Kooky Vintage UK Wedding Stationery

Brides and grooms planning a vintage wedding will want gorgeous stationery to match, so I was thrilled to discover Ally Hay's unique work. Ally is a freelance illustrator and designer, and she specialises in bespoke wedding stationery to suit all budgets. I love her use of old-fashioned seals, parchment paper and collage details. Check out more of her work here.

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WOW! The Bridal Designer Sale

If you're finding that all the wedding dresses you love are too expensive, then you're going to love the London Bridal Designer Sale. With up to 70% off exquisite designer wedding gowns, you'll finally be able to afford leading international designers like Amanda Wakeley, Amy Michelson, Caroline Castigliano, Christina Sposa and many, many more… The sale starts on Saturday 19th March {this weekend!} and runs until Sunday 20th March at London's Marriott Hotel on Grosvenor Square. Tickets to the event are FREE but appointments are booking out fast! To avoid disappointment, book now and select your preferred date and time slot.

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Real Bright Pink-Themed Wedding: Andrea & Troy

Let's inject a good old dose of colour into this Monday morning with this fabulous hot-pink summer wedding. I've totally fallen for the men in uniform, including Andrea's gorgeous groom, Troy, who wore his US navy dress suit, and looked seriously dapper. Also loving the bright pink confetti, peony pomanders and bouquets plus the purple accents in the bridesmaids' dresses. Most of all I love the sunshine! Fantastic picures published with thanks to Furious Photographers - don't miss the last two pics of the evening reception - it looks like everyone was having a riot!

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Farmhouse Wedding Mood Board

Wedding mood boards aren't really my thing. 'What's a mood board I hear you cry!' Well it's one of these {see below}. The idea is that you collect all your favourite wedding ideas and images and put them together to indicate the atmosphere or mood that you'd like at your wedding. You can then show this to your florist, or wedding planner to help them understand what's going on in your mind. They're definitely worth doing for your own wedding, but I don't know if other bride's boards are all that inspiring. They're such a personal exercise. Well that's what I thought, until I saw this one from Postcards & Pretties - a fantastic US wedding blog that's well worth checking out. There's something about the combination of cabbages and wellies that I simply LOVE. I think it might be something to do with the fact I bought my mother the same wellies for Christmas. Does it inspire you? Should I be posting more mood boards?

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That Friday Feeling Wedding Blog Web Links ♥ 12

This has been the week that was BUSY! My own wedding plans moved on a good few paces, we booked our tasting in Provence for the first week of April, and the wedding invitations went in the post. We've even had a few responses - eek! It all feels very real now. Plus two new lovely sponsors have come on board with Before the Big Day - please welcome Renira & Jane Photography and The Wedding Sonneteer {more on him soon!}. I've also made contact with lots of new, fabulous UK photographers, so stay tuned for lots more gorgeous real UK weddings on Before the Big Day. We've got a few big projects cooking here in the wedding blog kitchen, all will be revealed by the end of March.... In the meantime, enjoy your weekend with a few of these fun wedding web links.

Gorgeous picture available to buy from Chelsea Victoria {discoverd via stationery blog Parcel Post}

♥ Loving the flash of pink in this birdcage veil {discovered via wedding stationery blog Beyond Beyond}

♥ My bridesmaids are starting to buy their dresses, with only 3 months to go, they're leaving it late {eek!}. Lots of lovely inspiration for them from French Connection via wedding blog Bride & Chic.

♥ 10 ways to make your wedding stand out from the crowd {on a budget} from You & Your Wedding.

♥ If you're a bride on a bit of a budget {who isn't?!}, then don't miss the wedding blog Budget Savvy Bride - they've got loads of high-street wedding ideas.

♥ Congratulations to the lovely Erin from wedding blog Sparkle & Hay - she's only had her wedding featured on Style Me Pretty!

♥ A dreamy French country-style wedding from South African wedding blog Cap Classique. The bride's bouquet even includes grapes!

♥ Bit of a French theme this week - check out this heavenly wedding from OMG I'm Getting Married.

♥ Don't leave out your groom - here are 13 gorgeous buttonhole ideas via UK wedding blogger Little Miss Wedding

And now for a couple of vintage Before the Big Day postings!

♥ Loving the doggy best man in this Jose Villa Real Wedding

♥ A bluebell wedding in castle - enough said!

♥ Why not theme your wedding with lobsters.....?

♥ P.S. Have you found Before the Big Day on Facebook yet?

♥ Plus don't miss this week's exclusive offers - 20% off your wedding photography, thanks to Markus MacGill and £10 off eyelash extensions via Lash Lab

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Fabulous Fancy-Dress Wedding Favours

If you want to kick off your wedding reception with a sense of humour, then why not give these little fancy dress items as wedding favours. Cheap and cheerful, they'll get everyone giggling before they hit the dancefloor. Try beauty spots from Printed Wonders for the girls, and moustaches from Mister Moustache for the boys, or vice-versa - you'll have everyone swapping before you know it!

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A Fun Alternative to Bridesmaids' Posies

Fashion forward brides are moving away from choosing the simple bridesmaid posy, and picking creative alternatives instead. From ribbon rings to pomanders, parasols and pinwheels, you can really let your imagination run wild. I still haven't chosen what my {five!} adult bridesmaids should carry, but here are a few of my ideas so far....I've been searching the web for wedding inspiration.

{Above from left} Segerius Bruce Photography via Before the Big Day, DIY Your Own Flower Parasol via Martha Stewart Weddings

{Above, clockwise from top left} 1. via Chez Wed, 2. via Steel City Bride 3, Bridal Buds 4, Lauren Grabelle Photography, 5. via Utah Bride Blog
{Below} All pinwheels available to buy from Rule 42

♥ Want to see bridesmaid ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding flower ideas? ♥

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My DIY Wedding Stationery

When it comes to stationery, I'm slightly obsessive, and when it comes to invitations, I love to get creative. So when it came to my wedding stationery, I was always going to want to DIY it a bit. Well the invitations went out on Monday, and I'm really excited to show you these {rather badly taken} photographs. Everything about them, apart from the printing, was DIY'd, using punches, embossers, card and grey baker's twine. The lovely Darren at KopyKat Printing in Shoreditch ordered me my special bamboo card, and helped me get the hang of Quark, after I discovered my printer wouldn't accept thick card.

What do you think? My aim was to create a sense of anticipation for my guests, with invitations to each aspect of the wedding. We're having a London wedding for closest family, and a drinks on Sunday evening after the wedding, so I created invitations for those too. Ten couples will be staying with us in the Chateau, so I designed fun Do Not Disturb signs for them, and printed them on grey card from Paperchase on my home printer. If you're wondering about the gaps in the text, I've deleted some of specific details, just in case! If you really love the invitations, you can buy them from my new Etsy shop.

Invitation ready to send - front and back

Invitation and RSVP Postcard

Close-up of grey divine twine and key punched disc

Chateau Stay Invitation, Sunday Drinks Invitation & London Invitation

Everything! Including front and back of RSVP postacr

Key & Circle punch, plus T embosser

Update! Here are the pretty pictures of our wedding invitations, as taken by the lovely Caught the Light.

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