Monday 7 January 2013

Real Tipi Church Wedding: Jess & Alistair

Brighten up your day with this fantastic colourful wedding day, set by the sea, on the Wirral peninsula. The lovely Jess and Alistair had two different visions for their big day, but compromised between traditional and quirky, with a church wedding and a tipi reception. With bright blue cornflowers, red roses, pink peonies and yellow daffodils, Jess' beautiful bouquet epitomises the theme colours for this gorgeous wedding, and I've completely fallen for her bridesmaids' floral dresses, and vintage-style corsages. Jess' lovely vintage gown was refashioned from her mother's wedding dress, and her blue wedding shoes were a bargain from a local supermarket! Don't miss all the gorgeous wedding reception pictures - due to go live later today. Huge thanks to Victoria Phipps Photography for her beautiful work - she captured every stunning detail.


My wedding dress had been my mothers wedding dress from the 1970s. I tried on lots of lovely dresses but none on them were what I had envisioned myself wearing. My mum was more than happy for me to customise her dress as it had been sitting in the attic for the last 37 years. A local dressmaker at Anna May Couture in West Kirby interpreted my ideas and made the dress.


The headpiece was borrowed from my bridesmaid from when she was married. I did want a floral head garland but once I put my friends headpiece on it just seemed right. 



We had three different florists for my bouquet, the church and the reception. My bouquet and the bridesmaid’s corsages/groomsmen buttonholes were by Eden Florists in West Kirby, Wirral. Friends of Alistair's mother did the flowers for the reception, and members of the church did the church flowers.

I knew I wanted floral bridesmaid dresses. The girls tried on dresses from Phase Eight and they ticked all the boxes!


I loved my blue wedding shoes, and even better, they were from a well know supermarket and didn’t break the bank. Everyone commented on them and thought they must have been expensive.

Al wanted to stay traditional and went for suit with tails, hired from Moss Bros. His tie was from Charles Tyrwhitt. He picked out the blue ties for the ushers and the camel coloured waistcoats.



We got married end of July 2012 in Thurstaston on the Wirral Peninsula. The ceremony was at St Bartholomew’s Church and the reception was in Papa Kata tipis at Church Farm on the Wirral.

Al is quite traditional and I wanted something fun and relaxed. We compromised by having a church wedding and a tipi reception. The church had meaning for both of us as it was where my parents had got married and somewhere Al and his family had visited on Sunday walks.

We met at a party - I was already friends with Al’s brother. We proceeded in bumping into each other at various gigs and nights out, and realised we had a lot in common {the-who-asked-who-out part is greatly contended!}. We had been together for 4 years when we decided to do a European road trip. We drove around Europe with the final destination being a day in Paris.

We spent the day touring the sights, and in the evening Al had booked a table in the wonderful restaurant. It was so busy, we were squeezed onto the end of a table almost on the laps of the couple next to us. We ate late and as the restaurant emptied out they moved us to a table of our own for our desserts and coffees. Al proposed over the crème brûlée.



Our photographer was Victoria from Victoria Phipps Photography. We really liked her natural wedding photography style.



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Friday 4 January 2013

Pastel Bridesmaid Inspiration for Spring

After the weather forecast promised sunshine, only for it to rain, I've decided I'm done with winter, and started looking ahead to spring! First up for my spring-clean are bridesmaids dresses. I love these bright pastel gowns, and wedding accessories from BHLDN. Their bright tones are bang on trend for 2013, and your girls would be sure to wear them again and again. Last year was all about muted shades, but I'm predicting a big colour flush for this year - you heard it here first, look out for the brights!



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Hello New Wedding Blog Readers!

Do you know someone who got engaged this Christmas or New Year? Well why not tell them all about Before the Big Day wedding blog? You can sign up for the Before the Big Day newsletter, and get all the blog posts direct to your inbox. That means more wedding inspiration and wedding ideas, and all for free! The fabulous news is that word is spreading, and this month, 5000 more new unique users have discovered Before the Big Day. This makes me very happy, and I'd like to say Hello! to all the new wonderful brides who've come over to the wedding-side {think dark side, and it sort of makes sense}. If you're a mega-fan, then you might also want to find us on Pinterest {so much wedding inspiration your brain might explode}, Facebook {lovely pictures & competitions} and Twitter {all the latest wedding news}.


