Wedding Flowers - I Love Baby's Breath

Wedding flowers can be a huge part of your wedding budget, but no one wants to get married without their prettiness. I'm struggling with a slightly {okay, hugely} over-budget wedding, and I've taken the hard decision to cut back on my original plans of floral abundance. One way to keep costs down is to choose just one cheap bloom, buy bundles from a flower market, and then arrange them yourself. Be reassured - DIY flower arranging is much easier when you're only working with one type of bloom. I've chosen baby's breath, for its feminine, vintage style - what do you think? P.S. I'm splashing out on a white peony bouquet, or maybe light pink...I can't decide! {Pictures via Pinterest}

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Real Scottish Farmyard Wedding: Louise & Gavin

There are lots of yummy details and wedding ideas in this gorgeous farm wedding fresh from the Scottish countryside. It's a shabby-chic wedding from start to finish, with it's cute milk jugs, flower buckets, Love sign and Just Married paper chains. I'm loving the little origami boats filled with sweets at each table place - such a simple idea, and you could get all your bridesmaids making them on your hen do. Other wedding ideas to steal include the men's kilts {any excuse!}, Louise's sparkly hair accessory, and the sparkly lighting in the venue, perfectly romantic! Stuning pictures published with thanks to Elemental Weddings. **Don't miss the addition of Louise's lovely answers to the Before the Big Day Brides Questionnaire - she's got lots of advice for up-and-coming brides.**

The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Louise was kind enough to fill in our questionnaire, aimed at helping other brides with their planning process. Feast your eyes on her answers for helpful hints and tips from someone on the other side of her big day!

Where and when did you get married?
We got married on the 9th October 2010 at Kinkell Byre, St Andrews.

What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
We were looking for a venue with a difference. We knew we didn’t want a traditional hotel wedding. We got engaged in Australia and when we came home we watched a DVD of a wedding at the byre, and we fell in love with it! We went to view the byre on a typically windswept, cold Scottish day in November. Although it was a dark, empty space we knew that it could look amazing. We didn’t want an overly fussy wedding just simple and beautiful. The byre is stunning on it’s on so we had it decorated with fairy lights {thanks to Stephen from i-light}, candles, vintage signs, lanterns and flowers. We hired sofas and tables and chairs to create different areas for people to relax, chat and enjoy themselves. It looked beautiful!

Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
We had my favourite colour purple, and a rustic, vintage feel to the day.

Who made your wedding outfit, and how did you come to that decision?
I bought my dress from a shop in Carnoustie. It was the first dress I tried on and again I loved it for being simple but beautiful. I wore a vintage band in my hair and diamond earrings that my husband bought me many years before, plus pearl bracelets that I already had {a few old things!}. My shoes again were simple and most importantly comfortable!

What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
Gavin bought a kilt outfit for the big day. It was a family tartan and he looked great. We had so many men in kilts at our wedding, which I loved.

And what about your bridesmaids dresses? Where did they come from and how did you choose them?
My sister Jill was our bridesmaid. We bought her dress from Alison Kirk Bridal in Perth. It was a Dessy dress in African violet and she looked stunning. We were planning to buy a short dress but when she put it on we knew it was the one too! We chose another contrasting colour for the band and bow.

What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision? Who made it?
A friend made our cake. It was white with purple ribbon and hand made purple sugar flowers. It was beautiful and we had a layer each of sponge, carrot and chocolate. It went down very well with everyone. I don’t think Gavin even got a piece!

What florist and flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
Our florist was Ashley from Stems in Monifieth. We chose Ashley as my mum knows her and she was highly recommended. Jill and I had beautiful bouquets of lilys, hydrangeas, roses and orchids. For the centre pieces we had beautiful purple hydrangeas in pewter pots. I loved the flowers and Ashley was fantastic.

Did you have any entertainment at your wedding (DJ / Band / Magician)?
We had a jazz trio called The Sellars Brothers in the afternoon after the civil ceremony and during the drinks reception. At night we had a fantastic 6 piece band from Edinburgh called Hip Operation. They were both fantastic and the dance floor was full all night. We asked guests for 3 song choices so we had a mixture of music all day.

Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
We had Jay and Christina from Elemental Weddings (Edinburgh). After choosing Kinkell we were searching for pictures online of the byre. We found pictures of a wedding they had shot there and loved them. We simply didn’t come across any other photographers who had such beautiful pictures and it was an easy decision. We are delighted with the results!

Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
I loved planning the wedding! We got married 11 months after getting engaged and I really enjoyed putting the day together.

What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
Everyone is different but I was quite laid back about it and just enjoyed planning our big day. I didn’t worry too much about all the small details. I knew we had a great venue, caterer, photographer, bands etc. We have fantastic family and friends and I knew that it would all fall into place on the day. I think you can be a bit overwhelmed by it all but just take it one step at a time.

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Real Italian-style Wedding: Becki & Ben

Inspired by Italy, Ben and Becki chose citrus colours as the palette for their Spring wedding - to fantastic effect. I love the simple elegance of lemons in chunky vases, and tied-cork menu holders. Their guests were encouraged to leave messages on their butterfly decorated wish tree, before enjoying a Mediterranean dinner ending with chocolate mini-tortes - yum! Thank you to Juliette Neel for her lovely pics.

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Wedding Cupcakes - The Next Level

So say you've settled for cupcakes instead of a traditional three-tier wonder - all you need to decide is the flavour and the colour of the icing, right? Wrong! With these amazing wrappers from Paper Orchid Stationery, you can pimp your cupcakes, and make them a work of art in their own right.  And if you want favour boxes to match, they do those too! Make your own cupcakes with this recipe, or buy them from Crumbs & Doilies.

