Flutterby Diamonds - Colour Palette

Do you remember the catwalks of Spring/Summer 2010? Mainly seen throughout the lingerie look, designers displayed some beautiful pastel shades. This theme touches on some of the elements seen here but adds almost a vintage, worn-in edge to it, bringing in some of the finer detail we have seen on the Spring/Summer2011 catwalks. We steer away from the pastel lilacs, pinks and peaches seen in 1980's and 1990's weddings (yuk!), instead giving the shades a little more edge and sophistication.

Mint Musk - Pantone 753c (25, 0, 16, 0)

Punch - Pantone 7403c (8, 16, 61, 0)

Blush - Pantone 692c (9, 25, 13, 0)

Barely Blue - Pantone 5513c (29, 9 ,15, 0)

Sparkle - Pantone 7535c (22, 20, 34, 0)

As you can see from the colour breakdown, there is no black in any of the colours I have chosen for the palette. I wanted these pastels to have an edge but without too much darkness in them. I would eliminate black all together in this look, even in text, opting instead for a very dark grey.

Fog - Pantone 432c (77, 63, 53, 41)

Next Installment:  Personal Shopper

New Wedding Trend - Flutterby Diamonds

So, we're coming up to Spring again (Yay, I hear you cry!  No more snow!)  Spring is always the time when I like to take inspiration from the catwalks and put it towards wedding trends.  Whether you are the bride, or if you are just a guest at a wedding in 2011, hey you might even be going to the Royal wedding, it's nice to follow the current catwalk trends, but in a more toned down manner.

The inspiration for this wedding trend came from a single photograph. Sometimes that is all it takes to come up with an idea.

Note: If you are on the hunt for the perfect theme or style for your wedding, please don't limit yourself to looking through bridal magazines. Although they are a great source of inspiration, you can often end up with a wedding styled exactly the same as a hundred other brides. For a totally unique day, you need to look a little further afield.

Whether it is your favourite film, a style of music or cooking that you and your partner share or simply an era that embodies your personalities perfectly. Inspiration is all around us.

So, this is the image that planted this seed of thought into my brain, and once it was there I couldn't get rid of it. Elegant and sophisicated, but not too feminine, this is a perfect wedding theme for anyone looking to add a touch of class to their special day.

Coming next: The perfect colour palette

Vintage Brooch Bouquets - How To Guide

So, amazingly the most popular post on my blog is about the vintage brooch bouquet I made for my wedding.  

I really must take some better shots of this.  As I mentioned in my previous post I took the bulk of it apart for our wedding reception so it could be used to top our simple wedding cake.

I thought it may be handy for anyone who is planning to do something similar if I put together a how to guide to help you create your very own vintage brooch bouquet.

Materials

Needle nose pliers

Cutting pliers

Good quality scissors

Fishing wire

Jewellery wire

Ribbon

A good selection of brooches, buttons and beads.

The most time consuming part of making the bouquets is sourcing the materials.  Scour flea markets, yard sales and Ebay for brooches that fit the colour palette and style you are looking for.  Make sure you get a good selection of sizes and lots of beads and buttons to fill up the gaps.

When you have all your materials, lay out your brooches on a flat surface into a circle, this way you will find which positioning you like and you can move the brooches around.  I find a large brooch in the centre works well as a focal point.

Take each brooch and start fixing them together with the jewellery wire.  Make 'flower stems' with the brooches with wire so you can bunch them together.  You need to think like a florist, the brooches are simply replacements for flowers!  Try and hide the wire as much as possible and if pieces will be seen use the fishing wire to secure the brooches in place.  Fill in any small gaps by making little 'flower' stems out of buttons and beads that you can pop into the gaps.  When you have the bouquet to the size you like (I often start out with intentions of making a large piece but stop when it is smaller as it just looks 'right' - you will get a feel for this as you are making it), wrap some more wire around the stem pieces to secure everything together.  Tuck small pieces of fabric, ribbon or lace in any gaps or to bulk out any flimsy sections.  Then wrap a long piece of ribbon around the stem of the bouquet to hide all the wire and make it nice to hold.  You could also find a small plastic florists bouquet holder and attach the wire to this to give a more sturdy base.  A few of these come with florists foam in them so you could tuck all the pieces of wire into this to secure.

I hope this all helps.  I sort of plan as I am going along as every bouquet is different.  Just do what feels right as you are constructing the bouquet.  Remember if you add too much you can always take pieces out.  I personally like the bouquets to be as full as possible.  But I am a huge fan of anything shiny!

