Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Monday 3 December 2012

Real Vintage Music-Themed Wedding: Katherine & Yianni - Part 2

With a fabulous rock music wedding theme, a gorgeous burgundy colour theme, and a self-confessed perfectionist bride, Katherine and Yianni's wedding was always going to be a pretty impressive affair. It's packed full of stealworthy ideas, and if you're looking to be a DIY bride, you'll find tonnes of wedding inspiration. My favourite wedding details include the album themed table plan and decorations, the beautifully packaged CD wedding favours, and the stunning burgundy colour palette. Gorgeous pictures published with thanks to Dominic Whiten Photography - don't miss Katherine's helpful answers to the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire, and Part 1 of this fabulous wedding.


We got married on Saturday October 13th 2012 in a small village in Kent where my parents live. We had a church ceremony at St Johns Church followed by a reception at Mountains Country House in Hildenborough.

Our wedding photography was Dominic from Dominic Whiten Photography. I found him via our wedding venue - we met up at my parents house I really liked his easygoing manner. I researched quite a few other photographers and I was tempted by some of the more artistic styles. However after looking through Dominic's online portfolio again, we really loved his portraits and the way he captured real moments from the day in an artistic but honest way.


Yianni’s Dad is Greek Cypriot, and as everyone knows the Greeks don’t do small weddings so finding the perfect venue that would also accommodate 200 guests proved quite difficult. We thought a lot about how to combine both of our family traditions, and whether to have the wedding in Kent or London. 

In the end we decided that because I wanted to stay true to English tradition and get married at my parents' church, so it made sense to choose a venue that was close by. However we still wanted to have a proper Greek party for the reception, and Mountains Country House turned out to be the perfect choice. With its beautiful stately home and huge marquee we knew we'd have room to make it a party to remember!

The wedding theme was obvious – the reason we got together – our love of rock music. Our starting point was when one of our favourite bands Deftones released a limited edition CD with a beautiful image of roses on the cover. We used this imagery as inspiration for the invitations – which, in keeping with the music theme, we had printed as a CD album case.

I chose a burgundy rose from the centre of the design as the colour for my bridesmaids' dresses and as our a wedding colour theme, for Yianni's ushers' ties, the cake ribbon, and all the other wedding details.

My florist was Suzanne at the Flowersmiths. I visited a few other florists to get ideas but Suzanne gave us the best price for what I wanted for my wedding flowers. I knew I wanted roses in the colours from our wedding invitations, and I knew I wanted neat rounded bouquets and elegant candelabras in the venue. I really trusted Suzanne would do a good job and her dedication and planning to achieve my vision could not have been bettered.

We chose to name each table at our wedding reception after some of our favourite albums. We bought some old records and then printed labels with the album art to stick in the centre, which at 50p a record was much cheaper than buying the actual vinyl.


We designed our own invitations, table names and table plan. I am a print textile designer and Yianni works on websites, so we are both quite used to using Photoshop on a daily basis, and didn’t think it was necessary to outsource the design. We did loads of research online, and pulled all our ideas together, and then spent a lot of time perfecting the final results.

As we had nearly 150 people to the sit down meal, it was difficult to come up with something thoughtful but relatively inexpensive for our wedding favours. Originally I thought I would go with traditional sugared almonds - cheap but unoriginal. But after sending out what was essentially an empty CD case as the invitation, a lot of guests asked me for a music CD! So we decided to make our own compilation as a favour for each guest - with his or her name tacked on the cover using old school dymo labeller.

My mum helped me find our wedding cake on Classic Cakes. I had just chosen my dress, and knew the pearl decorations would work well with it. I knew I wanted a proper traditional tiered cake that you cut, instead of the current trendy cupcake towers, and I didn’t want anything too fussy visually and this cake ticked all the boxes. Plus they sent us some delicious samples including a gluten and dairy free option for pernickety eaters like me.

Yianni and I set aside 1 evening a week to do wedding stuff. When it got nearer to the day quite a few weekends got booked up with meetings too, but my advice is not to let your wedding take over your life. Also don’t stress about the little details – I asked for my mum and sister to help with decorating jam jars lanterns. I had planned a fun craft morning, but almost had a meltdown because they weren't all perfect - then on the day I didn't even see them lit up, as I was too busy enjoying myself in the marquee! So in hindsight - take the time to savour your months of labours as it is a cliché but so true - the day really does fly by!


I did enjoy planning my wedding, but at times it was really stressful and so time consuming. There is a reason why you're meant to get married before the kids arrive! I think it doesn't help that I am a perfectionist and frequently got bogged down in details. I have to say there is such an immense choice out there for everything, that it really does help if you have a good sense of your own style and a theme to stick to.



{Wedding Credits}
Venue: Mountains Country House  
Wedding dress: Pronovias 
Bride's Shoes: First For Brides 
Bride's Earrings: Chez Bec 
Bridal Bag: Jane's Vintage
Bridesmaids' Dresses & Groom's & Ushers' ties: Dessy 
Groom & Ushers' Suits, Shirts & Shoes: Reiss
Flowergirl's Dress: Monsoon 
Wedding Car: Gold Drive 
Flowers: The Flowersmiths 
Make-up: Makeup By Ashley 
Cake: Classic Cakes 
Laser-cut Bunting: Come Uppance 

♥ Want more music wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about marquee weddings? ♥
Have you discovered our free newsletter? Sign up for free! 
Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Vintage Music-Themed Wedding: Katherine & Yianni

There's nothing a wedding blogger likes more than a wedding with a theme, and there's no question, it's the easiest way to create a truly personalised wedding. Plus if you choose a theme at the start of your planning, you can be sure every wedding detail will hang together perfectly. Gorgeous couple Katherine and Yianni found it super easy to come up with their wedding theme - they'd met in a chat room for people who like heavy metal and rock music, so a music theme was the obvious choice! I love how they carried the motif through all their wedding details, inspired by an album's artworks, they created their own table plan, wedding favours, and wedding colour palette. Katherine put a huge amount of work into her wedding, researching every aspect, and you can really tell - every detail is pitch-perfect. Don't miss Part 2's reception shots published later today. Gorgeous pictures published with thanks to Dominic Whiten Photography.

I found my dress in the first bridal shop I visited. I took one of my oldest friends and bridesmaids, Jen, who I knew would give me honest advice. She also made me enjoy the whole experience of trying on gorgeous gowns so I didn't get stressed about finding the perfect dress. I didn’t know it was 'the one' when I first tried it on, but several weeks & many shops later: boutiques, designer, vintage, second hand {I went to them all!} it was the only one I couldn't stop thinking about. 

It's a Pronovias wedding gown, but a sample dress, so much more affordable than many of the others I tried. It hugs my curves, which I love, because my husband definitely married me for my bum! To be honest, there's so many beautiful dresses available, I’m sure several could have been 'the one' but I just couldn't justify the £3000+ price tag. 

I bought my shoes, veil, earrings & hair comb from several different bridal shops {see the details below}– the beauty of shopping around a lot for my dress meant I worked out what was on offer. My hair comb was definitely my favourite buy, a statement piece that really photographed well.


We got married on Saturday 13th October 2012, in a small village in Kent where my parents live. We had a church ceremony at St Johns Church followed by a reception at Mountains Country House in Hildenborough.

Yianni's best man Steven took him shopping for his wedding day outfit. They found a suit they liked in Reiss & went with it! Boys are quick shoppers! He was adamant he didn't want traditional top and tails, and in hindsight they made the right choice, as they look modern and slick in the pictures, and they've all got a nice suit they'll wear again.



I chose a burgundy rose from the centre of a Deftones album design as the colour for my bridesmaids' gowns, and this was then used as a general colour theme, for the ushers' ties, cake ribbon and other wedding details.

I originally thought I'd be able to buy my bridesmaids' dresses on the high street, but we struggled to find something to fit with the colour scheme. I did loads of research online and in magazines, but there doesn't seem to be a huge number of options for bridesmaids’ dresses that are classic and flattering but not frumpy.

Eventually I found a local shop that was selling Dessy so I took the girls to try some on, and we all agreed the one-shoulder full-length chiffon bridesmaids gowns looked elegant and Greek goddess-like. Also I was able to choose the exact shade of burgundy I wanted to fit in with our wedding theme. I was so pleased - they all looked stunning on the day.


My florist was Suzanne at Flowersmiths. I visited a few other florists to get ideas but Suzanne gave us the best price for what I wanted on my wedding day. I knew I wanted roses and neat rounded bouquets, and I really trusted Suzanne would do a good job. Her dedication and planning to achieve my vision could not have been bettered.

