Frames in the Sale and Dancing Shoes

So rather then saving up and doing my Christmas shopping I've been bad and purchased these stunning shoes. After spending a while trying on Bloch Shoes I was won over by their comfort. Honestly they are lovely. Have a look at these beauties, perfect for the evening ceremony. They are in the sale on the Bloch Website

Also just to let any brides that are making their own table plans the lovely farm I found earlier on has gone into the sale....now half price. Heres the link, get in quick, Cream Frame

Ballroom Dancing

I've been nagging R (the future husband) all summer about going dancing. Finally he gave in and agreed to go dancing with me, so much fun :-)


I found a ballroom and latin class near us, that was absolute beginners-very important!  I re-started the nagging, pointed out the fact that in less than 6 months we would have to dance in front of our friends and family. Crucially pointed out we would be sober and eventually R relented and so off we went.

Honestly I haven't had so much fun for £4 in a long while! The instructor was brilliant, really patient and he had a lovely assistant, Holly, who spent quite a bit of time with us. The first few steps were bad, its very difficult to dance when you are stone cold sober and shy. However eventually we got it and started to really enjoy ourselves. There was minimal foot squashing and there is something very sexy about your partner leading you in a waltz, if you don't believe me then try it. We went to a great class ran by Mark of Dance basics

I'm now itching for the next class, looking for dance shoes (well any excuse to shop) and planning how we can fit in extra sessions.

We've also asked him for some private lessons so we can surprise our guests with our first dance.......so watch this space. Any brides to be who have wanted to go dancing for a while nows the time to ask the other half. A weak moment when they are worrying about the first dance may be all you need to get them hooked! 

Orange Bunting

At the end of a rainy and cold week I thought I'd brighten up the day with some orange invites! Without the use of ribbon or embellishments these would be super cheap to make. I think they are really effective and cheerful, perfect for a summer wedding 

Button Heart

A crafty sunday spent sticking buttons in the shape of a heart. This is a really easy way to make a cool bit of wall art or even to decorate a card. 

You will need a deep or memory frame, the one I used was from Hobby Craft. You will also need a backing paper, a colour that matches or contrasts with your button colour and a bag of button. These don't all have to be the same size or colour. 

Heres how to do it:

1. Print a shape or a letter, I chose a heart

1. Lay this over your base paper and use a blunt tool, the ned of a paintbrush will do, to trace over the shape. Now you have an outline to follow.
2. Then you can either use tape to fill the shape or glue each individual button to fill this space. 

Then all you need to do is mount it and ta-dah a really unique and one off piece of art. 

Lilac Shabby Sweet Birds

Fell in love with the bird print paper this morning, so cute and so pretty. I adore the colours and it got me thinking about how I would do my invites with a slightly different theme. 

Everything you see has been handmade by me, including the folded invite which I'm becoming addicted too. 

I'm keen to do a table plan to follow on from this and think touches of bunting and shabby chic would compliment it, I wish I could plan/design more than my own wedding. 

Christmas Sparkles!

For all the brides that love a bit of bling there are so many gorgeous sparkly hair decorations out there at the moment. I'm loving these stunning pins from accessorise, normally I'm all for waiting until the sales but you know these will probably all be gone. Ordering mine today!

If anybody is having a 1920s Gatsby themed event they also have some exquisite head pieces. 

from accessorize

Any stressed out brides to be out there

Been very quiet lately on the blog, just finished a weekend stint at work and have been chilling on the week off.

During that week off I booked myself in for a cheeky hot stone massage. If you've not had one then you are missing out, absolutely amazing and so relaxing. I had mine done by a lovely lady called Angela, of A.D Therapy  She comes round to your house and does the treatments there.

Now I'll confess I have been a bit reluctant to have a spa treatment at home, after all one of the best bits is the whole spa day experience. However after a few disappointing 'spa experiences' I thought it may be time to broaden my mind and also save some money as you do pay for the 'experience'

Also when my friend Sarah was stressing about the day in the week leading up I desperately wanted to take her out for the day but there was no time at all. I called Angela and she could fit us in. We had such a great morning cracking on with wedding bits and then the door bell rings and the lovely Angela is there.

It was brilliant, no travelling or parking and I was able to carry on doing bits and bobs whilst Sarah had a relaxing facial. Then it was my turn, the best bit about Angela is she thinks of the whole package. Calming music in the background, hot booties on your feet which was preceded by a gentle pressure point foot rub. Followed by an amazing massage!

I cannot recommend her enough, she is very reasonably priced, something that had put me off a hot stones before. She is friendly, calm and very relaxing but extremely professional, Will be having plenty more treatments with her. Have a look at her website as she offers so much, including gel manicures, reflexology and facials. She also does Pamper Parties- a brilliant idea for a hen do or a pre-wedding de-stress

Congratulations Naomi!

So pleased to wake up this morning and see that Naomi Thomas has been crowned The Daily Mail Woman of the Year.

So very deserved for an amazing person. What she does for terminal brides and grooms is incredible and to do it all whilst battling herself just makes even more poingnant. In one way Im itching to do something for them but sad also, thinking this will mean someone won't get to spend their life with their loved one. 

Just treasure everybody thats close to you, make to most of the time you spend together and think of those who don't always get very long. Im really hoping that the award brings even more publicity as I think having your special day with the one you love should be something everybody gets to do. I hope future brides like myself will think about this whilst planning table favours or the gift list and maybe give a thought to this charity.

picture from the Daily mail

DIY Duck egg blue and silver flower Invite

I ordered this invite base from Imagine Doing It Yourself whilst I had ordered some other bits so I thought I would have a play with some lace and flowers to see what could be made. 

Overal Im fairly pleased, although I think the font should have been in grey to blend in better. Also some thicker paper would have made it more luxurious 

Wedding Wishing Well Foundation

Having recently lost a colleague who was planning her wedding in tragic circumstances it made me realise how sad that would be, not to marry the man you loved or the woman you loved.

The Wishing Well Foundation  are an amazing and inspiring charity that help terminal brides and grooms have their big day. The most awe inspiring part is that it is ran by someone who has terminal cancer themselves. It incredible how someone can be so dedicated to others whilst going through so much herself. 

There are many ways you can help support the charity, including asking guests to donate for their guest list. 

Reading about this charity made me want to be a part of the amazing work they do. So my exciting news to share is that I am on their suppliers list now. This means I can be part of helping couples dream day come true. I cannot wait to help make someones big day magical in whatever way I can

DIY Table Plan-Spotty and Cream

So I've carried on with the spotty and navy theme and developed the table plan. I added in some lovely grosgrain ribbon to lift the heading but other than that all of what you can see has been been made with two bits of card and a heart hole punch. 

This works out as very low cost, the frame is also less than £20 and really finishes it off. I'd add some navy spotty ribbon to the favour boxes navy table runners and some cream roses. Pretty 

DIY Navy and Grey Invite

Ive been trying out Adobe Illustrator to add a little bit of a focal point to the text on the invites. Im really rather pleased how they turned out and can't wait to start using the technique in my table plans 

Spotty little numbers

As its cold and raining and I'm stuck inside I've been playing around with some spotty paper and a heart punch. Even with no ribbon these look cute and simple. Perfect if you're on a budget. Would look really cute with a relaxed theme, add in some cream wooden hearts and spotty ribbon and you have a winner 

I also like the way the name card stands up and so means name holders are not needed 

xxx

DIY Folded Invite In Cream and Navy

 

 

Cream and Navy

 

So I thought I'd have a go at making my own folded invite. I think these are brilliant as you can add as many inserts as you need and can include lots of information for guests and an RSVP. They are actually really quite simple, and heres how to do it.

 

 

 

 

Trying to get the old brain cells to remember Design and Technology classes from school wasn’t easy! This is how to do it and what you will need.

 

1.       You need to make a net of the size you want. This is actually quite simple but I practised on plain paper first. All you need is a base, a flap with side tabs and then a cover. Just work out the size you want, this will be the base. The flap will depend on how much of the inserts you want to show and then the cover will probably be about a centimetre smaller than the base.

2.       Cut this out using your card you want as the base. I used a pearl finish one but this will add up if you have a large guest list. It’s a good idea to have chosen your colour scheme too by this point J

3.       Then work out you ribbons before you stick the sides and flaps as the ends will need to be tucked in.

4.       Fold up the flap and stick the tabs using double sided craft tape.

5.       Then design your main piece of art work. This could even be a picture of the Bride and Groom.

6.       Mount this on the reverse of the cover

7.       Then design your inserts. Just remember the largest one probably needs to be half a centimetre smaller than your base. The each one after this should be the same width but shorter. How much by will depend on your font and how much text, but the idea is you will only see a heading.

8.       Assemble and voila!

Purple and Cream Scheme

Just a little taste of some colour schemes coming up. I love this combination of cream and purple. Which I think would look lovely for a spring wedding. Imagine the bridesmaids in these gorgeous dresses from Coast. 

Bargin Frame for DIY table plans

Had to share what I found with all you lovely people. If anyone is thinking of making their own table plan with a vintage or shabby chic theme I've found a brilliant frame thats a really good size and less than £20! 

It may seem silly to spend the money on a frame but just think after the wedding you will have a keepsake, and what better use for it then to frame a wedding photo in it. 

Its available from Wilkinsons, who now also do delivery and collect from store. I have one of these to keep for me and one that I can lend out to people who ask me to do their table plans. Also think we could get creative with some silver spray .....Happy girly :-)

Charity Pins as favours

Now I appreciate the aesthetic value of favours as much as the next bride or wedding guest, but I have this niggle that they are a bit of a waste of money. The amount of boxes that went in the bin after one friend's wedding was an insult to mother nature. 

I think every couple should give some thought to having favours with meaning. 

Having lost my nan to cancer and also the hubby to be's father also having fought cancer it feels appropriate to donate to cancer research instead of frittering the money on boxes,albeit very pretty boxes, but still just boxes. 

Cancer Research will give you some stunning pin badges in return for a donation and will also print little cards for you to put in people's places to let them know that a donation has been made. Im hoping to attach the pin badges to the name cards and write a little message 

" A donation has been made to Cancer Research on your behalf to celebrate the Marriage of Samantha & Richard"

Save the Date Magnets

A genius idea! Wish I'd known about these sooner, I always thought they were a bit of a waste but they are a unique and different way to let people know when the big day is. Something they can keep and can use too

They also do Thank You magnets....totally making everybody stick my and my hubby to be faces on their fridge :-) 

Available from The card gallery