Ooh La La

elisabeth perotin

How much do I love this? Quite a lot actually. I have a small obsession with all things heart related and it's just so playful and cute I can't stop looking at it. And who says you need to spend a fortune on wedding styling eh? Cut out some paper or card hearts, stick them to the wall and voila!

Check out the whole wedding over at forget me knot weddings. I do so love weddings like these.

Pick of the best high street wedding dresses

from top left:

 Biba Chloe one shoulder beaded maxi bridal gown £695 House of Fraser, 

 Agnola Dress £225 Monsoon, Phase Eight Elizabeth wedding dress £375 Debenhams,  

Biba Alexa bell sleeve bridal gown £695 House of Fraser, 

 Pegasus lace dress £150 Monsoon, Ted Baker beaded scallop dress £179 Asos

There's a lot to be said for splashing out on the most expensive wedding dress you can afford but for some brides Vera Wang just ain't an option.

Thankfully the high street has some affordable and rather gorgeous wedding dresses on offer, as this little selection proves. 

Which one's your favourite? It's not actually a wedding dress, but I think the scallop edge Ted Baker dress is my favourite. Perfect for a chic city summer wedding accompanied with some killer heels and a delectable cocktail in hand, no? 

You can do it put your back into it...go on, make your own cake stand

I found this over at Betty Bee and thought it might be worth posting and linking to because good quality, affordable cake stands can be a challenge to source sometimes.

Although I haven't tried this myself yet it looks reasonably straightforward and if you can find plates cheaply at a car boot sale or charity/vintage shop you should be able to do for under £10.

Head over to Betty Bee for the full how-to guide and if you do make one let me know how it goes. As in, is it as easy as it looks?!

Taking the inside outside - DIY cushion covers

If you're having an outdoor wedding or want to create relaxed little pockets for people to chill out in you need some seating.

And hiring/buying furniture can cost a bomb. Which if your budget is already stretched isn't ideal.

One way to avoid this is to make your own large floor cushions. Or the cushion covers at least. I used this idea in the 70s shoot I did recently.

You can buy cheap cushion fillers easily and then you just get to choose your fabric. I bought this star fabric super cheap in Brixton (works out at £2 per cushion incidentally). But you could be a little fancier with some more luxurious fabric, whatever suits your wedding and budget.

You don't even have to be crafty, I didn't have a lot of time (and no sewing machine) so these won't impress the beady eyed stitching queen.

Imagine lots of them piled up under a tree, and your guests reclining on rugs or blankets, with lots of lanterns and candles as dusk falls and you've got yourself some cheap and easy outdoor wedding seating.

Super easy D.I.Y postcard garland

D.I.Y wedding styling doesn't have to be exclusively for the mini Martha Stewarts. You don't have to be particularly crafty to create some simple but effective wedding styling ideas.

This vintage style postcard garland is a good example of how you can jazz up any dead space in your wedding venue without a lot of money of effort.

All you need is a selection of postcards and...

 Then you very simply hang up string where you want the garland to go and use the clothes peg to attach the postcards. Easy as pie.

I like these vintage imitation postcards but you could use any cards you like, or even photos. And you don't have to use plain clothes pegs, you could paint them or stamp them or buy some more exciting ones from somewhere like Etsy.

This garland wedding decoration idea would work well in a urban venue. Like a warehouse or space with lots of exposed brick work.

What do you think? A wedding DIY project for even the most craft shy bride.

A Pinterest Monday Medley

I've become rather obsessed with Pinterest of late. It's just perfect for compiling mood boards which is a large (and fun) part of my job.

And so this week's Monday Medley includes mainly images I discovered through the joys of my Pinterest wanderings.

the bouquet

I don't really have words for this bouquet. Just so soft and pretty.



via Sitting in a Tree

the cake

This mushroom cake is pretty and simple and unique.



From Erica O'Brien via Once Wed

the boutonniere

A sweet way to have those who can't be with you on your big day close to your heart...



via Emmeline Bride

I'm always one for cheap but effective wedding decoration ideas hence the reason these wine bottle centrepieces caught my eye. These would be perfect in a a big open space like a warehouse or similar.


the centrepieces



via Elizabeth Anne Designs

Have you discovered Pinterest yet?

What does a wedding planner actually do? Part 3

Can you afford a wedding planner?

Um, yeah.

One of the most annoying myths about wedding planners is that we're a luxury for high end weddings and couples with big fat budgets.

Most of my clients have modest but perfectly respectable budgets. As one bride said to me at the weekend: 'We could afford more, but this is what we're comfortable spending on our wedding.'

In my experience the quirkier and more creative the couple are the more likely they are to have a 'budget' wedding. And that's fine by me. Far more enjoyable to work with couples like this!

This doesn't mean I don't and haven't worked with couples with bigger budgets (and by bigger I mean £40k and upwards) it's just the majority of my clients are 'normal' people with 'normal' jobs from 'normal' backgrounds and this is what they can afford.

And I don't see why they shouldn't hire a wedding planner any less than someone with £100k to spend.

