DIY Wedding Chalkboard Fabulousness

Regular readers of Before the Big Day might have spotted my love of chalkboards at weddings. Whether you DIY with blackboard paint, or buy school-style boards for your menus {like I did}, I think they're a great way to communicate with your guests. So when I spotted these amazing chalkboard vinyl stickers by Charlie Chalk Designs, you can imagine my excitement. Super-cheap, and super-effective, they're a hugely creative way to decorate your jam-jar glasses or vases, and would make for great table numbers. My favourites? The Vespa labels. I had a silver Vespa when I met my husband, and we buzzed around town all summer. Happy memories!

{I want these!} 12 Vespa Motorcycle Chalkboard Labels, £4.58



{I want these!} 12 Curly Mustache Wedding Chalkboard Labels, £3.92

{I want these!} 25 Sets Love Bird Mason Jar Chalkboard Labels, £13.08

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Real Feather-Themed Teepee Wedding: Zegnia & Matthew - The Reception

Take a teepee, a rustic wedding theme, and a feather motif, and you've got one very happy wedding blogger! I couldn't be more excited about showing you the reception pictures from Zegnia and Matthew's creative big day. Zegnia got really into the planning process, and read lots of wedding blogs like Before the Big Day - coming up with some truly original DIY ideas. From her self-designed feather wedding stationery, the framed table plans and the birch themed table displays and wedding favours, everything fits together beautifully. I'd forgotten how much I love teepee tents - they look stunning festooned with fairy lights, and have you spotted the cute old-fashioned street-lamp at the entrance? Also, don't miss the amazing white chocolate wedding cake by Vanilla Patisserie. It's seriously glamorous! Huge thanks to Lucy Wallace Photography her stunning pictures, and to Zegnia for submitting her wedding - why not do the same?

We got married on Sunday 26th May, at St. James’ Church in Nayland, Suffolk followed by a reception at Bear House, my parent's garden. I had always wanted to have our wedding reception where I'd grown up, and it was lovely to be able to walk to and from the church. 

I spotted wedding tipis in a magazine a few years ago, even before we were engaged, and knew straight away that was what I wanted. So when we set the date that was one of the first things we booked {via Beautiful World Tents} - even before we had ever even seen them. We just knew we wanted something different and these were perfect! The tipi pretty much set the tone for the feel we wanted for our big day - a very relaxed, rustic, country garden feel.

My shoes were Carvela. I noticed them in the shop window and loved them. A very easy spur of the moment decision! 

We never planned to have a particular ‘theme’ or anything but as we started getting ideas I liked the idea of something natural, and drawing inspiration from the surroundings. When we were younger we had a pet goose, and whenever she lost a feather my Mum always saved it. This gave us the idea of incorporating a feather design into the day. 



During the early stages of planning I was keen to not pick a colour theme, as I didn’t want to tie us into something in case we changed our mind, or saw something else that we preferred. Our colours naturally emerged during the process of planning, into mostly raspberry, antique silver and champagne.

We had a few DIY projects - many of them came up because we were hosting our wedding at home, rather than at hotel. I spent a long time pondering over the table plan. I came up with the idea of using old frames, but I wasn't sure how it would turn out. But after a long time sourcing old frames, my sisters and I spent the day before putting it together, and in the end I was so proud of how it turned out.

Instead of using traditional numbers or names for each table, we used significant numbers, e.g. the number of our first house or the date Matthew proposed. We wrote these onto brown card, which we cut into a large luggage tag, and tied onto a jar. One thing that took a long time was collecting all the jars, and cleaning them for the flowers and candles but was so worth it! All of the name places were written and assembled by my mum, my sisters and myself.

We couldn’t decide on wedding favours - we knew we didn't want them to be something half the guests left behind, and we wanted it to be something that was related to our wedding theme. In the end we chose a mini-disc of birch trunk {my maiden name was Birch}. These matched the central table display, and fitted well with the rustic feel. Also they didn't cost much, so if guests left them it didn't matter, but they could find a use for them if they wanted.

Our florist was Charlotte Slade. I'd collected lots of inspiration pictures from wedding blogs like Before the Big Day, but I was fairly open to what I wanted for our wedding flowers. When we met with Charlotte she completely understood my vision. We chose peonies, roses and sweet peas as our main blooms.

For our table flowers, Charlotte arranged the flowers in a simple glass vase, placed on a rustic slice of wood, along with candles. When we walked into the tipi and saw it with all the flowers I was blown away, they were perfect and more gorgeous than we could have ever imagined.

Our wedding cake was from Vanilla Patisserie in Suffolk. We originally saw her designs at a wedding show, and they had such a wow-factor. When we went for a cake-tasting session with Michelle, we were even more impressed - so it was an easy decision, although deciding the flavours was not so easy! In the end we settled on lemon, chocolate fudge, and vanilla and raspberry, which was all wrapped in the white chocolate.

