Family Portraits in Vail with Kelly, Michael and Stan.

Thanksgiving's a great time to take some pictures for your annual Christmas card, but I have to be careful that I don't post pictures too early in case I spoil any Christmas card surprises.  Now that we're past Christmas, I can post these lovely pics of Kelly, Michael and Stanley.  Stanley's a Bassador - that's half Basset Hound, half Lab and 100% the love of his parent's lives.  Look at that face!

Everybody keeps commenting on how good Kelly's hair looks in these photos.  My photography skills can take no credit for that.  That's just Kelly's fabulous hair!

There's 2 days left for the year and a better blogging record is on the list of goals for 2012, and maybe a couple of personal photography projects too.  More to come on that...

On the SEO front, Google has wiped all of my reviews, so I'm waiting to hear back from them as to why that happened.  My Google Maps placement is still the same, and my web rank has moved up 4 pages.  The countdown's on!

Click here to see more Family Portraits in Vail, Colorado.

Super-chic Bridesmaid Jewellery

How cool are these necklaces? The words are perfect presents for bridesmaids at an urban, funky wedding, while the key and initial could be good if your big day is going to be more traditional. Made out of stirling silver wire, every one is handmade and individual, and totally awesome! Check out Piano Bench Designs to find out more.

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Real English Fête Wedding: Sally & Mark

Themed weddings make for a truly stand-out and memorable day, so if you're looking to make your wedding different from everyone else's next year, then take a look at this fabulous fête wedding! Sally and Mark celebrated their big day in the gorgeous English countryside near Salisbury, and drew inspiration from old-fashioned fair, complete with bowling coconuts, tonnes of bunting, fling the horseshoe game, and a competition for their guests with prizes! I'm loving all the vintage details, the unpretentious Village Hall reception, the cheese wedding cake {yum!} and the fab photography by My Love Story. Sally and Mark both looked gorgeous in their wedding outfits, and don't you just love Sally's red polka dot shoes? I'm totally obsessed with their hand-drawn wedding invitations too - I love that they invited their guests to camp! Now that's quintessential English fun! Do take a look at Sally's list of suppliers and advice - scroll down through the photographs to the end.

Before the Big Day Mini-Questionaire
* Date of Wedding: 27/08/11
* Location of Wedding Ceremony and Reception: Salisbury Registry Office and Cholderton village green and hall
* Overall theme / colour palette for the wedding: Village fête, a bit of vintage, yellow and red
* Dress and Shoe designers: dress - Honeypie Boutique
* Suit designer: Trousers and shirt by Reiss, waistcoat by Orvis, bow tie by Peckham Rye
* Bridesmaid Dress and shoe designers: Dress by Kalico, shoes by Kurt Geiger
* Stationery Designer: The groom designed an evite online
* Photographer: Alex at My Love Story
* Flowers / Centerpieces / Tableware: Vintage bottles from eBay and borrowed from my parents, flowers grown by my parents!
* Jewellery worn: Kitsch plastic heart ring from eBay, red and white spotty earrings from Camden Market
* Advice from the Bride: We were extremely lucky to have a brilliant 'wedding team' of family and friends - including parents who picked up wine from France, made the bunting, and grew the flowers - so that helps if you can get that!
* Hair: Fascinator by Katie Vale Designs
* Any regrets? None - although it would have been nice to have a couple more hours the day before so I wasn't in Tescos at 8pm instead of relaxing in the bath - but I'm sure everyone thinks that, and the relaxing bath was never going to happen really!!
* Best decision made: Staying true to our original ideas and concepts, while managing to keep costs relatively low! And camping in a teepee instead of going to a hotel!

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Amazing Wedding Offers from Before the Big Day

It's a bit late, but all the best Christmas presents come a little late! It's for all you regular wedding blog readers - a fabulous selection of wedding discounts from my favourite suppliers! All you need to do is mention Before the Big Day wedding blog to get the discount. Also, check out Big Day Discounts for more amazing offers. I hope you had a very Happy Christmas! xx

David Charlwood Photography
Wedding photography can be one of the biggest expenses on your wedding day, but it's also the most important. Now you can enjoy the amazing skills of David Charlwood Photography with 10% off! Check out his fine-art pictures and unobtrusive style.

Laura Babb
Brilliant wedding photographer Laura Babb is offering 10% off to readers of Before the Big Day. You'll love her quirky, contemporary, photography that's both beautiful and budget friendly!

The Beautiful Wedding Company
Need some pampering and a helping hand? Of course you do! The Beautiful Wedding Company are offering lucky Before the Big Day readers 10% off their Final Countdown and On the Day Wedding Co-ordination services. The Beautiful Wedding Company offer a full wedding planning service combined with an exclusive bridal beauty boutique, so you get two services for the price of one!

Akimbo
Get 10% off wedding stationery from Akimbo. This fantastic Aussie boutique stationer ships worldwide, and they make the most incredible wedding invitations, guaranteed to leave your guests oohing and aahing.

