My Top Three Winter Wedding Invitations

As I write this, it's 28 degrees outside and a beautiful summer day. But if you're planning a winter wedding, you've only got 6 months to go, and your thoughts must be turning to invitations. I'm a huge stationery geek, and I spent easily 70% of my wedding planning, scanning the internet for wedding invitation suites. I fell in love with graphic designers from Australia to LA, and eventually settled on designing my own. Remember your wedding invitation will get your guests excited about your big day - it really sets the tone - so choose wisely. Here are three of my current favourites for winter weddings - all from brilliant British designers.

{I want this!} Starry Night by Blush & Gold

{I want this!} Chalk Board & Stag Wedding Invitation Bundle by norma & dorothy

{I want this!} Highland Wedding Suite by Julia Eastwood

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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Discussion: Should a Bride smoke on her Wedding Day?

As a non-smoker, it was never an issue for me, but what do you think about brides smoking on their wedding day? There's something about the elegance of the occasion, and the pageantry of the beautiful white dress and veil, that makes cigarettes uncomfortable bedfellows to a blushing bride. What do you think? I'd love to hear your views!

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Real Rural DIY Wedding: Catherine & Matt - Wedding Reception

After the beautiful getting ready pictures, and perfect portrait shots, are you ready for la pièce de résistance? Yup, it's time for the stunning reception details. Catherine and Matt chose their local village hall for their wedding reception, and added unique rustic vintage touches with the help of stylists Add a Little Sparkle. I love the mix of fresh and dried flower arrangements, the bark vases and mini-log place marker stands {made by Catherine's dad}, and the cute animal familiars on each table. Catherine also DIY'd all the favour crackers out of handmade paper, snappers from eBay and flowers grown in her own garden. Even the bird wedding toppers were hand-sewn and embroidered by the bride - you can buy similar from her Etsy shop. Huge thanks to Lily Sawyer Photography for her beautiful pictures - she really captured every wedding detail!

Real Rural DIY Wedding: Catherine & Matt - Portrait Pictures

Dreamy wedding portrait sessions don't get much better than this! Take golden light, a beautiful bride, and a perfect poppy field, and I'm wedding heaven. Matt and Catherine celebrated their wedding near Canterbury, in the Kent countryside, and photographer, Lily Sawyer, took full advantage of the beautiful landscape. En-route to their wedding reception, she stopped with the bride and groom by a field, where they had to climb over barbed wire to get in! Matt came well-prepared with a thick curtain ready to lay on the wires, so Catherine could climb over without ruining her stunning wedding dress. It was worth the effort - just take a look at these gorgeous, golden pictures.

Real Rural DIY Wedding: Catherine and Matt

With more DIY wedding details than you can shake a stick at, this is easily one of my favourite weddings of all time, not least because the bride is a regular reader of Before the Big Day! Lovely Catherine is a textile designer, and you can see her creative talent in every element of her and Matt's beautiful rural wedding. They chose Canterbury in Kent as the location for their big day, and celebrated their wedding ceremony in a village church, surrounded by poppy fields and rolling hills, followed by their wedding reception in the village hall. Catherine designed and handmade many of her wedding details, including the stunning floral bridesmaids' dresses, her hand-printed wedding stationery, and she even altered her second-hand wedding dress - an amazing Enzoani Diana gown she found on eBay! You'll love all the rural vintage touches, enjoy these gorgeous pictures by Lily Sawyer Photography - I'll be posting the poppy field portrait pictures and reception shots later today!

Possibly the Best Wedding Prank ever?

Be kind to your ushers, because you never know when they're going to strike.... Picture c/o Simply Bloom Photography, from the lovely wedding of Skyler and Kristian. The groom had no idea they'd decorated the soles of his shoes. Don't miss more pictures from this lovely sparkly themed wedding with a mismatched cake.

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British Seaside Wedding Ideas

If you love the traditional British world of bunting, bathing huts and camper vans, you're going to instantly fall for the wedding shop I've just discovered on Etsy. Something New Stationery is the brainchild of Jenni Bryan, and I'm enchanted by her cute take on the British seaside. Just take a look at her lovely designs below! Her shop also stocks a huge range of colourful baking twine, at a reasonable price of £5 per spool. What's not to love?

Holiday Beach Huts Wedding Seating Plan, £45

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Real English Seaside Teepee Wedding: Pip & Nik

Some of my favourite emails I recieve as a wedding blogger, are those from happily married brides, asking me to feature their weddings on Before the Big Day. Organising your wedding can take months, and I remember how thrilled I was by my own wedding pictures by Caught the Light, I couldn't wait to share them with everone! So when the lovely Pip got in touch with me a couple of months ago with her stunning wedding photographs by Victoria Phipps, I wanted to share them with you immediately. I'm loving Pip's elegant 'Claire' dress by Jenny Packham, the Nik's stunning paper buttonhole rose by Petal Products and their gorgeous teepee-style marquee. Other stealworthy deatils include the floral vintage china, the beautiful vintage car, and the lovely beachside portrait pictures. It's such a good idea to get away for a few minutes, for your wedding pictures together. I know I found it hard to leave my guests, but they make such fabulous memories. For more fantastic details about this beautiful wedding, as written by Pip, don't miss the feature on Whimsical Wonderland Weddings. Huge thanks to Victoria Phipps Photography for these lovely pictures.