Okay so obviously I have to make a living. I know what I can afford to charge prospective clients and I know what wouldn't be possible for me to do. Sometimes I really love hearing about a couples' ideas but they can't afford to hire me as a full planner - so I help them out with a consultation for instance.

Just like there are designer boutiques where you can spend a month's rent on a handbag for instance, there is also Topshop.

In all aspects of life there are options for those with money to spend and those who have to be more careful. And it really really bugs me when people think wedding planners are only for the wealthy.

There are wedding planners who cater to a more luxury driven market and yes, if you've got £20k to spend don't both getting in touch with them. But for all the rest of you wondering if you can afford a wedding planner. You can. To some extent anyway. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

This is the third post in my mini series about life as a wedding planner.

A few of my favourite things

Welcome to a brand new week people. I hope your weekend was relaxing and fun. I've had a relatively quiet one which was definitely needed!

Here's my Monday Medley of things I've found interesting and/ or pretty...

read...

this article in The Guardian by journalist and bride to be Jude Rogers about bridezillas and the royal wedding. Is an interesting read and gives Rock n Roll Bride a mention. Let me know what you think.

the dress

I think I'd go so far as to say this is one of the finest wedding dresses I have ever seen. It's irridescent, sparkly, floaty and just damn gorgeous.

click on the images to see more






wedding hair inspiration

I've got a bit of a thing for plaits although now I have a fringe they don't look so good. They're perfect wedding hair however, unfussy yet keep crazy wayward hair like mine in check so they're perfect for brides that don't want to worry about their hair all day long.

These styles are fairly mental - I'd love to see a bride wear her hair like this...



or like this, although you might have to use fake flowers as real ones might look a bit wilted by the evening...



Who says your wedding hair style has to be predictable eh?

cheap and cosy lighting

This time last year I blogged about this rather awesome fairy lights in bottle idea. I love cheap and inventive ideas like this. Must get round to trying to make these this year.




interior design

Oh how I would love a bookcase like this...




xmas card

And finally, I'm not really a sending cards kind of gal but if I was, I would send this little bad boy out.

Look what I found on Etsy...

I'm starting many new regular posts and one of them is going to be called Look what I found on Etsy. The title is pretty self explanatory, I'm going to feature not sellers but items for sale that I find on my web travels and think you might like.

And anyway, does anyone not love Etsy? I mean really. When you can find such stylish and cute finds like this...



It's, let's face it, sweet and simple and cheap as chips. So anyone in charge of getting the guestbook for their friend's/sister's/cousin's wedding - look no further peeps.

Buy this here for a mere $45.99 (about £30 I reckon)

Tulle party dress... works as wedding dress

Whilst joyfully looking through Etsy (yes it's work related, but so much fun) I discovered this beauty.

For $112 (roughly £70 maybe for UK girls) you could bag yourself a rather awesome wedding dress.

Who says weddings need to be expensive eh?

Budget Weddings

Apparently the average cost of a wedding despite the recession in the UK is £22,000. Now whilst I'm certainly not criticising those who have big shindigs (if I had the money I'd probably do it), I do think there are cheaper ways to celebrate in style for those who either don't have or don't want to spend so much. The bridal industry has successfully taught us that getting married has to cost a fortune. In fact Brides Magazine (whilst I love it for ideas and advice) doesn't seem to agree with my concept of what a budget wedding is. In one issue it cites an example of a bride having a budget wedding who only had £12,000 to spend. £12000 does not qualify as budget to me. £1200 yes that's budget but with £12,000 you can have an amazing wedding.

I had a friend once who had put off getting married because she only had a £5,000 budget and didn't think she could afford a wedding. But it turned out that what was putting her off was the notion of a conventional wedding and all the hassle and expense that went with it. But when she worked out what she wanted and looked at cheap ways to make it happen she ended up having the small intimate wedding she'd always wanted all within budget.

Here are some basic money saving ideas:

Work out which are the most important aspects of the day for you. Is it the venue, the dress or the food? Whatever it is this is something you can splurge on. Then write a list in order of what's important to you both and the things at the bottom should be scrapped or the cheapest option used. The main point of budget weddings is that they are totally possible but only if you're prepared to work out what's most important to you and sacrifice the bits that aren't.

Enlist the help of friends and family wherever possible. And not just by helping you on the day. For instance having someone you know make the cake, do your hair and make up, arrange flowers, act as waiters, take photos the list is endless. Don't be afraid to ask - more people will love being involved.

Buy a dress, shoes and accessories on the high street or from sites like eBay. We've seen wedding dresses as low at £20 on eBay and you can always spend a bit of money personalising them. This is a surefire way to save a fortune and with a little shopping around you can get something amazing without blowing 1/5th of your budget. There's no reason why a wedding dress has to come from a bridal shop and as with everything to do with weddings the cost is higher than normal because companies know you've got money to spend.

Make sure you find out what your parents thoughts are (especially if they're paying and/or their opinions are important to you!) early on so there's no surprises later on. This way you can negotiate and explain your choices sooner rather than later and can avoid dramas further down the line when you mum assumed you'd invite the great aunt you've never met, or your best friend assumed she'd be chief bridesmaid and so on.

It's definitely possible to have a wedding on a shoe string - you just have to be creative and think outside the box.