Pretty Sage Green & Dusky Pink Shabby Chic Church Wedding - The Reception

With a dusky pink and sage green wedding colours, I was always going to love Daniella and Paul's wedding - after all, they're the same shades I picked for my own big day. Add in the stunning DIY wedding details and the shabby chic theme, and this wedding is something of a humdinger! I love all the pretty touches, from the handmade burlap menu folds, the pashmina favours, the table plan tree, the vintage tea-cups filled with sweeties for snacking, and the fingerprint guest-book. With two years to plan, Daniella thought of every single wedding extra, and it really shows in this lovely personal wedding. Don't miss her answers to the Before the Big Day Questionnaire - if you're thinking about hiring a wedding coordinator for the day, Daniella's answers will swing you towards asking your florist! Huge thanks to Dean Govier for his beautiful wedding photographs - he captured every perfect detail.



Paul and I got married on 1st June 2013. We had our ceremony at St. George's Church in Crowhurst, and hosted our reception at Coltsford Mill, a Watermill barn near Oxted in Surrey. The barn is a blank canvas and the grounds are simply stunning, with an abundance of lakes and lawns.

Our wedding photographer was Dean Govier. Originally we had someone else booked, but as time went on I felt I wasn't connecting with him, and had my doubts. Luckily we met Dean at our marriage prep classes {he got married 3 weeks before us} and we instantly felt drawn to his style and personality. We knew he would be a fab photographer, and someone we wanted there on our day, so we lost the deposit on our original booking and booked Dean, and we were so pleased with our decision!

A Pretty, Sage Green & Dusky Pink, Shabby Chic, DIY Church Wedding

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, there's nothing I like more than a Before the Big Day bride who gets in touch after her big day to submit her wedding. Daniella read BBD, and I'm thrilled to say she's a girl after my own heart - a DIY bride with an eye for wedding details, and a love for a sage green and pink colour palette. You'll find stacks of inspiration in her pretty designs - this is a bride who created everything from the bunting, the table plan, place name holders, hessian cone pew-ends, happy-tear tissue pouches, Orders of Service, hundreds of jam jar candles and even 100 tea-light candles! You'll love her advice and her enthusiasm for her wedding vendors - enjoy these beautiful photographs by Dean Govier...with much more from the wedding reception later today.

Paul and I got married on 1st June 2013. We had our ceremony at St. George's Church in Crowhurst. It's our local church and it means a lot to me, as I was christened there, and attended family services there all my life. The Vicar has known me since I was three years old, so it felt like the right place to get married.

I picked pale green and dusky pink as our wedding colours, and we incorporated birds and roses as our main theme, plus a monogram of our initials on our wedding stationery. I worked with my florist to get the colours just right, and her inspiration was invaluable. I recommend her 100% - she was more than just a florist.

Hot Air Balloon Wedding Theme

Have you ever been in a hot air balloon? I haven't, but there's something uniquely romantic about them. The idea that you could just float away together into the sunset, surrounded by billowing silk. It's all about new beginnings, and of course the film Up provides tonnes of inspiration. Just imagine a gorgeous wedding themed around the hot air balloon. You could include lots of stripes to mirror the fabric of the balloon, and lunch could be served in picnic baskets decorated with giant balloons. Take a look at these gorgeous ideas and products, and don't miss my Love is in the Air Pinterest page for tonnes more wedding inspiration.

{Photo Credit} Jose Villa - more on Before the Big Day here

{Photo Credit} Jessmyn Harris, see more from this wedding | 2. Unknown

{Photo Credit} Jade and Matthew Take Pictures

{Photo Credit} Logan Cole, see more from this hot air balloon wedding

{Credit} Hot Air Balloon Wedding Invitations by Hootsie

{Credit} 1. Hot Air Balloon Fingerprint Guest Book by Bleu de Toi | 2. Hot Air Balloon Wedding Invitations by InkPad Design

{Photo Credit} Caroline Tran, more from this wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Credit} Hot Air Balloon Wedding Invitation by Eden Craft Project

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An Enchanting Vintage Fairy-Tale Wedding Shoot

Take a dreamy summer's day, a gaggle of pretty bridesmaids and a stunning wedding venue, and you're talking some serious wedding-shoot excellence. I've fallen for the fairy-tale orangery at St Clere as the perfect location for your vintage-style wedding reception. There's something about the beautiful garden setting that invokes a dreamy fairy-tale theme, and I love the styling of this Snow White-style wedding shoot. Inspirational ideas to steal include the lace-themed wedding stationery and favour cards, the gauze-wrapped bridesmaids' balloons and the silver-burnished wedding cake. Other loves include the mix of mercury glass and clear crystal vases, and the pretty pastel bouquet by Florist in the Forest. Huge thanks to Jennifer Sue Weddings for her expert styling, and Kay Young Photography for her beautiful pictures. P.S. The private estate and house of St Clere are being offered for weddings in 2014 for the month of July only.

Amazing Boutonniere Button-Holes for your Hubby

As I was writing up my recent {and fabulous} feature - 100 Ideas to Personalise Your Wedding, I realised that Before the Big Day neglects grooms. It's true, they're often not as interested in weddings as future brides, but I figure the more attention we pay them, the more likely they're going to get infected with our wedding enthusiasm! So when I discovered these incredible buttonholes or boutonniere {the French term now also used by Americans}, I had to feature them on the wedding blog! They're made by Tim Fritts & Erin Rosenow {aka Fritts Rosenow} in San Fransicso, and they're completely handmade and bespoke. So if you visit their shop, and you don't see a boutonniere that will work, then contact them, and they'll mock up something spectacular!

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A Natural Homemade Sunshine Yellow Wedding - The Reception

With wedding details galore, I've fallen hook, line, and sinker for this beautiful farm wedding. There's nothing more stunning than the British countryside on a summer's day, and Abi and Simon got seriously lucky with their wedding weather. With a barn wedding venue and a rustic theme based around DIY details, I love the coherence of their blue and yellow colour scheme. More stealworthy ideas include the naked wedding cake, the raffia ties around the napkins, the mum-made bunting and the home-grown table flowers and wedding favours. Stunning pictures published with thanks to Jo Richards Photography - just take a look at that view!

Our wedding photographer was Jo Richards Photography. We originally had a friend doing our photography, but she pulled out with four months to go, and I did some research to find someone local. 

I had three interviews with wedding photographers in one morning, but Jo won hands down. She totally 'got' my family and our ideas, and also her photos were amazing. Our formal wedding photographs were a breeze, and I am loving looking through them all now.

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.