If you need any more advice at all, please feel free to email me!

Our travel themed wedding invitations

I promised some pictures of my wedding invitations back on this post, back in October.

So, here they are.  I got some great comments on these invitations from our wedding guests and I will be adding these to my Etsy store over the next few days so you can get this invitation style for your own big day.

They are perfect for any destination wedding, just tie the colours in to your theme and away you go!

Enjoy!

NEW DESIGN: Bright Wedding

Want to show off your great sense of style?  Fed up of boring, traditional wedding invitaitons?
... Then take a look at this bright wedding stationary set!

NEW DESIGN: Bridesmaid Card

 The first of my new designs, this is a card that you would give to your bridesmaids as a keepsake.  It have 2 small holes in the card that you can put a pair of earrings onto.  This would be your first gift to your bridesmaid and you can theme the card & the earrings to the style of your wedding.

Easily collect all your guests wedding photographs

Gone are the days of disposable cameras on tables, now a website has been created to gather all your guests images in one place.

Now, you may be thinking that you can do all this within Facebook. Which you can but Facebook would rely on your guests posting photographs onto their profile and tagging you in the image to make sure you see everything that is added.

I know in the past I have seen people post wedding photographs within another album, say for instance 'July 2009' so if you aren't tagged as being part of the photograph you may never see it.

Olapic works in a different way.

They provide the cards and email templates that inform your guests of the details of where to upload their images. You can also track who has uploaded image and who hasn't.

Images can be downloaded in bulk and at a high res quality, perfect to pop into an album. You can also order prints through the website.

Your images remain private until you choose to publish them.

The demo video is really cute too, you can see it here. As well as a simple overview.

Because we know it's always friends who get the most entertaining wedding pictures. They get the true essence and fun of the wedding.

Wedding Gift Registry - The NEW Trend

Setting up a wedding gift list can be a daunting task. First of all you need to find a store that both of you, as a couple, like. You also have to consider what your needs are when you first start out your married life.

Many couples already live together before they get married and so have all the generic household gadgetry that you would originally think of when choosing a wedding gift. We are also seeing the growing trend of couple's each having a house of their own that they sell to buy a 'martial' house once they are married... this results in having two sets of everything, so sometimes material objects are not the way forward for an ideal wedding gift.

I know many couples who think the only solution for them in this situation would be to ask for money. We ended up doing this for our wedding as we were emigrating to Canada soon after the wedding, packing up as much of our belongings as we could afford to take and leaving the rest behind. Taking heavy gifts with us wouldn't have been an option, but we also felt really bad about asking people for money. It seems really cheeky and we were scared of giving out the wrong impression.

UponOurStar is a website that could solve this problem. Instead of asking for money, the bride and groom can ask for donations towards 'wishes' that they have. Be it a new home or a dream vacation, all your wishes can become reality.

Upon registering, the couple is given a custom web page, like with most other online gift registry sites. Guests are invited to 'donate' to their wishes via an e-invite and after the wedding the money is transferred into the couple's bank account so they can live our their dreams.

This is a nicer solution than asking for money as people really feel they are contributing to a cause, giving you life experiences that otherwise you simply couldn't afford.

The only downfall is the 6% transaction fee that guests are charged. This may mean that you get a smaller gift than was originally intended as people counter balance this fee.

One idea could be to ask people for money, but give them a little notelet to fill in to tell you what they would like you to spend you money on...

We did this for our wedding, which people thought was a nice touch. They still felt in control of the gift they were giving us without the hassle of going out to buy anything!

Wedding Trend Review 2009

At the beginning of a new year I find it is always beneficial to take a run through of the previous years trends.

So, here is a brief run-through of the most exciting wedding trends of 2009 - and here's looking forward to 2010.

1. Male Engagement Rings.

I find this to be an unusual trend, but why should men feel excluded at this happy time. Why should women have all the fun (and sparkle!)

2. Themed Weddings.This is a continued growing trend. We are not only talking about Las Vegas style weddings, but more subtle themes exploring something couple's have in common, be it a love of gaming or a certain food type... No matter how subtle your theme it is a great starting place for planning any wedding.

