Possibly The Best Save the Date Ever?

This Save the Date is the reason why I love the web. It's such an enormous swimming pool of creativity and inspiration. Isn't this just the coolest idea? The bride and groom got engaged in Paris - a location they subtly acknowledged in a nod to Albert Lamorisse's short film The Red Balloon when designing their save the date announcement. Designed by L'Office Optimiste, and first seen on For Print Only, I'm in love! If you want to recreate this invitation, check out Balloon Print, who will put your image on a 100 balloons for only £5.

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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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Lovely Secret Garden Vintage Key Themed Stationery

When it comes to wedding themes, it's often difficult to choose your favourite. I know that I found it super-hard to pick between an Alice in Wonderland wedding theme, and a Secret Garden wedding theme. In the end my wedding venue, with its walled garden and secret chapel made the decision for me, and we used a vintage key motif throughout our wedding stationery and favours. We designed our own stationery, but I wish I've found these gorgeous wedding invitations by The Paper Sentiment. I'm loving the texture of the paper, and the combination of fonts, plus the grey, pink and gold colour palette. Do take a look at graphic designer, Carrie Beach's other wedding stationery sets - they're all as gorgeous as each other!

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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 Wedding Fortune Tellers

One of the best things about meeting all the brides-to-be at The In-Wedding Show, was finding out what themes you are considering for your own wedding. Shabby-chic and vintage weddings are here to stay, as are butterfly motifs and vintage key themes. Wedding DIY projects were hugely popular - not least pom-pom making, and I'm predicting DIY weddings are a definitely a trend that's here to stay. One of the items on my stand that caught the eye of most brides, were my DIY fortune tellers. We included these at our own wedding, and my lovely husband designed and made each by hand - all 100 of them! The fortune tellers included fun facts about us as a couple, and inside, the menu for our evening meal. It was fantastic to see people working out how to use them as they sat down to dinner - they acted as a brilliant icebreaker. Make your own, by following the simple instructions below, or buy them via an Etsy seller like A Bespoke Touch or Kat's Crafts.

How To DIY Your Wedding Fortune Teller
★ First things first! Early on in your wedding planning, choose a signature font, and use it for all your DIY projects. It'll make everything look pulled together, and professional. At my wedding, we used a font called English which I downloaded for free from the internet. There's tonnes of free fonts available online, but be warned, once you start looking, it's impossible to choose which one!
★ Click for a fortune teller tutorial. When you click on the link, it'll automatically download the template onto your computer {the file is called 'cootiecatcher'}.
★ If this doesn't work, go to this link, click on 'Resources' and scroll down until you see Cootie Catcher {quite far down}. If you click on the link, it will automatically download the template.
★ Once you've downloaded the template and tutorial, all you need to do is open it in PowerPoint, and start adding your own details. Huge thanks to Gail Lovely for making this available.
★ You might have to practice a few times with the positioning of the words. Remember you can add pictures or symbols too! We added the name of our venue, the date of our wedding, and I Do!

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Whimsical Hand-Drawn Wedding Invitations

As soon as I posted a picture of this gorgeous hand-drawn wedding stationery on my Facebook page, I had a huge response from brides, so I wanted to share it with all of you who haven't quite found us on Facebook yet. They have to be some of my favourite wedding invitations of all time! They even have a kite invitation...I reckon kites are going to be a huge wedding trend this time next year. Completely bespoke, and handmade by Etsy seller Ello There, I'm in love. For more kite-themed loveliness, check out my Pinterest boards.

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Gorgeous Rustic Wedding Details You'll Love

If you don't want your wedding to be pretty and feminine...after all it's his wedding too, add a few of these rustic wedding details. I'm loving these gorgeous products from Etsy seller Blue Pearls - their use of natural fibres, like linen and string, fits right in with the eco-wedding look that is so hot this season. This fabulous rope wedding ring pillow is stunning, and I love the craft paper cutlery bags - perfect for a picnic-themed big day, or a nautical themed wedding.

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Win $100 off Your Wedding Stationery

Another week, another fantastic wedding competition for my lovely Before the Big Day readers. One of the first fun details you'll choose for your wedding day is your wedding stationery, and you want to get it right, because it sets the tone for your whole big day. You want to get your guests exciting about your wedding as the party of the year, and your wedding invitations has the power to do just that! The only problem is that really good, creative wedding stationery is often super-expensive. Only yesterday, I had to explain to a friend and bride-to-be, that bespoke designs can cost up to £6 per invitation, and that's before the RSVP card, and any extras {whew!}. The good news is that companies like Minted are here to save the day. They have fabulous, original wedding invitations and unique Save the Dates for you to personalise as you wish. The even better news is that here on Before the Big Day I have $100 on Minted stationery to give away. All you have to do Like Before the Big Day on Facebook, and leave a comment below saying which of Minted's designs you like the most! I'll be picking the winner on 8th April at midday, so get commenting!

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Incredible Simple & Chic Wedding Stationery

If you're a long term fan of Before the Big Day, you'll know I'm a bit of a wedding stationery obsessive. Out of all the wedding details, including wedding dresses and wedding flowers, it's the wedding invitations that really get me excited. Because of budget concerns, we DIY'd our own wedding stationery, but in my wedding dreams, I wanted a bespoke design from Follow Studio. The good news for budgeting brides and grooms is that Follow Studio now has a cheaper 'Made to Measure' line. The fabulous designs feature clear lines, pretty fonts, and a selection of accessories made of natural materials, including linen tape, kraft envelopes, mini wooden pegs and burlap twine. Gorgeous!

