A close shave

A perfect present for a a super smooth groom.

See more of my Etsy discoveries here.

Things that have caught my eye of late...

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and are raring to go today.

I'm feeling pretty positive and inspired after visiting the venue of one of my couples yesterday. To say it is beautiful doesn't do it justice. I literally cannot wait for this wedding!

And last week I got to work with the AWESOME Ashton-Jean Pierre and London Bride on a brand new project. Watch this space for more info...

And in the meantime, here's some general inspiration from my web travels.

the quote


from Momo Prints
via papersnitch

Always worth remembering.


the bride

Liking the edgy and traditional combo.


from Nordica Photography
via Wedding Sparrow


the bow tie

Aptly named Distinguished Gentlemen - Let's read a leather bound book.


via I am a hunter


the jewellery


from Le Papier Studio
via Emmeline Bride


the photo shoot

I've had a bit of a thing for masks recently. I'm interested in how they add another dynamic to an image. Be sure to check out the rest of the shoot, there's plenty more beauties included.


from Paige Newton Photography
via The Loveliest Day

Hope your week is off to a good start lovelies!

Feather boutonnieres from Pomp and Plumage

I discovered this Etsy shop Pomp and Plumage via Creature Comforts.

I have a bit of a thing for feathers at the moment, especially brown ones for some reason so my eyes lit up at these boutonnieres.

I've done a few posts on boutonnieres because it's a good way for grooms to get creative and these are elegant but quirky too!









What do you think? They're a good alternative to floral boutonnieres no?

Pretties to start the week with...

the couple

Not much I don't adore about this couple and their gorgeous budget DIY wedding as seen on Ruffled.

How sweet is the bride's plaited hair and lovely lace wedding dress?




the ring

Stylish, unique and ethical engagement rings by New York based ken + dana design.

You have to check out their site, there are some real beauties on there. Found via live it out photography.




the shoe

Loving this killer wedding shoe seen over at Style Me Pretty. The wedding is full of super gorgeousness.




the star bunting

Always on the look out for new and fresh wedding decor ideas and rather liking this star bunting/ garland. Found over at stylist Mindy Gayer's blog




the prop

Ampersand from an engagement shoot found over at Emmaline Bride. I've been thinking about getting an ampersand tattooed on my ankle but have yet to find the perfect font.



See more Monday Medley's here and here's to a splendid Monday folks :)

Marianne Taylor Photography

I haven't done a Savoir hearts this supplier for a while and who better to jump start this than the photography virtuoso that is Marianne Taylor.

I do a lot of research into photography in general and follow the best UK wedding photographers through twitter and their blogs and I have to say Marianne's work blows me away every time.

So I asked her a few questions so you can find out a little more about the woman behind the lens...

In 5 words how would you some up your photography style?

Creative, romantic, authentic, fun & nostalgic.





How do you deal with people who aren't natural in front of the camera, or indeed naturally photogenic?

I don't think I've ever photographed anyone who didn't say 'I absolutely hate having my picture taken' or something to that effect! I'm a great believer in the fact that there's something beautiful about everyone, and the most beautiful thing of all is authentic emotion. I am genuinely interested in people, and as a photographer specialising in couples, especially in how couples relate to each other. At a wedding I try not to get noticed too much and that's how I get to spy the real moments happening. During portrait sessions I try make sure that people know I don't expect them to 'perform' in any way, and that kind of gives them the license to just be themselves. I do sometimes use physical exercises to help people be more present in the moment and relax into it. For couple and engagement sessions especially, my wish is that everyone comes away feeling like they've had a nice experience, hopefully even one of those (too) rare connecting moments in life, and that the photos are just extra gravy.





If you weren't a photographer what would your dream job be?

A writer. Unfortunately I was never skilled enough in one language to finish any of the books I've started. But yes, would totally love to live in a little cabin by the sea, writing in solitude while listening to the waves.



If you had to pick one photographer who inspires you and/or you'd like to work with who would it be?

Hmm, that's a tricky one, inspiration comes in so many forms and I try to avoid any sort of idol worship. I would love to work with Jonas Peterson just because I'm intrigued to see how he approaches his pictures, and also to prove that Finns and Swedes can play nice together! :D One person whom I've been lucky enough to see in action, was Jesh de Rox. He taught me how to open my heart to strangers in order to make an experience meaningful.





They say 'A picture says a thousand words...' can you show us one photo of yours that you think demonstrates this?



Aw! How super cute.

Thank you Marianne!

If you haven't already you simply must go and see more of Marianne's work over at her website and blog and whilst you're at it you should follow her on twitter too.

I would have loved to work with this couple!

