Say Cheese with a Wedding Cake

If you'd choose savoury over sweet any day of the week, then you might not want a wedding cake. But what to have instead? Well to keep with the tradition of tiers, why not try a multi-level cheese cake? You could create the cake yourself, but for a guaranteed beauty, check out these Cheese Shed wonders. The West Country shop sells several off-the-peg designs, but are more than happy to provide a bespoke service for the picky cheese-eaters among you!

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Autumn & Winter Wedding Ring Bearer Pillow

There's a moment at every UK wedding when everyone turns their attention to the best man - it's his big moment, time to hand over the wedding rings. At US weddings they do things differently - usually the rings are carried on a pillow by a pageboy or flower girl. I'm super-keen on the American tradition, particularly because it's another opportunity for you to personalise your big day with pretty wedding details! For example, take a look at this rustic pine cone ring pillow by Etsy-seller Rustic Blend. It's the perfect accessory for an autumn or winter wedding, and I love its handmade charm. For more ring pillow ideas, take a look at my Pinterest board.

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Do or Don't? Gifts For Your Bridesmaids

Are you planning to give your bridesmaids a wedding day present? I can still remember the gold necklace my cousin gave me on her wedding day - my sister and I were her flower girls. It was stunning, a simple delicate chain, and I wore it for years. It was an amazing momento of one of the best days of my childhood. If you're keen to buy your bridesmaids a present, but your budget doesn't stretch to gold jewellery, how about a personalised gift? Printed photo books for bridesmaids are a fantastic idea; include all your favourite pictures from the years you've known each other. Similarly, photo books from Blurb make for great post-hen night presents - full of pictures from the bride's last night of freedom. Alternatively there are tonnes of original ideas on the handmade shopping site Etsy, from personalised totes and kimonos, to sewing kits, posters and stationery sets. Here are a just a few of my latest must-haves.

{Product Credits} Clockwise from top left, 1. Personalised Stationery Sets, 2. Personalised Name Poster, 3. Bridesmaid Kimono, 4. Bridesmaid Tote, 5. Monogram Star Necklace, 6, Monogram Stitched Lavender Sachet, 7. Monogram Mini Sewing Kit.

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Real Vintage Sweetie Themed Wedding: Emma & Nick

One of my biggest aims at my own wedding was to treat everyone to a truly fabulous night. I had that Christmassy feeling of excitement about my big day, and I wanted all my guests to feel the same way. Emma and Nick must have had exactly the same feeling, because they indulged their guests with an amazing smorgasbord of treats, from a vintage sweet favour cart, to a chocolate fountain and cupcakes to finish - yum! I love Emma's pretty wedding style, from her elegant up-do, and 'something borrowed' tiara, to her stunning strapless wedding gown and sparkly shoes. Don't miss Emma's words of wisdom in her answers to Before the Big Day's bride's questionnaire. She bought her bridesmaids dresses for only £15 each, and even DIY'd her own wedding stationery! Gorgeous pictures published with thanks to Lee Waymont Photography.

My dress and veil were from Bellissima in South Woodham, I wore my Mum's tiara and had super sparkly silver shoes hidden under my dress :o).

We got married on the Bank Holiday weekend, on Sunday, 26th August 2012 at St Mary's Church in Bocking, reception followed at Fennes. We wanted our wedding theme to be simple and understated, but elegant, so we kept to silver and pink colour theme, with butterflies as the motif of the day.

  

My bridesmaids' dresses were a bargains of the century! The gowns were from H&M - they were £35 maxi dresses, which we had altered by a dressmaker for £15 each to create a cute summery pretty length!

Nick treated himself to a full suit with tails from William Hunt in the sale ☺

For our flowers, we used a local florist called The Wedding Stores. Our original plan was to DIY our flowers, but after meeting the florist, Fay, she totally understood what we wanted and we couldn’t have been happier with the results. Plus it was such good value for money!!

Nick and I met on separate holidays with friends, and completely by chance discovered we lived 5 minutes from each other. Twelve months ago Nick surprised me with a weekend away {secret time booked off work, etc} to a beautiful cottage in The Cotswolds. He'd arranged a private table in the gardens, by a lake. 

He told me had two surprises, one romantic and one joke. As the romantic present, he gave me a book of love, including photos of our years together and beautiful poetry. Then he asked me to close my eyes for the joke present, and I discovered him down on one knee asking me if I would do him the honour of being his wife. It was amazing.

My advice for brides to to enjoy every stage of the planning process! If something happens that begins to stress you out, just take a couple of steps back and distance yourself for a day or two. Remember its YOUR day, and while you might want to please other people, make sure there are a couple of things in there that really reflect you both as a couple. Oh, and task someone – a bridesmaid or an usher - with the job of taking the guest book from table to table – so worth it and the only thing I wish we’d done but forgot to! Most of all have fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed planning our wedding and wish I could rewind and do it all over again! I’m a pretty laid-back person anyway, but I didn't see any need to stress out! Six days before my wedding, my dressmaker even told me I was the calmest bride she'd ever seen. I am so pleased I made the most of it all, only 2 bouts of tears in the 12 months over 'wedmin' stress ha!

For our wedding photographer, we chose Lee Waymont Photography who was recommended to us by a friend whose wedding he photographed last September. We have been so so impressed by his work, and he was an absolute star on the day too.

We wanted a venue that would reflect us, sweet and not too fancy… we did lots of research, but ultimately fell in love with Fennes before we had even seen it in real life! Decoration-wise, we wanted things simple and sweet. Literally… we incorporated something we both love in the decorations and in the theme, with a vintage sweet cart, chocolate fountain, a wishing tree table plan with names of our favourite sweets, and we even named our tables after sweets.

For our wedding favours we had a vintage-style sweet cart, as well as a chocolate fountain - yum! We also gave each guest a silver butterfly stirrer with a romantic quote, and filled large martini glasses with sweets for a centrepiece on each table. One was filled with candy watches, another with mini eggs, and another with strawberry bon bons, they went down sooooo well, although we have lots of lollipops left over!

For our wedding cake we chose a cupcake tree, we had to – I love cupcakes so much and everyone knows it!  I make them all the time, and eat them all the time, ha and yes Nick did put one in my face on the wedding day!!

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Wedding Accessory High Street Finds

The first port of call for brides on a budget should always be the High Street. There's a great British tradition of providing stylish fashion at budget prices - something other countries are desperate to imitate. Whether you actually stomp the streets is an entirely different question, as every website worth its salt now has a fantastic online option. This season, I'm particularly impressed by the selection of earrings at Anthropologie. They're perfect for your 'something blue', or as bridesmaids gifts. Also, don't miss Jenny Packham's diffusion line, I've fallen for her fluffy feather stole and White Swan-style headband.

{Product Credits} 1. Precious Cluster Earrings {£98},  2. Cynosure Mobile Earrings {£28} 3. Concert Hall Drops {£28} all Anthropologie

{Product Credits} 1. Ivory Feather Stole {£100}, 2. Ivory Jewelled Headband {£48} 3. Grey Halo Feather Headband {£35} all No.1 Jenny Packham for Debenhams

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Real Shabby-Chic Wedding: Bethany & Ethan

Backyard weddings are always among the most intimate of real weddings, and this one is no different. Bethany and Ethan decided they wanted an Anthropologie style wedding, filled with personal touches and hundreds of details. Bethany’s mom hand sewn all the gorgeous quilts that were a main part of the homespun decor. Handmade vintage ribbons and banners were strewn about the house saying things like “celebrate” and “eat drink and be married!” Bethany’s wedding dress was custom made on Etsy, and all the flowers and vintage decor display was designed by the talented Annette Gomez. I love all the wedding details, including the vintage typewriter for guests' messages to the bride and groom. Gorgeous pictures published with thanks to This Modern Romance.

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Rustic Raw Cotton Wedding Inspiration

Raw cotton has got me in a spin. I've fallen for its fluffy fabulousness and rustic simplicity. It's an fantastic alternative to flowers for winter and spring brides - with the added benefit your wedding bouquet and buttonholes would last forever! String the bolls together for decorations, add them to table displays for extra texture, or create cloudy wreaths. For more fabulous winter wedding ideas, check out my Pinterest page.

{Picture Credit} Jasmine Star via Green Wedding Shoes

{Picture Credit} 1. Unkown 2. Jasmine Star via Green Wedding Shoes

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Wedding Hair Tutorials

On our wedding day, ideally we'd all like to have our hair styled by a professional. But if you can't afford a hair and make-up artist to come to your house, or your normal hairdresser doesn't do chignons, help is at hand! Thanks to the wonders of the wedding blogging world, and Pinterest, I've discovered dozens of amazing hair-styling tutorials. They all look reasonably easy, and with a bit of practice, plus a couple of handy bridesmaids, I'm sure you could DIY-Your-Do. Why not invite your girlfriends over for a bottle of champagne and a trial? Check out my favourite tutorials. P.S. If you're looking for a fabulous hair and makeup expert, I hugely recommend our Blog Beauty Expert, Julia Bowden. Take a look at her Beauty Blog Posts.

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Winter Brides Accessories Guide

One of my favourite online wedding shops, BHLDN has launched their pretty winter range, and it's perfect for a winter or spring bride. Just take a look at the cute feathery shrugs, furry cuffs and elegant leather gloves. But would you wear ear-muffs or a bobble hat on your wedding day? It's certainly one way to be a bride that stands out from the crowd!

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