Sparkly Cinderella Wedding Shoes

There's a secret place in many brides' hearts where they'd quite like to be Cinderella on their wedding day. So why not indulge your inner fairy-tale dreams with these gorgeous slippers from the Girls of Elegance Era range. They're not quite made out of spun glass, but the fully crystallised surface will ensure every step you take will shimmer with light. With several styles to choose from, including wedges and flats, you can be sure to sparkle on your wedding day.

♥ Want more wedding shoe ideas? ♥ Or how about more fairy tale wedding ideas? ♥

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Winter Brides - How To Keep Warm & Stylish

These soft blush fur shrugs are the perfect accessory for a winter or spring bride. Created by British company Hope & Grace, they're cute and cosy, and reminiscent of Anna Karenina. I watched the film last week, and I've fallen in love with the styling. With The Great Gasby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan due out in the spring, 2013 weddings are bound to be heavily influenced by old-school glamour. Get ahead of the curve and wear one at your winter wedding, or if you're feeling particularly generous, buy one for each of your bridesmaids. They're available in a range of colours from simple ivory, to stylish antique pink and soft grey. P.S. Hope & Grace also make beautiful bridal hair accessories.

♥ Want more winter weddings? ♥ Or how about more wedding accessory ideas? ♥

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'Tis The Season: October Wedding Fairs

October is wedding fair season! All the best wedding suppliers are getting booked up for 2013's weddings, and brides are hunting far and wide for wedding inspiration. Wedding fairs are a fantastic way for you to bond with your mum and bridesmaids, so why not make a day of it, and enjoy a champagne cream tea as well? Ahead of my wedding I went to at least three wedding fairs, and they were fabulous! The fashion shows are particularly inspirational.

♥ First up for London brides is A Curious Wedding Fair, taking place this weekend on 6th October at York Hall in East London. Described as the wedding event for the not-so-blushing bride, and packed with fashion-forward and trend aware suppliers, tickets are only £4 on the door. Brides living further north will love the Norwich Curious Wedding Fair on 21st October at St Andrew's Hall.

♥ Brides preparing for their big day won't want to miss the National Wedding Show in Birmingham. Taking place this weekend {5-7th October} at Birmingham's NEC, organisers bring together hundreds of fabulous wedding suppliers under one roof. Book your tickets here. Combining over 250 handpicked exhibitors and the UK’s largest collection of wedding dresses under one roof, the show offers everything you could need for your big day. From stunning cakes to show stopping flowers and beautiful venues to bespoke dresses there is something for every bride and every budget.

♥ If you're a bride with luxury tastes, you're guaranteed to love the Designer Wedding Show. With more than 140 exhibitors of exquisite wedding gowns and accessories, stunning cakes, bespoke stationery, and fabulous wedding photographers, it's a veritable treasure trove of wedding ideas. Click here to buy tickets.

 ♥ Vintage brides will love all the treasure trove of wedding inspiration that is the London Vintage Wedding Fair in Clerkenwell, London on 28th October. With over 50 exhibitors, fashion shows, vintage DJ's, singers, tea rooms and copious quantities of champagne, you'll also love the wedding workshops. Learn about the history of vintage, how to dress for your body shape {with Zoe Lem}, the best way to cater for your wedding, and how to plan your wedding.

♥ Want more wedding theme ideas? ♥ Or how about more real weddings? ♥

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A Vintage Silhouette Wedding Theme

This year's winter weddings are all about harking back to a glamorous age, when the gentlemen were charming, ladies giggled behind fans, and champagne was served in gold-rimmed glasses. Make your wedding an escape from everyday reality with a Silhouette Wedding Theme. This classic artform is hugely adaptable, why not add your personalised silhouettes to your wedding invitations, favour tags, wedding decorations and even your cake toppers. Romantic and whimsical in one! I love these cake toppers from Simply Silhouettes' Etsy Wedding Shop - don't miss the rest of their fabulous collection. For more wedding theme ideas, including a whole board on Silhouette Weddings, take a look at my Pinterest page.

♥ Want more wedding theme ideas? ♥ Or how about more glamourous wedding ideas? ♥

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Real Rustic Bliss Wedding: Alee & Ben

Lavender, cotton and burlap make for wedding blogger heaven in this gorgeous big day, set on the groom's family farm. Beautiful Alee and Ben celebrated their wedding day with peacocks among the wedding guests, and a sunlit outdoor ceremony. I love the boho rustic feel of Alee's twine-tied wedding bouquet, the cute flower crowns worn by the bridesmaids, and the simple cotton-bole decorations. Vintage bottles tied with twine and rosemary and simple palm fan favours added to the elegant simplicity of the day. Stunning wedding pictures published with thanks to the team at Simply Bloom Photography.

♥ Want more lavender wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more rustic weddings? ♥

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A Black Veil: Would you?

Sometimes it only takes one thing to get inspired, and for me, this black wedding veil has got me thinking. As autumn approaches, consider a darker slant on your wedding day, maybe a gothic theme, a candlelit ceremony or a crushed berry colour palette. Or why not a jewel-hewed wedding gown? Find more fabulous alternative wedding ideas on my Pinterest board. Beautiful black butterfly veil by Ellen Marie Designs on Etsy Weddings.

♥ Want more gothic wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more black-themed weddings? ♥

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Wonderful Wedding Blog Links

The last three months have been pretty hectic here at the Before the Big Day studio, and for all sorts of reasons, you might have noticed our blog updates haven't been as frequent as we would have liked. It all comes down to one small, but growing reason....{click here for the pic}....I'm expecting a baby in early April. We're absolutely thrilled, but the first three months of pregnancy have completely wiped me out, and all I could do was sleep, feel sick, and sleep a bit more. But now I'm back on track, my energy levels have returned, and all my girlfriends are getting married, so my brain is once again stuffed with fabulous wedding ideas. Here are just a few of my favourite wedding blog spots from across the wonderful wedding world.

♥ Adorable flower girl dress by Juju's Tutus
♥ Mini tassels are the new pompoms in this neon inspired wedding shoot

♥ The easiest wedding DIY idea you'll ever see - too beautiful

♥ Will you change your name? A fab idea for an original solution

♥ I adore these autumnal flowers

♥ A pretty urban wedding in a restaurant

♥ When a prince met a princess bride....

♥ Pretty easy DIY tag idea

♥ Wedding berry inspirational

♥ Only the best wedding cake ideas

♥ Want more destination wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more peach-themed weddings? ♥

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Real Italian Destination Wedding: Suzanne & Lee - Part 2

Brides dreaming of an Italian destination wedding are going to want to copy every detail of this gorgeous big day. Suzanne and Lee started with a heavenly vineyard wedding venue, and added a rustic theme, fabulous flower displays, and jam-jar lanterns, plus tonnes more wedding details. I love Suzanne's glamorous Rita Westenius wedding gown, her family heirloom tiara, and her beautiful bouquet, which included hydgrangea blooms as her 'something blue'. With an enormous, traditionally Italian wedding cake, and local specialities as wedding favours, Suzanne and Lee drew inspiration from their surroundings for their wedding theme, and added their own DIY touches. Read more about Suzanne's projects in her comments below! Huge thanks to Amoretti Weddings, who planned their big day, and Andrea Calvano for his stunning wedding pictures.

We got married in a little medieval village called Citta'Sant'angelo, in the rural province of Abruzzo Italy on 4 June 2012 – the Queen's Diamond Jubilee!

The venue was perfect and hopelessly 100% authentic Italy. An old villa situated in a vineyard perched on top of a cliff with panoramic views of the Adriatic and Apennine mountains; it was spectacular. 

We wanted our decorations to reflect the rustic nature of the surrounding countryside and the faded grandeur of the villa. Because the views and setting were so wonderful, we knew we wanted flowers and decorations that would match it and hold their own amongst the surroundings.

I really enjoyed planning my wedding, but it did take up a lot of time! I am quite glad now that I can go to work and not have to think about favours or lastminute changes to seating plans!

Our wedding stationery was designed by Emiliana and the team at Amoretti Weddings, and they were fantastic. They were not wedding planners per se but more wedding designers! Emiliana was our wedding planner and she also designs amazing, elegant stationary so it was a no-brainer.

Fabrizio Panone of Pescara did out flower arrangements, we were so pleased with them! We chose him because, despite the language barrier, he instantly understood what I was trying to get across with pointing and gesticulating! 

For DIY projects, I created a little package for every guest about the local area and plans for the day and put it in their hotel rooms. As it was a wedding abroad I didn't want anyone to feel lost, and we wanted to ensure our guests savoured the local delicacies and see why we chose the region.

I also made a guest book on blurb.com. I badgered family members to provide me with photographs of all our grandparents on their wedding day, that would intermingle with the guest book pages. I also managed to dig out some photos from 1906, 1928 and 1952 of my family wedding headpiece in use!

We decided to keep the favours simple and 'Italian'. The girls had little packages of sugared almonds – a regional specialty, and the boys had little bottles of {my fave} ratafia, a local Abruzzo cherry liqueur- they went down very well.

We had a traditional Italian creamy wedding cake provided by the venue.

No matter how hard you try, or how detailed you plan your big day, some things will just refuse to go to plan. My advice is to book someone at you wedding who can be your 'troubleshooter / present putter-awayer / MC / guest co-ordinator' and just relax, breathe and enjoy the day.

We asked Andrea Calvano, a local photographer, to take out pics. We chose him because on viewing his portfolio he had a wonderful artistic flare.

♥ Want more destination wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more peach-themed weddings? ♥

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