Introducing Stuffster Wedding Lists

One of the most amazing things about getting married is the phenomenon of the wedding list. When we celebrated our big day we were stunned at how many people wanted to buy us wedding presents, and at the generosity of our friends and family. To make it easy for our guests, and to make sure we didn't get duplicates of presents {hello three toasters!}, we created a list with one company, but we found it really hard to choose one that stocked everything that we wanted. So I'm thrilled to introduce this amazing shopping website called Stuffster, as a fantastic option for your wedding list. Stuffster doesn't just enable you to create a list from any website you want, it also helps you {or your wedding guests} find the cheapest price. There's three super-simple steps to follow...

1. Create a visual wedding wish list on Stuffster {they call them StuffBoards} where you can add any product from any website in the world
2. Set a budget and a target price that you're happy to pay for each item
3. Send an email to all your wedding guests sharing your Wedding List StuffBoard with them
4. Sit back, and wait for a Stuffster email to ping into your inbox alerting you somewhere on the web the price has fallen to what you're happy to pay.

It's also a great way to organise everything that you need to buy for your wedding, particularly if you're planning to DIY a lot of the wedding details, and with the Target Price function it can save you a fortune. It's a completely free service, so definitely worth trying out! Before you know it, you'll be creating Stuffboards for everything you want to buy, and saving money on every purchase.

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

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

This is a Sponsored Feature for Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Amazing BHLDN Wedding Sale

One of my favourite interior shops of all time is Anthropologie, which you can find in London on the King's Road and Regent Street. So when the same company opened a vintage-style wedding shop called BHLDN a few years ago, I was beyond excited. Unfortunately it was after my wedding, so I couldn't directly benefit, but I never tire of telling brides about the amazing products they have on offer. So I'm exceedingly excited to tell you all about their April sale, which has just started. It includes massive discounts off their wedding dresses, bridesmaids gowns, accessories and wedding details, and you'll want to get clicking right away!

♥ Want to see bridesmaids ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding offers? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Marquee Tea-Party Wedding: Holly & Jason - Reception Details

You're going to love the quirky, vintage wedding details from the reception pictures of this homespun wedding. With tonnes of DIY projects, and a colour theme based around vintage china, it's super-inspirational. With the help of Rosebud Vintage, who catered and styled Holly and Jason's wedding day, they created a detail-filled day, with tonnes of original touches. I love how they used vintage music-scores in their table stationery, and heart doilies for writing messages to their guests. Jason's mum hand-knitted a bride and groom for every female guest - a true labour of love, and their table plan was a grand, gold-rimmed mirror. Other stealworthy ideas include the luggage tag place-markers, the vintage china and old-embroidered table cloths, and the fun fancy-dress wedding favours. Huge thanks to Dominic Whiten Photography for his brilliant wedding photographs!

We chose Dominic Whiten as our wedding photographer. He’s amazing and we've had so many comments from guests about a) his presence being unnoticed, not bossy or demanding and generally being a great guy, and b) his amazing photos! 

When we were choosing our wedding photographer, we had an instant rapport with Dominic and his easy-going attitude, so we didn't bother meeting any others! We found him by looking at some of his work online. We knew we wanted something creative and arty, that would capture the day, and this is exactly what we got.

For our wedding theme, we wanted something really different and relaxed, so we set out with a mixture of ideas based on a vintage, quirky, fairytale, Alice in Wonderland type of wedding and came up with ours, which I suppose we’d now describe as a quirky, whimsical, country garden, afternoon tea wedding! 



We wanted it to be really visual, so we didn’t stick to one colour scheme. Instead we ensured we had a mixture of all colours, and brought in Rosebud Vintage to do our catering and wedding styling, which worked out better than we had ever dreamed.

For our wedding cake, we had 75 cup cakes on tiers, with a round cake on the top tier. My amazing cake-maker friends, Lindsay and Jenni made it for us. We wanted it to fit in with our vintage fairytale theme, so we chose yellow buttercream with more than 1200 cut-out flowers and buttons covering the cakes. 

The colour theme was blues, pinks, whites and yellows - our colour inspiration came from a 1920's vintage china plate!

We had lots of DIY wedding projects. I handmade our wedding invitations, even though it took months! I used a heart-shaped stamp and a butterfly-shaped stamp, and designed the invitations using colourful card and vintage music sheets. Each one was individual, and we hope to make a collage/canvas out of them all, as a special reminder of what was the beginning of our dream day and hopefully a colourful addition of art to our house!