{Product Credit} Rainbow Hello stickers by Sparrow Nest Script

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Thursday 3 January 2013

How To Choose Your Wedding Flowers

Choosing your wedding flowers can be a pretty tricky business; considering most people just send flowers and bouquets, without really knowing the names of any particular blooms. But thanks to Pinterest, I've stumbled across the best wedding flower guides E-V-E-R! It's all thanks to the amazing team over at The Wedding Chicks wedding blog. Along with Krista Jon, they've organised the most popular wedding flowers by colour palette, so you can impress your wedding florist with your knowledge. Of course, if you're getting married abroad {like I did}, then the pictures will help you enormously, although you could always consider international flower delivery instead! To enlarge the pictures below, just double click. More wedding flower guides here.





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Wednesday 2 January 2013

Rustic Post-Wedding Shoot: Camille & Chris

Having swooned over all of Camille and Chris' wedding details, I've now fallen for their simple but sweet post-wedding shoot. I reckon it's the best idea EVER to organise some time with your wedding photographer the day AFTER your wedding. It gives you the opportunity to reflect on your big day, and collect a lovely album of pictures of the two of you relaxing together. Wedding days are always busy, so it's often hard to give enough time to your wedding photographer for portrait shots. The after-wedding shoot solves that problem. I love these beautiful pictures taken by M&J Photography. Try it yourself - all you need is a couple of simple props, a stunning natural backdrop, and two talented photographers! If you missed Camille and Chris' wedding, click here and here.






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Tuesday 1 January 2013

Real Rustic Vintage Wedding: Camille & Chris - Part 2

It's time for the wedding reception pictures from this amazing detail-filled rustic, country wedding! With elegant parasols, handmade wedding favours, pretty doily decorations, and vintage fabulousness, you're going to want to copy every wedding detail for your own big day. Camille and Chris celebrated their destination wedding in Quebec in Canada, so all their DIY details were planned at a distance - no small feat! I love how they used luggage tags and a French Bistro style mirror as their table plan, and the pretty lace curtain makes the perfect backdrop for a photo booth. Other pretty reception decorations include the vintage lace table runners, the matching doily table numbers and the simple baby's breath and hydrangea wedding flowers. Love! Take a look at Camille's answers to the Before the Big Day's Bride's Questionnaire, for all her DIY projects and advice. Don't miss Part 1 of this gorgeous wedding here....coming soon Part 3, going live later today. Beautiful pictures published with thanks to the hugely talented Jonny and Morgane from M&J Photography.





We got married on July 7, 2012 in Mille-Isles in the province of Quebec, Canada, at the Fiddler Lake Resort. We visited several venues looking for a country-ish place where we would be celebrating our wedding outdoors, with the sun and mild temperatures of summer. 



We opted for the Fiddler Lake Resort because all our guests would be able to enjoy great authentic country cottages for a weekend {and week for those coming from overseas}. Also the Resort gave us 'carte blanche' for our wedding preparation, including no time limit for the party!


All of our decor was pretty much a DIY décor. We had a lot of fun looking for vintage, simple yet chic details and giving a second life to some furniture and pieces we found. Our theme was vintage-country and we asked our guests feel free to dress comfortably and to add a touch of vintage in their look! 

Our wedding color scheme built over time, as we were finding decor pieces bit by bit. Overall, we wanted to have white or cream flowers, beige table clothes and touches of cream lace here and there, as well a natural wood.



For our wedding favours, we made little candy bags out of brown paper bags, decorated with white doilies, and placed at each seat. We had the candies brought from France, the kind we know kids and adults are addicted to!

 We also had a lot of DIY projects but the funniest was making our lips and moustache favours for our guests! My handy husband mastered his scissors like no one, so we were done quickly! 


Our stationery kind of inspired our wedding décor. We chose them early in our planning, and bought them online at Minted. The process was so easy, I'd recommend it to any couple! We loved the lips and moustache vintage design, customized the text, and got our cards in no time.




We had tonnes of DIY projects, and worked as a team for months. I would buy used pieces in flea markets and Chris would help me give them a second life. We looked both for ideas online and shopped together - we loved it planning our wedding, and we'd do it again! Inspecting venues, talking budget, looking for suppliers, finding unique pieces everywhere and anywhere, making it our own, negotiating rates, thinking the entire day through and wanting the best to enjoy our time with friends and family - it was a fantastic experience!