I don't tend to feature real weddings at Savoir Weddings much. There are so many awesome blogs that do that, I prefer to leave it to the pros.

But I've had to make an exception for this wedding. I 'met' Angie the bride, through being involved in Hi Fi Weddings weekly mixtape masters and have been reading her blog ever since. And recently she's been posting her wedding pics up, and I just had to feature them here.

For one main reason - Angie and Josh's wedding is a perfect example of a unique, personal and creative wedding - what I'm also banging on about here and to clients.

Yes your wedding should be stylish and yes, (if you want), you should put a lot of effort into making it a brilliant day for you and your guests. But a truly great wedding is one that represents the couple. Not one that would be fabulous on a blog or magazine spread, but one that is a prefect 'fit' for the couple getting married.

And this of course is the challenge. Incorporating ideas and trends into the best day for you whilst keeping in budget and ensuring all your guests are happy is the tricky part. Which brings me back to Angie and Josh. Now whilst I can't say I know them well (in fact I doubt Josh has heard of me!), I can tell this wedding was the perfect wedding for them.

It looks gorgeous, but personal, not like everything was created just to look good. And most importantly, they look so happy.

Take a look for yourself and then head over to Angie's blog one cat per person to find out more about this lovely lady and her big day...

All photos are by the rather talented Tom Schirmacher.

















What do you think? Just amazing right?

Unique boutonnieres and cute boutonnieres

I'm quite a fan of these non floral boutonnieres and like the rise of the bow tie I think we're going to see more and more creative ideas when it comes to button holes.

Which one's your favourite and have you seen any other cute ideas?

Pops of colour

There's a lot of spectacular weddings full of vibrant colour circulating blog land at the moment. I really like this 'trend' and hope we see more of it.

Think bright, bold colours. Used in whatever way suits the couple and whether full on or just pops of colour, I think, and hope we see more of this because quite frankly, it's just so much fun.

Oh and all these images are from real weddings, just click on the photo to see more.





















What do you think? Do you like colourful weddings and would you use it sparingly or go for it?!

♥ Romantic English Country Garden wedding ♥

Back in May I got a phone call from a groom-to-be in Germany wanting some help planning his wedding for August. This was new on several fronts, it was surprising in a good way to get an enquiry from a groom and I'd never worked with a couple getting married in the UK but living abroad. Factor in a scarily short amount of time and I knew planning this wedding was going to be a challenge! Which it was, but in a brilliant way. The couple, Nina and Patrick were pretty much a wedding planner's dream - they were up for being creative and were realistic about what their budget could afford.

My favourite part of planning their wedding was the styling. When I first met N&P (as they came to be known) they told me they wanted a classic English country garden wedding with some vintage touches. I had lots of perfect props for them to use, in fact all (except for the awesome vintage lampshades) the props you see in the photos came from me!

The venue was Bramble Park, Nina's aunt's huge old house that used to be a B&B. We put a marquee up in the garden that comfortably held the 50 guests and was pretty useful during the short sharp bursts of rain that occurred sporadically.

The photos were shot by the insanely fabulous Lisa Devlin Photography. I think she captured the essence of the wedding perfectly. I've already expressed my love for Lisa on my blog, I adore her style.

The gorgeous blooms came from Pollen Nation. Alison was amazing and got me loads of extra flowers. As the style was 'shabby chic' me and my awesome little helper flexed our creative muscles to become florists and put flowers in random mismatched bottles. The hydrangeas were favourites all round I think.

Style and design wise we had a little help from Grace and Tailor. Louisa sourced me some gorgeous cream lace as table runners and of course the lampshades which were a good feature for photos and looked really cute hung up in the marquee.

And the best part of the whole experience for me? Definitely being told afterwards by the couple that it was exactly the day they wanted and had totally exceeded their expectations. That made me feel good!









They stopped off for some shots in a glorious poppy field.



The classic 'ring' shot.









An old shed in the grounds of the venue...





Taken inside the house itself. Which incidentally was beyond incredible.



It was good to have a marquee which windows that opened up when the weather was good. And of course could be shut again just as easily.









This is a vintage clock I bought from across the pond on Etsy.





You got to love black tea cups. These were actually the cheapest I have, I got a whole set for £5 at a car boot sale. Bargain eh?



Love love love this shot...





For the main meal, a BBQ we set each place with mismatched vintage napkins. There was no formal seating plan, although there was a top table and guests just helped themselves to food and sat where they liked. I think this added to the intimate relaxed atmosphere.









The guy in the blue is the groom's dad, he was in a band called Fat Mattress back in the day. Check this out, it's pretty cool!



The cat, that got under my feet all day.



All in all a pretty perfect DIY, wedding at home. ♥