Real Asian-Themed Wedding: Shazna & Saad

Indian-style weddings are the best! They're such a riot of colour and shimmer and details, that it's hard for a wedding blogger to know where to start! Shazna and Saad celebrated their wedding in traditional style, complete with a henna ceremony and saris. My favourite stealworthy wedding ideas include the soft baby pink that Shazna chose for her theme colour, her incredible peony bouquet and the glamorous diamond-detail added to the wedding cake. You can never have too much sparkle! Gorgeous pictures published with thanks to Alders Photography.

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Real Wedding: Cindy and Greg

This garden wedding is such a treat! I'm loving Cindy's colour palette - the combination of sage green with citrus orange and yellow is gorgeous. The happy couple chose bamboo as their signature symbol, and carried it through from their stationery to cute little bamboo plants as favours. Other cheap but chic ideas to steal are the orange lanterns hidden in the trees, and using fresh flowers to decorate your wedding cake. Don't miss Cindy's answers to the Before the Big Day Bridal Questionnaire below, and huge thanks must go to Jenny from Alders Photography for her heavenly pictures!

The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Cindy was kind enough to fill in our 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?

We got married at Hidden Chateau & Gardens on 8-8-09

What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
Our main desire was to have an outdoor, intimate wedding, and Hidden Chateau & Gardens fit that perfectly. The venue already had so much greenery and plants and flowers that we did not need to decorate much. It had a gazebo so we added some plumage to that as well as hanging some orange lanterns to bring out the flowers in the centrepieces. The venue already had a lot of twinkle lights as well that added to the ambience as night fell. The venue itself had a bit of a Spanish mission feel which we loved.

Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
Both my husband and I are outdoorsy, earthy people so we chose colours in nature, green, orange, yellow. The colours fit the already existing landscape of the venue and accented the wedding party attire. Our wedding invitations featured bamboo, as did the name cards for the tables, so we chose to give small bamboo plants to each guest as our gift. The lanterns added to this kind of Asian feel.

Who made your wedding outfit and how did you come to that decision?
My dress was bought at Alfred Angelo (stockists available in the UK). I loved the lace back - that's what sold me. I did not have a veil, and my shoes were chosen for comfort more than style. My accessories were pearl earrings of my paternal grandmother, a pearl necklace of my maternal grandmother, and a pearl bracelet of my Mom’s. It was a way to honour my grandmothers who were unable to be there.

What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
He wore a tux from Men’s Wearhouse. It was black with an ivory vest. It was chosen to match my dress.

And how about your bridesmaids’ outfits?
They wore “clover” (green) dresses to match the outdoorsy feel. We really loved all the greenery that was present at the location. It was enhanced by the bridesmaids’ dresses. Since all bridesmaids were different body shapes, they got to chose their own style of dress as long as it was clover, and for shoes, their own style as long as it was silver.

What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
We had a 3 tiered cake with 2 different types of cake which was decorated with ivory butter cream and green trim with real gerbera daisies. The flavours were Strawberry Shortcake & Mocha. We wanted a choice for guests.

Who was your florist, what flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
Our florist was Michael Holtzer of Floral Designs by Michael. I carried a bouquet of calla lilies since lilies are my favourite flower. Greg had a boutonnière of a lily, as did our fathers, brothers, and my grandfather. The bridesmaids carried bouquets of orangish roses as I like the way orange and green (dresses) look together. The groomsmen also had boutonnières of the orangish roses. My Mom, mother-in-law, and grandmother had boutonnières of gardenias. The type of flowers for the centrepieces was gerbera daisies. This was to honour my best friend who passed away. Since she was unable to be there by my side, this was a small way to have her present.

Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
Alders Photography did our wedding photography. A friend of mine knows a friend of Jenny Alders Smith and put me in contact with Jenny. She had a lot of great ideas and beautiful photos to show us. She also was very accommodating of our requests and worked with our budget. She did an amazing job. Our wedding album is so beautiful. I get compliments all the time that our album is some of the best work my friends have seen.

Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
Yes, I did. It was fun to get everything together.

What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
To enjoy the process. I did not get too obsessed about everything and was able to enjoy the actual day and see all the details that I helped create. This is a fun time, not a stressful one. Rely on family and your husband to be.

