Heart Handmade UK Peaches & Cream DIY Wedding Inspiration

{Posting by Claire Donovan, Before the Big Day's DIY Wedding Expert} Well this post is a little mash up of loveliness! Peaches, cream and hessian {burlap} is the theme and this is my DIY wedding reception table look. The DIY idea here is for adding calligraphy onto paper doilies and using clear plates, because it is very cute. ^_^ All of these photos are a peek into my mood board notebook as I knew I was creating this project in collaboration with Before the Big Day Blog. The recipe for the peach cheesecake is from Moje Wypieki and big thank you to my friend Marta and her culinary skills.

The blackboard peg tutorial is very very simple and will be shared with you soon as I try out a few different variations. This is just a peek into my ideas notebook where I store snippets of lace, fabrics, tapes and inspiring images.

Ive been slightly obsessed with the peaches and cream colour scheme for quite some time now and Im always inspired by Leslie of A Creative Mint and her beautiful colourful 'Color Me Pretty' column through Decor8 Blog, so when Georgia from Before the Big Day Blog contacted me about a collaboration I jumped at the chance to work on DIY projects, as I love the creative mood board and planning process!

I had so much fun collecting and raiding through my supplies to work on what I would be creating and how I would style the table. I was bursting to use the peach sequins and ecru hand crochet doily ^_^

My collection of loveliness. I've left all the ribbons on the key because they look so pretty! It's the key for the cupboard that hides our electricity fuse thing {I'm so good with technical terms!}

The peaches and cream crepe paper was just the perfect set of colours and the thing that set me off completely with this colour scheme is my lovely vase of flowers there from Bloom UK.

I Also fell in love with these peach stripy straws from Pipii. The calligraphy names written on a doily idea was originally seen on Martha Stewart {where else?!}

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When Wedding Balloons Get Special

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have spotted my slight, okay extreme obsession with balloons at weddings. I've even created an entire Pinterest board to their fabulousness. So you can only imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon these incredible balloons by Bonbon Balloons who are based in North London. Talk about taking the idea of a balloon and running with it! Most of all I'm loving the balloon ribbons or decorative strings - I reckon you could take some pretty bog-standard wedding helium balloons and make them special without too much DIY effort. Or you could just buy them from Bonbon and send them as gifts, or as the ultimate wedding invitations!

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Simple Shabby-Chic Wedding DIY Idea

If you've been reading this wedding blog for a while, you might have spotted I've got a bit of a thing about paper doilies. So imagine my excitement when an email from Papermash appeared in my inbox, with an update on their new stock, and there, in technicolour glory were these amazing patterned doilies. I'm loving the floral wonders for a shabby-chic wedding, and the heavenly polka-dot hearts for a light-hearted modern wedding. Which would you choose? Striped paper straws and blossom paper cups also available from Papermash. For more DIY wedding doily ideas check out my Pinterest boards for tonnes of wedding inspiration.

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Here Comes the Bride Wedding Signs

One of the wedding details I left till last was my Here Comes The Bride sign. I'd spotted them on Etsy, and I figured I could easily DIY one myself, but I left it a bit late. If you look at the second set of pictures, you can see my nephew holding my DIY sign, prettily stuck together with black tape! The idea for my wedding was that he'd walk down the aisle ahead of me holding the flag, but he fell asleep before the ceremony and failed at his task. So when you pick your pageboys, make sure they're older than two, and have a good snooze before the wedding ceremony! If you're not so keen on designing your own flag, my favourites are from The Ritzy Rose and Larkspur & Linen. Along with Here Comes The Bride you could also have practical instructions like Cake Cutting or First Dance or even Please Take Your Seats. What would you choose? I'd love Happily Ever After.

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose & my nephew at my wedding by Caught the Light

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose &  Larkspur & Linen

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose 

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Exotic Morocco-Themed Wedding Inspiration Shoot

This incredible wedding shoot has got me wishing we'd planned our wedding in Morocco. With tonnes of gorgeous exotic details, you'd think this was a wedding planned in the desert, but in fact, the team of wedding vendors are based right here in the UK. It just goes to show you can create any wedding theme you like, all you need is a blank canvas, and tonnes of imagination. I'm loving all the bright wedding details from this shoot, including the pretty paper lanterns from Papaver Designs, the bright Moroccan-style cushions, the delicate lanterns and incredible gold wedding cake. There's tonnes of wedding ideas for every type of wedding, I can imagine the lace bunting and table stationery at a pretty farmhouse wedding as well. Huge thanks to Xtraordinary Photography for their gorgeous pictures, and to Poppy Lee from Papaver Designs for telling me all about the shoot. For details of all the vendors, do check out the list below the pictures!

{Vendors}
Wedding stationery & lanterns: Papaver Designs {Poppy made all the paper lanterns, tissue paper pom-poms, gift tags, paper flower ball (pomander) & wedding menus for the shoot.}

Wedding Planner & Fairy Godmother: Daisy Chain Events

Wedding Photographer: Xtraordinary Photography

Wedding Cake: Little Town Bakery

Wedding Dresses: Miasposa 

Flowers: Flower Fever
Bridal Headpieces - What Katy did Next

Cushions & Textiles: Lauren Crawford Textiles 

Bunting: Little Bundles Bunting  

Wedding Details: Event Diva {Mairi provided bird cages, Moroccan lanterns & wooden hearts.}

Make-up: Beautiful Bridal Makeovers 

♥ Want more Moroccan wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about lacey wedding ideas? ♥

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Wedding Lace Theme & DIY Doilies

Doilies! They're back! Yes, the must-have item of the seventies has made a return, but with a 21st century twist. It's amazing, add a touch or colour, or a few more swirls, and all of a sudden you've got a classic-gone-modern. Add them to your wedding day in every which way - tie them to jam-jars like the pic below, make them into bunting, use them to line the inside of hurricane lanterns, or add one to each table setting. Alternatively, you could always just use them the old fashioned way, to pretty up plates. Throw in a couple of the lace accessories below, and you've got a match made in heaven. Big love to Papermash, where you can find all the products below.