I completely loved planning the wedding - it was not without its stresses, but overall I loved it. I miss it a lot, going though blogs and magazines, dress shopping and the build up. I wish there was a way to carry on, so if anyone is looking for a wedding planner…!

Our photographer was Lucy Wallace. She was recommended by another photographer we liked, but who wasn't available. We met her in London, and knew immediately she was the right person. We didn't want our guests to have to stand around for ages while we had loads of posed formal photographs. Instead we wanted to be able to spend as much time with our guests and have our wedding photographer capture all the memories of the day. Lucy's reportage style was perfect, she was so discreet, and made us feel so comfortable and not be thinking of the camera. 

My advice to brides would be to make the most of the planning. When I went dress shopping we always made a day of it - champagne lunches and celebrating with my mum and bridesmaids. Those were some of the best bits of the whole process. We also made sure that we celebrated before and after the wedding. So on the Friday night the guys had a curry night, and the girls had a movie night, on the Saturday we had a relaxed BBQ, and on the Bank Holiday Monday a lunch where I wore my dress again. That way it gave us more time to spend with family and friends. 

On the morning of the wedding I was so relaxed and really enjoyed the whole day. It was lovely to be able to take it all in. I would also say that remember it is your day - so don't make decisions to please other people. If you want to wear something different do, or do something totally untraditional, then do, that way you will enjoy it the most!

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Real Feather-Themed Teepee Wedding: Zegnia & Matthew

Before the Big Day bride submissions are coming thick and fast! Lovely bride, Zegnia, read Before the Big Day in the run up to her wedding, and I'm thrilled to feature her wedding photographs. Her and Matthew chose a feather theme for their wedding day, and I love how it subtly runs through all their wedding details. There are feathers in the bouquets, buttonholes and flower arrangements, and a feather motif on their DIY designed wedding stationary {which looks seriously professional!}. For colours, they chose raspberry, antique silver and champagne, a palette that worked perfectly with their tipi tent. More pictures of their wedding reception coming soon, but for the moment, feast your eyes on the Zegnia's incredible taupe Ian Stuart wedding gown, the bridesmaids individual Coast dresses and Matthew in his made-to-measure suit from A Suit That Fits. Tonnes of wedding inspiration! Huge thanks to Lucy Wallace Photography for capturing every detail with such talent.

Matthew and I got married on Sunday 26th May 2013 (the Bank Holiday weekend), at St. James’ Church in Nayland, Suffolk, followed by a reception at Bear House, my parents' garden, also in the village of Nayland.

My shoes were Carvela. I noticed them in the shop window and loved them. A very easy spur of the moment decision! 

My dress was Ian Stuart from the Killer Queen Collection called Basilica, in taupe with metallic lace. I bought it from Hilary B in Colchester. My mum lent me her necklace for my something borrowed.  

I fell in love with my wedding dress the first moment I saw it, and although I tried on many dresses that I also loved, they were always a comparison. The fact that it was taupe made it stand out, and I always knew I wanted my dress had to be unusual. 

Originally before I started trying on dresses I was positive I wanted a birdcage veil but when I tried on a full-length veil in Hilary B just for fun I was torn! So I was thrilled to find a birdcage veil headpiece that fitted underneath the veil, ending up with the best of both worlds! The headpiece was from Timeless Couture. It was handmade with a vintage brooch {my something old!}.

For the evening I had a pair of converse style trainers from Lipsy, which were so fun, and a surprise for most people!

My bridesmaids’ dresses came from Coast's flagship store, which had an exclusive collection. I wanted them to have something they could wear again, and also to reflect their style and personality. 

I guided them to the sort of dresses that I liked, and those that fitted in with my colour scheme, but ultimately they each chose their own bridesmaid dress. They also chose their own shoes, although each had a pair of matching flats for the evening, and I got them each a headband from ASOS.

I had always wanted to have our wedding reception in my parents' garden, where I'd grown up, and it was lovely to be able to walk to and from the church. When we were younger we had a pet goose, and whenever she lost a feather my Mum always saved it. This gave us the idea of incorporating a feather design into the day. 

Our florist was Charlotte Slade. I'd collected lots of inspiration pictures from wedding blogs like Before the Big Day, but I was fairly open to what I wanted for our wedding flowers. When we met with Charlotte she completely understood my vision. I was sure that I wanted a very natural, freshly picked feel to my bouquet, and we decided to incorporate some feathers to fit in with our theme. 

One of my big DIY projects was the stationary, which I designed myself. I drew a feather motif and scanned it in, sourced a font and put them all together, as well as hand drawing a map of the village to show the church and the garden! 

