Thursday 28 March 2013

Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Cornish Wedding: Gary & Lian - Portrait Pictures

This Cornish wedding has me longing for some sunshine and the seaside! The lovely Gary and Liam celebrated their big day at The Carbis Bay Hotel in St Ives. Liam was seven months pregnant, and looked amazing in her silk Tiffany Rose dress - definitely a great option for maternity wedding dresses. With tonnes of wedding pictures to show you, I've split the wedding into three - these are the imaginative portrait pictures by Keith Riley Photography. I love all the beach shots {didn't they have fab weather for autumn!}, in particular the No.29 beach hut picture {they got married on 29th October}. Gary and Lian’s happy place is an upside down pear tree - whenever they are apart they say to each other “meet you under the upside down pear tree”. So, Keith and his wife, Neda, bought chalk with them so Gary could draw a tree on the beach hut! Doesn't it look fantastic, and such a wedding portrait idea.




We met at a nightclub in our home town of Southend on sea. The first time I saw Gary was when he was dirty dancing with a bar stool trying to impress some other girls. For some bizarre reason I found his dancing attractive and went over to talk to him later on.


When we were all outside leaving we were chatting and he gave me his business card to which his friend said you don't want that, and gave me his train ticket instead! Later on that night we talked on the phone until Gary fell asleep under his dining room table.




Gary was going to propose to me whilst we were in New York. He had booked the table, set the house up for our return as an engaged couple, and even asked my uncle's permission. Unfortunately we never made it to New York, as snow left us stranded on the run way at Heathrow airport and eventually our flights were cancelled.

He proposed to me at home in the front room the next day while the rugby was on, which was still incredibly special, as we are both rugby fans! Even though it was not how he planned it, his proposal was off the cuff, real and honest from him.



We chose our wedding photographer by doing lots of research online. We knew we didn't want a traditional wedding photographer, and the typical line-up style of pictures. We liked Keith Riley Photography as his website showed a diverse range of work, including tattoo photography!


When we met Keith and his wife Neda, we completely jelled with them. Their work and ideas were brilliant, and we now consider them to be friends, who we'll always go and visit when we are in Cornwall.



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Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Cornish Wedding: Gary & Lian

With stacks of creative wedding details and mustard-yellow wedding theme, you can't fail to fall in love with this sunny seaside wedding. Gary and Lian celebrated their big day at The Carbis Bay Hotel in St Ives, and with its gorgeous views over the bay, it was always going to be a special affair. All the wedding details fit perfectly together, and I'm head-over-heels in love with the pretty wedding flowers - a mix of formal and wild arrangements. Miniature daisies are definitely my favourite flower for 2013. Lian was lucky enough to be seven months pregnant on her big day, which meant a change of wedding dress, but she ended up preferring her Tiffany Rose maternity gown over her original choice. Teamed with Aldo wedding shoes and unique Etsy jewellery, she looked fabulous on her wedding day. I'm also seriously impressed by Gary's dapper Ted Baker suit and Liberty London mustard-yellow tie. Huge thanks to Keith Riley Photography for his beautiful wedding pictures. Don't miss the Portraits and Reception Details, coming later this afternoon.

We got married in Cornwall, which is our spiritual home, and somewhere which has always felt like home. We were lucky enough to find the wonderful Carbis Bay Hotel in Carbis Bay in St Ives. It was so beautiful. As soon as we drove down the hill to see it we knew it was something special.







Gary's wedding outfit came from Ted Baker, tie from Liberty London, shirt came from the Savile Row Company, cuff links from Mulberry, hankerchief from Aubin & Wills and deer brooch from Etsy.


I had my first wedding dress made by a local dressmaker I have used in the past. I didn't want a traditional wedding gown so we designed something which was classic, but different. Five months before the wedding we were lucky enough to find out I was pregnant, so my dress had to be changed!


I found a company called Tiffany Rose who specialise in maternity wear and bought one of their wedding dresses. In actual fact I massively preferred my maternity wedding gown to my first - it must have been fate! My shoes came from Aldo as I wanted a particular mustard-yellow shade, and they happened to have them. My jewellery was simple and classic, and came from Etsy.


We chose our wedding florist from doing research online {from home in Essex}, and then going to see them in person in Cornwall. We decided to use Anna Sawle of Wedding Flowers in Cornwall because she seemed to completely understand what we wanted, while having lots of her own ideas as well.



We celebrated our wedding ceremony in the conservatory overlooking the sea with beautiful blue sky and sunshine. The backdrop of the sea and beach was perfect.


We didn't have to buy many decorations, as the hotel is decorated beautifully and fitted with our theme easily. We had mustard and grey as our theme, because we wanted autumnal colours.




