Before the Big Day Competition - Win Your Engagement Shoot

Hello to all you lovely new Before the Big Day readers from the Designer Wedding Show! I had so much fun meeting all of you, and I have to admit to being very flattered at how many of you were already fans of Before the Big Day. A big thanks too, to the lovely Patrick from Butler-Madden Weddings for inviting me to hang out as his stand, AND for his fantastic competition offer. Don't forget you can win an engagement shoot with Patrick this week - all you need to do is go to Butler-Madden Weddings' Facebook page and Like. Then you need to tell me your imaginative and creative location for your engagement shoot by commenting below this post. Make sure you add your email address as well. Good luck - we'll be announcing the winner on Friday 14th October at 1700. For the Terms & Conditions of this competition, please click here.

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more Real Wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Breathtaking Renaissance-Style Wedding: Jillian & Brian

Stupendous is not a word I'd use lightly, but it's the word that jumps to mind when you see the incredible wedding dress in this Before the Big Day Real Wedding. It's a fabulous confection of ruffles and bows and feathers, with more than a little of the Carrie Bradshaw about it. And I love it! My theory is that if you're only going to get married once in your life {here's hoping}, then it's worth doing it properly. Jillian and Ben must have felt the same way, because their venue {Vizcaya Museum in Florida}, flowers and detailing are all breathtaking. This sort of wedding doesn't come cheap, but if you're working on a budget then there's plenty of wedding ideas you can steal, from the sweetie bar, to the balloon photo props and the black and white theme. You could also use their fab photographers - the very talented ladies from Simply Bloom.

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more more monochrome wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Farm-Style Shabby Chic Wedding: Jess & Rik

If I could get married all over again, in England, this wedding is exactly how I would want to do it. Gorgeous Jess and Rik celebrated their big day in the Bristol countryside, with a glamorous farm-stye theme, complete with a tractor and trailer to transport them from the church, and straw bales for seating. Themes are all about drawing inspiration from your venue - it'll make the details more likely to fit in with their surroundings. That's why the burlap, traditional marquee and vintage suitcase guest book area work so well in this wedding. I'm also loving Jess' incredible gown, and her bridesmaids' soft pink dresses, which must be some of the most flattering I've ever seen. No ghastly Bo Peep outfits for these ladies! Fab traditional green striped straws too. Stunning pictures published with thanks to Butler-Madden Weddings. If you want to see more from this wedding, check out the Before the Big Day Facebook page.

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more more marquee wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Before the Big Day Competition - Win Your Engagement Shoot

October always feels like the start of a new year to me. It must be a left-over feeling from the start of the new school year, but as soon as the leaves start turning, it feels like it's time to start afresh. To celebrate this brand new season, and to whoosh away any back-to-school, goodbye summer blues, I have a fabulous competition for you. Drumroll please.....One of my very favourite photographers, Patrick, from Butler-Madden Weddings is offering an amazing engagement shoot for one lucky couple. This incredible prize is the perfect way for you to practice your posing ahead of your big day, and celebrate your engagement. It's worth hundreds of pounds, so it's no ordinary prize, it's a supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus prize!

To enter, you need to do two simple things. You need to go to Butler-Madden Weddings' Facebook page and Like. Then you need to tell me your imaginative and creative location for your engagement shoot by commenting below this post. Make sure you add your email address as well.

We'll be announcing the winner in one week, on Friday 14th October at 1700. In the meantime, if you're going to be at Designer Wedding Show in London this weekend {7th-9th Oct} look out for the Butler-Madden Weddings stand. If you fancy it, come over and have a chat with me, Patrick, or his lovely assistant Laura. For the Terms & Conditions of this competition, please click here.

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more more destination wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Incredible Destination Engagement Shoot & Competition

Normally I don't feature engagement shoots, so this is a huge change for Before the Big Day. I figure as tonnes of photographers are now offering engagement shoots as part of their wedding packages, brides need inspiration on how to style their engagement shoots just as much as they need wedding inspiration. I've fallen head-over-heels for this gorgeous couple. Angus and Alice got engaged a few months ago, and Patrick from Butler-Madden Weddings shot their engagement pictures in sunny Majorca, where they live. The light is just gorgeous, and I'm loving their casual clothes and easy style. If this shoot is tempting you into organising one to celebrate your own engagement, then prepare yourselves for some exciting news. Butler Madden Weddings and Before the Big Day are teaming up at the Designer Wedding Show to offer an amazing competition. I'll be anouncing more details tomorrow - so make sure you check back on the wedding blog tomorrow!

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more more destination wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Personalised Photographic Wedding Present

Looking for an unusual wedding invitation? Donna Geissler will personalise this picture for you with your names, and then you can use it as one side of a postcard. Wouldn't it make a great Save the Date? Or if you've got friends getting married and you're looking for a unique wedding present, buy them one too!

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more wedding stationery ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Before the Big Day Wedding Theme: Music

Music is a brilliant way to theme your wedding. Whether you work in the music industry, love listening to classical, rap or swing, or met your future husband at a concert, you've got an excuse to personalise your big day in a tuneful way. I love these heart banners from Etsy shop The Path Less Travelled - made using paper hearts cut from a vintage hymnal, the banners are a great way to recycle. You could also use old sheet music to make confetti cones and favour boxes, or even as placemats at your wedding reception. Other music-themed wedding ideas include CD's of your favourite songs as favours, a record-player shaped cake, and of course - your favourite band to play your first dance.

If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for more wedding theme ideas.

Introducing Lumière Photography

Can you believe that at one stage I seriously considered not having a wedding photographer at my own wedding? At the time, my then fiancé and I were deep in wedding budget hell, and couldn't quite believe how much money we'd signed up to spend. Once we settled down a bit and cut a few corners elsewhere, I realised that the photographer was more important than any other wedding necessity. Now, three months after our big day, I'm still loving our wedding pictures, and rediscovering shots of my friends and family enjoying themselves. My latest discovery - Lumière Photography - specialises in capturing just those moments. Their style is candid and natural and all about capturing the glow of the moment. They take a good variety of pictures; from photojournalistic shots to a few more arty-style photographs. Plus they're all about discussing your ideas, so if you've got a set vision of how you'd like your wedding pictures to look, then you should get talking! With packages starting at only £830, with 10% off for week-day weddings, AND a complimentary pre-wedding shoot, you've no excuse not to sign them up now! Check out some of Lumière Photography's work below, and keep checking back on Before the Big Day for more of their real weddings.

If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for real wedding inspiration. This is a Sponsored Post for Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog