Real Vintage South African Wedding: Marzaan & Joe

This vintage wedding comes all the way from South Africa. Marzaan and Joe celebrated their wedding in the wine region of the Western Cape, in a cute village called Fraanschhoek. Marzaan had two heavenly dresses, and wore a gorgeous garland of flowers instead of a veil. I'm loving her garter and her lovely laid-back hair-style. It rained all day, but who cares when you've got a stunning gallery-style venue. My favourite details? The pairing of a modern setting with vintage detailing - check out the lovely antique silver candlesticks and flower containers, plus the old books and monochrome ribbon. Throw in a blackboard menu, and a pile of fancy-dress for the photobooth, and you've got a wedding made in heaven. Huge thanks to the team at We Love Pictures for their fantastic photographs from the day.

Ushers & Groomsmen Gift Ideas

Are you planning to hand out presents on your wedding day? Traditionally the groom gives the bridesmaids a little something, and possibly even the ushers get a look-in. As a couple, we completely failed on this front at our wedding. We'd run out of money and time, and apart from our wedding favours, no one received any presents, and I still feel slightly guilty about it! If I had my time again, I'd love to create bespoke cosmetic sets for my bridesmaids, and for the ushers....well, how about DIY-ing cocktail sets like these, according to their favourite tipple?

{Photo Credit} 1. Bourbon drink set by Victor Sizemore Photography, 2. Cocktail Drink Set, picture by Autumn Wilson Photography, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Photo Credit} 1. Hip Flasks by Captured Photography by Jenny, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Photo Credit} 1. Old-fashioned Shaving Set by Aravaggio Photography, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

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Your Rainbow Wedding Diet

{Posting by Alice Cowen of Fitness DNA, Before the Big Day's Personal Trainer & Nutritionist} If you're finding it hard to focus on your wedding diet, here's a fun, simple and easy way to eat more healthily. I call it The Rainbow Diet. Not only is it super-slimming to eat more vegetables and fruit, but if you eat a multi-coloured diet, you'll be getting a mixture of antioxidants, which are the clever substances believed to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and memory loss. Different colours contain different kinds of antioxidants, hence a rainbow diet gives you the best all round nutritious diet. Each day try and eat something from each of the colours of the rainbow!

{Photo Credit} David Malan

Red such as tomatoes, red grapes, red onions, beetroot, peppers, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, radish, watermelon.

Orange such as squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, oranges, tangerines.

Yellow such as yellow squash, turmeric, mustard, yellow pepper, banana, sweetcorn.

Green such as spinach, asparagus, avocado, artichoke, broccoli, peas, beans, apples, grapes, kale, sprouts.

Blue such as blueberries

Purple such as grapes, aubergine, purple carrots, plums.

Try it and see how you feel after a couple of weeks.

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Cheap & Cheerful Wedding Favours with a Touch of Whimsy

This one wedding blog post could save you fortune - I've found the perfect website for wedding favours - and some of them work out as 50p each! Take a look at the amazing Wedding in a Teacup Etsy shop and start getting excited. My favourites are the cute personalised paper favour bags containing wild-flower or forget-me-not seeds. They'll add a pretty touch to your wedding table, and send everyone home with lasting memory of your big day. Love them? Well you'll like their hangover kit favour bags even more!

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How to Save Money on Your Wedding at Ikea

When we picked our wedding venue in France, one of the first things I researched, was the nearest Ikea! Luckily there was one only an hour away, as I knew that I didn't want to have to ship out all the amazing wedding accessories I'd spotted for our big day. Candles, canapé serviettes, French-style napkins and lanterns - we picked them all up super-cheap, and none of our wedding guests knew the difference. At one stage we even considered buying glasses, as they worked out as cheaper to buy from Ikea than rent, but in the end our caterer provided them for free. Take a look at my latest Ikea wedding finds - from blanket favours in case your guests feel chilly, to pretty lace-style plant pots, water bottles, wine carafes, orchid table decorations, and even giant artificial potted plants to decorate your marquee. It's a veritable treasure trove!

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'Pencil us in' - Wedding Save the Dates

This is such a brilliant idea, I can't believe I haven't stumbled upon it before! Gorgeous laser-engraved Save the Date pencils!! Designed and made by the lovely people at CamDeco in England, these cute little golf pencils can be customised with any message you want. They're perfect as Save the Dates, or sweet little favours. Don't miss CamDeco's fab shop - they've got lots of rustic-style wedding favour, invitation and decoration ideas you'll love.

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Vintage Carnival Wedding Decorations

Deep down, I'm a just a stationery geek at heart. Fonts are my current obsession, which goes some way to explain why I've fallen hook-line-and-sinker for these incredible vintage carnival-style marquee lights from Lamplight Design Co in the UK. They'd look amazing in any wedding venue - just place them near the dance floor for the best photo prop ever! Here's a few of the designs they've got in stock, but you can always contact them for a bespoke design.

{I want this!} LOVE Marquee Light Sign, £450

{I want this!} Marquee Curved Arrow Light, £60

{I want this!} Vintage Boardwalk Heart Marquee Light, £90

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Easy Valentine's Day Wedding Crafting

DIY brides are going to love this easy project. All you need is some ink and these pretty stamps. The options are endless - decorate cards, invitations, favour bags, place-card, page boys.....before you know it, you'll be wanting to put your mark on anything that moves.

{I want this!} 1. Little Stamp Store, £4 / 2. Little Stamp Store, £6 / 3. Little Stamp Store, £7

{I want this!} 1. Clarise Stamps, £ 8/ 2. Jolyon Yates, £12.95 / 3. Little Stamp Store, £7.75

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