Real Rural DIY Wedding: Catherine and Matt

With more DIY wedding details than you can shake a stick at, this is easily one of my favourite weddings of all time, not least because the bride is a regular reader of Before the Big Day! Lovely Catherine is a textile designer, and you can see her creative talent in every element of her and Matt's beautiful rural wedding. They chose Canterbury in Kent as the location for their big day, and celebrated their wedding ceremony in a village church, surrounded by poppy fields and rolling hills, followed by their wedding reception in the village hall. Catherine designed and handmade many of her wedding details, including the stunning floral bridesmaids' dresses, her hand-printed wedding stationery, and she even altered her second-hand wedding dress - an amazing Enzoani Diana gown she found on eBay! You'll love all the rural vintage touches, enjoy these gorgeous pictures by Lily Sawyer Photography - I'll be posting the poppy field portrait pictures and reception shots later today!

Possibly the Best Wedding Prank ever?

Be kind to your ushers, because you never know when they're going to strike.... Picture c/o Simply Bloom Photography, from the lovely wedding of Skyler and Kristian. The groom had no idea they'd decorated the soles of his shoes. Don't miss more pictures from this lovely sparkly themed wedding with a mismatched cake.

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British Seaside Wedding Ideas

If you love the traditional British world of bunting, bathing huts and camper vans, you're going to instantly fall for the wedding shop I've just discovered on Etsy. Something New Stationery is the brainchild of Jenni Bryan, and I'm enchanted by her cute take on the British seaside. Just take a look at her lovely designs below! Her shop also stocks a huge range of colourful baking twine, at a reasonable price of £5 per spool. What's not to love?

Holiday Beach Huts Wedding Seating Plan, £45

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Real English Seaside Teepee Wedding: Pip & Nik

Some of my favourite emails I recieve as a wedding blogger, are those from happily married brides, asking me to feature their weddings on Before the Big Day. Organising your wedding can take months, and I remember how thrilled I was by my own wedding pictures by Caught the Light, I couldn't wait to share them with everone! So when the lovely Pip got in touch with me a couple of months ago with her stunning wedding photographs by Victoria Phipps, I wanted to share them with you immediately. I'm loving Pip's elegant 'Claire' dress by Jenny Packham, the Nik's stunning paper buttonhole rose by Petal Products and their gorgeous teepee-style marquee. Other stealworthy deatils include the floral vintage china, the beautiful vintage car, and the lovely beachside portrait pictures. It's such a good idea to get away for a few minutes, for your wedding pictures together. I know I found it hard to leave my guests, but they make such fabulous memories. For more fantastic details about this beautiful wedding, as written by Pip, don't miss the feature on Whimsical Wonderland Weddings. Huge thanks to Victoria Phipps Photography for these lovely pictures.

How To Keep Children Happy At Weddings

What are you planning to do about children at your wedding? It's a hugely sticky subject, particularly if not many of your friends have children, and you're getting pressure from your relatives to let them bring theirs along. Personally I'm not keen on toddlers at weddings, although I completely understand the need for breastfeeding babies to attend, as long as they aren't allowed to wail through the ceremony. On the other hand, I know that some people see weddings as a family affair, and love the idea of the little nippers running around, and adding to the energy of a big day. Whichever side you fall, you're going to want to keep the little ones occupied during the meal, so their parents can enjoy the reception and speeches. Children's activity packs are the way forward, and I'm super-impressed by the fun selection offered by Yoyo Me. You can choose from personalised boxes, activity bags and doodle-pads, depending on your budget. They're all wedding themed, and educational as well us fun!

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Real Vintage South African Wedding: Marzaan & Joe

This vintage wedding comes all the way from South Africa. Marzaan and Joe celebrated their wedding in the wine region of the Western Cape, in a cute village called Fraanschhoek. Marzaan had two heavenly dresses, and wore a gorgeous garland of flowers instead of a veil. I'm loving her garter and her lovely laid-back hair-style. It rained all day, but who cares when you've got a stunning gallery-style venue. My favourite details? The pairing of a modern setting with vintage detailing - check out the lovely antique silver candlesticks and flower containers, plus the old books and monochrome ribbon. Throw in a blackboard menu, and a pile of fancy-dress for the photobooth, and you've got a wedding made in heaven. Huge thanks to the team at We Love Pictures for their fantastic photographs from the day.

Ushers & Groomsmen Gift Ideas

Are you planning to hand out presents on your wedding day? Traditionally the groom gives the bridesmaids a little something, and possibly even the ushers get a look-in. As a couple, we completely failed on this front at our wedding. We'd run out of money and time, and apart from our wedding favours, no one received any presents, and I still feel slightly guilty about it! If I had my time again, I'd love to create bespoke cosmetic sets for my bridesmaids, and for the ushers....well, how about DIY-ing cocktail sets like these, according to their favourite tipple?

{Photo Credit} 1. Bourbon drink set by Victor Sizemore Photography, 2. Cocktail Drink Set, picture by Autumn Wilson Photography, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Photo Credit} 1. Hip Flasks by Captured Photography by Jenny, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Photo Credit} 1. Old-fashioned Shaving Set by Aravaggio Photography, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

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Your Rainbow Wedding Diet

{Posting by Alice Cowen of Fitness DNA, Before the Big Day's Personal Trainer & Nutritionist} If you're finding it hard to focus on your wedding diet, here's a fun, simple and easy way to eat more healthily. I call it The Rainbow Diet. Not only is it super-slimming to eat more vegetables and fruit, but if you eat a multi-coloured diet, you'll be getting a mixture of antioxidants, which are the clever substances believed to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and memory loss. Different colours contain different kinds of antioxidants, hence a rainbow diet gives you the best all round nutritious diet. Each day try and eat something from each of the colours of the rainbow!

{Photo Credit} David Malan

Red such as tomatoes, red grapes, red onions, beetroot, peppers, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, radish, watermelon.

Orange such as squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, oranges, tangerines.

Yellow such as yellow squash, turmeric, mustard, yellow pepper, banana, sweetcorn.

Green such as spinach, asparagus, avocado, artichoke, broccoli, peas, beans, apples, grapes, kale, sprouts.

Blue such as blueberries

Purple such as grapes, aubergine, purple carrots, plums.

Try it and see how you feel after a couple of weeks.

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