Sunday, 30 September 2012

A Black Veil: Would you?

Sometimes it only takes one thing to get inspired, and for me, this black wedding veil has got me thinking. As autumn approaches, consider a darker slant on your wedding day, maybe a gothic theme, a candlelit ceremony or a crushed berry colour palette. Or why not a jewel-hewed wedding gown? Find more fabulous alternative wedding ideas on my Pinterest board. Beautiful black butterfly veil by Ellen Marie Designs on Etsy Weddings.

♥ Want more gothic wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more black-themed weddings? ♥
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Saturday, 29 September 2012

Wonderful Wedding Blog Links

The last three months have been pretty hectic here at the Before the Big Day studio, and for all sorts of reasons, you might have noticed our blog updates haven't been as frequent as we would have liked. It all comes down to one small, but growing reason....{click here for the pic}....I'm expecting a baby in early April. We're absolutely thrilled, but the first three months of pregnancy have completely wiped me out, and all I could do was sleep, feel sick, and sleep a bit more. But now I'm back on track, my energy levels have returned, and all my girlfriends are getting married, so my brain is once again stuffed with fabulous wedding ideas. Here are just a few of my favourite wedding blog spots from across the wonderful wedding world.



Adorable flower girl dress by Juju's Tutus
Mini tassels are the new pompoms in this neon inspired wedding shoot

♥ The easiest wedding DIY idea you'll ever see - too beautiful

Will you change your name? A fab idea for an original solution

I adore these autumnal flowers

A pretty urban wedding in a restaurant

When a prince met a princess bride....

Pretty easy DIY tag idea

Wedding berry inspirational

Only the best wedding cake ideas

♥ Want more destination wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more peach-themed weddings? ♥
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Friday, 28 September 2012

Real Italian Destination Wedding: Suzanne & Lee - Part 2

Brides dreaming of an Italian destination wedding are going to want to copy every detail of this gorgeous big day. Suzanne and Lee started with a heavenly vineyard wedding venue, and added a rustic theme, fabulous flower displays, and jam-jar lanterns, plus tonnes more wedding details. I love Suzanne's glamorous Rita Westenius wedding gown, her family heirloom tiara, and her beautiful bouquet, which included hydgrangea blooms as her 'something blue'. With an enormous, traditionally Italian wedding cake, and local specialities as wedding favours, Suzanne and Lee drew inspiration from their surroundings for their wedding theme, and added their own DIY touches. Read more about Suzanne's projects in her comments below! Huge thanks to Amoretti Weddings, who planned their big day, and Andrea Calvano for his stunning wedding pictures.

We got married in a little medieval village called Citta'Sant'angelo, in the rural province of Abruzzo Italy on 4 June 2012 – the Queen's Diamond Jubilee!



The venue was perfect and hopelessly 100% authentic Italy. An old villa situated in a vineyard perched on top of a cliff with panoramic views of the Adriatic and Apennine mountains; it was spectacular. 


We wanted our decorations to reflect the rustic nature of the surrounding countryside and the faded grandeur of the villa. Because the views and setting were so wonderful, we knew we wanted flowers and decorations that would match it and hold their own amongst the surroundings.

I really enjoyed planning my wedding, but it did take up a lot of time! I am quite glad now that I can go to work and not have to think about favours or lastminute changes to seating plans!


Our wedding stationery was designed by Emiliana and the team at Amoretti Weddings, and they were fantastic. They were not wedding planners per se but more wedding designers! Emiliana was our wedding planner and she also designs amazing, elegant stationary so it was a no-brainer.

Fabrizio Panone of Pescara did out flower arrangements, we were so pleased with them! We chose him because, despite the language barrier, he instantly understood what I was trying to get across with pointing and gesticulating! 

For DIY projects, I created a little package for every guest about the local area and plans for the day and put it in their hotel rooms. As it was a wedding abroad I didn't want anyone to feel lost, and we wanted to ensure our guests savoured the local delicacies and see why we chose the region.



I also made a guest book on blurb.com. I badgered family members to provide me with photographs of all our grandparents on their wedding day, that would intermingle with the guest book pages. I also managed to dig out some photos from 1906, 1928 and 1952 of my family wedding headpiece in use!

We decided to keep the favours simple and 'Italian'. The girls had little packages of sugared almonds – a regional specialty, and the boys had little bottles of {my fave} ratafia, a local Abruzzo cherry liqueur- they went down very well.

We had a traditional Italian creamy wedding cake provided by the venue.