We picked flowers at the last minute from a local florist. We ordered them by phone a week before the wedding! Arranging the flowers was another one of our DIY projects: we ordered a bunch of white hydrangeas in bulk, and placed in mason jars, along with some gypsophile or baby's breath.

We chose M&J Photography for our wedding photographers. We flew them all the way from France because they capture moments in a way that is so natural, without posing too much and from two different angles. Each one of them also accompanied my husband and me while we were getting ready, to be pictured separately. 

Jonny and Morgane are so easy to work with, and use everything they can to make the shots interesting and reminding us of the venue we chose. They just blended in with our guests so naturally that we did not feel that we had "paparazzi" at our wedding, something that often annoying for guests who want to approach the bride and groom!




My advice? Find compromises with your future husband by listening to each other's wish list and making priorities out of it. We both ended up getting the most important things we wanted! Don't take any suppliers for granted: our DJ abandoned the ship a week before the wedding and even the most professional suppliers need some directions and a good brief on how you want things to run before the event. If it is a destination wedding, guests should take care of their own accommodations and travel details, as the couple can quickly become travel agency and tourist bureau! 



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Real Rustic Vintage Wedding: Camille & Chris

Here at the Before the Big Day studio, we're welcoming in the New Year the way we plan to continue; with a gorgeous, inspirational real wedding. I've fallen for Camille and Chris, individual rustic style, and I love how their DIY wedding reflects their personalities. Take a look at Camille's stunning layered wedding gown from BHLDN, Chris' stylish wedding look {love his checked shirt & the ushers' bare ankles!}, and the bridesmaids' fun parasols. Now that's a well-dressed wedding party! 
Huge thanks to Camille for filling in Before the Big Day's Bride's Questionnaire - don't miss her advice, and keep an eye out for Part 2, and even Part 3, going live later today. Beautiful pictures published with thanks to the hugely talented Jonny and Morgane from M&J Photography.

We got married on July 7, 2012 in Mille-Isles in the province of Quebec, Canada, at the Fiddler Lake Resort. We visited several venues looking for a country-ish place where we would be celebrating our wedding outdoors, with the sun and mild temperatures of summer. 

We opted for the Fiddler Lake Resort because all our guests would be able to enjoy great authentic country cottages for a weekend {and week for those coming from overseas}. Also the Resort gave us 'carte blanche' for our wedding preparation, including no time limit for the party!

We picked our wedding flowers at the last minute from a local florist, and ordered by phone a week before the wedding! The florist ended up being so helpful - after asking me about my wedding outfit, she included my bouquet enhanced with a couple of orange roses and pearls, and a boutonnière for my Dad with the same kind of rose. I was so touched! Without her help and anticipation, I would have made my own bouquet with flowers found onsite.


My dress was a love at first sight on the internet! I spotted it on the BHLDN website. It had everything I was looking for: cream and not white, the bottom looked like lace and the top was so refined, with touches of gold. I pictured the dress with some rays of sun shining through it, so it didn't take me more than a day to think about it, and order it. I felt like the wedding dress didn't need a lot of accessories so I only wore pearl earrings my husband got me, and a vintage look turquoise ring. My golden shoes were a steal at a sale from BCBG!


Chris wanted a sleek blue suit and found one from Tiger of Sweden. He accessorized his look with touches of golden yellow {ties and silk square from Valentino} and brown suede shoes from Minelli.



I let my bridesmaids pick whatever they wanted to wear, and they came up with a white chiffon dress from IKKS in France. They were perfect for our country ceremony. Their shoes were low beige leather boots, which stayed comfortable til the end of the night. We accessorized the outfit with nacre and gold rings from BCBG and a hair leather band, brown with a couple of feathers from Zara.



We chose M&J Photography for our wedding photographers. We flew them all the way from France because they capture moments in a way that is so natural, without posing too much and from two different angles. Each one of them also accompanied my husband and me while we were getting ready, to be pictured separately. 


Jonny and Morgane are so easy to work with, and use everything they can to make the shots interesting and reminding us of the venue we chose. They just blended in with our guests so naturally that we did not feel that we had "paparazzi" at our wedding, something that often annoying for guests who want to approach the bride and groom!







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