"Love is a force more formidable than any other.It is invisible - it cannot be seen or measured - yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more than any material possession ever could."

Barbara De Angelis

Vintage wedding

Dresses
These vintage dresses by
http://charlottecasadejus.com/
are just the part.

Loving this fur coat.

More dresses from Furcoatnoknickers. Loving the business name guys! 

Aren't they just gorgeous? Looking at these makes we want to get married all over again.





The finer details

Accessories from furcoatnoknickers

This gorgeous table plan is the work of grace and tailor

http://graceandtailor.co.uk/

I have to thank the lovely Mrs Brennan for the opportunity to take this gorgeous photo. Love the way she has used vintage style photoframes for her table names.

Get me to the church on time

If carriages or vintage cars aren't your thing, there are lots of other options out there, some more extravagant than the others you just have to be a bit creative. Why not hire a helicopter? Let your imagination run wild!

Two pure souls fused into one by an impassioned love - friends, counsellors - a mutual support and inspiration to each other amid life's struggles, must know the highest human happiness; this is marriage; and this is the only cornerstone of an enduring home.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Love it when I hear from you so feel free to get in touch

Shoes

I have to give my sister the credit for finding these gorgeous personalised heels that no bride could do without.

Don't fear if you're not really a rock 'n' roll bride - you can personalise them with words of your choice all for only fifty squid!

Wish I had discovered these before my wedding I would have definitely had 'Mrs H' and the date of our wedding on them. Think my sis is going for a simple statement - 'The Bride' - love it!

Click onto www.shoemissy.com girls - Quick!

The Alternative Guest Book

All guests draw around one of their hands, write their message inside their hand drawing and post wedding this can be made into a unique piece of artwork (such as a sun or a tree) and an original memento of your special day. Best to have different coloured paper/card that guests can choose from.

Messages for the Bride & Groom written on wedding dress or tuxedo shaped cards and pegged on a washing line.

Simple chalk board- particularly nice if your venue is a school.

Have messages engraved on stones for the garden/patio - particularly nice if you have asked guests to contribute towards your garden makeover as a wedding present.

Also garden related messages written in chalk/ paint on terracotta pots and/or slate plant tags which can then be placed in the garden.

Make your own traditional guest book. If not cover/decorate your own.

More and more people are accompanying their messages with photos. So why not have a huge guilt frame for guests to pose for their photo. Include ressing up props such as funky glasses, wigs, hats, feather boas to add a bit of fun.

Have a video booth set up so guests can record their messages instead.

Have a tray/plate for guests to write on.

Have old fashioned postcards- great if you're marrying abroad.

Have messages embroidered onto a patchwork blanket which could act as a family heirloom.

More and more couples are having a huge photograph of themselves with a large border round for guests to sign.

Wikipedia describes the term as "Bridezilla (a portmanteau of bride and Godzilla) is a difficult, unpleasant, perfectionist bride who leaves aggravated family, friends and bridal vendors in her wake. She is often called greedy, selfish, and spoiled; not caring about the people that she hurts to get exactly what she wants on her perfect day."

Having a Bridezilla moment?

Don't fear. Every bride to be has at least a mini Bridezilla moment.
I have just read this on the Daily Mail forum. Although it's a awful story, it kind of 'gets things in perspective'.
"At this point, I've just given up on pleasing people. I don't have time to be fussy and fight with everyone- there's still a lot to get done and beggars can't be choosers. They left it too late to complain and things are already done, or in the process of being done. I'm still stressed out and running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but that's sort of to be expected at this point, imo! lol. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it'll all come together the day of.Honestly... the day was a total disaster. okay, i take it back- the entire month before was a total disaster. a friend of ours who was supposed to be arranging for our limo, as well as the alcohol at the wedding just up and disappeared completely- no one knew where he was, he hadn't been home in weeks according to his neighbours, his phone was disconnected and there was no way to get in touch with him. We tried getting a new limo booked, but unfortunately U2 was playing the same night as the wedding and every single limo and towncar in the area was booked for the concert. We got the alcohol sorted out though."