We loved planning our wedding, and it was only stressful on a couple of occasions throughout the whole 10 months, and that was generally when Jason and I could not decide on the smallest of details! We loved visiting suppliers, getting inspiration from blogs, magazines, web sites and wedding fairs and also shopping weekly for all our vintage accessories from boot fairs and charity shops!

Our wedding favours were our pièce de résistance! The girls all had knitted bride and groom dolls that stood about 8 inches high, and were so detailed the hair alone on each groom doll took 2 hours to thread through!! We chose these as wedding favours because Jason's mum is a fantastic knitter and literally knits for England! She spent 5 months making these for us and everyone was delighted!



My advice to brides is enjoy every minute of the planning and don’t get too stressed! Easier said than done, but always remember that your guests have been chosen by you to share this special day and to celebrate your love. 

So if a table doesn’t have an accessory or the flowers aren’t quite as nice as you can afford, or any other detail is not quite right or going well, it is not be the end of the world and the chances are no one will even notice as they’ll be swept up in the ambience of the day!

♥ Want to see outdoor wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more colourful wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Marquee Tea-Party Wedding: Holly & Jason

One of my favourite wedding themes ever, is a vintage tea-party. It's the theme we chose for our London wedding, and it's quintessentially English! Holly and Jason wanted a unique wedding day that reflected their personalities, so they added an Alice in Wonderland twist to their vintage tea-party. With tonnes of DIY details, they truly personalised their big day, starting with handmade, individually designed wedding invitations for each guest! I love how Holly wore fresh flowers in her hair, and dressed her bridesmaids in vintage-style floral dresses. Jason looked seriously dapper in his high-street suit - would you believe it came from Zara? Along with Reiss, it's the go-to shop for well-dressed grooms. And as we struggle with yet another cold day, take a look at that sunshine! It was even warm enough to host the ceremony outdoors. It's almost enough to persuade me that it can be sunny in England! Huge thanks to Dominic Whiten Photography for his brilliant wedding photographs. Don't miss the reception pictures, in my blog posting later this afternoon.

We celebrated our wedding at Swarling Manor, near Canterbury in Kent on 12th May. We wanted a really beautiful venue that would firstly compliment the theme we had in mind and secondly that had a lovely garden to have the ceremony in but also a nice indoor alternative should the great British weather be mean to us!

My wedding dress was by La Sposa. My veil was by Pronovias, although it was actually a lovely soft, tulle long jacket that originally came with another dress, but my fab bridal shop, Bows in Ashford, got it made into a floor length veil for me. 

My bridesmaids' outfits were from Coast, but we customised them. I saw them and instantly knew they were perfect. They had a vintage look, with a large pale pink, cream and lilac rose print, but a great contemporary shape, so I knew the girls would like them.

We had the dresses taken up a little so they were a bit shorter than knee length, then my truly talented friend Jo {from the blog Mrs Day Makes} created a 50's style sticky-out net layered underskirt. The girls looked amazing!



Our florist was Wild for Flowers in Folkestone, and we chose peonies, roses and gypsophila. We met with Carol, showed her our ideal photos of flowers and bouquets, and explained we wanted vintage style flowers in certain colours. She then suggested all the flowers we could choose, and the looks we could adopt. So her advice, combined with being able to do everything we wanted {decorating gazebo, flower mangers, etc}, and the fact they were great on price, made our decision easy and Wild for Flowers the perfect choice.

Having spent numerous hours {14 to be precise} shopping around Bicester Village for a snazzy designer suit, Jason ended up getting his suit {blue, skinny fit with black lapel detail} from Zara! He also bought a gorgeous grey tweed waistcoat, and striped tie to go underneath it, so the Bicester trip was not such a waste of 14 hours after all!

Swarling Manor had the most amazing gardens, and a lovely barn which we could decorate if we needed an indoor alternative for the ceremony. Luckily we didn't need the indoor option!

My shoes were from Irregular Choice and my hair accessories were individual fresh flower {gypsophila and wild orchids} stems on wires.

We chose Dominic Whiten as our wedding photographer. He’s amazing and we've had so many comments from guests about a) his presence being unnoticed, not bossy or demanding and generally being a great guy, and b) his amazing photos! 

When we were choosing our wedding photographer, we had an instant rapport with Dominic and his easy-going attitude, so we didn't bother meeting any others! We found him by looking at some of his work online. We knew we wanted something creative and arty, that would capture the day, and this is exactly what we got.