No matter how hard you try, or how detailed you plan your big day, some things will just refuse to go to plan. My advice is to book someone at you wedding who can be your 'troubleshooter / present putter-awayer / MC / guest co-ordinator' and just relax, breathe and enjoy the day.



We asked Andrea Calvano, a local photographer, to take out pics. We chose him because on viewing his portfolio he had a wonderful artistic flare.

♥ Want more destination wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more peach-themed weddings? ♥
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Thursday, 27 September 2012

Butterfly Themed Wedding Cake

Butterfly-themed weddings must be amongst the most popular for brides looking for a simple but sweet wedding motif. It's a lovely symbol for your wedding day, as in Chinese culture, two butterflies flying together symbolises love. DIY your butterfly theme with these gorgeous colourful, edible, butterflies from incrEDIBLEtoppers. Add them to a simple white wedding cake, or add one to the napkin or glass of each table place at your wedding reception. For more easy DIY butterfly wedding ideas, don't miss my Pinterest page.


♥ Want more destination wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more peach-themed weddings? ♥
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Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Real Italian Destination Wedding: Suzanne & Lee

If you're worried about the English weather ruining your wedding day, consider a destination wedding. We celebrated our big day in France, and although going abroad is no guarantee for sunshine, it certainly paid off for us. Suzanne and Lee had a similarly wonderful wedding day in June in Italy! Surrounded by stunning Italian countryside, in a tiny medieval village, they created a romantic, rustic themed wedding day with the help of their wedding planners, Amoretti Weddings. With peach, blue and pink as their accent wedding colours, and adorable Italian wedding details {cute Fiats! a massive cake!}, I've fallen head-over-heels for their wedding. Don't miss Suzanne's helpful hints and tips -  Lee's suit, and the bridesmaids' dresses were all bought on the high street, saving money without stinting on style. Huge thanks to local photographer Andrea Calvano for his beautiful pictures, more from the reception coming soon!

We got married in a little medieval village called Citta'Sant'angelo, in the rural province of Abruzzo Italy on 4 June 2012 – the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. We knew we didn’t want a packaged up cardboard cut out affair. We wanted something different, something genuinely Italian, something special that our guests would always remember {and, as Lee would remind me, something on budget!!).

Very early on in our engagement my friend leant me a wedding book which had a photograph of a gorgeous bouquet of light pink, peach, cream and hydrangea blue flowers – it was very 'me' – I fell in love with it there and then! I also found beautiful peach bridemaids dresses so we planned everything around those colours.


My dress was made by the brilliant Rita & Chenca Westenius at Ritva Westenius. The shoes were Freya Rose, and the veil was a simple long piece bought from Ritva Westenius.


We were inspired by the venue and the location for the theme and the fact the wedding was abroad. Our invitations had a vintage aeroplane motif and generally for the wedding we wanted something romantic, rustic and classic - but not too over the top. 

My headpiece was my great great grandma's first worn at her wedding in 1906 and passed down through the family – I was very anxious about taking it all the way over to Italy on the plane!!

My bridesmaids dress were silk maxis from Ted Baker, their necklaces and earrings were beautifully handcrafted by Lou Lou Belle Designs, and I bought them each a little hair comb from Glitzy Secrets.


We searched high and low for outfits for the groom, ushers and fathers as we wanted suits that wouldn't be too confined or too hot on the day. In the end, on a whim we went to Bicester Village and found beautiful fine wool grey/beige suits in Savoy Taylor's Guild.


We got married in a little known part of Italy where hardly anyone speaks English or recognises English tourists. That in itself was the first hurdle, though it was quickly overcome by the rugged beauty of the region and the excitement we felt when we visited and grasped the potential Abruzzo could offer 'wedding tourists'.






Lee and I met in 2006 at work, I was a temp secretary at the time and he was a solicitor! We got engaged in June 2010 at the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest building.
 


We asked Andrea Calvano, a local photographer, to take out pics. We chose him because on viewing his portfolio he had a wonderful artistic flare.

♥ Want more destination wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more peach-themed weddings? ♥
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Monday, 24 September 2012

Alternative Wedding Buttonholes

*I just love these!*  I've already featured Kikichoo's badges as an idea for wedding favours, but these cupcake couples are perfect for the wedding party. At £1 each, they're a lot cheaper than floral buttonholes, and come in cute pairs and different colours, so you can match up your bridesmaids and ushers. It's one way to drop hints about who you think should get together on the dancefloor!