We chose our wedding photographer by doing lots of research online. We knew we didn't want a traditional wedding photographer, and the typical line-up style of pictures. We liked Keith Riley Photography as his website showed a diverse range of work, including tattoo photography! 


When we met Keith and his wife Neda, we completely jelled with them. Their work and ideas were brilliant, and we now consider them to be friends, who we'll always go and visit when we are in Cornwall.



♥ Want to see yellow-themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more autumn wedding ideas? ♥
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Wednesday 27 March 2013

How To Easy-DIY Your Wedding Stationery

Wedding stationery can easily set you back over £1000, particularly if you go for beautiful letterpress or embossed wedding invitations. Then if you throw in Save the Dates, pretty answering cards, printed instructions, place-makers, menus and the cost of stamps, and you're easily busting your wedding budget on paper! The good news is that DIY-ing your wedding stationery is simple, even if you're creatively challenged like me. I managed to DIY my wedding stationery, and believe me, if I can do it, so can you! If you're not keen on fiddling around on your computer with designs and layouts, how about trying wedding stamps? You can get them specially personalised for you by boutique designers on Etsy, so all you need to do is add ink and paper of your choice. Take a look at some of these fab designs for starters, and click for more wedding stamp ideas. Plus you won't want to miss all of Before the Big Day's DIY ideas.


{Product Credit} Save the Date DIY Stamp by Stamp Couture

{Product Credit} Save the Date DIY Stamp by Stamp Couture

{Product Credit} Lovely favour stamp by Rachel Carl & Company

{Product Credit} Pretty Wedding Logo Stamps by Red Cloud Boutique

{Product Credit} Lovely wedding slogan stamp by The Chatty Press

{Product Credit} Fun wedding favour stamps by Rachel Carl & Company

{Product Credit} Matching Wedding Invitation & Save the Date stamps by Native Bear

{Product Credit} Pretty wedding detail stamps by Paper Sushi

{Product Credit} Wedding Invitations & Save the Date stamps by Modern Art Stamps

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Tuesday 26 March 2013

Monochrome Urban Wedding Inspiration

With all this wintery weather we've been having, the UK climate seems harder than ever to predict, and that makes wedding planning something of a struggle. If you've chosen a summer wedding, the last thing you want is rain! But one way to avoid worrying about the weather is to look for a wedding venue in London, for a chic urban wedding. And with monochrome weddings topping the trend list for 2013, why not reflect the city surroundings with a dramatic splash of black and white? You can either choose a modernist look, or if your London wedding venue suits a softer style, add in beautiful anemones and lace to your wedding details. Take a look at the pictures below for wedding inspiration, and don't miss my Pinterest board for yet more monochrome wedding ideas.


{Photo Credits} 1. One and Only Paris Photography, 2. Lauren Gabrielle, view the whole wedding on Ruffled Blog


{Photo Credits} 1. Harwell Photography, view the whole wedding on Style Me Pretty, 2. Lane Dittoe, view the whole wedding on Style Me Pretty



{Photo Credits} 1. Kate MacPherson Wedding Photography 2. Unknown



{Photo Credits} Simply Bloom Photography, view the whole wedding on Before the Big Day

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Monday 25 March 2013

Real Simple Green Wedding: Janina & Lean - Reception Details

It's the moment you've all been waiting for - the amazing reception pictures from this eco-friendly wedding. With simple but sweet details, including bunches of fragrant rosemary hanging from the roof of the wedding venue, the wedding decorations perfectly matched the venue. I love it when brides and grooms use vegetables instead of wedding flowers, and Janina and Lean chose artichoke flowers and cabbage leaves, dusted with what looks like icing sugar. Rustic sticks add to the outdoor-indoor feel, and naked {un-iced} wedding cake continues the homespun feel. Guests ended the night dancing under a canopy of lanterns - an idea I'd love to imitiate. Huge thanks to  We Love Pictures for these beautiful pictures, don't miss the Ceremony Pictures and Portrait Pictures from this gorgeous wedding.










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Real Simple Green Wedding: Janina & Lean - Wedding Portraits

In the golden afternoon light, fabulous wedding photographers We Love Pictures,  captured these stunning wedding portraits at Janina and Lean's wedding. I've fallen for Janina's natural wedding style, her bridesmaids' pretty peach gowns, and the ushers' cute bow-ties. If only we could recreate the weather in the UK! This stunning wedding was all about the beautiful kitchen garden venue, so I love how Janina chose simple, green rosemary leaves as the main feature of her wedding bouquet. It was so eco-friendly, even the local, giant tortoise wanted a nibble! There's more from this incredible wedding in the final feature this afternoon - you won't want to miss the reception pictures - have a sneak-peak We Love Pictures' blog.










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