Tuesday 9 April 2013

Real Alice in Wonderland Themed Wedding: Cheryl & Jack

Weddings with a fabulous theme make me happy! And there's nothing I like more than an Alice in Wonderland tea-party - there's just so many fabulous details to choose from. Lewis Carroll was a genius! So when Louise and Sam from Pavone Photography got in touch with Cheryl and Jack's amazing monochrome Alice in Wonderland themed wedding, I jumped at the chance to feature it on Before the Big Day. Many months later, and here, finally, it is! Don't miss all the DIY wedding details - Cheryl and Jack came up with everything, including their brilliant themed portrait pictures, complete with Alice in Wonderland props. It's such a clever idea to come up with a few props for your portrait pictures, particularly if you're slightly nervous in front of the camera. Other wedding details to steal include Cheryl's gorgeous second-hand wedding gown {which she personalised herself}, the flower girl's alternative bouquet {a clock!}, and the hilarious fancy dress kit for classic guest entertainment. Huge thanks to Pavone Photography for their stunning shots!


We got married on 2nd July at Little Hallingbury Mill in Essex, surrounded by our family and close friends. Our theme was vintage Alice in Wonderland with a black and white stripped twist.


The venue was a quirky old mill surrounded by fields and just seemed to scream 'Tea-Party'!


I bought my wedding dress second-hand, and customised it by adding as much black as possible. My shoes were an old pair from my wardrobe which again I customised in black.


My dress was so beautiful {and totally over the top}, that I didn't want to distract too much attention from it. So I didn't wear a veil and chose understated accessories, which were of course, black and white.




My husband’s outfit was a plain black suit, with an all-important waistcoat. He wore my great-grandfather’s pocket watch to add a hint of ‘Mad Hatterness’ to the day.




My bouquet was a single large black rose head which matched the black roses in my hair and on my shoes. 



Apart from this, we didn’t have anything other flowers as instead chose to decorate the venue with playing cards, spoons, teapots, teacups, clocks, books, white rabbits and any other Alice in Wonderland item you can conjure up!


My flower girl was mostly in white, but instead of carrying flowers she held a black old-fashioned alarm clock, set to the time we got married.


We tied black and white stripped ribbon to it in keeping with the theme. It added a fantastic element of ‘Don't be late, don't be late for an important date!’






Jack and I me on a night bus in 2007! Jack was my knight in shining armour, as he made sure I got home safely. We got engaged on Christmas Day in 2010 in front of our twinkling Christmas Tree.


We chose Pavone Photography {Louise and Sam} as our wedding photographers. We felt they were the only people who had the talent to do our unique wedding day justice, and we were so right!


Our entire wedding was a DIY project – nothing was pre bought, and we put all the ideas together ourselves. I really enjoyed planning every part. My advice to other brides would be, leave yourself plenty of time. Make as much as you can to give you a truly original wedding. Go wild – you will only do it once! Enjoy every last second.
 


We made our own wedding invitations. They were made to look like 4 large playing cards held together by black and white ribbon, and a small silver key. All the phrases on the invitation, directions and RSVP were taken from the original Alice in Wonderland Film - e.g. ‘Help us Paint the Roses Red’.


For our wedding favours, we bought miniature 2cm high glass bottles with a cork cap, filled with red wine, and labelled with a 'Drink me' tag.


We slotted a playing card into the corks of each of the bottle favours, and they doubled up as place markers too.


My sister-in-law handmade our wedding cake! It was three layers, and covered in black and white Alice in Wonderland decorations, like clocks, teaspoons, books, teapots and teacups. It was amazing!


♥ Want to see wedding detail ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding favour ideas? ♥
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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Monday 8 April 2013

Introducing Wedding Abroad Experts - European Wedding Planners

As a destination bride myself, I'm a huge fan of getting married abroad. When my husband and I started to look into wedding locations, the combination of better weather, good European food and reasonably priced champagne made it a no-brainer for us. We managed to find our French wedding venue ourselves, after literally hours and hours of exhausting research, so I'm thrilled to recommend a new service from Wedding Abroad Experts. They're a fab network of independent professional wedding planners with fantastic knowledge of wedding venues and vendors in countries including France, Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Spain, and the Mediterranean Islands. The idea is that you buy membership to Wedding Abroad Experts for a small fee {from €9 a month}, and in exchange, you get access to their planners' vast wedding knowledge, and secret wedding-vendor black books. Then, if you decide you need more help, then you can always hire their wedding planners direct. I'm a huge fan already! P.S. If you're looking to celebrate your big day in France, I recommend the blog Weddings on the French Riviera. Tonnes of stunning wedding inspiration!






♥ Want to see destination wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more from my wedding? ♥
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Saturday 6 April 2013

Wonderful Wedding Blog Links

This was the post where I expected to introduce you to my brand new baby son, but he's not showing any signs of making an appearance yet! I'm now nearly a week overdue, and starting to go a little crazy. However it means I've had tonnes of time to prepare lots of amazing blog features, and seek out some of the best real weddings you've EVER seen, so stand by for some great wedding blogging action. With several friends' weddings coming up in May and June, I've already been getting excited about a summer of fun - it's the only way to get through this horrible weather. Stay cosy indoors this weekend, and enjoy this lovely collection of wonderful wedding blog links!



{Photo Credit} Rainbow Bridesmaids Dresses by The Long Haul

♥ Are you going to be an autumn bride? Enjoy these dreamy dahlias!

♥ Watercolour cakes, polka-dots & prints - all in this amazing wedding shoot.

♥ Everything about this bold turquoise & orange wedding is divine!

This lovely couple got married at the same hotel that we celebrated our UK mini-honeymoon

Clever bookish wedding, with hugely imaginative table centrepieces

This blog post makes me want to plan a nautical themed wedding

♥ Not very wedding-y, but I love these washi tape plasters!

♥ Dreamy French botanical wedding shoot

♥ DIY your own carnival letters - I sooooo want to do this!

♥ I love this bride's flower crown

♥ A pink wedding dress that'll make you think twice about wearing white

♥ Costa Rica is one of my favourite holiday destinations, imagine getting married there

♥ The happiest bride & groom ever, and the best cake topper!

♥ Want to see wedding detail ideas? ♥ Or how about more wedding favour ideas? ♥
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Friday 5 April 2013

Easy DIY Idea For Your Wedding: Blackboard Paint

Despite starting Before the Big Day before my own wedding, I still missed out on some fabulous wedding ideas. A particular miss was blackboard paint. It's without a doubt the easiest wedding DIY on the planet, and I just wish I'd stumbled on it when I was planning my own DIY wedding. You can buy it online in a huge range of colours {i.e. not just black!}, and paint it on to pretty much anything, from wood to glasses, plant pots and cork. I'm a huge fan of individually labelled jam jars at a rustic wedding, and this wedding back-drop {below} is amazing! Plus a blackboard menu will save you printing individual cards for each table. More chalkboard inspiration on my Pinterest page.


{Photo Credit} Amazing blackboard wedding ceremony backdrop by Jenny Jimenez via Style Me Pretty


{Photo Credit} Amazing hanging blackboard table plan by Michaels


{Photo Credit} Blackboard table plan by Holly's Home Crafts 2. Blackboard menu by Krista Mason Photography - full wedding on Hostess with the Mostess Blog


{Product Credit} Blackboard paint labels by Vintage Blooming


{Photo Credit} Shabby-chic blackboard table number {unknown}

♥ Want to see DIY wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more rustic wedding ideas? ♥
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Thursday 4 April 2013