♥ Want more modern wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding favour ideas? ♥
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Wednesday, 19 September 2012

Real Vintage-Themed Wedding Video: Jo & Phil

I'm fast becoming a huge fan of weddings videos as the ultimate source of wedding inspiration. It's all down to the wedding details to minutes ratio, and this fabulous wedding short by White Dress Films is chock-a-block! Jo and Phil chose the gorgeous Stowe School for their wedding ceremony and reception, and I'm blown away by it's stature and beauty. It's the perfect wedding venue for a rainy day, because the building is so gorgeous, you'd never notice the grey skies outside. Jo and Phil personalised their big day with tonnes of wedding details, including some seriously fabulous green grass table decorations, their candle-lit wedding ceremony, cricket ball cake {watch the video!}, vintage tea-cups and hilarious photo props. I'm also deeply in love with Jo's beautiful lace-edged veil - one of the prettiest I've ever seen. For more wedding hints and tips, don't miss Jo and Phil's wedding pictures on Rock My Wedding.


♥ Want more countryside weddings? ♥ Or how about more summer wedding ideas? ♥
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Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Real Pretty Countryside Wedding: Claire & Tom

There's nothing better than a lovely English countryside wedding, particularly one with an elegant colour palette and a giant chocolate cake. The lovely couple, Claire and Tom, clearly have fabulous taste, as every detail fits perfectly, creating a truly chic affair brimming with stealworthy ideas. My favourite spots are Claire's bouquet of long-stemmed Avalanche roses, her bridesmaids' hair accessories and the simple-but-oh-so-special orchid blooms for the table displays. Plus the extravagent train on Claire's Rosa Clara dress is to die for! Copy their style by choosing just two colours for your big day, rather than a whole selection - it makes it easier to make everything match. Gorgeous photographs as ever from Nikole Ramsay, and scroll on down for Claire's helpful hints, plus all her suppliers.

The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Claire was kind enough to fill in our bridal questionnaire, aimed at helping other brides with their planning process. Feast your eyes on her answers for helpful hints and tips from someone on the other side of her big day!

Where and when did you get married?
26th June 2010 at South Lodge Hotel, Lower Beeding, West Sussex

What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
We chose the venue because it was beautiful, and somewhere that no one we knew had got married. Which was something I wanted.

Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
All white with a touch of silver.

Who made your wedding outfit, and how did you come to that decision?
My dress was from Rosa Clara at Liberty. It was the 3rd dress I tried on and it was perfect. My shoes were Christian Loubotin. I love them! I wore a diamond braclet which Tom brought me especially for the day and my dad brought me a Tiffany key necklace, but the chain was too long so I attached the pendant to my bracelet.

What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
Tom’s outfit was from Lapels Mens Hire in Maidstone Kent. Mark was very helpful in dressing the groom, 2 best men, 5 ushers, 2 fathers and 2 page boys.

What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
We went for a chocolate cake, from Purita Hyam. We chose it as i don’t like fruit cake or jam, and I am a chocolate lover. Purita sent us a sample and it was delicious.

Did you have any favours? What were they? Was there any particular reason why you picked them?
We had lottery tickets, unfortunately nobody won, but a couple of £10’s were.

What flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
We had white avalanche roses and orchids.

Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
Nikole Ramsay. We chose her as she photographed my dad’s wedding and they were amazing pictures (as are ours). She was recommended by my auntie who is also a photographer.

Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
I loved planning my wedding, albeit a bit stressful at times. I want to do it again.

What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
Keep calm and carry on and go with your instincts, don’t do things just to make others happy.

♥ Want more countryside weddings? ♥ Or how about more summer wedding ideas? ♥
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Friday, 14 September 2012

Real Yellow Themed Simple Wedding: Jordan & Adam

Sometimes it's not about the details. Sometimes it's just about you and your boy getting married, in a gorgeous location, with a fantastic photographer to record the details. So if you're not the type of bride who's going to obsess about whether your bridesmaids' dresses match the napkins, then this wedding will rock your world. Jordan and Adam celebrated their big day in the green of the countryside, and Jordan wore an exquisite strapless dress with a simple tiara and no veil. Simply fabulous. I'm also seriously in love with her choice of flat yellow shoes for her big day - no one was going to stop this lady dancing! Adam also kept with the theme with yellow Pringle socks and a lovely orchid buttonhole. The other brilliant element about this wedding is that Adam's surname is Jordan, and Jordan has indeed decided to change her last name, so her newly married name is Jordan Jordan - seriously cool! Huge thanks to Our Labour of Love for their gorgeous pictures.


♥ Want more yellow themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more summer wedding ideas? ♥
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