Real Secret Elopement Wedding: Crystal & Matt

Crystal and Matt eloped and got celebrated their big day in a secret ceremony without any other guests. Now how's that for an inspiration for couples struggling to edit their guest lists! They chose the most incredibly romantic location I've ever seen, unfortunately for us Brits, is all the way over in Atlanta Georgia. But we can still fall in love with idea of getting married near a tumble-down mansion, there must be hundreds in the UK - why not check out the National Trust for ideas. Other totally stealworthy ideas include Crystal's gorgeous simple strapless dress, the cute bright yellow of Matt's buttonhole, and the stunning sewn vow cards, created by Ashley of Dolci Odille. Best of all, I love the pics, and they're thanks to the massively talented team at Simply Bloom.

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Cute, Bright DIY Wedding Decorations

DIY brides who are looking for an original way to decorate their wedding venue are in for a treat. How about pom-poms? Not your standard wedding tissue poms, but woollen pom-poms like those you normally find on the end of a bobble hat! You could make garlands out of them, or add one to each table setting as  wedding favour with bags of playful personality. You could make them in every size or colour imaginable - all you need is wool, cardboard, a pair of scissors, this tutorial, and a lot of time on your hands! If you're not all that interested in DIY wedding projects, then check out these gorgeous garlands from Milla Love. All the beauty with none of the work.

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Snowy Wedding Inspiration with Hot Pink Accents

Two of our friends celebrated their wedding in the show, and although it caused more than a few travel headaches, it made for one of the most romantic weddings ever. So when I stumbled across this gorgeous snowy wedding shoot by fabulous photographer, Amy Carroll, I knew I had to share it with my lovely wedding blog friends. Just check out how dramatic the hot pink looks against the snow, and the glamour and luxury of the furs. I'm also loving the gold details on the buttonhole, and the fabulous spotty bow-tie. Let's start a wedding mini-trend for bow-ties on grooms - they're such a fun detail, and they'd make your boy stand out from the crowd. Throw in a cute dog and a baby coat, and I'm in wedding-heaven!

{Wedding Credits}
Daisy of Pixel & Hank, Jamie from Shutter Speed Productions, real-life couple Jen & Matt, hair & make-up by Stacy Jensen, tux by September’s Bride. Watch Jamie's video from the shoot.


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Secret Santa!! The Irish Bloggers Kind...

Ready, Set, Unwrap!!...

Before I get stuck in to the excitement and the gifts I have to say a huge thank you to Aisling from Total Make Up Addict for organising this great Irish blogger event, i really had so much fun participating and I'm absolutely dying to find out if Seana from Innocent Illusion liked the present I sent her!

My Secret Santa package arrived on friday and being the big child that I am i had to open it almost straight away! I mean I had great intentions about leaving it until today but they lasted about 5 minutes... approximately 4 minutes longer than I thought they would last to be fair. My Secret Santa was Yvonne from One For The Wish List. Myself and Yvonne have never met and we hadn't even been following each other on Twitter so I don't know how she did it but she really got my presents spot on! They are so me! We had a budget of €20 and Yvonne picked me out some great treats, I really couldn't have done better myself. There were two main reasons that I couldn't but take part in this Secret Santa, the first being to get to know even more Irish bloggers, we really have a great little community and some really talented people. The second was to try something new, i was hoping that my Secret Santa would send me something that they loved and maybe I hadn't tried and thats exactly what Yvonne done, all while sending me something that is very very me.

So here is what I unwrapped! Some yummy Green & Blacks chocolates... I've a crazy sweet tooth and try to buy organic as much as possible, but have never tried this chocolate before so it was the perfect sweet treat! 

Next was this Essie nail polish in Russian Roulette, its a gorgeous Christmassy red. I had been looking at red nail polishes during the week, i've got lots but wanted a real Christmas colour, so this fit the bill perfect, plus I've never used Essie nail polishes before so it was a great treat!