♥ Want to see tea-party wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more vintage wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Modern Laser-Cut Wedding Place Cards

My wedding taste often veers towards the shabby chic and the pretty or rustic, but I couldn't help but fall for these fantastic laser-cut place cards by RTree Creations. Each sophisticated place card is personalised with your guest's name and table number, and you can choose the paper and colour to suit your wedding aesthetic and theme. Wouldn't they be the perfect addition to an urban wedding?

♥ Want to see place card ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding stationery ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Wonderful Wedding Blog Links

And so the waiting continues! My baby boy is due tomorrow, but doesn't seem to be in any rush at all. I'm typing this while sitting {fatly} on my bed, as it alternates between snow and sunshine outside my window {what is it with this weather?}. At least the waiting means I've got plenty of time to write blog posts, and prepare. It really is the calm before the storm. My husband is going mad with impatience! I hope you're having a lovely Easter weekend - enjoy these wedding blog links - there's some fabulous wedding inspiration there for you!

{Photo Credit} Kristina Curtis Photography, more on Green Wedding Shoes

♥ An amazing Rob Ryan inspired wedding

♥ A perfectly styled Easter brunch, with plenty of wedding inspiration

♥ Take a look at the hundreds & thousands wedding cake

♥ The best bunny wedding shoot ever!

♥ DIY your own dip-dye watercolour place cards

♥ This wedding is perfect in every way

♥ Loving the wedding colour inspiration from the new Toast collection

♥ Stunning florals! Loving the straws.

♥ This is SUCH a cool idea. Get a present every month!

Great Archive Before the Big Day Posts:
✽ Wedding Confetti Alternatives
✽ Incredible Costa Rica Destination Wedding

♥ Want to see rainy wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more spring wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Wedding: Gary & Lian - Reception Details

It's time for some serious wedding details my friends! It's Part 3 of Gary and Lian's creative Cornish wedding, and they went to town with their reception decorations. Gary is a creative director of a graphic design company, and you can really see his creative flair in the wedding stationery and colour palette. Everything fits together perfectly! I love the grey, white and mustard theming, the pom-poms {less is certainly more}, the vintage letter box for wedding messages and the old-fashioned paper bags filled with Cornish fudge. Lian's mum made the incredible wedding cake - each layer is decorated in a different style, and it looks amazing. Even the cake pops were handmade by Lian's sister-in-law. It just goes to show what a professional look you can create without blowing the budget. So inspirational! Huge thanks to Keith Riley for his fabulous wedding photographs - he captured every detail perfectly.

My husband is an incredibly talented graphic designer, so he created all the wedding stationery himself. It followed the grey and mustard theme and had many features that related to our lives. 

For example we have a ginger cat called Doodle, so he was in the design, we were getting married on the 29th and we have a special story about ladybirds, so he added them, and they had 29 spots. When sending the invites we bound all the parts with co-ordinating butchers string and postage labels.

Our wedding favours were different for men and women. We gave the boys miniature bottles of Jaegermeister and Red Bull plus a cigar, as a reminder of the fun they had on the Stag Do. The girls received a mini-bottle of Marcus rose, because that's what we drank on my Hen Do.



Everyone received a yellow and white striped bag filled with Cornish fudge, and a cake pop made by my sister-in-law.

We created Jar of hearts which was to replace the traditional wedding book. On each table there was a Kilner jar filled with various badges with different emotions. For example kissing, friendship, love. Each person had to pick a badge, wear it a d write down a piece of advice about the emotion they had picked. They wrote these on little cards and then put them in the jar for safe keeping. We then put the jars on the tables to act as a conversation starters for everyone.

We didn't want to spend much money on a wedding cake, so I did some research and asked my mum to make it. It followed the grey and mustard theme, and was a three tier cake with a different type of sponge for each layer. 

The decoration was different on each layer and we had a mustard yellow Mr and Mrs Jacobs sign made for the top of the cake bought from Not On The High Street.

We loved planning the wedding and all the things that went with it. By doing research before hand, talking to each other about our ideas, and being open to suggestions from our florist and photographer, we got wonderful results on our special day.

I'd recommend to other brides to enjoy every part of the planning. Do your research, make mood boards, talk to your future husband. Get ideas, and see if you can get them cheaper somewhere else. Plus making things for your wedding is really good fun and satisfying!

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!

♥ Want to see grey-themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more seaside wedding ideas? ♥

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

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.

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

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter. 

Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.