Showing posts with label Pretty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pretty. Show all posts

Friday 30 June 2017

A Pastel-Themed Spring Barn Wedding with a Baking Theme (Part 2)

There's nothing I like more than a wedding with a surprise! Claire and James invited their guests to take part in a great British Bake Off, which means their big day was a cake extravaganza. Don't miss the picture of all the entries at the end of this blog post. I still don't know who won!!! You'll find plenty of other stealworthy ideas in these gorgeous images. I'm super-keen on the idea of edible favours - Claire and James handmade cake-pops. It reduces cost, and means they're less likely to get left behind on the table. The flowers by China Rose were stunning - I love the large avalanche roses, and how well the buttonholes tied in with the ushers' buttonholes. Don't miss all the DIY details - from the pretty lace-wrapped jam-jars, to the blackboard seating plan. Lovely pictures by the very talented Christy Blanch.



Beautiful Barn Wedding with Fairy Lights, Cake Pops & Chalk Boards

This morning is a good one! I can't wait to share this stunning spring wedding with you. It's a beautiful barn big day, hosted by Claire and James at Ashley Wood Farm near Salisbury. It's such a pretty wedding venue - I love all climbing roses and the powder blue of the woodwork. They themed their day around the natural beauty of the venue, keeping the details relaxed, rustic and sparkly {thanks to lots of fairy lights}. I love the dusty pink and light grey colour palette, and Claire's flattering True Bride gown and cosy fluffy shrug. Also rather impressed by the BHS bridesmaid gowns - definitely a shop worth checking out. Gorgeous photographs here published with thanks to Christy Blanch - don't miss the reception pictures in my second blog post later today.




Saturday 17 October 2015

Wedding Trends of 2015: Semi-Naked Wedding Cakes

Look alert wedding peeps - there's a new trend in town. Hot on the hills of last year's naked wedding cakes, bakers have started dressing their cakes again! But not too much. Just a touch of frosting, a whisper of white, a hint of what's to come. They're pretty much the prettiest cakes in town. Feast your eyes! P.S. This semi-naked look is sooooper easy to DIY.




Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

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Monday 17 August 2015

An Outdoor Wedding with Chandeliers & Tea-Cups

If you're thinking of a shabby chic wedding with a touch of glamour, you're going to fall head-over-heels for this exquisite summer wedding. Liz and Chris celebrated their big day at The Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse in the wine country near Santa Barbara, with a flurry of gorgeous details. I'm loving the outdoor chandeliers, the peach and silver florals, blackboard menu and the old-fashioned striped straws. Don't miss their gorgeous stationery - complete with elegant calligraphy, personalised stamps and a hand-drawn map. I've always thought truly exceptional wedding stationery is the secret to getting your guests excited about your big day, and this suite proves it! Huge thanks to Aaron Delesie for his stunning photographs. He's new to Before the Big Day, but we've got plenty more gorgeous weddings from his portfolio coming soon!


Tuesday 4 August 2015

A Pretty Vintage Wedding with a Brownie Wedding Cake

Take the prettiest of pink details, gorgeous Art Deco bridesmaids gowns, and a stunning English rose bride, and you've got wedding heaven. Lovely Nicola and James celebrated their wedding day at Dulwich College, and I've fallen for its stunning historic rooms, and lovely grand staircase. Nicola chose a pretty vintage feel for her big day, and spent months planning DIY ideas and creative projects on Pinterest. The end result is a gorgeous wedding day with tonnes of stealworthy wedding ideas. My favourite details? Nicola's elegant chignon and veil combo, her beautiful Sarah Seven gown with its lace back, and the white taxi transport! Beautiful pictures by Lily Sawyer Photography. Be sure to check out Lily's blog - I'm a huge fan of her work. Don't miss the wedding reception pictures - coming later today.



We celebrated our wedding at Dulwich College on the 23rd May, which was just around the corner from James and my first home. We'd always thought it to be a beautiful place, whenever we walked past on a sunny afternoon. 