"My mum & gran arrived 2 weeks prior to the wedding, which was lovely to have them here... but my gran didn't seem to realize that the wedding was *so* close and I still had *so* much to do. So instead of getting things done, I ended up running her & my mum all over town getting the things she wanted to do done. All the last minute things never got finished. "

"3 days prior to the wedding 1 groomsman, and the best man both dropped out. The groomsman had a family issue to tend to, and the Best Man faced losing his job if he came to the wedding. (he lives 8 hours away and works for a company who has a large contract with the army reserve. if the project didn't get finished that weekend, the contract would be pulled and the company would go under.) We scrambled to find 2 guys to stand for DH so that we wouldn't have uneven sides. (it was really important to DH that it be even) We ended up having his immature brat of a cousin, and his assistant manager from work."

"The day before the wedding, I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything finished up and done... while everyone sat back and acted like the wedding was still months away and no one did anything i asked of them. I ended up being 45 minutes late to the rehearsal because the salon took longer to do my pedicure than they should've (i had to wait for half an hour before i was even seen, and i had an appointment!!), i wasn't dressed for rehearsal because I'd only had time to swing past my house and grab my stuff- i had to get dressed at the venue before we headed out for dinner. Then, i got caught in traffic on the highway. Finally got through the rehearsal & got to dinner... all was wonderful at dinner but my sister decided we should all go down to the pub afterwards, even though both the MOH and I were saying that it wasn't a good idea. Everyone ends up in the pub anyway, DH gets completely blitzed and starts an argument with me on the way home (we skipped the traditional separate houses thing) and I nearly called the whole thing off that night. "


"Next morning MOH arrives bright and early to get the cars packed (the decorations and everything for the venue was going in my car, anything that needed to go to the hotel went in hers) and I've had all of 2 hours of sleep, I'm hungover and I spent the whole night before crying my eyes out, debating whether or not to call it off. I tell her i wanted to call it off and she tells me its just cold feet. I tell her that i want to at least postpone it... and she tells me it's just cold feet. We end up running an hour late to the hotel, it takes the hairdresser an hour longer to get mine & everyone's hair done, so we're now 2 hours late and by the time we get to the venue to take pre-ceremony photos, we only have an hour left. DH only then decides to tell us that he forgot his keys, and he wasn't able to unpack my car or set any of the decorations up. So the hour we were supposed to take photos, ends up being a mad scramble to get the car unpacked and all the decorations set up. No photos."

Love can never grow old.

Locks may lose their brown and gold.

Cheeks may fade and hollow grow.

But the hearts that love will know,

Never winter's frost and chill,

Summer's warmth is in them still.

Leo Buscaglia

I read this and thought 'I hope others are saying that about us when we are old'.

Wedding photographs

I made it my husband's responsibility to compose a list of group photographs to be taken. To my surprise he took this to the extreme and ended up composing an excel spreadsheet, complete with a Look Up table. LOL! You gotta love him. He done such a good job.

We also had our Groomsmen helping our photographer to get the right people in the right photographs at the right time which was invaluable as it left the photographer free to take good photos. Thanks Boys- you're the best.

Here is an example of some photos to get you started on that all important list:

G's Mum with G
G's Dad with G
G's Mum with B and G
G Dad with B and G
G's Mum and Dad with B and G
B's Mum with B
B's Dad with B
B's Mum with B and G
B's Dad with B and G
B's Mum and Dad with B and G
B and G with both sets of parents
G's siblings with B and G
G's siblings with G
B's siblings with B and G
B's siblings with B
B and G with all siblings

G's friends with G
G's friends with B and G
B's friends with B
B's friends with B and G
B and G with all friends

G with Best Man
G with all groomsmens
G with each groomsmen individually
G with page boys
G with each page boy individually
G with Best man and groomsmen
G with Best man, groomsmen and page boys
B and G with Best man, groomsmen and page boys

B with Maid of Honour
B with all Bridesmaids
B with each bridesmaid individually
B with Bridesmaids and Maid of Honour
B and G with Bridesmaids and Maid of Honour

B with B's immediate family
B and G with B's immediate family
G with G's immediately family
B and G with G's immediately family
B and G with all immediate family

B with all B's family
B and G with all B's family
G with all G's family
B and G with all G's family
B and G with all family

Don't forget to remind your guests to bring some confetti. Better still have your maids make sure they have some for those all important confetti shots.

