Inspiration Board #13: White, Gold + Silver

I love the sleek look of a white, gold, and silver wedding color combination, especially in accessories. The following are some of my favorite handmade finds for a romantic wedding using gold and silver touches with white.


(photo credits from top left to bottom right: gold wedding bands, white and gold bracelet, wedding gown, silver earrings, ring pillow)

DIY Project: Felt Swirls

This week I created a felt swirls DIY. These swirls are a perfect addition to whimsical wedding decor and can be used in many forms! I've added them to our twine enveloped cans from last week's DIY for a softer, more interesting look, but you can also add these swirls to a bouquet, other centerpiece forms, hair pins, brooches, wreaths and anything else you can think of!

What You'll Need:
A pair of scissors
Sheets of felt in the color(s) of your choice
Aluminum foil
A single needle and thread in the color of your choice

Cost:The sheets of felt were only 39 cents at Michaels, so the cost for the felt is $3.90 for every ten large flowers you want to create. We already had the thread, needle, and scissors. Most likely you will too. And we also had the foil already, but if you need to purchase foil, you can get a roll for around $5, making the total for this project around $9 for 10 large swirls.

Steps:
1. Set aside your needle, thread, and foil. Cut your felt into an oval. And cut the oval into a swirl pattern like the one shown in the photo.
2. Take your foil and cut a small rectangular piece. Fold it in half twice horizontally.
3. Take your felt and wrap it around the folded foil until you reach the end or run out of felt. Cut any remaining foil.
4. Take the felt wrapped foil and twirl it into a swirl. Thread your needle and create a few stitched at the end of your swirl to keep it in shape.
5. Create a few more swirls and either sew them together or glue them together with a glue gun.
6. Repeat for as many sets of swirls as you'd like. Add them to a wreath, centerpiece or simply lay them out for a whimsical wedding feel.

Real Weddings: From Around the Web #2

Happy Monday! How is your wedding planning going?

Have you gotten addicted to browsing through real weddings yet? I remember sitting down and going through real weddings for hours online when I was planning my wedding. I seriously couldn't stop! If you're getting addicted to it already or are just beginning your quest to look for ideas for your wedding, the following are some real weddings that I've recently fallen in love with from around the web.

Next Monday we have the first of our February real wedding features, so stay tuned for that!

Melissa + Chris

(photo by Ashley Rose Photography)

Nata + Jess

(photo by Studio Castillero)

Rachel + John

(photo by David Coleman)

Stacy + Jason

(photo by Mark Malijan)

Laura + Daneil

(photo by Jose Villa)

Wonderful Wood Wedding Stationery

When it comes to wedding planning and wedding invitations, I'm a huge fan of surprising your wedding guests by using fun and unusual materials. The best wedding ideas are all about originality because that's what will keep your wedding unique! A big trend for 2012 is have your wedding stationery printed on wood. It's all part of weddings getting greener and more eco-friendly, and as our mood turns towards natural products, it's surprising how many woody invitations you can find! Take a look at the pretty stationery products below - don't you know, paper is soooo passé!

{Product Credit} Perch Papiers



{Product Credit}  Palomas Nest


{Product Credit} Baumbirdy

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Sunday Love Tunes

Have you considered having your wedding in winter? Most brides seem to choose to have their big day in the spring or summer, but I think a winter wedding can be beautiful. BHLDN offers some gown and bridal accessories inspiration for a winter wedding, such as these two beautiful romantic looks.


(photo credits: bhldn.com)

Before the Big Day Wedding Theme: Fancy Dress

Photographs can often become formulaic, especially wedding shots, so how about setting up a photobooth where guests can take pictures of themselves? Lots of American photographers are offering it as part of their packages, and I think it's time it came to the UK. One way of making the shots stand out is to offer your guests a fancy dress box. Then just sit back, and watch the hilarious shots roll in! My suggestions for super-cool props? Feather boas, vintage gold frames, wacky glasses and a couple of mini blackboards for messages. As ever, check out the offers on these items below....

Product Credits {top L to R} 1 & 2, MeriMask, 3. I Made You A Beard, 4. Something's Hiding Here, 5. Cox & Cox, {mid L to R} 1.Cox & Cox, 2. Leather Art Works {bottom L to R} 1. Glitz Concepts, 2. Jokers Masquerade, 3. Future Girl, 4.1 Handmade By Heather

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En Pointe: Bow Tie Shop

For those of you that have been following my inspiration boards, you know I'm a big fan of bow ties. Joe didn't wear one for our wedding (we're not sure if he's a bow tie kind of guy), but I think they're a great choice if your having a more whimsical wedding. I ran across an awesome bow tie shop on Etsy.com, En Pointe, and had to share. They create handmade made to order ties in lots of colors and styles all equally cute.


