship, in which the last 4 years we were an inseparable couple, Mark and I finally got married!

Family Vintage

The Wedding appeals to me on so many levels… Amy totally knocked the styling out of the park with so many of her own cute DIY touches from the florals to the paper goods to the casual style and I love the relaxed vibe being carried right through from the back yard setting to the floral short wedding dress Amy wore – despite it’s unusual appearance it really was a bona fide wedding gown…

I wore my mother’s 30 year old floral wedding dress accompanied by an Alannah Hill floral hairpiece and vintage-style pearl white shoes each topped with a cute little rosette.

Setting the Scene for a wedding…

Mark and I stood under a pretty cream-coloured royal marquee set up at the front of the event, greeting our guests as they arrived.

Because we hosted it in the backyard of my husband’s parents place, it created a much more personal and intimate atmosphere and allowed us a few days to set up so that we had time to refine the details. Upon arriving, a lot of our guests may have thought that there was quite a lot of effort put into what was essentially just supposed to be an ‘engagement’ party.

A series of pop-up pagoda marquees were set up around the edge of one half of a tennis court. In the middle were four large umbrellas. This added an open, outdoor feel while still protecting us from the intermittent drizzle that occurred throughout the day.

At 3pm, Mark grabbed everyone’s attention and begins his speech, thanking everybody for coming and relating stories about how we met and how we were friends for many years before we eventually got our acts together and became a couple. At the conclusion of his speech, he casually lets it slip that we are going to be honouring our commitment to each other in the form of a civil wedding ceremony here today before all our guests.

The collective gasp, shocked and delighted faces, raised arms and exclamations such as “You sly dog!” were pure gold! I wish I could live in that moment forever! We spontaneously chose a spot amongst our guests to conduct a relaxed and unrehearsed ceremony. Our celebrant Deborah Cannon did a fantastic job especially dealing with our tendency to erupt in silliness!

A Wedding Picnic

I chose ’simple’, ‘rustic’, ‘recycled’, ‘vintage’ and ‘casual’ as the key themes of our wedding ‘picnic’. Wanting to capture a fresh, spring feel I set bright warm reds, oranges, pinks and yellows ablaze against a rustic landscape of wooden furniture, vintage crates, wine barrels, an odd assortment of collected jars and and bottles and bamboo plates and cutlery. Guests were advised a dress code of ’smart casual’ to maintain the relaxed and understated tone of the event.

Lemonade Love

The ‘homemade lemonade with elderflower water’ by our caterers was simply delicious and, in true recycled fashion, provided in jam jars.

Manila tags tied to the top of each jar allowed guests to write their names and re-use their jar throughout the afternoon. These were topped off with pinky red and white vintage-style paper straws which I bought online. The lemonade sat in glass jugs atop wine barrels as part of ’self service’ stations set up at various points throughout the event space.

Retro Writing

Our guestbook were Cavallini and Co. postcards from Zetta Florence depicting various flowers and vegetables. Guests would write us a little message on the back and leave them in this vintage-style wooden luggage.

Other props included Chinese Lanterns, a Faux vintage typewriter, Wooden Pencils from Oxfam, cute little stools to mix up the seating and Vintage Crates.

Festival Florals

Flowers were also casually placed in the vast array of jars and bottles of varying shapes and sizes and arranged haphazardly across picnic benches. Gerberas, roses, strawberry fields, gloriosa, tulips, billy buttons, green tricks, sunflowers and dahlias were among the flower types present.

A creative arrangement of cheerful and warm-toned flowers in hanging glass bottles floated magically above the buffet and was the chief focal point of the event.

Flowers were also casually placed in the vast array of jars and bottles of varying shapes and sizes and arranged haphazardly across picnic benches. Gerberas, roses, strawberry fields, gloriosa, tulips, billy buttons, green tricks, sunflowers and dahlias were among the flower types present.

Flower credits go to Melanie from Cecilia Fox. Her stunning hanging bottles stole the show. They were gorgeous! She also was a great help with all the other flower arrangements throughout the whole space. The vast majority of bottles scattered throughout the event were hired from Georgeous but I also added a few from my own collection.

The Photographer

Credit must go to Jonathan Ong to amazing photographer who took all the shots featured here and was fantastic at getting these images to me. I absolutely love his style and Amy has great things to say about him…

Luckily, on Polka Dot Bride I discovered Jonathan Ong. With a keen eye for composition and colour and a passion for detail, Jonathan and I spoke the same language and therefore worked really well together. I think it’s so important to be able to capture not only the results of all the hard work that went out into creating a beautiful event but also to capture all those special and magical moments that make up the wedding experience. Jonathan did a brilliant job with both of these tasks.

Cheers Jon! Look forward to working with you again in the future!