A Natural Homemade Sunshine Yellow Wedding

There's nothing I like more than a lovely sunshiny yellow-themed wedding to brighten up my Friday - particularly when it's teamed with a Grand Designs-style barn venue, and royal blue bridesmaids. Abi and Simon chose the traditional route of getting married in Abi's home town...or in this case, village. A family friend offered them a barn for their wedding reception, and they completely transformed it from a fertiliser store into the perfect, pretty venue. Talk about inspirational stuff! Simon proposed to Abi with a yellow diamond, to represent her bright personality, so it was a natural theme colour for their wedding. Teamed with all their DIY wedding details, including miles of mum-made bunting and handmade wedding cakes, it's up there with one of my favourite DIY weddings. Huge thanks to Jo Richards Photography for her stunning pictures - more to come from their reception tomorrow!

We celebrated our wedding on 10th August 2013 in Aldbourne in Wiltshire.

I grew up in the area, so I wanted everything in the same village. We both wanted somewhere that we could make 'us' and our family friend said I could have any barn on his property for our reception, so we picked one as our wedding venue.

Wedding Decoration Idea & Theme - Ribbons

I discovered ribbons too late in my own wedding planning to use them in my decorations. So now I'm going to have to come up with some excuse to have another wedding, so that I can put this gorgeous wedding decoration idea to use. Just check out the inspirational pictures below for all the ways in which you could use them, and don't miss my Pinterest page for loads more wedding ideas.

Photo Credits {clockwise from top left} - 1. Katherine OBrien via Rock n' Roll Bride, 2. via Sugar and Charm, 3. Cameron & Kelly via Style Me Pretty, 4. via Botanical Brouhaha, 5. Our Labour of Love via Green Wedding Shoes, 6. Brittany Hildebrandt via Uschi & Kay, 7. via Sugar and Charm, 8. Cameron & Kelly via Style Me Pretty

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A Modern Navy-Blue, Pink & Purple Themed Wedding - The Reception

There's tonnes of fantastic wedding inspiration in this gorgeous spring wedding. Ruth and Mark chose an on-trend jewel colour palette of navy blue, hot pink and purple for their wedding theme, and carried it through all their wedding details. The bridesmaids' dresses, the flowers, the cake - even the DIY'd table stationery, all match perfectly. It's the wedding planner effect without a wedding planner!! DIY brides will find Ruth's efforts hugely inspiring - she even made her own FIVE tier wedding cake - and it couldn't look more professional if it tried. With favours made my Ruth's brother-in-law, marquee-style letters made by her Dad, and a ring-pillow made my her mum, this really was a family project. Enjoy the gorgeous pictures by Matt and Sarah-Jane Ethan. I love the modern-style portrait shots!

We chose Matt and Sarah-Jane Ethan as our wedding photographers. They stood out to us on our search. They totally “got” what we wanted from our photographs which was informal and relaxed. Also your wedding photographer is with you most of the day, so I think it is important to get on with them, and we really did!

 I came across a navy blue, pink and purple look, and I loved the contrast of the colours together. It looked very modern, and I was keen for our wedding to feel modern as well as classic.

A Modern Navy-Blue, Pink & Purple Themed Wedding

There's an ethereal element to these beautiful wedding pictures by Matt and Sarah-Jane Ethan. Every one feels like a magical moment, and I'm not sure whether my edit has done them justice. Suffice to say, Ruth and Mark's wedding was a stunning affair. Ruth chose a colour palette of navy-blue, pink and purple as her wedding theme, and picked out navy-blue for her bridesmaids, hot pink for the ushers' ties, and a mixture of all three for her wedding flowers. The carefully coordinated colours create a very put-together look, and I love the colour pop against her white wedding gown. My other loves include their incredible wedding venue of Wynyard Hall, the cute diamante initials on the back of Ruth's shoes, and Ruth's elegant Mori Lee wedding gown. Huge thanks to Sarah-Jane and Matt for their beautiful wedding photographs - don't miss the fantastic wedding reception shots later today.

We celebrated our wedding at Wynyard Hall in Cleveland on 26th May 2013.

 I came across a navy blue, pink and purple look, and I loved the contrast of the colours together. It looked very modern, and I was keen for our wedding to feel modern as well as classic.

Wedding Trends of 2013 - Two-Tone & Ombre Bridesmaids

There was an easier and simpler time, when bridesmaids all just wore the same dress - whatever their height, figure or colouring. But now it's waaaaay more complicated. Wedding shops sell multiple bridesmaids dresses in the same fabric, so your girls can choose their own gowns, and 2013 saw the start of a mega-trend of toning your maids' outfits. There's two versions of this new fashion; two-tone and ombre. Take a look at the pictures below, and see what you think. Personally I'd go with two-tone, because I don't have the colour skills for the ombre shading, although the ombre looks amazing when done right. On the other hand - two-tone is a great way to make your maid of honour stand out from the other bridesmaids. For more bridesmaid inspiration, take a look at my Bridesmaids Pinterest board and Ombre Wedding Theme board. They're packed with fantastic ideas.

Ombre Bridesmaids

{Credit} W. Scott Chester, view full wedding on 100 Layer Cake

{Credit} 1. Unknown | 2. L Hewitt Photography, view full wedding on Style Me Pretty wedding blog

{Credit} Unknown

{Credit} Jerry Yoon Photographers view full wedding on Green Wedding Shoes

Two Tone Bridesmaids

{Credit} Kayla Adams, view whole wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Credit} Buffy Dekmar, view full wedding on Snippet & Ink

{Credit} Apryl Ann Photography, view full wedding on Style Me Pretty Destination

{Credit} Angela Ward Brown

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Wedding Trends of 2013 - Bushy Bride & Bridesmaid Bouquets

Now that the weather's turned, and we're firmly into autumn and wintery weddings, I wanted to tell you about a new eco-friendly trend sweeping the wedding world. It started with brides using seasonal flowers, rather than those flown in from abroad, and now it's taken a natural next step. Rather than use bright blooms, fashion-forward brides are choosing bushy bouquets of pure foliage. It's an elegant, green-goddess look, and it works perfectly with dramatic and detail-heavy wedding gowns, such as those by Jenny Packham, Temperley London and Samuelle Couture. Olive branches, bay bouquets and eucalyptus are popular, but I love the oak leaf look picture below. Lots more busy bouquet inspiration on my Pinterest page.

{Credit} Picture by Jose Villa, dress by Saja Wedding - more from this shoot

{Credit} Picture by Jose Villa, dress by Samuelle Couture - more from this shoot

{Credit} Picture by Punam Bean Photography - More from this wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Credit} Source unknown, please leave a comment if you know

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Equality, Engagement Rings & Grooms Gifts

Grooms always get slightly forgotten on wedding days. All the focus is on the bride, what she's wearing, and her veil, bouquet and bridesmaids. All the groom has to do is turn up in a decent suit with the wedding rings. Looking back, it all starts with the proposal. Girls get a sparkling engagement ring, and the boys....well they don't get anything really, do they! I reckon it's time for that to change - as a statement of equality. On the morning of your wedding, send your future husband a surprise present. If you don't think he'll wear an engagement ring, then why not cufflinks, or a luxury watch? You could have it engraved with your wedding date and your initials, and just like your engagement ring, he'll have it for life. {Now I've just got to hope my husband doesn't read this, and ask why he didn't get one on our our wedding day!}

{Credit} My husband on our wedding day by Caught the Light

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A Pretty, Rustic, HandmadeTipi-on-a-Farm Wedding - Reception Details

There's nothing I like more than a marquee wedding, except from when the marquee's a tipi!! They've been a huge trend this summer, and I reckon it's one to watch for 2014 as well. What I love about Glen and Teri's tipi wedding is their pretty rustic details. Burlap and lace decorations work perfectly together, and are super-easy to DIY. Teri and her family created many of my favourite details, including the lace-wrapped jam-jars and white painted baked bean vases, plus the hand-stencilled scrap-wood table names. When it came to cakes, Glen and Teri couldn't choose between a cheese cake and a normal wedding cake, so they had both - again DIY'd by relatives. Even the favours were handmade by Glen's mum! Enjoy the gorgeous pictures by James Grist Photography, and be sure to read Teri's answers to the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire - there's tonnes more top tips for future brides between the lines!

Our special day was Saturday 3rd August. We hosted our ceremony at Ratsbury Barn in Tenterden, Kent, and our reception was held in tipis on a friend's farm. 

We always knew we wanted our wedding reception to be held on our friend's farm and the tipis fitted perfectly with the setting - we absolutely loved them. Our love of the outdoors was the theme for our wedding and so we chose to have very rustic, natural decor.