My flower-girl's little white dress came from Monsoon and I added a matching burgundy sash, to fit in with the bridesmaids dresses. She carried a basket of flower petals for confetti.

Yianni and I met in 2001 in an online chat room for people who like heavy metal and rock music. We had both just started university but I was in Manchester, Yianni was in London. I felt an instant connection with him as we both listed our almost identical CD collections – a somewhat eclectic mixture! We chatted online until December when I came home to Kent for the Christmas holidays. 

We met face-to-face for the first time in Charing Cross station, with only a grainy webcam photo for recognition, and unbeknown to me, my parents hiding behind a pillar to check out the strange boy! We went out on a few nights out as mates, and then I decided to make the first move on New Years Eve in a dingy rock club in Tufnell Park, and kissed him during what came to be 'our song' Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja by Lost Prophets. 


We made it through 3 years of endless train journeys, a further 4 years alternating weekends between Kent and London before we moved in together in 2009. I got pregnant 18 months later and although it put our plans to travel to the Far East on hold, it was to become a defining moment in our lives when our son Alexander was born in 2011. Yianni took the three of us to New York, a favourite destination of ours, in October 2011 and proposed. The highlight for me was when we bought my engagement ring in Tiffany & Co on 5th Avenue ☺

Our wedding photography was Dominic from Dominic Whiten Photography. I found him via Mountains Country House - we met up at my parents house I really liked his easygoing manner. 

I researched quite a few other photographers and I was tempted by some of the more artistic styles. However after looking through Dominic's online portfolio again, we really loved his portraits and the way he captured real moments from the day in an artistic but honest way.


{Wedding Credits}
Venue: Mountains Country House  
Wedding dress: Pronovias 
Bride's Shoes: First For Brides 
Bride's Earrings: Chez Bec 
Bridal Bag: Jane's Vintage
Bridesmaids' Dresses & Groom's & Ushers' ties: Dessy 
Groom & Ushers' Suits, Shirts & Shoes: Reiss
Flowergirl's Dress: Monsoon 
Wedding Car: Gold Drive 
Flowers: The Flowersmiths 
Make-up: Makeup By Ashley 
Cake: Classic Cakes 
Laser-cut Bunting: Come Uppance 

♥ Want more music wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about marquee weddings? ♥
Have you discovered our free newsletter? Sign up for free! 
Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Friday 31 August 2012

Real Quirky Music-Themed Wedding: John & Jane - Part 2

This wonderful quirky wedding is sure to inspire any brides wanting to organise their wedding in their own fabulous style, without worrying too much about tradition. Just take a look at gorgeous bride, Jane's stunning silver grey wedding gown! Unique, elegant, and definitely re-wearable. There are tonnes of wedding ideas worth stealing from Jane and John's fun outdoor wedding reception. I love the cosy fire-pit - a great idea for cold English weddings, where you could toast marshmallows and snug around in blankets. The open safari-style marquee makes for a warm atmosphere, and I love the simple but sweet, twiggy table flowers. Homemade ginger beer and produce complete the family atmosphere, and the vintage water ewer and jug are a lovely way to welcome your guests to wash their hands before they sit down to eat. It's a wedding set in rustic heaven! Huge thanks to We Love Pictures for their gorgeous work, don't miss Part 1 of their pictures here.














♥ Want more music themed weddings? ♥ Or how about rustic wedding ideas? ♥
If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter
Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Quirky Music-Themed Wedding: John & Jane

There's nothing I like better than stumbling across a fabulous quirky wedding day, shot by one of my favourite photography teams! It makes my Friday! Just take a look at these gorgeous music themed big day, by South African photographers We Love Pictures. The gorgeous John and Jane are both professional musicians, and entertained their guests with a brilliant duet they wrote specially for their big day. Wedding favours were copies of their full-length album recorded for the event, table numbers were cut out of musical scores, and there we not one but two wedding bands. Other details I love include Jane's beautiful grey wedding dress, the hay-bale seats, the asile decorated with natural cotton bolls, Jane arriving in a cart pulled by a donkey called Abram, the bridesmaids in their dresses with tails {!), and the boys in top hats decorated with ears! More fabulous reception details coming soon. Huge thanks to We Love Pictures for their gorgeous work.



















♥ Want more music themed weddings? ♥ Or how about rustic wedding ideas? ♥
If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter
Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...