Tuesday 28 July 2015

Real Outdoor Vineyard Wedding with a Peony Bouquet

I think I've died and gone to wedding-heaven. This incredible big day has made me want to get married all over again. In a vineyard. On a beautiful summer's day. With a fishtail plait. I had to go back and look at my own wedding pictures to stop myself feeling jealous. {Yes I'm that odd}. I'm featuring zillions of Our Labour of Love's shots, because I can't quite find the words to describe the golden gloriousness of every wedding detail. Let's just say my favourites are the personalised fan programmes, the ombre ruffled cake, the perfect font on their place markers, Athena's huge pink bouquet, her father's kilt, and the ribbon and lace table runners. It's perfection in a Tiffany box! P.S. Athena's a lovely name for a girl, isn't it?

Thursday 18 June 2015

A Mountain-View Wedding with Vintage Pink Louboutins - The Reception

Clouds of baby's breathy, bridesmaids in blush, and the prettiest lace wedding gown you've ever seen. This stunning big day is going to seriously float your boat. Xenia and Jeff live in Hong Kong, but they planned their destination wedding in Spain, at the beautiful La Garriga de Castelladral. You're going to love their sweet, romantic style - from the gorgeous miniature roses bridal bouquet, to the red velvet wedding cake - yum! Enjoy these beautiful shots by wedding photographer,  Noemi Jariod, and don't miss the Getting Ready and Ceremony pictures. For more details about Xenia's wedding decisions and suppliers, be sure to check out her brilliant blog Olivia's Choice - it's a great read!


We got married on October 6th at La Garriga de Castelladral, in inner Catalonia. Since we didn't want a religious ceremony but a civil one, it was a must for us to find a venue that offered this service in the prettiest possible way. This is the main reason we fell in love with the venue. 


La Garriga de Castelladral has breathtaking views to the Montserrat mountains. We held our civil ceremony on the terrace, and it was more we ever could have wished for. Regarding the decoration, all I knew was I wanted it to be sweet, just like I am!



Wednesday 17 June 2015

An Elegant Mountain-View Wedding with Vintage Pink Louboutins

Wedding planners often say that once a bride has chosen her wedding venue and her wedding dress, everything else falls into place. Xenia and Jeff picked the incredible La Garriga de Castelladral in Spain, and Xenia found most exquisite Knightly Bridal gown I've ever seen, so you can guess that every other wedding detail is pretty exceptional as well. I'm going to let the lovely pictures by Noemi do the talking, but look out for Xenia's perfectly round miniature rose bouquet, her pink vintage Louboutins, and Jeff's smart black tie get-up. You'll also love their music choices - they picked a special song for every moment - so lots of great ideas for your own wedding! Huge thanks to the lovely Noemi Jariod for her fantastic pictures - look out for more of her work when I publish the reception photographs. Also - make sure you take a look at Xenia's blog - Olivia's Choice - it's packed with lots more details about her wedding planning.


We got married on October 6th at La Garriga de Castelladral, in inner Catalonia.  Since we didn't want a religious ceremony but a civil one, it was a must for us to find a venue that offered this service in the prettiest possible way. This is the main reason we fell in love with this venue. 


La Garriga de Castelladral has breathtaking views to the Montserrat mountains. We held our civil ceremony on the terrace, and it was more we ever could have wished for. Regarding the decoration, all I knew was I wanted it to be sweet, just like I am!




Friday 29 May 2015

My Secret Garden Wedding in a Provence Chateau - The Reception

Our wedding reception passed in a flash! I think every bride and groom feels that their big day passes too quickly, partly because you have to step away at one stage for your wedding photographs. We were thrilled with our portraits by Chloé from Caught the Light, and it's definitely worth making time for your photographer. You'll see in this blog post, all the little extras that I added to personalise our big day. We chose a Secret Garden theme, as we hosted our reception in an historic walled garden. Our colour palette was soft grey, pink and sage green, and I chose a key motif, which appeared on all the stationery, place-markers and we gave each guest a vintage key as a wedding favour. I bought grey and white striped straws, and made little drinks flags to go in our signature cocktails. Looking back - I can't believe how many details I managed to squeeze into one day! These are the reception pictures, you can see the ceremony pictures here.