♥ Better Off Wed are offering 15% off their personalized shabby chic wedding cake toppers. They're gorgeous and you'll love them, and all you need to do is quote the discount code BEFORETHEBIGDAY.

Dreamday Films
Worrying about your budget for your wedding video? Worry no more thanks to Dreamday Films. They're offering a 10% discount on their fabulous wedding videos. Short and sweet, their films of no more than 15 minutes in length combine unobtrusive recording and contemporary editing, ensuring that your special day is captured just as you’d like it.

Lash Lab
Get £10 off a full set of incredible semi-permanent eye-lash extensions thanks to Kym at Lash Lab in London. I've had them done, and they look amazing!

nkd diet
Get 5% off the amazingly effective nkd diet with the code bigday (exact spelling), and get a honeymoon-svelte body. Click here for more info on this bargainous deal! They say you can drop 2-3lb a week on the nkd diet. Sounds good to me.

The Vintage Wedding List
Get 10% off amazing vintage furniture and home accessories from The Vintage Wedding List. Simply call and quote the code Big Day. This is the best place for original items for your wedding list.

If you'd like to offer a special discount to Before the Big Day's brides, do get in touch! If you don't want to miss a single offer or competition, sign up for our free newsletter.

DIY Christmas Wedding Favours

Edible wedding favours are always popular, and these gorgeous gingerbread men are the best addition to a winter wedding. Get your girlfriends baking, and encourage them to use their imagination in the decorating. Just imagine a gingerbread man bride and groom! These would also make a fantastic extra Christmas present - DIY your own with this recipe from The Primrose Bakery Book via Daily Candy.

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.

Winter Wedding Place Markers Inpsiration

These may well be the most adorable winter wedding place markers I've ever seen. I've long been a huge fan of the humble pom pom as the best DIY wedding project ever. Meanwhile pine cones are SO in this season, and they'd work perfectly for a countryside wedding, even in the summer. Plus, with the festive season well and truly started, they'd made a great craft project for Christmas Day as well. If you're not up to the DIY, or you've got 200 to make and not enough time, then head over the Potter and Butler to snap these up.

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Channel 4 Beauty Best Wedding Blogs ♥ Before the Big Day!

Woohoo! Christmas has come early for Before the Big Day! Channel 4 Beauty have chosen us as one of their Best Wedding Blogs - and I'm thrilled. It's been a fantastic year here for Before the Big Day - not least because it's the year we actually got married! My love for weddings it still strong - I can't wait for another year of wedding inspiration to start.

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

Perfect Wedding Stationery & Paper Blogs

My secret treat is stationery. I spend a lot of time dreaming about the perfect invitation, and with my own wedding on the way next May, I'm struggling to pick a designer. There's too much talent out there, and with blogs like Oh So Beautiful Paper and Paper Crave, it's easy to OD on creativity. Here are a couple of the graphic designers who are floating my boat this week, one from the US, and another all the way from Australia!

{Product Credits} - Just Another Day and Follow Studio

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Real Yellow-Themed Autumn Wedding: Ashley & Jeff

Aaaah, yellow! The colour of the sunshine - something we're not getting a great deal of on these grey November days. I hope these pics of Ashley and Jeff's big day cheer you up out of the gloom - they certainly did the job for me earlier on today. My favourite ideas to steal? Ashley's fab flat shoes (sensible but oh-so-stylish), their cute tie-the-knot invitations and the vintage typewriter they used for messages on the day.  Huge thanks to the team at Simply Bloom for their gorgeous pictures.

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Hey DJ - How to Choose Your Wedding Music

Wedding dancing. It's a whole genre of its own. But how can you guarantee your guests will fill the dance floor all night? Why not ask them for their favourite tracks? Leave these fab, free, print-your-own cards on the tables through dinner, and encourage your guests to fill them in during dinner. They'll make for a fantastic conversation starter, and you can ask one of the ushers to pick them up ahead of the cake-cutting. Huge thanks to the team at brilliant blog The Wedding Chicks for this inspirational idea. Click here for the template.

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

The Handmade Wedding Pinterest

We finally got our long awaited Pinterest invite earlier today! We've already started adding some of our favorite wedding ideas from throughout the Web in a variety of categories including centerpiece and dessert ideas, reception decor, DIY projects, boutonnieres, and wedding favors. You can view and follow our Pinterest account by clicking the image below.

Happy planning! :]

Real Red Balloon Vintage Wedding: Jennie & Brian

I am absolutely crazy about this wedding! Jennie and Brian picked a paint-strip palette for their big day and used it to fabulous effect, with Jennie even asking her girlfriends to dress in coordinating hues of pink and red. Add in the heart fans and 'Sex in the City' style balloons, plus those gorgeous satin shoes, and you've got a marriage made in heaven. Extra brownie points for the vintage decoration-details and Newlywed's Game. Massive thanks to Our Labour of Love for their fantastic photographs.

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