3. Unusual Bouquets.An interesting trend that I decided to use for my wedding back in 2008 was a bouquet made from brooches. I was getting married abroad and wanted a bouquet I could transport to my wedding and use back at the reception at home. Other unusual bouquets may be created from felt or feathers, providing the perfect accompaniment to your wedding dress or theme. Also, this is a great keepsake and something that you can pass down as a heirloom.

4. Romantic Wedding Getaways.These have been growing in popularity over the past few years. Gone are the days where you can only get married in a hotel resort abroad. Specialized companies are now set up to give you any wedding you choose. Be it a secluded island or an ice hotel, the choice is yours.

5. Descriptive Wedding Invitations.Your wedding invitation is no longer just a piece that tells people where and when your wedding is, it should tell a complete story on how you met. Giving your guests a snippet into your lives together is such a beautiful personal touch.

6. Eco Weddings.Give something back to the environment after your wedding, ask people to offset the carbon footprint of your honeymoon, or give guests environmentally friendly favors like tree seedlings.

7. Maternity Wedding Dresses.The most beautiful wedding gowns are now available in maternity sizes. Following on from the trend of high street stores holding maternity ranges this gives women the chance to feel both beautiful and fashionable on this special occasion.

8. Multi-function Wedding Dresses.This is a relatively new trend that I'm hoping we will see more of over the coming years. My wedding dress is still wrapped up in the suitcase that I brought it home from our wedding reception in. I absolutely love this dress, but would never be able to wear it again. I would love it if it was multifunctional so that I could shorten it or take pieces from it to add to other outfits - but I don't dare cut it up.

9. Whimsical Weddings.I love that people feel comfortable enough now to really be themselves on their wedding day. I love that people don't feel that need to have a white gown, that it doesn't have to be floor length and that they can be proud of the skin they are in tattoos and all. Here's celebrating beautiful people on their special day.

Creating this list has made me so excited for what is to come in 2010. I hope you will join me on my journey.

monday niceties

a snippet of beautiful things i came across over the weekend.




beautiful packaging for elle macpherson intimates via lovely package




a stunning way to showcase your latest book purchase found at framed object

i love this table setting found on 100 layer cake

more fantastic brooches found on bleubird vintage

stunning goldfish tights from bitching and junkfood




this stunning interior decor found on lake jane

amazing packaging seen at jamie olivers store in london recipease found at hallmark snipets

beautiful handwritten typography photographed on brick lane by hallmark snipets

this elegant moleskine desk calendar found on greedy girl

stunning vintage brooch bouquets

i came across this lovely blog post the other day over at the wedding chicks.  these bouquets are absolutely stunning and reminded me of the bouquet i made for our wedding last year, although these are far more stunning...

my bouquet was also made out of vintage brooches, buttons and beads and i spent months working on it. as we had our wedding reception back in the uk, i didn’t fancy holding a bouquet all night so when we got back from our honeymoon i trimmed the bouquet down and used it on the top tier of our wedding cake.

i absolutely love the idea of these brighter versions though, they would be great for a more eclectic wedding or to tie together different shades of bridesmaid dresses.  you can see more of these over at fantasy floral and they are designed by the amazingly talented amanda heer.

they are so beautiful i want them all!  the styling on this image is just exquisite...

my wedding invitations

so... somewhere between last january and october my brain fell out...

we were organising our wedding and i designed lots of lovely elements for the wedding (which was at the bellagio in las vegas) and the reception party (which was held back in the uk).  based around the travel theme i created an invitaiton set that was based around vintage travel... i just realised the other day when i thought it would be nice to create a blog post on my wedding invitations, that i never actually took a picture or saved a sample of the invitation.  i’m sure my mum has a  copy still but it is over in the uk...

so here are some images of the invitations... not photographs so you don’t get the full loveliness but it gives you a glimpse of the theme while i try and get some actual photographic evidence that i did in fact make these.

this was the folder and how the invitation fit together.  it was tied together with green twine and a tag with the guests names on was added to the front.  i had some really good comments back from these and hardly anyone returned the rsvp cards as they wanted to keep the invitation set together and so they gave us a shop bought rsvp card!

and the whole set.  this contained a map and direction card, a local hotel guides, a rsvp card, a gift suggestion cards (as we were emigrating to canada we didn't want people to feel the need to buy us a gift) and a 'ticket' to invite people to watch our wedding live online in vegas.

... come to think of it, we don’t actually have any wedding photo’s printed either, so perhaps i should do that too!

i’m so lazy...

… i am actually married though... honest.  true it was in vegas but it is legal...

i hope!