I do not write this blog to make money but I do get a couple of pennies if you click on the adverts

Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.

John Keats

The rings

The unending circle is a symbol of eternity. No beginning and no end. The exchanging of the wedding rings is the outward expression of the inward bond, as two hearts unite as one.

Don't leave these till the last minute. It can take a few weeks for the correct size ring to be ordered and delivered to the jewellery store ready for you to collect. With the price of gold increasing daily, it's best to buy as soon as possible, buy early enough and your rings will most likely have increased in value by the time you walk down the aisle.

Try to get the very best that you can afford. You will be wearing this for life.
It is possible to get cheaper options but do check the weight as this is an ultimate guide for quality. Very low weight rings are often very thin therefore quickly worn down after a few years.

Also it is worth looking at the different 'fits'. We chose a comfort fit which is D shaped on the inside of the ring. It's shape means that it feels silky smooth as it glides onto your finger.

Photo: Harrison White Photography

You may want to get your engagement ring polished/re-coated at the same time so that it matches your wedding ring, particularly if you have had a long engagement.

If you have a wide wedding band and/or engagement ring it may be necessary to order a slightly larger size wedding ring so it is best to try before you buy.

It is worn on the third finger of the left hand, because of a belief in ancient times that the vein of that finger directly traveled from the heart.

http://www.jewelleryquarter.net/

Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue,
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

Afternoon Tea

More and more couples are choosing to serve Afternoon Tea instead of the traditional 'meat and two veg' Wedding Breakfast.

Inherently quintessentially British

Think  grandeur, high society, indulgent bite sized mouthfuls of deliciousness-small enough to allow conversation and time for laughter and sharing amongst an atmosphere of gentility in a truly charming spot.

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

Henry James

Best things first-THE FOOD
Menu
Obviously a wide selection of tea from Earl Gray to Peppermint served in an elegant vintage teapot (no wooly,( knitted by your grandma) tea cosies here) served with sugar cubes (with a heart on-don't forget the sugar cube tongs either) and of course a dainty milk jug and those lemon slices for those who don't do dairy. Not forgetting the coffee for those who just want the experience.


Thinly sliced savoury finger sandwiches make with freshly baked bread-umm I can smell it now (don't forget to remove the crusts) filled with any of the following. Just pick your favourites:

Smoked salmon and cream cheese

Egg mayonnaise and mustard cress

Coronation Chicken and Minted Crème Fraîche

Beef and Horseradish

Turkey and cranberry

Honey roast ham and Pommery mustard

Humous and Red peppers

Warm scones filled with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve (rather than jam) for an added touch of quirkiness why not have heart shaped scones. The ones shown below have an egg-wash to give them that golden colour.

Platter of cakes, miniature desserts, fruit tartlets, sweet french pastries, dainty, delicate and perfectly formed deliciously mouth-watering petit patisserie exquistely baked.

Or simply put:

Ground Almond and English Butter Shortbread

Chocolate eclairs

Chocolate Mousse with Orange jelly

Cherry Bakewell Tart

Not forgetting the all important (vintage if possible) glass of champagne.

THE TABLE
All this gorgeously indulgent fabulous food must be served on the finest china. If it is patterned with small flowers and has a gold rim this will help to add quaintness to the whole atmosphere, and if it is vintage, you should be awarded an entertaining star. Search Amazon.com for vintage china tea set 

Search charity shops, car boot sales, auctions, ebay, your friends, family and if all else fails hire what you need. The following sites may assist. They include those to hire and to buy. Happy hunting.