(photo credits: En Pointe Etsy shop)

Zach and Jason at Bachelor Gulch, Colorado. Through the Lens Series - Entry 4

When I'm not playing Mum or running around with a camera in my hand, you can find me working in marketing at The Ritz-Carlton Club in Bachelor Gulch.  We host a weekly event for our Members at our Vail Club every Wednesday night and Zach and Jason had asked if they could provide some musical accompaniment at these events.  They came and played us a few songs as a demo before they played for our Members and I decided to take a few pics.  Here they are!

Click here to see more Event Photography in Vail, Colorado.

Inspiration Board #12: Valentine's Day Gift Ideas For Him

Valentine's Day is coming up, if you're still looking for gift ideas for your future spouse here are some great handmade Valentine's Day gift ideas for him.


(photo credits from top left to bottom right: coffee scrub soap, amp, thumb print ring, cufflinks, striped beanie)

Beauty & Fitness: Naked Elements All Natural Makeup

I love the natural organic makeup by Cecilia Ras of Naked Elements. Her makeup is all handmade and includes a variety of colors all with an earthy nude tone that would be beautiful for a natural bridal look. You can order a sample of any color eyeshadow for a only $2 by purchasing this listing. You can also purchase samples of her blush.


(photo credit: Naked Elements Etsy Shop)

Beauty & Fitness: French Mani

I love this French mani quick DIY from The Beauty Department.



View the entire steps by clicking here! Quick tip: Step 4 includes nail polish remover.

Relaxing Hen-Weekend Ideas

What's your favourite treat to yourself? I'm a huge fan of massages - they're ridiculously luxurious, and they're the only thing that calm me down when I'm super-stressed. My wonderful husband gave me a massage just before my wedding day, and it completely changed my perspective from freaked, to cucumber-cool. A spa day would make for a brilliant hen party. According to their budget, your bridesmaids could choose whether they wanted manicures or pedicures or a facial, and to keep costs down even further, you could try to find a deal on Groupon UK. Invitations to the hen party could include bath hats or toe-separators, and everyone could get a bottle of nail varnish as a leaving present.

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more hen party ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Inspiration Board #11: White and Ivory

It finally started snowing here in South Lake Tahoe, and maybe it's all the snow that has me romancing about white and ivory wedding details. After all, what's a wedding without at least some elements of white? Today, I decided to share some of my favorite white and ivory finds from some of our amazing sponsors.


(Photo credits from top left to bottom right: ring bowl, flower hair fascinator, rose bridesmaid bouquet, white monogram hankie, wedding bands.)

Cufflink Giveaway Reminder

Today is the last day to enter our cufflink giveaway sponsored by Andrea of Legal Miss Sunshine on Etsy.com. You can win a pair of her awesome handmade vintage-style cufflink's for your soon to be groom, spouse, or significant other, in the style of your choice!

To enter, please visit our original post for details by clicking HERE!

A winner will be chosen at random tomorrow!

Wedding Favours - Wrap With Love

One of my favouite activities is wedding window-shopping at Etsy - I thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a spare minute to fill! On my metaphorical stroll earlier today, I discovered LillaLotta, the sweetest little store of handmade cotton tapes. It's run by Anna Barrow, who lives in a sleepy little village in the South of France, with her large noisy family of five little children. Along with her standard selection below, Anna also offers bespoke tapes, decorated with the wording and images of your choice. Just imainge - there are so many ways you could use the tape on your big day, from tying your bouquets and buttonholes, decorating table vases and, of course, adding to personalised wedding favours.

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter and click for more wedding favour ideas. Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Inspiration Board #10: Wedding Gift Ideas I

One of my favorite tools while planning my wedding was using Gift Registry 360, which allows you to pull any item available for sale on the web and add it to your wedding registry. It was great having the liberty to add items from places like Etsy.com or Anthropologie, places that don't normally have gift registries. This week's first inspiration board is filled with handmade items from Etsy.com that make great additions to your wedding registry or great handmade gift ideas for the guests that like purchasing outside of registries. :]


(photo credits from top left to bottom right: geometric printed tea towel, magnetic knife block, flower vase wall mount, mustard and wood finish wall clock, van bread board.)

DIY Projects: Rustic Style Centerpiece Cans

Our DIY project today, twine enveloped cans, is a simple centerpiece option perfect for a rustic, outdoor, or barn wedding. You can fill them with small orchid plants or wild flowers, for a chic rustic vibe!

What You'll Need:
A pair of scissors
A roll of twine or yarn in any color
As many cans as you desire
A hot glue gun

Cost:This is a relatively low costing project depending the number of cans you already have in stock, and how many you still need to buy. You can also ask friends or family members to save their cans for you for this project. The total cost can be anywhere from $5 for twine to $15 for your entire wedding table decor (without including cost of flowers).