And whilst we are on the subject... Non-floral bouquets...

Images via google

How stunning are these bouquets? The first image is called a button bouquet (no surprises for guessing why?) and the second one is made completely out of felt flowers!

sooo stinking cute...

Unfortunately my husband to be doesn't share the same opinion - in his words they are 'strange' *tut-tut* maybe he is more traditional than I thought :-p

Well despite his inability to get past them being a bit 'weird' I think they are stunning, and I may just have to have a go at making one myself :-)

xxx

Non-floral Buttonholes



Buttonholes from Elizabeth Anne Designs and etsy seller Frittsrosenow

Lately I have become totally obsessed with sourcing out original ideas for DIY wedding projects. Whilst browsing Etsy for hours on end (as usual) I came across the idea of non-floral, handmade boutonnieres (buttonholes).
Traditionally these consist of a single flower - roses or thistles are popular and a small amount of greenery wired together and are given to the groom and groomsmen the morning of the wedding to wear on the day.
However I can think of nothing better than making one of these delightful buttonholes as a present for my groom and his groomsmen - my thinking being that a) they would work out a hell of a lot more budget friendly than the quote I got for £5 each (for rose and some weeds :-p) from the florist. b) they would look funky and unique and c) they would be a memento that lasted forever of our wedding day.


The two examples above are just two of the millions of ideas you could use - you could make them completely personal and individual to the man wearing it - or you could make the same for all the groomsmen and add a little extra touch to your husband-to-be's buttonhole. The first image shows a buttonhole made out of felt flowers and delicate beads and the second is, of course, made for a guitarist out of a tiny guitar and personalised wedding date pics.


There are endless ideas for ways in which to make your own buttonholes - button badges, felt flowers, twigs, feathers, mini plastic toys (what about incorporating fun superhero figures for the super-men in your life?) I know that something like this would go down very well with the men in mine!


xxx





Venue Woes

So these past few days I've been doing a lot of thinking about the type of wedding venue that Scott and I would like to get married at. However it's become clear that it is awfully hard to find reasonable wedding venues in London - particularly ones that meet my (quite fussy it seems) requirements.

My Ideal venue:

• A Blank Canvas - it's important to be able to inject our own personalities and colour scheme upon our venue - the last thing I want to be doing is having to make my flowers and bridesmaids dresses match the walls in a stuffy room... this may seem a bit random but imagine a Red and Black wedding theme in a blue and white roccoco style room... exactly my point!
• Outdoor Space - Granted outdoor space is rather limited in London but would it kill someone to open up a venue where you could have guests wander freely in pretty, scented gardens or at least a terrace where we could serve up BBQ and cocktails... clearly it would! The venues with outdoor space know that it is a valuable commodity and so charge through the roof for it - out.of.order methinks!
• Budget friendly! haha - now this is being unrealistic it would seem - a venue in London, with outdoor space for less than a hire fee of £4000 and without a minimum catering spend of £80 per head - pah foolish for even hoping for it!

Ok so maybe I am asking too much - but I just want our wedding to be perfect. Unfortunately perfection comes with a price... one which I would be unwilling to pay even if we could afford it!

Some of the dreamy but waaaay over budget venues I have been looking at this week:

The Imperial War Museum, London

Vinopolis, SE1

Kew gardens

Fulham palace

Queens House, greenwich

and my personal favourite: London Zoo (plenty of outdoor space but I can't imagine my guests being too comfortable with eating with the lions can you?

xxx

Budget Special: Headpieces and Side Tiaras

Ok so whats a girl to do if her budget doesn't stretch to swarovski crystal encrusted Jenny Packham then?

I've spent the past few days hunting down glamorous, affordable alternatives that still look a million dollars and here are the two best I came up with...

The top design is (and you will never have guessed it!) from Topshop and is just £8 un.be.liev.able! So cute and so on trend it hurts. This design can be worn as a traditional alice band or as a 'side tiara' and could easily be glammed up by sticking some sparkly gems to the centres of the flowers! Now that is what I call a bargain.

The second design is more expensive at £88 from Glitzy Secrets (the home to the most fabulous costume style jeweller you could find) and although a little bit less affordable it is very luxurious and sparkly and would add that 'wow' factor to a wedding outfit with very little going out of the purse! Glitzy secrets have designs starting at as little as £16 but once I saw this 'Eternal Rose' I was stuck... there's no beating about the bush - I want it!

xxx

Spotlight on Jenny Packham - Accessories

This absoloutely stunning and ornate 'side tiara' is one of the new accessories in the 2011 Jenny Packham collection. It is called Acacia II and is a smaller, less elaborate (although you wouldn't guess it!) version of a previous design... imaginatively the design that it is based on is called 'Acacia'

My budget would never ever stretch to one of these beautiful and intricate designs (this one comes in at around £300 - a reasonable price for JP) but to be perfectly honest if I had a spare £300 it would all go on shoes!

xxx

Unique Hand-illustrated Save-the-Dates

How cute are these hand-illustrated save the dates from Etsy shop FeliceDesign?

They would be perfect for mine and Scott's wedding - he's a coffee guy and i'm a tea drinker. I'd customize the design a bit more though but the essentials are there :-) Adorable!

xxx

Book inspired weddings

I totally love this vintage book inspired tablescape by Brancoprata at Marry You Me. What a great way to incorporate a little bit of personality into the wedding decor, and as an avid book-reading couple we will definately have to find a way to use this in our wedding... albeit without the doilies (i'm sure I have a phobia!)

Im thinking maybe stacks of books to rest the flower centrepieces on? Or maybe even a copy of one of our favourite books as a favour... expensive but very personal?

OOOooohhh *lightbulb* how about buying up books in bulk from local charity shops (or asking friends to donate), and covering them in brown kraft paper - the same way I used to cover my school text books in pretty wrapping papers... that way they will all be coordinated with the colour scheme and we could 'print' our own titles on the side :-)

My brain is going into overdrive on this book theme wedding inspiration... will think of some more to share soon

xxx

Wedding shoes! Yum!

Wow! I've been looking for inspiration for my wedding outfit for quite a long time now and when I came across the Christian Louboutin 'Margi Diams' shoes on Net-a-porter I was (literally and that's a first for me) speechless! Cue sending a link straight to Scott's blackberry with a massive pleading text attempting to express to him just how much I love these shoes... all was well and good... that is until we noticed the hefty price tag of £1200!

And so then it was back to the drawing board - unless we win the lottery - and that when I came across these fabulous 'lady dragon' shoes by Vivienne Westwood that are a lot more purse friendly at less than £100! So they aren't quite the shoes of my dream but if I really must compromise then these are what I want!

xxx

'I don't know who invented the high heel, but all men owe him a lot' - Marilyn Monroe

Super sweet Save-The-Dates

As per usual I was scouting around on Etsy when I came across this adorable save-the-dates from Etsy seller Rooted In Paper.

I think I have fallen in love with Christina's work - not just with the amazing stationary in her etsy shop but also what I have seen on her blog, go check it out!

http://www.rootedinpaperandart.blogspot.com/

I've had a real thing for silhouettes lately, particularly after seeing a silhouette themed wedding on 'greenweddingshoes' and the wedding of 'Hello Lucky' director Eunice where they had silhouettes on all of their paper goods AND a personalised laser-cut cake topper to match.

*Swoon-Worthy*

'He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began,' - Leo Tolstoy