We had the wedding invitations printed professionally, but only because it was hard to source the brown recycled card in the size we wanted. We then we spent a long time tying them together with string and a feather! We used the same concept for our Order of Service. These were all hand-tied together with a handwritten quote on the back. 

Matthew has his suit made at A Suit That Fits. We both knew a traditional suit was not for him, so we decided to have a gorgeous one made, that he can keep and wear again. His best man wore the same. Their ties came from Peter Werth, their shoes were from Dune and the handkerchiefs were from Charles Tyrwhitt. The ushers’ suits also came from Peter Werth.



Our florist, Charlotte Slade, subtly added feathers to the bridesmaids' bouquets and the buttonholes, and the bridesmaids also wore a flower corsage so that when they put their bouquet down they still had something pretty and floral on their wrists.

I chose mostly peonies, roses and sweet peas for my wedding flowers. For the church we decided that we didn't want to spend much money on flowers, as we didn't feel it needed it, and you don't even spend that long there. Instead we had three birch trees, one either side of the altar, and one near the entrance. 

Charlotte also provided a gorgeous selection of jars filled with flowers. We bought our own pillar candles, and arranged them, along with the jars, on the window ledge in the entrance of the church {you can just see them behind Zegnia, in the picture above}.

Our photographer was Lucy Wallace. She was recommended by another photographer we liked, but who wasn't available. We met her in London, and knew immediately she was the right person.

We didn't want our guests to have to stand around for ages while we had loads of posed formal photographs. Instead we wanted to be able to spend as much time with our guests and have our wedding photographer capture all the memories of the day. Lucy's reportage style was perfect, she was so discreet, and made us feel so comfortable and not be thinking of the camera. 

It was one of the best decisions we made - as the pictures will always be there for us to look at, and remember the day, but also spot things that otherwise we would've missed. Even after the wedding Lucy has continued to be so amazing. She's put together a beautiful book for us, and organised thank you cards, as well as helping us pick prints. We could never thank her enough for our gorgeous photos.

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Nominate Before the Big Day for The Wedding Blog Awards

So I have a favour to ask.... I'm not normally one for asking, but these wedding blog awards are pretty important in the wedding world, and I'm really keen to raise the profile of Before the Big Day. So if you enjoy your daily dose of free wedding inspiration, would you consider a quick click and a keyboard tap on my behalf? I'm going for Best Big Day Inspiration, as I rather think it suits Before the Big Day. All you need to do is visit Wedding magazine's blog awards page and fill in the deets. Literally a one minute affair, and everyoner who nominates will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win a fabulous beauty hamper. Worth more than £250, it's crammed with goodies from Xen Tan, Dr Ceuticals, Pur Minerals and Filorga - perfect for some serious pampering. Plus it would make me a very happy lady....almost as happy as this bride!

{Photo Credit} the very talented We Resolve

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Five Ways To Get Your Wedding Guests Dancing

We went to a wedding a few years ago, where no one danced. I don't know why - they had a fantastic band and the alcohol was flowing freely, but the party never really got started. I really felt for the bride and groom, because you want your wedding to be a fantastic, memorable evening, {you've spent all that money}, and for me, a party isn't a party without a good dance. So here are five ways to persuade your guest to kick off their wedding shoes, and get down and boogie.

{Wedding Photographer Credit} Matt Edge Photography

1. Don't leave it to chance. Don't think, 'oh I'll just let people put on their iPods'. Either hire a DJ and discuss what you want before your big day, or sit down and create your own song list. If you're DIY-ing, I really recommend joining Spotify. For £9.99 a month you can stream and download as many songs as you want. I'm not even that into music, and I create Playlists all the time. They seem to have every song you can imagine, including your guilty secrets {Grease anyone?}.

2. Ask your guests to send back two song suggestions with their RSVP slip. A couple of our friends did just this, and everyone danced like crazy. In fact, we had such a good night, we asked them for their song list, and gave it to our DJ as a guide. And then everyone danced like crazy at our wedding. You can take a look at our wedding playlist, but remember, it is three years old!

3. Encourage your girlfriends to kick of their heels, by providing free flip-flop wedding favours. They're super-cheap if bought in bulk {approx £2 per pair}, and if the girls are dancing, you can be sure the boys will follow.

4. Far me it for me to tell you what to choose as your First Dance. After all, I don't know all the heartfelt meaning behind 'Your Song'. But if at all possible, don't pick a slow one! The First Dance sets the tone for the evening, and if you want to party, don't pick something sway-able, you want a beat!

5. Tell your ushers and bridesmaids that one of their key tasks is to join you on the dance-floor after your First Dance, and to stay there for at least three songs. There's a tipping point at a party, where the shyer guests feel there's enough people dancing, for them to join in. You want your wedding party to create that tipping point.

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