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Wonderful Wedding Blog Links

And so the waiting continues! My baby boy is due tomorrow, but doesn't seem to be in any rush at all. I'm typing this while sitting {fatly} on my bed, as it alternates between snow and sunshine outside my window {what is it with this weather?}. At least the waiting means I've got plenty of time to write blog posts, and prepare. It really is the calm before the storm. My husband is going mad with impatience! I hope you're having a lovely Easter weekend - enjoy these wedding blog links - there's some fabulous wedding inspiration there for you!

{Photo Credit} Kristina Curtis Photography, more on Green Wedding Shoes

♥ An amazing Rob Ryan inspired wedding

♥ A perfectly styled Easter brunch, with plenty of wedding inspiration

♥ Take a look at the hundreds & thousands wedding cake

♥ The best bunny wedding shoot ever!

♥ DIY your own dip-dye watercolour place cards

♥ This wedding is perfect in every way

♥ Loving the wedding colour inspiration from the new Toast collection

♥ Stunning florals! Loving the straws.

♥ This is SUCH a cool idea. Get a present every month!

Great Archive Before the Big Day Posts:
✽ Wedding Confetti Alternatives
✽ Incredible Costa Rica Destination Wedding

♥ Want to see rainy wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more spring wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Ushers & Groomsmen Gift Ideas

Are you planning to hand out presents on your wedding day? Traditionally the groom gives the bridesmaids a little something, and possibly even the ushers get a look-in. As a couple, we completely failed on this front at our wedding. We'd run out of money and time, and apart from our wedding favours, no one received any presents, and I still feel slightly guilty about it! If I had my time again, I'd love to create bespoke cosmetic sets for my bridesmaids, and for the ushers....well, how about DIY-ing cocktail sets like these, according to their favourite tipple?

{Photo Credit} 1. Bourbon drink set by Victor Sizemore Photography, 2. Cocktail Drink Set, picture by Autumn Wilson Photography, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Photo Credit} 1. Hip Flasks by Captured Photography by Jenny, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

{Photo Credit} 1. Old-fashioned Shaving Set by Aravaggio Photography, view entire wedding on Style Me Pretty

♥ Want to see wedding favour ideas? ♥ Or how about more usher ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Wedding: Gary & Lian - Reception Details

It's time for some serious wedding details my friends! It's Part 3 of Gary and Lian's creative Cornish wedding, and they went to town with their reception decorations. Gary is a creative director of a graphic design company, and you can really see his creative flair in the wedding stationery and colour palette. Everything fits together perfectly! I love the grey, white and mustard theming, the pom-poms {less is certainly more}, the vintage letter box for wedding messages and the old-fashioned paper bags filled with Cornish fudge. Lian's mum made the incredible wedding cake - each layer is decorated in a different style, and it looks amazing. Even the cake pops were handmade by Lian's sister-in-law. It just goes to show what a professional look you can create without blowing the budget. So inspirational! Huge thanks to Keith Riley for his fabulous wedding photographs - he captured every detail perfectly.

My husband is an incredibly talented graphic designer, so he created all the wedding stationery himself. It followed the grey and mustard theme and had many features that related to our lives.

For example we have a ginger cat called Doodle, so he was in the design, we were getting married on the 29th and we have a special story about ladybirds, so he added them, and they had 29 spots. When sending the invites we bound all the parts with co-ordinating butchers string and postage labels.

Our wedding favours were different for men and women. We gave the boys miniature bottles of Jaegermeister and Red Bull plus a cigar, as a reminder of the fun they had on the Stag Do. The girls received a mini-bottle of Marcus rose, because that's what we drank on my Hen Do.

Everyone received a yellow and white striped bag filled with Cornish fudge, and a cake pop made by my sister-in-law.

We created Jar of hearts which was to replace the traditional wedding book. On each table there was a Kilner jar filled with various badges with different emotions. For example kissing, friendship, love. Each person had to pick a badge, wear it a d write down a piece of advice about the emotion they had picked. They wrote these on little cards and then put them in the jar for safe keeping. We then put the jars on the tables to act as a conversation starters for everyone.

We didn't want to spend much money on a wedding cake, so I did some research and asked my mum to make it. It followed the grey and mustard theme, and was a three tier cake with a different type of sponge for each layer.

The decoration was different on each layer and we had a mustard yellow Mr and Mrs Jacobs sign made for the top of the cake bought from Not On The High Street.

We loved planning the wedding and all the things that went with it. By doing research before hand, talking to each other about our ideas, and being open to suggestions from our florist and photographer, we got wonderful results on our special day.

I'd recommend to other brides to enjoy every part of the planning. Do your research, make mood boards, talk to your future husband. Get ideas, and see if you can get them cheaper somewhere else. Plus making things for your wedding is really good fun and satisfying!

We chose our wedding photographer by doing lots of research online. We knew we didn't want a traditional wedding photographer, and the typical line-up style of pictures. We liked Keith Riley Photography as his website showed a diverse range of work, including tattoo photography!