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Wonderful Wood Wedding Stationery

When it comes to wedding planning and wedding invitations, I'm a huge fan of surprising your wedding guests by using fun and unusual materials. The best wedding ideas are all about originality because that's what will keep your wedding unique! A big trend for 2012 is have your wedding stationery printed on wood. It's all part of weddings getting greener and more eco-friendly, and as our mood turns towards natural products, it's surprising how many woody invitations you can find! Take a look at the pretty stationery products below - don't you know, paper is soooo passé!

{Product Credit} Perch Papiers



{Product Credit}  Palomas Nest


{Product Credit} Baumbirdy

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Wedding Favours - Wrap With Love

One of my favouite activities is wedding window-shopping at Etsy - I thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a spare minute to fill! On my metaphorical stroll earlier today, I discovered LillaLotta, the sweetest little store of handmade cotton tapes. It's run by Anna Barrow, who lives in a sleepy little village in the South of France, with her large noisy family of five little children. Along with her standard selection below, Anna also offers bespoke tapes, decorated with the wording and images of your choice. Just imainge - there are so many ways you could use the tape on your big day, from tying your bouquets and buttonholes, decorating table vases and, of course, adding to personalised wedding favours.

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Vintage Postcard Save the Dates

If you're having a summer wedding, we here at Before the Big Day recommend a Save the Date card. You want to make sure all your friends can come to your wedding, and the best way to guarantee their attendance is to get the message out as soon as possible. Save the Dates also give you the opportunity to build the excitement around your wedding, so if you're considering a vintage affair, then you'll love these whimsical postcards by the Sunshine Greeting Card Company. Send them a picture of the two of you, and they'll take care of the rest, according to your wording and colour requests. Whatsmore, this design can be printed as a one-sided card, postcard, or a magnet for your friends to stick to their fridge!

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Magical Laser-Cut Wedding Invitations

When I started planning my wedding, I really wanted to create a feeling of excitement for our guests. I didn't want it to be just another summer wedding, where everything feels a bit samey. The first challenge was to pick the perfect wedding stationery, as I wanted it to start building a sense of anticipation. After months of indecision, I finally accepted we didn't have the budget for truly fabulous stationery, so I ended up designing it myself. However, if we'd had the budget, I definitely would have chosen a boutique wedding stationery like Boris & Doris. Their laser-cut wedding invitations are truly magical, and you can personalise them with your own names or initials, to make them truly unique to you. Even their website is cute, as it's decorated with bunting and butterflies. Stop press! They've just started making Save the Dates and laser-cut place markers as well.

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Winter Wedding Place Markers Inpsiration

These may well be the most adorable winter wedding place markers I've ever seen. I've long been a huge fan of the humble pom pom as the best DIY wedding project ever. Meanwhile pine cones are SO in this season, and they'd work perfectly for a countryside wedding, even in the summer. Plus, with the festive season well and truly started, they'd made a great craft project for Christmas Day as well. If you're not up to the DIY, or you've got 200 to make and not enough time, then head over the Potter and Butler to snap these up.

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Perfect Wedding Stationery & Paper Blogs

My secret treat is stationery. I spend a lot of time dreaming about the perfect invitation, and with my own wedding on the way next May, I'm struggling to pick a designer. There's too much talent out there, and with blogs like Oh So Beautiful Paper and Paper Crave, it's easy to OD on creativity. Here are a couple of the graphic designers who are floating my boat this week, one from the US, and another all the way from Australia!

{Product Credits} - Just Another Day and Follow Studio

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Destination Wedding Stationery

It's December, it's cold and it's wet and it's dark by 4pm, and in my book, that makes it time to start picking out your destination wedding stationery! Even if you're not getting married abroad, these invites are bound to raise the glummest of moods, and with the added benefit of supporting small, creative businesses, what's not to like?

{Product Credit} Stationery above designed by Beyond Design

{Product Credit} Stationery above designed by Inky Livie

{Product Credit} Stationery above designed by (clockwise from left) Sunshine & Ravioli, The Stylish Scribe and Rubber Ducky Designs

{Product Credit} Stationery above designed by The Paper Peony

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Why We ♥ Mr Boddington Wedding Stationery

I have a HUGE crush on a man called Mr Boddington who lives in New York. Don't worry, I'm not being unfaithful to my fiancé, this affair is all about stationery, and once you've spotted Mr B's amazing work, you're going to want him too! From his studio designs to his bespoke service and ready-to-print collection (for couples on a budget) - these pics will leave you drooling.

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My Wedding - DIY Wedding Stationery

A sure-fire to way to make certain that your wedding stationery is truly personal to your big day is to create DIY wedding invitations. I couldn't afford the wedding stationery package that I wanted, so I designed it all, and had the invitations and RSVP cards printed at my local printers. {See the pictures below by Caught the Light}. But what if you're a bride & groom without any artistic aptitude!? Well the good news is that you can still get on the crafting train, because tonnes of companies now design card packages that you can easily DIY at home. From print-at-home designs, to the perfect paper, and cute embellishments like seals and ribbons, you'll find that inner creative before you know it! For more on how I created my own wedding stationery, click here.

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Super Wedding Stationery from Boutique Designers

For me it's always a toss-up between keeping the invitations to your big day simple and elegant, and going for something really creative.  I think I'd lean towards something snazzy - after all, you only do it once!  Try a few of these cutting-edge stationers on for size....

Product Credits - Top Collage: April Ink, Middle Collage: EvaPaul, Bottom Collage: Dahlia Press

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