Gorgeous Wedding Ideas

I recently came across the Cox and Cox website. They have some stunning things for weddings and parties as well as a large range of products for Christmas and the festive season.

Here are a few of my favourite items:

Confetti box with holes for all your confetti cones:

Walnut place holders that could be kept by your guests as wedding favours:

Heart shaped signs to hold your table numbers or names:

Colourful Chinese lanterns that can be hung up outside in the garden:

Happy browsing!

Design Tip - Lanterns

Photo from Luna Bazzar

Every month, I will be posting a design tip that can be incorporated in your wedding design and will work with most budgets and colour schemes. Lanterns can be an inexpensive way of giving a venue a wow factor as guests walk into a room.

If you are thinking of using lanterns at your wedding, here are a few things to consider:

- Check with the venue that there are hanging points in the room. If the venue is a hotel or a historic building, it may already have hanging points. They are usually very small and hard to see so it is best to check with the venue directly.

- If the venue is a marquee structure, it is possible to hang strong fish wire across the canopy to hang the lanterns from. Check with the company supplying the marquee to see if this is possible.

- To have the best effect, the room needs to have a high celling. Otherwise it will just make the room seem smaller.

- Decide on a colour scheme and style for the lanterns.

You could go for a mix of colours and designs. This would work for a wedding with a bright colour scheme as in the photo below:

Photo from Luna Bazaar

Or pick 2/3 colours and coordinate with the table linen and flowers as in the picture below:

Photo from Luna Bazaar

Or go for a simple all white look. These are the easiest lanterns to purchase

Photo from Big-Wedding-Tiny-Budget

Or mix lanterns with draping and fairy light and focus on a central point:

Photo from Your Best Wedding Blogspot

I loved this photo Via Style Files

This is a great idea too for a more intimiate wedding or to go over the top table from Scott Weston table setting beneath electic Chinese lanterns via Desire To Inspire

Hope this gives you plenty of ideas!

US Inspiration - Beach Wedding

I came across this beach wedding organised by Bliss Event Group on Pensacola Beach on Bliss's blog. The photos were taken by photography couple Meg and Charles of Meg Baisden Photography.

I love the colours of the bridesmaids dresses and their orchid flower bouquets. The evening reception looks pretty impressive too!

Here are some pics:

US Inspiration - Tea Party Style Wedding

I came across a beautiful wedding shot by Jeff and Erin Youngren, a husband and wife team based in San Diego, CA of Drew & Christine's wedding. The wedding was themed on an afternoon garden tea party and the details are stunning - fresh & stylish. I really like the vibrant pink & green used. Often couples tend to go for subtler shades of green so its great to see a shade so bright.

Hope it brightens the afternoon for those of you looking out at the heavy rain!

Here are some pics:

Even the couple's dog was colour coordinated.

All photos from The Youngrens

Inspiration - Wedding Jewellery & Unusual Gift Ideas

I recently came across a new website in the weekend papers called Plümo. Plümo is an online boutique that features a mix of easy-to-wear clothes, unusual hand crafted gifts from all over the world, luxurious home accessories as well as a selection of designer jewellery.

They have some lovely things that would be perfect for brides to wear on their wedding day or as wedding presents.

Here are some of my favourite items:

This cuff made from a mix of fashion pearls, crystals and silver coloured beads would be perfect bridal accessory:

This set of four rings that can be worn together and make a lovely present:

These scented envelopes filled with lavendar or rose buds would be perfect for decorating the place settings:

These beautiful vintage cake stands would make a great wedding gift:

These pink lace dollies could be used to decorate a sweet buffet or cake selection for the wedding reception:

American Inspiration

I was looking at a couple of US wedding planning sites and came across this feature in Bride and Bloom magazine designed by Liene Stevens of Blue Orchid Weddings. I love the colours used - the vibrant green and yellow would be perfect for a spring wedding.

I love the accordian style yellow and green invitations designed by Kelly Ashworth.

Instead of favours, Liene used bottles of lemonade with small tags showing that a donation had been made to the Pink Initiative. The bottles were grouped together in small bowls.

Multicultural Weddings 5 - Entertainment

When organising a multicultural wedding, one thing we often suggest is having some entertainers at the event to break up the day a little and keep guests entertained whilst the bride and groom are having photos taken. The entertainers are also great for all age ranges and will keep young and old entertained. We always encourage our clients to consider their guests enjoyment when planning their wedding as multicultural weddings can often start early in the day and go on till well past midnight.

Here are a few suggestions of usual or different types of entertainers:

Human statues are great for creating a Wow factor as guests enter the reception area

Magicians can move around your guests and entertain small groups in one go

Silhouette Artists can move around small groups and do a silhouette of one or two people.

Caricaturists can move around small groups. They can often do a picture of the bride and groom prior to the wedding day which can be displayed on a frame next to the guest book or used in a frame photo for guests to sign.

All photos from www.contrabandevents.com

New Covent Garden Market Wedding Inspiration Event

Yesterday morning, I went to the Summer Wedding Inspiration Event at the New Covent Garden Market. It was a great event with lots of florists showcasing their work with wedding inspired displays throughout the flower market. There were also talks and tips from some of the florists. Robbie Honey, Hayford & Rhodes, Paula Pryke and Flower Power were some of the florists at the event. The market is a great place for inspiration - not only to see flowers and foilage but also see a large range of vases, containers and props they have available.

Bouquet by Flower Power

Table arrangements by Hayford & Rhodes

Australian Inspiration

I recently discovered some beautiful post wedding shoots by Jason Cole, an Australian wedding photographer. He helped a couple who were still waiting two years on for their photos after using a budget photographer and also did some Trash the Dress photos. More of his work is also available on his blog.

Here are some more of his photos:

Inspiration - All things floral

I recently received a Cath Kidston brochure in the post. The brochure was full of inspirational ideas and many would be ideal for a countryside marquee wedding.

Here are a few suggestions of items that could be used for a wedding and then kept afterwards:

Tea light holders at £2.50 come in different colours:

Glass lanterns at £7 per lantern in green and pink:

Floral Gingham Paper Napkins at £3.50 for a pack of 20:

Or how about these pretty pink purses for thank you gifts for your bridesmaids from at £12 each: