Before the Big Day Feeling Popular on Twitter

Goodness me - how did this happen! Thank you to all my new followers - I hope I'm interesting enough!!! Have you found me on Twitter and/or Facebook? Why not join in the conversation? {Or ready my mad ramblings about crab sticks!}

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Before the Big Day on BBC Radio 4's PM Programme

On the eve of the legalisation of gay marriage in the UK, I was thrilled to be invited onto BBC Radio 4's PM programme to discuss the popularity of weddings. I headed down to famous Broadcasting House in central London, and up to the studios, where I met presenter Eddie Mair and my lovely discussion partner, Gareth McLean. As the red on-air light came on, I was more than a little nervous, as you can probably hear in my voice - but I soon settled down, and had a fantastic time! Have a listen by clicking the link below!

{Picture Credit} Lovely pastel radio picture by Simply Hue Designs

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Before the Big Day in Wedding Magazine!

I might as well come clean - there's nothing I like more than seeing my name in print! And if you take a look at the picture below, and squint a little, you'll see me quoted in Wedding Magazine....several times. VeeeeeRY exciting! Now I know that strictly this is the online version, so it's not actually print, but I have the actual magazine safe here at home - next to my bed - for whenever I need a little ego boost. Wedding Magazine journalist Vicky Rolison knows how to write a good article - so do give it a read - particularly if you're considering DIY-ing your wedding!

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The French Wedding Show

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to partner up with The French Wedding Show. Organised by the lovely Anne-Laure from Et Voila Weddings, the show is designed to help couples planning their wedding in France, to meet fantastic French suppliers who speak English. Add in a heady dollop of wedding inspiration, lots of delicious cake, lovely people and buckets of French wedding venue ideas, and you've got The French Wedding Show in a nutshell. As I got married in Provence, I have real life experience of what it's like to plan a wedding in France, so Virginie invited to me along to offer advice and ideas. I had the MOST fantastic day, meeting tonnes of excited brides and grooms, and sharing my enthusiasm for destination weddings. One couple are even getting married in the same venue as me!! All the vendors were hand-picked, and top quality, and lovely people to boot. I can't wait till next year's show, but in the meantime, enjoy these stunning pictures of the day by Chloé from Caught the Light, who just happens to have been my wonderful wedding photographer! Click for more details of wedding fairs.

Brides who booked early received a very exciting goodie bag!

The French Wedding Magazine! Read your copy online here - it includes an article on How to Theme Your Wedding by me!

The stunning 20th Century Theatre venue in Notting Hill....which would also make a brilliant wedding venue.

Stunning dresses by The Mews, who stock a dreamy range of French designers, including my favourite, Delphine Manivet.

I love the vintage crate filled with baby's breath!

Beautiful wedding flowers by Jenny Moss, an English florist who lives in France (Tel: 0556 618 202)

Wedding stationery by Gemma Milly

Me & my fish-bowl of Haribo Heart Throbs wedding favours, DIY'd out of glassine bags bought from eBay.

I DIY'd the giant purple balloon decorations, using a lot of helium, and silver streamers, all bought from eBay. The hardest bit was tying the knot in the balloons!

Talking to brides and grooms!

Anne-Laure from Et Voila Weddings offering advice to brides and grooms.

Just a few of the fabulous vendors.....
♥ Jenny Moss - Stunning English wedding florist who lives in France (Tel: 0556 618 202)
♥ Gemma Milly - Beautiful wedding stationery
♥ The Mews - English stockist of French designer wedding dresses
♥ The Cake - Stunning wedding cakes in the South West of France
♥ Toni Lazzaro -A brilliant make up artist in Paris
♥ Ariane Douguet -A fantastic soprano singer
♥ Discotecnik - DJ, DJ live and bands in the South East
♥ Jazz Around Midnight - Jazz band in Paris and all over France
♥ Studio 80 - Videographers in Paris and all over France
♥ Virginie'e - A fantastic make up artist in the South West of France
♥ Carre Vert - French wedding florist

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Reliving the Wedding Blog Awards

Apologies for the slight radio {or blogging} silence, I've been away for a long weekend in Mallorca, staying with my amazing personal trainer friend, Alice Cowen at her boutique well-being bootcamp Bootique. Now back in London, and considerably slimmer {and a little bit achy}, I've finally had time to enjoy the photographs from the Wedding Blog Awards! You can check them out here, and in the December/January issue of the magazine {out soon}, but here are a few of my favourites. It was such a fabulous night - and I still can't quite believe I won Editor's Pick prize - such an enormous privilege. I can't wait for my prize - a holiday at the Hotel Imperiale Taormina in Sicily!

{Photo Credits} 1. Editor of Wedding Magazine, Ciara | 2. Me with Ciara and Julia Holberry, from sponsor Hotel Imperiale Taormina

{Photo Credits} 1. Mark Francis from Made in Chelsea, who hosted the awards | 2. Me with Mark Francis & Before the Big Day's Beauty Editor, Julia Bowden {who also did my amazing hair and make-up on the night}

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A Winner at The Wedding Blog Awards

So if you follow me on Twitter, you might have spotted a few excited tweets last night and this morning {like a million}! It's all thanks to one of the most amazing evenings of my entire life! Last night, I won Editor's Pick at Wedding Magazine's Wedding Blog Awards. It was the last prize to be announced, so I was ready to put the evening down to a fabulous experience, and then {as if in slow motion}, I heard my name being announced as the winner! I'm now the proud owner of a beautiful award, I got to kiss a very attractive man from Made in Chelsea, and I drank plenty of champagne at The Ritz - which has to be the dreamiest place to get married, and I got the best and biggest goodie bag ever! What's more, I even won a mini-break in Sicily thanks to the amazing Hotel Imperiale Taormina. HUGE thanks to everyone who voted for me - I'm so thrilled and flattered to have won the Editor's prize - but I'm sure Before the Big Day wouldn't have come to Ciara's attention, if it hadn't been for your votes. Take a look at a few of the pictures below...there's be much more to come later today on my Facebook page.

{Photo} Me & the Editor of Wedding & Wedding Flowers Magazine, Ciara Elliott.

A bit like the Oscar's I have a few thank you's...
♥ To Julia Bowden - the best hair and make-up artist in the world, who made me look and feel super-glam. Book her for your wedding now! More beauty posts from Julia coming soon on the blog!
♥ To Ciara and the whole team at Wedding Magazine
♥ To the Hotel Imperiale Taormina for my amazing prize
♥ To Intricate Creations for making my lovely trophy!
♥ All the fantastic companies who contributed to the goodie bag! I'm still working my way through it - more info coming soon.

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Before the Big Day....in a magazine!

I've been meaning to mention this for ages, but other features kept pushing their way to the front of the list! Last month, there was huge excitement here at the Before the Big Day studios, as the new issue of Wedding magazine dropped in my letter box. There, on the back page, was a feature all about me! Obviously I'd known it was coming, but with everything that's going on, I forgot all about my interview with Features Writer, Vicky, until I spotted it over my lunch. If you'd like to have a read, do take a look at the August/September issue. It's all about how planning my wedding led to the launch of Before the Big Day, and now, Before the Baby. And if you want to know more about me, click here.

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Introducing Before the Baby Blog

With a new addition to the Before the Big Day family on its way, I've decided to expand my blog family as well! My baby son is due at the end of March, and I'm getting bigger in every way - my bump now seems enormous {see my Instagram feed}, and I'm firmly out of high heels and into flats. So while my enthusiasm for weddings is unstinting, I'm now having a fantastic time exploring the wonderful world of babies. Considering the fun I have writing Before the Big Day, it made perfect sense to write a baby blog, so may I introduce Before the Baby! I'm not updating it quite as much as my wedding blog, but we have big plans afoot, so if you're expecting a baby, know someone with children, or your business has anything to do with nurseries, baby clothes, children's parties or baby photography, please do get in touch via email, Twitter or Facebook!

More posts like this one: 
✽ About Me
✽ Peter Rabbit Range on Before the Baby

♥ Want to see marquee weddings? ♥ Or how about more church wedding ideas? ♥

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Hello New Wedding Blog Readers!

Do you know someone who got engaged this Christmas or New Year? Well why not tell them all about Before the Big Day wedding blog? You can sign up for the Before the Big Day newsletter, and get all the blog posts direct to your inbox. That means more wedding inspiration and wedding ideas, and all for free! The fabulous news is that word is spreading, and this month, 5000 more new unique users have discovered Before the Big Day. This makes me very happy, and I'd like to say Hello! to all the new wonderful brides who've come over to the wedding-side {think dark side, and it sort of makes sense}. If you're a mega-fan, then you might also want to find us on Pinterest {so much wedding inspiration your brain might explode}, Facebook {lovely pictures & competitions} and Twitter {all the latest wedding news}.

{Product Credit} Rainbow Hello stickers by Sparrow Nest Script

♥ Looking for vintage wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about real wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day - In A Magazine

Hugely exciting news! It turns out our wedding is the gift that keeps on giving, thanks to our fabulous wedding photographer, Chloé from from Caught the Light. She very kindly sent our pictures to photography magazine, Photo Professional, and they've featured us in their article on Destination weddings {that's us on the right}! For more of Chloé's lovely wedding photography, check out her blog....I'm off for a quick glass of celebratory fizz in the sunshine!

♥ Want more on my wedding? ♥ Or how about real weddings? ♥

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Before the Big Day Shoot with Caught the Light

Continuing the balloon theme for today, the moment has finally arrived for me to show off the pictures from the fun shoot I had with Caught the Light a few weeks ago. I needed some fun publicity shots to encourage more media types to use me as a wedding expert, and the lovely Chloé from Caught the Light took our wedding photographs, so it made sense for me to call her again! We had the most fabulous time running around Notting Hill Gate, dodging rain showers, standing on roundabouts, eating Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes, and trying to avoid a very keen amateur photographer. It was SUCH fun, and as you can see from the pics, a very large bunch of balloons played quite a large part! Here are just a few of the fabulous pictures Chloé took, more coming soon on my Facebook page. P.S. Wouldn't the balloons make the best photo-prop for an engagement shoot?

Vendor Credits
Photographer: Caught the Light
Stylist: Me! {Georgia from Before the Big Day}
Balloons: One Stop Party Shop
Hair: One Drayson Mews in Kensington {Tel: 020 7376 2418}
Eyelashes: Lash Lab
Sequin shrug: Jenny Packham
Boots: Russell & Bromley
T-Shirt: Topshop
Earrings: Anthroplogie

♥ Want real wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about wedding decoration ideas? ♥

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Very Exciting Before the Big Day News

Well this is very exciting! Sky Living has nominated Before the Big Day as one of its favourite wedding blogs. We're listed alongside all my favourite UK wedding blogs, so I'm feeling very proud. Do check out the link here. This is proving to be a very exciting month here on Before the Big Day. We've welcomed 5000 more new unique users, and word is spreading about our now-not-so-little wedding blog - woohoo! Please do tell all your friends who are getting married - it's only fair that they get to enjoy all this free wedding inspiration too. Big thanks to Alexis from OMG I'm Getting Married for drawing my attention to this accolade!

♥ Want more wedding blog press moments? ♥ Or how about wedding theme ideas? ♥

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Hello There New Wedding Blog Readers!

Have you noticed something different about Before the Big Day? It's been an exciting couple of months, because we've upped our blog postings to two or even three a day! That means more wedding inspiration and wedding ideas, and all for free! The fabulous news is that word is spreading, and this month, 5000 more new unique users have discovered Before the Big Day. This makes me very happy, and I'd like to say Hello! to all the new wonderful brides who've come over to the wedding-side {think dark side, and it sort of makes sense}. The only thing I'd ask is for you to tell your friends! I bet you've got a few who are getting married this year, or next year, and I hope they'd enjoy Before the Big Day too....so please send them an email! If you're a mega-fan, then you might also want to find us on Pinterest {so much wedding inspiration your brain might explode}, Facebook {lovely pictures & competitions} and Twitter {all the latest wedding news}. Plus why not sign up to the Before the Big Day newsletter, and get all the blog posts for free, direct to your inbox.

{Product Credit} Rainbow Hello stickers by Sparrow Nest Script

♥ Looking for vintage wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about real wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day at The In Wedding Show

There's huge excitement over here at the Before the Big Day studio, because the official photographs from The In Wedding Show have arrived! Taken by the lovely Summer {such a pretty name} from Neverland Photography, they have a dreamy, whimsical style, which perfectly matches the mood we tried to create with the Before the Big Day wedding stand. With six wedding themes to choose from, brides loved our pastel Pom Pom Factory pom-poms, Haribo heart wedding favours, Anges de Sucre macaroon tower and the vintage props {apple carts, haberdashery ladder and vintage typewriter guestbook}. I'll have more on how to create each of the wedding themes soon!

♥ Want more DIY wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about vintage wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day at The In Wedding Show

We've had such an amazing day over here at Before the Big Day Towers! It was the day of The In Wedding Show, and our first time as an in-house wedding blogger. We had such a fabulous time meeting all the brides and grooms and their family, and our free wedding inspiration sessions were a huge hit. If you're here to find out all the nitty-gritty from the wedding show sessions, stay tuned, because I'll be writing them up soon, right here in the blog.....including the all-important pom-pom tutorials. I've never seen such passion for pom-poms!! Huge thanks to Pom Pom Factory for their help in providing so many of my decorations, and for Anges de Sucre for the fabulous macaroon tower. All other decorations designed right here by Before the Big Day.

 ♥ Want to see some Real Wedding inspiration? ♥ Or how about wedding theme ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day in the BBC Magazine

After the immense excitement last week, when I appeared on the BBC World Service, you can imagine the incandescence when I discovered Before the Big Day had also earned a mention on the BBC magazine website! *Happy dance!* Please do take a look....here!

{Product Credit} Tongue-in-cheek posters created by Livy Love Designs

♥ Want to see some wedding theme ideas? ♥ Or how about Real Wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day on the BBC World Service

Easter Monday was a very exciting day for Before the Big Day, because we made our first appearance on the radio! The producers on the Newshour programme on the BBC World Service invited me to take part in a discussion about flashmob proposals. I'm not too keen on the idea of all-singing, all-dancing wedding proposals, and I disagreed with the lovely Staci from FlashMob America, who helps organise flashmob proposals. It was a sparky, fun discussion, and you can click to listen again just below the picture! Watch a few of the most amusing, and embarrassing Flashmob Proposals here.

{Picture Credit} Lovely pastel radio picture by Simply Hue Designs

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