We celebrated our wedding on 28th May 2011 in a tiny French village called Puyricard, just outside Aix-en-Provence. We hired a private house called Château Grimaldi for three days.

The walled gardens inspired me to choose a secret garden theme, with a key motif. Our colour palette was soft grey, dusky pink and sage green.


Thursday 28 May 2015

My Secret Garden Wedding in a Provence Chateau - The Ceremony

As promised, I'm marking our fourth wedding anniversary by republishing our photographs from our French wedding. It's crazy how quickly the time has gone! Although this wasn't our legal wedding, it's the one that felt most real. We invited ninety of our closest friends and family out to Provence for a three day party, and I loved every minute. As a wedding blogger, I spent many days agonising over which theme to choose. In the end our stunning venue, with its walled grounds, led me to pick a Secret Garden theme, and a colour palette of soft grey, dusky pink and sage green. We had a key motif which appeared on all the invitations, place markers, programmes and pashmina favour tags. There were endless wedding details, all captured perfectly by our brilliant wedding photographer Chloé from Caught the Light and my friend Jemma Harding Photography. Four years on, it's true what they say - your pictures are the lasting memories of your wedding day, so it's worth hiring the best.



Tuesday 27 May 2014

Pretty Pastel Lavender & Old Lace Millinery Wedding Inspiration Shoot

Celebrate the start of the summer wedding season with this stunning wedding inspiration shoot organised and styled by Fabiola Capo Milliner. I'm in love with the whimsical prettiness - the vintage book props, the feathery softness of the wedding gowns, the wide pastel bouquets, but most of all the divine accessories. Just take a look at the chic cuteness that is the Pink Champagne Pillbox Hat, and the vintage fabulousness of the silk capelet - such a clever take on a veil. Brides keen on a hint of Great Gatsby will adore the Pearl Headdress, and boho brides will fall for the Blushing Bride Halo. Stunning pictures by 13:13 Photography



Monday 21 April 2014

Hand-drawn Whimsical Wedding Invitations

It only took one look for me to fall in love with these gorgeous hand-drawn and hand-painted wedding invitations. Designed by illustrator Victoria Whincup, their whimsical charm perfectly suits a British summer wedding. Each picture is unique, although you can choose to personalise the designs in her Etsy online shop. For me they perfectly capture the homespun wedding trend that's so huge this year.

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Tuesday 15 April 2014

A Pretty Vintage-Inspired Garden Wedding - The Reception

After a little bit of a delay {building up the anticipation}, I'm thrilled to bring you the amazing detail-filled reception photographs of Lucy and Jim's fantastic wedding. With tonnes of DIY extras, including a veritable fairground of activities for their guests, it looks a complete treat. There's so many stealworthy ideas, but my favourite picks have to be the watercolour-style wedding cake {created by Lucy's sister!}, the lovely teepee venues, Jim's enormous rose buttonhole, and Lucy's pretty-as-a-picture Ellis Bridals short wedding dress. I love how Jim and Lucy wrote their own wedding ceremony, personalising it with sing-alongs and their own special vows. The reception decorations are gorgeous as well, with prettified jam-jars and tin cans, plus fantastic tea-bag and shortcake DIY'd wedding favours. You can't fail to love it! Big love to Lily Sawyer for capturing every perfect detail, and to Lucy for filling in the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire.


We got married twice, the first time on Thursday 25th July 2013 at The Old Marylebone Town Hall in London. This was our legal registry office ceremony, and only our immediate family members were present. Our second wedding was on Saturday 27th July 2013 at North Hill Farm, Chorleywood. 


Our second wedding was a celebration for all our other guests, although we did have an informal ceremony led by our friend. This involved sitting on straw bales, sing-a-longs ('Eight Days a Week' by the Beatles and 'You Give A Little Love' from Bugsy Malone), readings and 'vows' from Jim and I.