Next Yvonne sent me this gorgeous little L'Oreal eyeshadow quad for sultry brown smokey eyes in shade E4 Marron Glacé. My eye make up either consists of a slick of eyeliner or brown and gold tones so this smokey palette is perfect for me. The colours are gorgeous, you can barely see the first shade, its a shimmer, ivory highlighter and I love the depth of colour in the darker tones. I never use the applicators that come with eyeshadows, I'm a definite brush girl, but i was very impressed when i noticed this one had an angled end to help achieve that dark smokey look and get right into the lash line. I can't wait to try new looks with this over the Christmas. I'll definately be posting the results to Instagram.

So they are my gorgeous gifts from my Secret Santa, I want to say a huge thank you to Yvonne for all the thought and effort she put into my gifts and i hope you all pop on over to her blog. For my Secret Santa gift I sent Seana the Khloé Kardazzle palette from Cloud10 Beauty here. I'm a huge Kardashian fan and I love the Khloé palette, I think its tones are perfectly matched to Irish skin, plus Cloud10 is a great Irish company! I really hope Seana likes her present! Oh fun fact, I just found out that my Secret Santa Yvonnes Secret Santa was Seana! What are the odds with so many bloggers taking part! Thats what you call a little Secret Santa Circle!

Before I go guys, I just want to let you know about my giveaway. As part of My Ultimate Gift Guide with the Ilac Centre I have a €40 Korkys voucher to give away. You can enter the giveaway at the end of my gift guide post here. Good Luck guys! I hope you all have a great Christmas!

Zee xxx

Cheap & Cheerful Wedding Favours

Sweetie bars and biscuit bars have become a hugely popular at weddings. Guests are usually encouraged to fill a bag with their goodies and take them home as wedding favours. It's a brilliant idea, because it doesn't cost much {you can even bake your own biscuits}, and people always appreciate favours they can eat! Add a splash of colour with these fun striped paper bags. They're a great way to package sweeties, and en masse, they look really effective. Just add twine. Pick up paper bags from eBay super-cheap.

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Ilac Centre Ultimate Gift Guide and Giveaway

This day next week all the Christmas festivities will be over and theres bound to be panic setting in over the country at this stage. So with only a few days left to get all the shopping done i teamed up with all the lovely people at the Ilac Centre in the heart of Dublin to make the Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide and help take some of the stress out of the festive season for all you last minute shoppers.

Christmas is all about the children in my eyes so to start I’ve picked out this Christmas’ top toys.

The Teksta Robotic Puppy, it was originally released in 1999 and it comes in blue and pink has different facial expressions, voice recognition, it obeys hand gestures and interacts with other Teksta puppies and with the App for iPad, iPhone and Android. Its €71.99 from Argus. Also from Argos and also an updated version of a previous Christmas hit toy is the Furby Boom, available in several different colours and with tons of new updates its €72.99.

For the young girls who love 1Direction, or 1D seeing as I’ve been corrected on several occassions by my little cousin, this set is from The Gadget Box and priced at €20. The microphone sponge, I think is brilliant, they can belt out their favorite 1D songs in the shower and its only €6 from The Gadget Box.

For the young boys a remote control inflatable Despicable Me 2 Minion or Star Wars R2D2  they are €39 also from The Gadget Box.

Dunnes have some great kids clothes, I’ve picked out this Angry Birds Tee for the boys over 3, theres a whole range of Angry Birds clothing for boys, this tee is €14.

For the girls i picked out this cute little check dress and top combo from the babies 0-3 months range its priced at €18.

There are some great options for stocking fillers for the kids as well. These Tikkers watches come in lots of different colours and designs for €18 from The Watch Shop and every child would love these Xmas sweets from Mr Simms.

The men in our lives can often be the hardest to buy for, from the boyfriend or husband to your dad or grandad, not to mention the brothers... So i’ve come up with some great gift ideas from The Ilac Centre that should have them all wrapped up.

