Vintage Caravan Interior via Myvintageparty

Here is my weekly wedding blog round up. What I have enjoyed reading this week – take a peek, leave me comments and your thoughts or just point me in the direction of any good ones I am missing please!

This week I am starting with Myvintageparty blog which funnily enough is a blog for all things vintage old and lovely. Myvintageparty hires out vintage china and crockery for special events and weddings and the more recent addition to the company is the fabulous vintage caravan (which I just love). Hire it for a vintage hen party or for afternoon tea and cakes on your wedding day (it looks like you can sleep in it too so there is little need to elope off to a hotel for your first night of married bliss!). What a great, fun and slightly novel idea – there is lots of other good chat, vintage tips, photos and inspiration on her blog.

For my photography choice it has to be Elemental Weddings and Portraits blog This couple are photographers based up in Scotland and their blog is full of pics of all the weddings that they have been shooting. There is clearly a LOT of wind up there in Scotland but they still manage to get pics of the bride and groom looking calm and relaxed – no wonder they are shortlisted for VOWS Awards 2009 (awards for the Scottish Wedding Industry). Check out their blog for recent pics from some lovely Scottish weddings and get voting for them for these Awards.

I got sent this blog by the bride herself Mithi, check out her wedding blog posts at Planetmithi blog – her wedding might be over now but looks like it was a whole load of fun. And more importantly for us it has masses of good ideas and tips (to steal) such as using old milk bottles for table numbers, really cool DIY table decorations, flower arrangements and hand designed name places.

Table numbers for Wedding - via Planet Mithi

If you’re looking for a few green tips I like her idea of a great way to recycle the flowers – she gave cellophane flower bags filled with flowers from the table arrangements to people as leaving presents. Wow I would have loved to have been at her wedding all very creative (which I suppose you would expect from someone that is an illustrator). Her blog is well worth a good read and a haven of inspiration for anyone getting married or involved in wedding planning.

Tabletop and decorations - via Planet Mithi

And last but by no means least – it is the blog of wedding planner Zoe Lingard. Her style and inspiration boards are beautiful and her blog is a good source of inspiration and tips for couples getting married – like for example the brilliant post that she has just written on wedding favours. Before meeting a wedding planner, or considering taking one on its well worth a look at their blog as it is an insight into their sense of style, what they like and how they work.

I am meant to recommend 5 but I have already written a long post and these 4 are so good that they make up for me missing out one!

Happily married couple after the service

Beg, steal borrow!
There’s something about weddings that makes people –even strangers to the bride and groom – extraordinarily open minded and giving. Max out on this generosity while it lasts! We had planted masses of sweet peas for our wedding which– devastatingly, after months of love and care, had withered by the big day. I couldn’t believe it when driving past a complete stranger’s house, they had a garden brimming with sweet peas. I stopped the car and chanced my luck, explaining my ill-fated sweet pea saga. To my surprise, and delight, they offered me –literally the pick of the bunch – I came home with a boot full of sweet smelling blooms which made all 50 of our table arrangements, and my bouquet!.

Country lovers -get planting!
We grew most of our tomato and basil salad ourselves –in about 50 hanging baskets and pots in our London back yard. We were so proud that our guests were eating our own homegrown produce.
If you don’t already know it, get acquainted with cosmos the easiest to grow, cheapest, loveliest white frothy flower, perfect either in the garden or picked in arrangements and bouquets.

Have a wedding list with John Lewis
I’ve known so many poor newlyweds who have lost all of their wedding presents through Wedding list companies going bust. Not only was it incredibly disappointing for them, but and their guests had then sweated blood trying to get their money back and then scratch their heads about what else to get the couple. Invariably the poor couple end up with endless decanters and photo frames but no kettle or toaster. That’s why I’d always recommend John Lewis, at least for basics – they are great value for kitchenware and unless the credit crunch crunches a lot harder, is not going bust in a hurry. If you don’t need everything now, why not ask for JL vouchers, because you’re sure to need them one day (esp. when tiny feet begin to patter) You can then ask close friends and family for more specific or personal presents. You can also have a look at our wedding gifts section for more wedding present ideas and posts on gift lists.

Shop at Bicester Village
For stylish but inexpensive shoes, hosiery and undies, pay a trip to Bicester Village (or somewhere similar that is has a discount outlet). I had despaired of the endless clumpy cream silk wedding shoes I’d seen in wedding shops, but then while looking for shoes for my bridesmaid in Bicester’s LK Bennett, fell upon the perfect pale pink suede slingbacks for £30.

Pick your hairdresser with care.
So many brides feel let down by their hair on their wedding day. Either hairdresser’s sculpt style far too rigidly, or they wash their hands altogether of anything beyond a beautiful blow dry, leaving the bride to contend with hair, veil, tiara etc. I think its really worth a trial run with all your accessories, to make sure you get the perfect wedding hair.

There are lots more wedding tips from real life brides, offering advice and inspiration – please do let me know if you have any to add to the ever growing list…..

The bridal procession in the church

 I suppose that is the exact point of this site – to give people unique wedding ideas, advice and tips to have the wedding that they want to have without it needing to cost the earth.  It can cost the earth if you want it too, but its amazing what you can do with nature, friends (preferably creative ones!), family, laughter, a bit of love and a bit of inspiration from other people’s weddings…. so read on (its her words not mine) 

Its all about getting the friends and family involved……

 As a child, my favourite book was Brambley Hedge’s Summer story, which tells the tale of two loved-up mice, Poppy Eyebright and Dusty Dogwood, who tie the knot in rustic splendour beneath the wild honeysuckle on a raft floating downstream.  Sadly my Mum and Dads’s house in the country doesn’t stretch to a river, and my fiance Ned’s handy work wouldn’t stretch to a raft for 150 guests, but I wanted to try to recreate some of the country charm I had always associated with Poppy Eyebright’s nuptials, without  getting too carried away with the tweeness of it all.
 

Table plan with spotty napkins, nightlights and sweet peas

It was a tall order to tick all of my boxes:  natural, countrified, ecological,  home-grown or home, rustic, yet stylish without being twee!

We went for long trestle tables, an old fashioned marquee with poles on show (not for pole dancing, although there’s a thought), seasonal flowers, fairy lights, bunting, and as many home made trimmings as possible.

A summer wedding was key because to save the planet (and lets face it money) I wanted to keep things seasonal, but wanted masses of flowers.  Whenever family friends offered help, we simply asked for flowers – whatever they could forage from their own and nature’s garden. We ended up with sweet peas, honeysuckle, cosmos, roses and hydrangeas by the wheel barrel load, plus all manner of bushy greenery from the hedgerows.  We hardly spent a penny on extra flowers. 

Table arrangements - fresh, locally sourced flowers

When it came to food, again we wanted seasonal fare as far as possible – a hog roast with late summer roasted veg and salad and a home made wedding cake (choc with white choc icing), decorated with autumn berries (recipe to follow). 

White chocolate and summer fruit homemade wedding cake

Decoration-wise, we did as much as we could ourselves.  We twined ivy and fairy lights around the marquee poles, used old terracotta pots for vases, filled with honeysuckle and sweet peas and beech leaves from the hedges. For place names we wrote on large ivy leaves with silver pens, and for lighting we scattered tea lights in tiny glass vases (IKEA).  I’d always wanted reams of bunting of but however I tried, I couldn’t find it for less that £5 a metre, and our budget certainly couldn’t manage £500 for bunting alone.  So I went to a local fabric shop and bought loads of different coloured gingham material.  My mother in law lovingly cut out about 1000 triangles of each and stapled them on to the longest ribbon of gingham you have ever seen.  Lets just say, we weren’t short of the stuff, and we still use it now – and my daughter Lily has it hanging in her bedroom.

Wedding bunting, foliage and fairy lights

One of our greatest finds were some end of line spotty napkins from Woolworths – for £2 for 5 each they turned out cheaper than hiring them for caterers, and we got to keep them –Lily has just had them at her first birthday party.

Everybody said we had the quintessential country wedding, and to veer away from over tweeness we made sure the cocktails were flowing and the music was rocking all night.  As far as I remember the Brambley Hedge mice didn’t do their first dance to Prince’s Kiss.

Click here to see more if you love reading about real life weddings or let me know what you think about this wedding by commenting below….

Delphinium & Tuberose urn

I am loving all these pics that I am getting from florists of their beautiful summery wedding arrangements. This is the work of Britt and Liz from Flourish & Green – a company that began as the working dream of two friends who together channelled their natural talent for floral design and love of flowers into creating sensational floral displays. Britt did all the flowers at my wedding (with the help of my good friend) so I can personally vouch for her and say she was fantastic- the flowers looked amazing, she was reliable, great value and its the only time that I have seen button holes that were crisp and fresh! (and not drooping like at most weddings). I saw the love and dedication that went in to each one! Anyway I will be covering my wedding flowers in another post so on to this one…

These shots are from an early summer wedding this year at High Road House, Chiswick. This stylish and calming private members club was the perfect venue for a vintage style collection of cut glass vases holding groups of seasonal flowers of Peonies, Sweet Peas and scented garden Roses. The scented flowers filled the air with glorious fragrance and this was set off in the cool and refreshing bar area with an urn of scented Peonies, Delphiniums and Tuberose, who headonistic scent wafted from room to room.

Bridal bouquet - peonies

The price of the bridal bouquet is £85, the Peony & Rose urn is £200 and the Delphinium & Tuberose urn is £170. The table settings were priced individually for the client.

I wanted to have peonies at my wedding in the winter, but because of the timing we opted for something different that was in season. The great thing about Flourish and Green is that they try to source their flowers and foliage from seasonal suppliers in the UK wherever possible, and love to take advantage of the seasons, blending nature outside with carefully considered displays. It is often better value to go with local, seasonal flowers and much kinder to the environment too, so if you are looking to do something a little bit green at your wedding make sure that you go for a florist that works in this way.

A word from the ladies at Flourish & Green
“We are enormously proud and passionate about providing a personal bespoke service and find clients really appreciate our personable nature, they are immediately at ease with the daunting decision of choosing their flowers”

I would whole heartedly recommend Britt and her company Flourish & Green. I was over the moon with my flowers and had a great time traispsing round New Covent Garden market at 6 AM choosing my flowers with their guidance.

Peonies in urn - wedding flowers

Table arrangements - peonies, sweet peas and garden roses

Flower arrangements in vintage glasses

Aren’t these just gorgeous arrangements? – I’ll be featuring lots more of their work as I love the way that their flowers and arrangements look so fresh and natural You can also check out my recent post on summer wedding bouquets for more inspiration.