http://www.vintageteasandrsvps.co.uk/gallery.html


http://www.foralltheteainchina.biz/index.html


http://www.steptoesantiques.co.uk/acatalog/Antique_Vintage_Tea_Coffee_Sets.html


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43073989


http://www.theteapotshoppe.com/popo.html


http://www.lady-of-the-lake.com/vintage-teacups.html


http://www.vintagedays.co.uk/HireServices.htm


http://www.idyllicdays.com/index2.php

http://www.theenglishteaparty.co.uk/default.asp?pageID=24

http://www.mildreds-antiques.com/cupandsaucer.htm

http://www.traditionalflower.co.uk/traditional/home.htm?id=17

http://www.everythingstopsfortea.com/

http://www.allthetea.co.uk/tableware-hire.php


Silver cutlery, cake knives and teaspoons are essential. Search Amazon.com for silverware. As are napkins. Patterned or plain work well as long as they tie in with the colour scheme. A napkin tie is the ultimate attention to detail and should not be overlooked. (I have step by step instructions on how to make the one shown below on my craft page)

Don't forget a tablecloth! Have some crochet doilies if you like, but that may just be taking it a step too far.

Serve your tea-time delights on 3 tiered silver Cake stands, although mirrored cake stands also work well.

Ensure you have lots of English country garden flowers in pretty but low level arrangements.

And finally, a thoughtful little keepsake gift for guests to take as they leave will make them feel special and loved. Ideas that are 'tea' related will put a smile on your guests face that subtly expresses the awe they have for your ingenuity.

Tiny silver or gold tea spoons

An assortment of individually wrapped unusual flavoured tea bags

A tea towel (if this was for your wedding, you could have them specially printed with your names and the date of your wedding)

A pretty teacup and saucer

A tea plant

A teapot stand

A tea cosy

For something quirky why not a gift related to Alice in Wonderland.

A pocket watch

A miniature Alice in Wonderland book

Playing cards

A Chess piece keyring

A minature bottle of your favourite tipple with a homemade label reading 'DRINK ME!'

Check out these accessories from Monsoon:

I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.

Roy Croft

Traditional Anniversary Gifts by Year

First Paper
Second Cotton
Third  Leather
Fourth Fruit/Flowers
Fifth Wood
Sixth Candy/Iron
Seventh Wool/Copper
Eighth Bronze/Pottery
Ninth Pottery
Tenth Tin
Eleventh Steel
Twelfth Silk/ Linen
Thirteenth Lace
Fourteenth Ivory
Fifteenth Crystal
Twentieth China
Twenty-Fifth Silver
Thirtieth Pearls
Thirty-Fifth Coral
Fortieth Ruby
Forty-Fifth Sapphire
Fiftieth Gold
Fifty-Fifth Emerald
Sixtieth Diamond

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

Aristotle

Table names

If you do go for names, rather than numbers, it would be best to explain why you have chosen what you have as it may not be obvious to all of your guests and leave them beginning a quiz. You could of course offer a prize for the table that guesses correctly as this may prove to be a good conversation starter.

If not, a simple line on the back or underneath saying for example “our table names represent the elements of our relationship that we value most” does the perfect job to explain your choices.

This example is the theme we used for our table names. The "Marriage" table shown in the photo (courtesy of HarrisonWhite Photography) was the name of our table. We chose to have a 'sweetheart' table just for two. It made sense to do away with the traditional top table with our families! To my husband's (makes me feel giddy saying that) horror I chose for our table to be slap bang in the middle too.

Our other table names were 'Love' (of course), 'Laughter', 'Honesty', 'Friendship', 'Trust', 'Happiness', 'Support'.

When choosing the names for your tables, most couples choose something significant to them. However, this is not always easy. You may decide to go for:

Places you have visited- great if you love to travel

Firsts. The first things you shared together eg. first date, first home, first movie, first holiday

Or fun things you have done together/ memorable experiences

Favourite films/TV programme or characters out of your fave film/TV programme

Designers eg. Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada

Why not cars? That would be a sure one to get the Groom interested! This could be sports orientated eg. Lambourgini, Ferrari; Or cars that your families have owned; or wedding transport throughout the years from horse & carriage to limo.

Or football players from his favourite team???

Favourite songs

Famous couples eg. Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, Posh and Becks, Romeo and Juliet

Colours - don't need to provide an example there!