♥ Want to see grey-themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more seaside wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Cornish Wedding: Gary & Lian - Portrait Pictures

This Cornish wedding has me longing for some sunshine and the seaside! The lovely Gary and Liam celebrated their big day at The Carbis Bay Hotel in St Ives. Liam was seven months pregnant, and looked amazing in her silk Tiffany Rose dress - definitely a great option for maternity wedding dresses. With tonnes of wedding pictures to show you, I've split the wedding into three - these are the imaginative portrait pictures by Keith Riley Photography. I love all the beach shots {didn't they have fab weather for autumn!}, in particular the No.29 beach hut picture {they got married on 29th October}. Gary and Lian’s happy place is an upside down pear tree - whenever they are apart they say to each other “meet you under the upside down pear tree”. So, Keith and his wife, Neda, bought chalk with them so Gary could draw a tree on the beach hut! Doesn't it look fantastic, and such a wedding portrait idea.

We met at a nightclub in our home town of Southend on sea. The first time I saw Gary was when he was dirty dancing with a bar stool trying to impress some other girls. For some bizarre reason I found his dancing attractive and went over to talk to him later on.

When we were all outside leaving we were chatting and he gave me his business card to which his friend said you don't want that, and gave me his train ticket instead! Later on that night we talked on the phone until Gary fell asleep under his dining room table.

Gary was going to propose to me whilst we were in New York. He had booked the table, set the house up for our return as an engaged couple, and even asked my uncle's permission. Unfortunately we never made it to New York, as snow left us stranded on the run way at Heathrow airport and eventually our flights were cancelled.

He proposed to me at home in the front room the next day while the rugby was on, which was still incredibly special, as we are both rugby fans! Even though it was not how he planned it, his proposal was off the cuff, real and honest from him.

When we met Keith and his wife Neda, we completely jelled with them. Their work and ideas were brilliant, and we now consider them to be friends, who we'll always go and visit when we are in Cornwall.

♥ Want to see yellow-themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more autumn wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Real Sunshine-Yellow Themed Cornish Wedding: Gary & Lian

With stacks of creative wedding details and mustard-yellow wedding theme, you can't fail to fall in love with this sunny seaside wedding. Gary and Lian celebrated their big day at The Carbis Bay Hotel in St Ives, and with its gorgeous views over the bay, it was always going to be a special affair. All the wedding details fit perfectly together, and I'm head-over-heels in love with the pretty wedding flowers - a mix of formal and wild arrangements. Miniature daisies are definitely my favourite flower for 2013. Lian was lucky enough to be seven months pregnant on her big day, which meant a change of wedding dress, but she ended up preferring her Tiffany Rose maternity gown over her original choice. Teamed with Aldo wedding shoes and unique Etsy jewellery, she looked fabulous on her wedding day. I'm also seriously impressed by Gary's dapper Ted Baker suit and Liberty London mustard-yellow tie. Huge thanks to Keith Riley Photography for his beautiful wedding pictures. Don't miss the Portraits and Reception Details, coming later this afternoon.

We got married in Cornwall, which is our spiritual home, and somewhere which has always felt like home. We were lucky enough to find the wonderful Carbis Bay Hotel in Carbis Bay in St Ives. It was so beautiful. As soon as we drove down the hill to see it we knew it was something special.

Gary's wedding outfit came from Ted Baker, tie from Liberty London, shirt came from the Savile Row Company, cuff links from Mulberry, hankerchief from Aubin & Wills and deer brooch from Etsy.

I had my first wedding dress made by a local dressmaker I have used in the past. I didn't want a traditional wedding gown so we designed something which was classic, but different. Five months before the wedding we were lucky enough to find out I was pregnant, so my dress had to be changed!

I found a company called Tiffany Rose who specialise in maternity wear and bought one of their wedding dresses. In actual fact I massively preferred my maternity wedding gown to my first - it must have been fate! My shoes came from Aldo as I wanted a particular mustard-yellow shade, and they happened to have them. My jewellery was simple and classic, and came from Etsy.

We chose our wedding florist from doing research online {from home in Essex}, and then going to see them in person in Cornwall. We decided to use Anna Sawle of Wedding Flowers in Cornwall because she seemed to completely understand what we wanted, while having lots of her own ideas as well.

We celebrated our wedding ceremony in the conservatory overlooking the sea with beautiful blue sky and sunshine. The backdrop of the sea and beach was perfect.

We didn't have to buy many decorations, as the hotel is decorated beautifully and fitted with our theme easily. We had mustard and grey as our theme, because we wanted autumnal colours.

♥ Want to see yellow-themed weddings? ♥ Or how about more autumn wedding ideas? ♥

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Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

How To Easy-DIY Your Wedding Stationery

Wedding stationery can easily set you back over £1000, particularly if you go for beautiful letterpress or embossed wedding invitations. Then if you throw in Save the Dates, pretty answering cards, printed instructions, place-makers, menus and the cost of stamps, and you're easily busting your wedding budget on paper! The good news is that DIY-ing your wedding stationery is simple, even if you're creatively challenged like me. I managed to DIY my wedding stationery, and believe me, if I can do it, so can you! If you're not keen on fiddling around on your computer with designs and layouts, how about trying wedding stamps? You can get them specially personalised for you by boutique designers on Etsy, so all you need to do is add ink and paper of your choice. Take a look at some of these fab designs for starters, and click for more wedding stamp ideas. Plus you won't want to miss all of Before the Big Day's DIY ideas.