Monday 14 April 2014

A Pretty Vintage-Inspired Garden Wedding with a Short Wedding Dress

Straw bales, a short wedding dress and tonnes of handmade bunting - this wedding is my type of big day! I'm completely in love with the venue, the details, and the gorgeous couple! It's all so English and eccentric and brilliant, with a massive dollop of pretty thrown in for luck! Lucy and Jim celebrated their big day twice {like me!}. Once for the legal ceremony at The Old Marylebone Town Hall in London, and then the second time in serious countryside style, in a field overlooking the Chiltern Hills at North Hill Farm in Chorleywood. I love how they made their wedding day their own - with plenty of activities for their guests, including a balloon race, DIY coconut shy, badminton, giant 'Pass the Pigs', space hoppers and a photo booth. Food came in the very trendy form of two vintage food trucks - one 'selling' vintage ice cream, the other fish and chips. Lucy and Jim wanted their wedding to be a big, informal party, exactly the type of wedding everyone wants to attend! Huge thanks to Lily Sawyer for her heavenly pictures - I've got tonnes more detail shots to come in Part 2 - The Reception.


We got married twice, the first time on Thursday 25th July 2013 at The Old Marylebone Town Hall in London. This was our legal registry office ceremony, and only our immediate family members were present. Our second wedding was on Saturday 27th July 2013 at North Hill Farm, Chorleywood. 



Our second wedding was a celebration for all our other guests, although we did have an informal ceremony led by our friend. This involved sitting on straw bales, sing-a-longs ('Eight Days a Week' by the Beatles and 'You Give A Little Love' from Bugsy Malone), readings and 'vows' from Jim and I.



Wednesday 26 February 2014

Real Pretty Pastel Wedding with a Lovely Lace & Peony Theme

This dreamy pastel-themed wedding will leave you longing for lazy summer days. It's an exquisite combination of pink, peonies and mercury glass vintage vases, and I love it! With a wedding dress by Marisa Bridals, bridesmaids' dresses by Priscilla of Boston and a gorgeous vineyard venue, you'll want to copy every wedding detail. Don't miss the brocaded wedding invitations and the beaded plates - every area of this wedding was perfectly planned by Yong Suk Willendrup, and pictured by Jen Huang Photography.


Friday 3 January 2014

Ethereal Boho Bridesmaid & Flower Girl Dresses

There's something eternally romantic about a gaggle of flower girls and page boys following a bride up the aisle. I always wanted lots of little girls at my wedding, but when it came to the date, no one I knew had any daughters. In the end I just had five grown-up bridesmaids, and one page boy, who ended up sleeping through the whole ceremony, completely missing his 'Here Comes The Bride' flag-waving moment. If I had my big day again, then I'd definitely dress my flower girls in these whimsical gowns from I Love Gorgeous. They're pretty and feminine, and I love the styling of their 'Midsummer Night's Dream' shoot. Feast your eyes on the stealworthy wedding detailing, from strawberry baskets, vintage china, sparkly shoes, LOVE balloons and that giant flower pomander. Styling by Mary Mathieson for I Love Gorgeous, photographs by Christina Wilson.




Thursday 12 December 2013

A Modern, Elegant Wedding with Quirky Vintage Details - The Reception

A little late-coming {I got horribly distracted with Christmas shopping}, but it's time for the delicious second half of this gorgeous wedding. Groom Adam set his bride the challenge of incorporating his football team, Manchester United, into their wedding. Laura managed it with aplomb, creating an incredible 3D table plan, complete with real grass. The red of their shirts proved a slight problem, as it didn't quite fit in with their cream, elegant wedding colour palette, but Adam compromised with cream shirts in the main dining room! There's plenty more stealworthy ideas to snaffle from the pictures - not least the personalised stamp made by BerinMade stationers. Laura used it to brand all their wedding stationery, and to create salt dough heart ornaments. Laura's mum even borrowed it to hand-stamp biscuits, in case any of the guests got peckish on the bus to the reception venue. I'm a huge fan of Laura's antique sapphire and diamond engagement ring as well! Huge thanks to Laura for filling in all her answers to the Before the Big Day Questionnaire, and to Lissa Alexandra Photography for her fantastic pictures. I've never seen such a fantastic array of wedding portrait shots!

We celebrated our wedding on Saturday 10th August, with a ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Nun Monkton near York, followed by a reception at The Old Deanery, Ripon.


Our wedding photographer was Lissa Alexandra Photography. Shortly after our engagement, I went to a wedding fair, and I fell instantly in love with her photography style. I knew I had to have her from that moment. I think she was the first thing I booked once our date was confirmed.

Wednesday 11 December 2013

A Modern, Elegant Wedding with Quirky Vintage Details

Ice-cream van? Check! Quirky character cars? Check! Fabulous vintage bus? Check! As you can tell, this gorgeous wedding has tonnes of simply fabulous details - many of them with four wheels, and a vintage personality! Laura and Adam were keen to host a classic, elegant wedding, which reflected them as a couple, without having too obvious a theme. Pinks and greens are the dominant colours, and there's definitely a vintage hint to many of the details. I've fallen for Laura's Audrey Hepburn inspired wedding outfit, and her stunning David Austin rose bouquet. Throw in the pretty-as-a-picture church, and historic venue near York, and I'm sold! Enjoy all the gorgeous pictures by Lissa Alexandra Photography - she captured every detail perfectly, and make sure you unashamedly steal Laura's wedding ideas from her answers to Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire! More from the reception published later today.


We celebrated our wedding on Saturday 10th August, with a ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Nun Monkton near York, followed by a reception at The Old Deanery, Ripon.


I wanted a venue which was a blank canvas and suited me. Bold green patterned carpets and massive drapes like you get in a traditional castle or stately home venue, just wouldn’t cut it. I chose The Old Deanery for its dark wooden floor boards and cream panelled walls.



Tuesday 10 September 2013

A Beautiful Barn Wedding with Pink & Sage Green Details

I've got some pretty perfect wedding details to show off to you in this afternoon's beautiful barn wedding. Keri and Kiran chose pastel colours as their wedding palette, and I love the simplicity of the white on white table linens, and the occasional pop of pink roses. Stealworthy ideas include the wire heart table-plan {such an easy but elegant design}, the delicate rose petal table decorations, and the twisted three-tier, square wedding cake. Stunning wedding pictures published with thanks to the lovely Kayleigh Pope Photography.


We got married in Dodford Manor in the Northamptonshire countryside, on 30th July 2013. 


Our photographer was Kayleigh Pope. We chose her through a recommendation, and as she lived so close by, many of our friends knew her personally. After seeing some of her work it was a very easy decision.



A Beautiful Barn Wedding with Pink & Sage Green Details

Sage green, pink and cream have to be my favourite wedding colours. My own wedding was themed around those soft shades, along with a touch of dove grey, and I reckon they're just the right combination of feminine and masculine. You don't want to go too pink, or your husband can look slightly out of place! Keri and Kiran chose Dodford Manor in the Northamptonshire countryside for their summer wedding, and I've fallen for its rustic charms. I'm a big believer in the barn wedding venue - they're intimate and cosy, and just the right side of vintage. Keri looks stunning in her wedding gown - her whole outfit was a present from her mum {just like at my wedding!}. There's something particularly special about your mum buying your dress - it makes you feel like they're supporting you throughout the day. I've also fallen for Keri's pretty in pink bridesmaids - Grecian gowns are so elegant, and they really do suit every figure. Huge thanks to Kayleigh Pope for sending through this fab wedding. Kayleigh's portrait shots are the best! More to come in Part 2, along with all the pretty pastel reception details.


We got married in Dodford Manor in the Northamptonshire countryside, on 30th July 2013. We looked round a hotel venue before we found Dodford Manor, and we quickly realised that it was everything we didn't want. We wanted a place which we could hire exclusively for our wedding and our guests, and somewhere that would take beautiful pictures and really impress our guests.



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