Plants/flowers

Sweets eg. bonbons, jelly babies. Your favourite ones from your childhood

Chocolates eg. Ferrero Rocher, Milk tray or chocolate bars eg. Wispa, KitKat

Translations for 'love' in different languages eg. love, amour

Names of cocktails or top tipples eg. Amaretto, Gin

Names of jewels eg. ruby, sapphire

Names of traditional wedding anniversary gifts eg. paper, cotton, leather

Underground names

Street names - where you have both lived, where other family and friends have lived

Pub names

Your favourite animals or your pets if you have enough

Cakes! eg Battenburg, Bakewell, Carrot, Cheese

Varieties of cheese

Photo: Harrison White Photography

In fact any delicious food. I'm getting carried away. Suddenly I realise that I am hungry and better sort dinner.

Superstition has it that an unmarried girl who sleeps with crumbs of wedding cake under her pillow will dream of her future husband

Perfect Bridesmaids

I woke in the middle of the night and thought

WOW

(and a big, fat, red one too) as 'brides to be' we sure do expect a lot from our bridesmaids. Looking at that list I'm sure even Mary Poppins (who is indeed perfect in every way) would struggle to live up to all those expectations, and so it is no wonder that we are never entirely satisfied with our maids who are in all honesty probably trying to do the very best they can, in the only way they know how, with as much time as they can realistically spare. But, your wedding is the most important thing in your life, in the world, in the universe, for ever and ever, Amen and into infinity...right???

Choosing your Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids are not just to walk down the aisle in a pretty dress but they are to help you and to share in the fun of planning and preparing your wedding. Choose your bridal party carefully. Don’t just choose people who have chosen you as relationships change. Which of your friends/family would you call if you were in a crisis? They should be your bridesmaid.

Who would put you first?
Who would not complain even if you wanted them to wear a pink tutu?
Who would notice the finer details such as your dress needing straightening out so it looks pristine in your photos?
Who would be available and willing to join you on numerous dress shopping exbiditions?
Who would give you honest advice when you need it most?
Who would be the ones not rolling their eyes when you can't decide between raspberry and cranberry coloured napkins?
Who would help to keep your stress levels under control?
Who would help restore your enthusiasm when you just can't face another thought about weddings?
Who will never bore of wedding talk?
Who will help you smile through the tears?
Who will screech with excitement when you have found THE dress?

Yes, take your time to make a very important decision that you don't want to regret.

Good friends

Good friends are for making - and sharing cupcakes with. Thanks Jane.

These ones are Martha Stewart's recipe for Devil's Food Cupcake. Be warned - they are definitely indulgent!

I thought I just had to post this blog, even though intially I thought it had nothing to do with weddings but in fact it has everything to do with weddings.

Sometimes it takes getting married to realise who your true friends are!

These cupcakes are good enough for your wedding cake, your dessert at your wedding breakfast or afternoon tea or your favours...

...if you can get some practice in with piping the chocolate grenache and make sure you don't eat the left over chocolate so you have enough to make chocolate swirly things to go on the top which finish them off fabulousy but my efforts were far from a quest for perfection, but rather a feel good moment so why not get the wooden spoon out and release some pre-wedding tension?

Photographers

Wedding photographers
When it comes to photographers you have to get it right, right? There's no second chances, right? You only have one day to capture the atmosphere, love, fun, excitement, romance, joy...(yeah, you know what I'm talking about).