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Amazing Sparkly Tassel & Tissue Wedding Decorations

For some some time I've been looking for a wedding decoration that could be the next DIY pom pom. They need to be versatile, cheap, chic, fun and easy to DIY. It's a tall order, but I think I might have just found them, in these gorgeous tassel banners. Created out of tissue paper and glittery mylar {shiny paper}, they'd fit in with every wedding colour scheme, gussying up every boring wall. Layer them up to create an altar area or to decorate the cake table, or create super-long garlands of them to streak across the ceiling. Buy these gorgeous combinations from The Flair Exchange or check out the DIY tassel tutorial on a pair and a spare blog. P.S. You can also make these out of material, as in this blog post by Delightfully Tacky.

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DIY Bride Wedding Stationery Ideas

Every now and then I stumble on a website that makes me feel like it's Christmas Eve. You know that feeling of butterflies in the tummy? That's what I get about the online stationery boutique Wonderland Room. Before my wedding I went slightly crazy and bout tonnes of treats, including the boxes you can see below, plus the roller stamp and tonnes of washi tape. I used the rolling stamp to spell out my guests names on their place cards - a super easy DIY wedding project.

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DIY Bride - Homemade Lace Votives

Before I got engaged, I never really thought of myself as a crafty or creative person. But it's amazing how a wedding can wake up those school memories of glue and glitter. DIYing your wedding details is the easiest way to personalise your wedding, and it'll save you a fortune at the same time. So over the next few weeks, I'll be posting a few DIY wedding ideas, all of which I've attempted myself, with varying degrees of success. I figure that if I can do it....so can you! This first project involves glue, lace {I bought mine here}, and jam jars. It's so incredibly easy, I'm not sure it even counts as wedding DIY.

{First step}                                                                 {Second Step} 
You'll need...                                                                Fold the lace around the jam jar, leave an extra
Glue, lace, scissors, a jam jar                                       2cm and cut, using your scissors

{Third step}                                                                 {Last Step} 

Add glue to one end of the lace                                      Wrap the lace around the jam jar & neatly line
Try not to get glue on the floor like I did                           it up before glueing. Add pinwheels or candle.

And you're done! See - I told you that was easy. For smaller jam-jars just buy thinner lace. For more jam-jar wedding ideas, check out my Pinterest page.

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Whimsical Vintage Wedding Paper Bunting

Loving this pretty upcycled paper bunting that I spotted on my online stroll around fab crafting site Folksy. Created by the online Scottish boutique, Peony and Thistle, they're made out of the pages of rescued vintage books, so every banner is unique. They'd be perfect for a shabby chic wedding.

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Today I ♥ - Sandpaper Wedding Confetti Hearts

Let's me honest, weddings can be a pretty girly affair. So why not add these touch lough 'Kiss Me' confetti hearts to your wedding tables, as a nod to the man in your life. Punched from sandpaper, they'll juxtapose nicely with your pretty pink peonies, and flowered napkins, and they're perfect for a rustic style big day. Pick them up from Etsy shop ScrapHappieAZ {they also come in pink and polka dots!}.

♥ Want more rustic wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about wedding detail ideas? ♥

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Fun Origami Wedding Favours & Wedding Cake Toppers

As soon as a spotted these fun origami wedding accessories, I knew I had to feature them on Before the Big Day. There's something super adorable about the hearts and stars, and as a wedding blogger, I feel inspired just looking at them! They'd work brilliantly as cupcake decorations, or topping cocktail stirrers. Alternatively scatter them like confetti on your wedding dining tables, or place on neatly at each place. If you were feeling extremely extravagant, you could given throw them as confetti! Created by Coppleshop and sold on Etsy, they're a super-green wedding detail, because you can make them out of recycled paper. Learn how to DIY your own 3D origami wedding hearts, and 3D origami lucky stars.

♥ Want more DIY wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about wedding cake topper ideas? ♥

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DIY Bride - Homemade Tissue Flowers

My preparations for The InWedding Show are in full swing, and all I can think about are the decorations for my Before the Big Day stand, and the room where I'll be hosting my special wedding inspiration sessions. It's just like planning for another wedding! I've been buying vintage props like this vintage typewriter, old apple crates, and crafting materials like peach tissue paper, colourful inks and heart-patterned straws. I'll be hosting four sessions on 22nd April, on the themes 'How to Make Your Wedding Fabulous {Themes & Colours}' and 'DIY Weddings Made Easy'. As part of my planning, I've been practicing my DIY skills, and I'm particularly pleased with how these little tissue flowers turned out. Made with nothing more than tissue paper, a toothpick and glue, they take less than 3 minutes to make! Check out the tutorial from fabulous crafting blog Oh Happy Day, and make sure you sign up for my wedding inspiration sessions when you buy your tickets for The In Wedding Show {only £3.50 in advance}.

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Cute Felt Heart Wedding Favours

This winter wedding season is all about fabulous felt! It's being used in all the best wedding details, from favours to decorations. It's one of the easiest materials for crafting, as your stitches either disappear in the fabric, or work as a detail in the design. It's also super-cheap, a key asset for the DIY bride. Check out a tutorial on how to create your own hearts here or here, and buy your felt from eBay. I've fallen in love with these gorgeous felt and wool hearts by Sweet PB, so if you're not in the mood for wedding DIY, you can always get creative with your credit card! I'd use them as table decorations that would double as favours, or you could create giant hearts for your flower girls to carry instead of bouquets.

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