Real Fairy-Tale Dress Wedding: Kirsty & Michael

If you're dreaming of a truly princess-style wedding dress, you are going to fall in love with this bride's divine Ronald Joyce gown. The lovely Kirsty is something of a wedding dress aficionado, and had already decided on her designer of choice, long before her big day. She teamed her frothy Lola gown with simple Tiffany accessories, and a beautiful bouquet made of artificial roses and butterflies, a theme carried throughout the wedding. With a church service, and a soft-pink themed wedding reception at Albrighton Hall Hotel in Shrewsbury, you can see the care and time Kirsty and Michael put into their wedding day. Stealworthy ideas include Kirsty's Vivienne Westwood shoes {which smelled of blueberry!}, their pretty fishbowl table displays, and the bridesmaids Debut at Debenhams dresses - a great high-street find! Huge thanks to Kayleigh Pope for her beautiful photographs.



We got married on the Saturday 9th March, at St. Peters Church at midday, followed by our reception at Albrighton Hall Hotel near Shrewsbury. We chose Albrighton Hall because the décor inside and out was divine, and spoke a thousand words. The staff were friendly and their wedding breakfast appealed to us both. We went with a butterfly theme for our venue and throughout our wedding.


My dress was a Ronald Joyce 'Lola' diamond white dress. I was always going to choose one of his gowns as I love this work. He makes amazing dresses, with so much detail, and they definitely stand out from the usual wedding gowns. My shoes were Vivenne Westwood, and they were amazing. I received so many compliments about them - not only on their appearance, but on their blueberry scent!



My bridesmaids outfits were soft beige Grecian-style maxi-dresses from Debut at Debenhams.



My florist was a lady called Julie. I originally wanted my favourite flowers, which are peonies, but they weren't available in March. So instead, I decided to go for artificial rose bouquets with ivory, brown and nude pink flowers, decorated with butterflies, to fit in with our wedding theme. Choosing artificial flowers meant I could keep my bouquet to place on my Nan's resting place after our wedding day. 


My husband's outfit was a grey Lingfield morning suit with tails from Moss Bros. He teamed it with a cream cravat, waistcoat and matching rose buttonhole.


My veil was borrowed from my close friend as my 'something borrowed', as I wanted to add some meaning into the tradition. My accessories were my Tiffany necklace and bracelet given to me by my husband :). Also I wore Swarovski earrings which were also bought by my husband.


I loved planning my wedding so much I’m already thinking about planning our vow renewal! It's amazing putting all your time and effort, and seeing it all come together on the day. 


My advice to future brides would be to enjoy every moment of your wedding day, as it goes so fast. Always stick to your decisions, and remember it is both of your special day. Don't stress in the run-up, and enjoy your countdown. It’s the best day ever!





Our photography was Kayleigh Pope Photography. I was always going to chose Kayleigh as our wedding photographer, because I love her work and she is amazing with her camera. She takes pictures that tell stories, and creates memories that are unique.


For our wedding reception, we chose a colour palette of nude and pink colour, and the theme was butterflies.


I had a few DIY wedding projects. I did a DIY table plan as the one I originally bought got delivered with so many mistakes. I had a few minutes of bridezilla but swiftly moved on! I went out got all the crafts and spent an evening with my bridesmaid doing it which was lots of fun. I also made our wedding stationery. I bought place card templates decorated with butterflies, and wrote on the names.


Our wedding favours were chocolate truffles for the men, and the woman had butterfly candles wrapped in organza, with a thank you card. The children has sweetie cones and surprise lucky bags. 


We chose a four-tier wedding cake by Cakes by Kiki, with two square levels and two round. It was decorated with amazing peony-style detailing. Each tier was a different flavour - Victoria sponge, chocolate, lemon, and coffee. We chose Cakes by Kiki because we love their work! Their wedding cakes are stunning and so much detail goes into each creation.


More posts like this one:
Destination Butterfly-Themed Wedding
How to DIY Your Butterfly-Themed Wedding Cake

♥ Want to see hotel wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more pink-themed weddings? ♥
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Wednesday 3 April 2013

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? ♥
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