Here is a list of things you may want to consider when choosing your photographer.
When will you be able to see the final photos? As a guideline, we had to wait 2 weeks following the wedding to view them on the photographers website which we were given a password for.
Will you have copyright of the photographs?
When will you meet your photographer? Do you get on with him/her? Does he/she make you feel at ease? Does he/she make you feel creepy? LOL! believe me some do! Listen to your first impression.
How many photographers will there be?
How long will he/she/they stay for?
Will they expect food? It is common courtesy to provide soft drinks and depending on the length of time they are providing a service, possibly sandwiches as well.
Is an album included in the price?
We had the option to order an album if/when we wanted to but it was not included in the price. Initially, we had made the decision to make our own album because I wanted to incorporate personal touches as well as photos to make the memory 'come to life'.
Then I found Photobox! An online photo shop where I created my own album. I wanted to test the quality so I ordered an inexpensive (£30, but I had a special offer to receive £10 off my first order so it only cost me £20) photobook. When it arrived I was astounded by the quality and I am now wanting to order more- a bigger and better wedding album, for us, a smaller one for family, a honeymoon album. I must confess, I am hooked. What I like most was that I could upload the 'promises' we had made to each other, the prayer that our guests said for us during our ceremony, the bible verses our family had read during the service and even our vows so that all these memories sat aside our photos. 
The Photobook I ordered is similar to a hardback, high quality catalogue. It is A4 in size and has 26 pages with the options to add more if you prefer. For each page you choose how many photos you have, the layout, whether to include text or not, what photos to place where, it is a creative persons dream. I spent hours, in fact days(!) designing this absolutely gorgeous "coffee table" book. I don't regret one minute of the time I spent on it but then again, I am a bit of a perfectionist at times and I'm sure there are many of you who could get an album you are happy with, finished in 30 minutes. It's just a case of uploading the photos right???
How much is it for you to order photos?
Think about the cost it will be for every one of your guests to have the photos they want printed through the photographer. Usually they can be quite expensive. This appears to be a trick that photographers do to attempt to produce some extra revenue through your guests paying over the odds for photos from the photographers when they could get the same product elsewhere for a fraction of the cost. If you had high resolution copies of the photos, you could send your guests a copy of the photos they want and they could print them out themselves, or get them printed professionally.
Can you view previous work they have done?
We only wanted 4 hours coverage so we asked to provide a couple of examples of the work covered within this time period. Now I wish we could have had the photographer for longer. He was able to capture moments that we had forgotten about on the day and I'm sure there were lots of other moments he would have captured if he was there for the evening too. Learn from our mistake and try to have as much time as you can with the photographer, according to your budget.
We chose a photographer (Ian White) who gave us high resolution images on a disc (some of which are posted on the site). At the time we did not realise we would get 900 or so photos and they did take a couple of hours to look through when we first got them.
However, we received the disc on return from our honeymoon so it was the perfect end to our wedding bliss to look through the photos we had taken on honeymoon, followed by our professional wedding photos with a glass of champagne, in front of an open fire (well, it was one week before Christmas).

Bridal Shoes

Shoes Shoes Shoes!

I wanted shoes that I would wear again, and again. Even though numerous bridal shops informed me that it is now possible to dye plain ivory satin shoes after my wedding, it didn't really appeal to me - not the dye but the satin.

I would like to say that I searched high and low for my shoes but in actual fact I stumbled across them and since then I have fallen in love with Irregular Choice shoes. I have had a few people questioning where I actually bought them from, so just to let you know I got mine from Schuh but obviously you can buy them direct. They are called Cortesan Floral Bar Court. If you have any problems finding them, let me know. I would only be too happy to help.

Aren't they just gorgeous???

And they're that lovely touchy feely soft suede-like fabric too.

My dress is Ivory & Gold so they matched perfectly but I have seen a bride wearing an ivory dress with red shoes to match her bridesmaid's dresses which I think is a fun thing to do. After all, why do your wedding shoes have to be some shade of white?

Wedding stationery

Wedding invitations
There is a whole host of invitations out there and choosing one for you will not be easy.

Having been a 'crafter' for many years, there was only one option for me and that was to make my own. I wouldn't have been able to settle for anyone else's design or work. It had to be perfection and it had  to be unique. I knew the care and attention I would give each and every one and I couldn't guarantee that someone else would do the same.

I started off making invitations for my cousin's wedding, and then a friend's, and then another friend...here are a few of my designs:

Baby blue is always a popular colour for weddings. It's the irridescent butterflies that make this invitation unique.

Ivory & blue wedding.

This simple but classy design matched the lillies in the Bride's bouquet.

A popular design too, shown here for a deep red colour scheme.

A Royal Blue wedding. A very subtle design with not even a mention of the word 'wedding' and a romantic touch with the French 'love letter' style script.

Strawberries and Chocolate wedding!

This is an invitation I made for a 30th birthday party. Everyone is unique so why not let your invitations reflect your pesonality?