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Real Wedding: Miranda & Brad

Peacock feathers are a brilliant wedding theme, they're dramatic and luxurious, and their colours create a lovely rich palette. Miranda chose red orchids to add to the feeling of decadence, and seasonal berries for a winter wedding. Teamed with her bridesmaids jewel-bright dresses, it all came together beautifully. Check out her gorgeous Lazaro dress. Would you believe she hired it? It's such a fantastic idea for a bride looking to compromise on cost without losing the look. Miranda lives in California, but there are plenty of wedding dress hire shops in the UK, including Savvy Cinderella in Cambridge and Girl Meets Dress, an online store. Don't miss all Miranda's hints and tips from her wedding below the pictures - she has some great stealworthy ideas involving succulents! Stunning photographs published with thanks to Jenny Smith at Alders Photography.

The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Miranda was kind enough to fill in our 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?
January 8, 2010 in Long Beach, California

What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
I loved the French Vintage look of the reception venue's décor. It had a lot of personality and a lot of opportunity for great pictures. Also its location on the beach was fabulous, and the space was really well laid out for our large wedding.

Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
The theme I chose to go with was inspired by a pattern I found on my guest book. From there, I decided to use a lot of peacock feathers as décor and color inspirations. I wanted the colors to be deep and rich since it was in January, a winter wedding.

Who made your wedding outfit (dress, veil, shoes and accessories), and how did you come to that decision?
I actually found my dress right away and instantly fell in love with it. I rented it from a place in Hollywood called One Night Affair. Best idea ever! It was a Lazaro dress with very intricate beading detail that I would've never been able to afford, but renting it for a day allowed me to feel beautiful for the day, and then never have to worry about storing the dress after. They clean it, hem it to fit you just right, and only rent out each dress 5 times.

What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
He rented a tuxedo from Men's Warehouse. He looked very handsome!

And how about your bridesmaids’ outfits?
I found the dresses at David's Bridal. The material was the exact color I had in mind, a gem-toned peacock blue. It showed up beautifully in all of the pictures, so vibrant. The color was called Juniper.

What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
Actually, we decided to go with a candy table, a sundae bar, and a tiny cake (just for the cake cutting ceremony). I love sweets and we had a lot of kids at the reception so I wanted to make it fun for all. The candy table was my pride and joy. It was soooo fun to put together. I ordered all of the candy online in bulk to match the color scheme (blues and browns). The cake was covered in flowers and complimented the candy table well.

Did you have any favours? What were they? Was there any particular reason why you picked them?
Brad (my husband) is really great at gardening and we both enjoy the outdoors, so we chose our favours to reflect this. They were little mini succulents in a small metal pot. They were delivered and set up through a company called Succulent Love. It's nice to see the plants still doing well and staying alive at friend's houses. We have a big pot of them, too. It's like the gift that keeps giving and brings back memories for us.

Who was your florist, what flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
We went with a florist called, Magnolia Floral Design. They were great! I didn't know much about flowers. I just told them I wanted to incorporate peacock feathers into the bouquets and they did their magic. They used green hydrangeas, green orchids, chocolate orchids, and other flowers that were green and brown.

Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
We researched a LOT of photographers in the area and heard about Jenny Smith with Alder's Photography. When we found her, there was no question she would be our photographer. I wish everyone could use her. She is so talented, very professional, responds quickly, great to work with, very affordable for the great quality of work, etc. The photographer was our biggest decision. It's definitely the area that I would recommend investing money into. That is what captures one of the biggest days of your life and makes the memories last. Your photographer is the one that is responsible for telling the story of how the day unfolds. Very important to be happy with this decision!

Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
YES! I can say that now that it's all said and done, but I truly did enjoy it. I was in school at the time, so the stress level was definitely high. To be honest, I never thought I would want to look at another wedding magazine again in my life. But now, looking back, I enjoyed every step of the decision making process. It was so rewarding when everything came together just right, and the day really was perfect. It felt like a great accomplishment to know that I put all of my effort into this very important day and to see all of the hard work come together really paid off.

What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
Take it one step at a time. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with everything. It should be a fun thing to plan your wedding. Definitely giving yourself plenty of time helps. Adding personal touches to show who you are as a couple makes it more special and memorable. Don't get caught up in all of the details that don't really matter. On the wedding day, relax, enjoy every single minute of it, don't feel a bit a stress, and take it all in.

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