Starting with the man himself. My top picks for the man in your life from the Ilac Centre this Christmas are... The PS4, its every gamers new must have gadget and lets face it most men love their playstations and some girls too! So if he’s been dropping hints like theres no tomorrow you can pick one up in Argos for €399. The Watch Shop have this beautiful rose gold Guess watch for €269. This leather bracelet is from Thomas Gear, I just love it, I know so many men who are always saying they would love a nice leather bracelet and i think this is perfect, its €70. Dolce & Gabbana The One is my favorite fragrance for men, it just smells like every womans perfect man, i promise you’ll fall in love with him all over again and again and again so long as hes wearing this, the set is €82 in The Perfume Shop.

I also picked out some really great stocking fillers for him. Give your man a bum like David Beckhams in these boxers from H&M’s David Beckham Bodywear range €24.95 for a pack of 3. These cosy slippers are by Paul Costelloe for Dunnes and are €40. The beautiful tan leather bag is from Debenhams newest designer range Hammond & Co by Patrick Grant, it will last him a lifetime and it will go with anything and anywhere for €173.60. I spotted these great bits in The Gadget Box and just had to include them all. The little quiz boxes are €4 each and come in a variety of subjects, Breaking Bad t-shirts are €18 and the Man Bowl for when he’s in the dog house €20.

For all of the fashion conscious men in your life theres a great selection of shops to choose from in the Ilac Centre. First I’ll start with this quirky Xmas jumper from river island. I love it, the colours are great and its not too jingle bellish so he can wear them all over the holidays not just on xmas day or for the xmas party and its only €37! I think it would look great with a shirt and i picked out this dickie bow just to finish off the look, and how couldn’t you when its only €4.80!

Next is Jack and Jones. They have some great stylish, staple pieces in at the minute at great prices. This grey blazer is €49.95 and the contrast collar polo shirt underneath is only €24.95. The green jacket has a real college student look and its €69.95. Finally the wool coat is €129.95, it'll smarten up any look! The shirt and knit jumper underneath it here on the manequin are on offer and its €60 for both from a range of colours.

While Jack and Jones cater for your more dapper chap, Epic, which is a sister store to Storm on Liffey street, caters for the boy round town. They have a great range of jackets,  the blue water proof jacket is €79.99 and is available in 3 colours, the white polo shirt is €34.99 and the Cross Hatch puffa jacket is €69.99.

Unique Menswear is an Ilac Centre institution at this stage. They have a great selection of jumpers and  shirts. For me this check shirt, €40, stood out as a perfect Christmas Day shirt for the younger man or teen, its long sleeved and looks smart enough for Christmas dinner and casual enough for lounging on the couch.

Diesel also have a great range of menswear. Personally I love the colour combination of this shirt €49.99 and jacket €84.99.

For the little men in your life Champion sports have a range of these cute McKenzie tracksuits starting at €32.

Now for the coffee lovers this beautiful Gaggia coffee machine from Debenhams, its expensive at €339 but it does have the added bonus that you can use it too! For me if I pooled together with the rest of the family this would be the perfect gift for my dad.

For Granda I found this great Xmas jumper in Unique Menswear, its festive, practical and warm and great value at €40. I also found this Remington Pro Power mens grooming set in Argos for €39.59, its great not just for grandads but for any man in your life you don’t know what to buy for!

These days we all have family living abroad. Thomas Gear Jewellers do a beautiful range of jewellry engraved with Irish iconography. I've picked out the sterling silver mens ring, priced at €50 its the perfect gift for any man living abroad who'd like to have a little bit of home with him.

For the Rugby fans out there, Direct Sports have a great range of Ireland and Leinster merchandise. Prices range from €8 to €15 and they are also available in football merchandise, Liverpool and Man Utd.

Secret Santa at work can be the worst! If you get stuck with one of the boys how about this Texas Holdem set from Debenhams for €14.40.

Next up for all you men and boys who don't know what to buy for your special lady here are some ideas.

First off for the man whos planning to go on bended knee this holiday season this beautiful ring is from a huge range at Thomas Gears, this one is priced at €1250 and bound to put a sparkle in her eye as well as on her finger! iPads, even if she doesn't know she wants one, fellas, she does! The iPad2 is available from Argos for €399. This gorgeous rose gold DKNY watch from The Watch Shop is a great present and rose gold is the the only colour to go for this season this one is €249. Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette was released over here on Monday and its been a HUGE hit with beauty lovers everywhere already, you can get her one from Debenhams for €44.