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That Friday Feeling Wedding Web Links ♥14

So I know it's not Friday, but I started this blog posting a few days ago and it's too good not to feature! This week has been all about accessories for my London wedding at the beginning of May. I've finally started buying all those things that I've had my eye on for the last year, and I've been trying to find as many online discounts as possible. The good news is that Cox & Cox are offering a fabulous 25% off at the moment - just use the code BSC10. I went slightly shopping mad on their site! I'm feeling the heat slightly. My brain is mildly frazzled with all the things I've still got to do. The big things are sorted, but it's the wedding details that I want to get right. As a wedding blogger, the pressure is on! {Photo Credit: Jose Villa}

Meanwhile Before the Big Day is going from strength to strength. I'd like to say a huge big welcome to my new sponsors {listed below}, and a big thank you to all the fabulous vendors who advertise on my little wedding blog. They help me keep the lights on while I'm tapping away, and I love each and every one of them. Not just anyone gets to advertise on Before the Big Day, so you can trust they're fabulous people. Please give them a click - show the love!

With the peak summer wedding season fast upon us, I got 3 wedding invitations this week, so I'm sure you know lots of up-coming brides and grooms. Please spread the word about Before the Big Day. There's thousands of brides who love the little details just like you, and I'd love to welcome them into our {mildly} wedding obsessed world!

In the meantime, here are my fabulous wedding blog web links from around the world..... {Love Balloon picture via Jenny Van Sommers}


♥ Have you checked out my Pinterest page? It's wedding inspiration heaven.

♥ A gorgeous Mediterranean-inspired wedding shoot via US wedding blog 100 Layer Cake.

♥ Perfect glittery nails you are going to LOVE! Via Cup of Jo.

♥ Simple gorgeous flower crowns via wedding blog Once Wed and my favourite wedding photographer Jose Villa.

♥ Loving the colour in this English wedding shoot via one of my favourite UK wedding blogs.

♥ Parisian-inspired wedding stationery via Oh So Beautiful Paper

♥ The best proposal picture EVER!

BIG love to my new sponsors this week......{go on, give them a click!}

♥ The Humming Bird Card Company - amazing laser cut wedding invitations
♥ Your Perfect Day - contemporary, fun and non-obtrusive style of wedding videos
♥ Daniel Harvey Weeks - a fabulous wedding photographer from the Midlands and North Somerset
♥ Azulsahara - unique wedding invitations and much, much more
♥ Denemotion - incredible contemporary wedding videos

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DIY Bride - How To Make Bunting

Are you signed up to Daily Candy? If not, then you're definitely missing out! They send me an email every day, and they're bursting with ideas for weddings, parties, culture and shopping. I was particularly impressed with yesterday's mail, as it contained a DIY Wedding Bunting tutorial. Bunting is very much the decoration du jour, I've bought meters of it from eBay for my wedding, but if you're the crafty type, then you'll love this lesson. {Picture Credit: by Youngna via Poppytalk}

You will need
Card, Pencil, Ruler, Pinking shears, Fabric (felt or paper), Pins, Needle and thread (or a sewing machine)
Ribbon (wider than 2 cm), Iron

1. Make a triangle template out of card to ensure all your bunting flags are the same size (we recommend 30 cm long).

2. Use the pencil to trace triangles onto your chosen fabric. Mix and match materials or colours for a quirky touch. (Make sure to rotate the template each time you draw another triangle to minimize wasted fabric.)

3. Use pinking shears (they prevent fraying) to cut the fabric triangles. Repeat until you have enough flags to stretch across your space.

4. Cut a piece of ribbon the length of the space you want to hang the bunting. Fold it in half from top to bottom. Iron to keep the fold in place.

5. Space the flags evenly along the ribbon, putting the top edges of the flags inside the fold of the ribbon. Pin in place and then sew using either a machine or secure backstitch. Leave at least 40 cm on either side to hang the bunting. (If you are using paper, simply staple the flags to the ribbon.)

6. Hang indoors or out. And get ready to party.

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Real London Wedding: Keshma & Chris

This bride is a girl after my own heart. I'm loving her glittery glamorous style, her stunning dress and fabulous jewelled shoes. If you're getting married in a city, you can always bump the glamour-factor up a level, and bride Keshma chose the perfect outfit for her Fulham Palace wedding. Yes, a Palace wedding - we're keeping up with the Royal Wedding theme! Other wedding ideas to copy include groom, Chris' dapper three piece suit plus simple buttonhole. I've got my eye on grooms' outfits at the moment, because my Boy hasn't chosen his wedding outfit yet. Yup, six weeks to go and he's got nothing to wear - eek! Don't miss the cake picture at the end, Keshma and Chris ignored the tradition of a white cake and went for an ah-mazing chocolate tower of heavenliness. Stunning pictures published by one of my fav photographers, the lovely Ken Buist.

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Wedding Flower Favourites - Sweat Peas

In fitting with my English Tea Party themed wedding, I'm choosing colourful English flowers. Hopefully peonies will be in season for the table decorations, but for my bouquet, I've picked sweat peas. Quintessentially English and beautifully scented, they've got a vintage prettiness that will hopefully work with my cake-stand and bunting. A quick google search led me to Sweet Peas Direct, who'll deliver me a gorgeous box of 100 stems ready for my London Wedding. {Photo Credit: Abby Trys Again}

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