I had a snoop around for some great little stocking fillers for her too! This tartan scarf has all the warm festive colours and will keep jack frost away for €9.95 from H&M. The adorable floral printed compact mirror is a handbag essential and its only €5 by Carolyn Donnelly for Dunnes. The tan leather gloves are also from Dunnes from their Paul Costelloe line and are €30. Finally this little sexy santa suit is a present for both of you from a range at La Chica, this ones €29.99.

For the fabulous fashionistas in your life the Ilac Centre has a great range of clothes shops to suit every budget, there really are some hidden gems here...

These three gems are from Kriza. Everything in the shop is highly embellished but if you team them up with simple, plain and classic pieces your onto a winner everytime! Like these black leggings with gold beading and gemstone detail they are priced at €99.99 and teamed with a simple black top are perfect for a night on the town. The jumper is part of a tracksuit which costs €120. The jumper is a gem, printed and embellished with rhinestones it draws inspiration straight from the Dolce and Gabbana catwalk, as does this highly embellished midlength sleeved dress also priced at €120.

From River Island I picked out this amazing fluffy pink coat €120, it hits two key trends this season pink and texture and believe me she doesn't have to be a girly girl to love it! These crazy red leather and feather gloves €40 are a real little show stopper but not for the faint of heart, believe me you'll know if shes the kind of girl who will love these!

This little tartan dress is perfect for the teenager and at €20 its perfect for your pocket too! Its from Fab, a great little shop with amazing prices!

These sparkly jumpsuits are from another one of my Ilac Centre gems... Motive. Motive is always worth a look, these jumpsuits are €25 and perfect for the party season!

This adorable pink hoodie from Diesel is for the girly girl for €59.99.

I popped into Gerard and found some great pieces for the glamorous granny like this blue sparkle dress for €49.99, the necklace with it is €19.99 and theres a great selection of necklaces at that price. I also picked out this classic camel coat, i think every woman should have a camel coat they are chic and timeless and so versatile so if your granny doesn’t have one this ones great value at €69.99. its teamed here with a scarf for €19.99, this scarf is available in a range of colourways and a very handy pocket friendly present cos we all know grannies love scarves!

Catch have a wide range of Christmas jumpers at reasonable prices. The ideal office Kris Kindle gift!

There are loads of great shoe shops in the Ilac Centre too. These adorable little runners are just about every teenagers dream €20 from *Cans.

Both of these amazing shoes are from Korkys. Theres a great giveaway at the end of this post for a €40 voucher from Korkys so don't forget to check it out! They have a great range of shoes for men and women and for all tastes. These gold sparkley heels are perfect for the party girl and are €39.99. The spike heel ankle boots are reminiscent of the Jeffrey Campbells but a fraction of the price at €49.99. Don't forget to enter the giveaway and good luck!

For all the bag ladies out there this little fun red number is €40 from Angel.

Giorgio Armani's new perfume Sí is perfect for the sophisticated lady... also known as the mammy. This giftset is available from The Perfume Shop for €77.

I’m a big fan of this Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator Serum and I think this gift set is a great present for any woman, it really hydrates and rejuvenates the skin and its a great price at €65.45 from Debenhams.

This Babyliss Curl secret is a huge seller this Christmas. It promises effortless luscious curls in seconds but its pricey at €166.49 from Argos. If shes always curling, thonging and rolling her hair these could be her best friend.

Last but not least I couldn't finish the gift guide without including the dog. Our dog always gets a Christmas present, I found this in Dunnes in their Carolyn Donnelly range for €15 and think it would be a great alternative to the usual doggy stocking he gets every year.

So thats my Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide all available at The Ilac Centre. I hope you enjoyed it and found it even a little bit helpful! Now for the Giveaway!! Like i said before I've got a €40 voucher for Korkys in the Ilac Centre up for grabs! With fabulous shoes like the ones above your bound to find some gorgeous foot candy to spend it on! 

To be in with a chance of winning this great prize just follow the steps below. Best of luck and have a great Christmas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway