Music, blogs, and magazines and other news...

savoir weddings news

Phew what a week last week was. Looking forward to this one being less manic! Aside from dramas with Blogger (which I'm sure a lot of you experienced), my friend and business buddy Charley and I launched We Plan, You Play which was launched through Rock n roll Bride. A wedding music blog designed to help couples compile their wedding playlists.

Nothing beats live music and all but for the hours you have an iPod running you have to think about each and every song that plays at your wedding. Especially as there's nothing worse than the wrong music for destroying the mood. And coming from a music events background I am particularly keen on encouraging clients to think about their wedding music and We Plan, You Play aims to do just that! So go check it out and let me know what you think!

Last week was also pretty cool because Nina and Patrick's wedding was featured in Wedding Magazine and I designed a mood board for Annabel over at Love my Dress - a rustic charm board, the first of three May inspired boards.

the wedding fair

Not a fan of wedding fairs in general, this is one I can get behind the idea of...



See the website here for more details. I figured this was something interesting when I read this on their site:

Wedding coming up? Fed up of sprawling soulless commercial wedding fairs? Compact and bijoux, get personal at Craft Central! All you need to add a handmade touch to the big day. From bride to evening guest, there’s something for everyone...

Sounds good no?

Have a good week my dears!

Monday Medley - Wedding inspiration from the world wide web

Good morning! And Happy Monday! It is a decidedly unpleasant day here, with bitter rain, my least favourite weather. So I bring you some general wedding inspiration to brighten up your (and my) day.

☂ First up, a little guest post I did for the super nice Claire over at English Wedding. I wanted to write something about the whole point of a wedding in the first place - the love - so check it out and let me know what you think!

☂ Next is this rather splendid 80s inspired wedding seen over at Love My Dress. I'm a big fan of couples doing their wedding their way and this is a pretty good example of that. Plus that yellow dress is the perfect antidote to a wet Monday morning.



☂ Found over at Julia's blog - check out this tree house wedding! Apparently it's the only tree house in the world that you can get married in. Not sure I've come across a more romantic and quirky wedding venue in a long time. Julia is the art director for Wedding Magazine and is a wedding photographer herself. Now I'm pretty busy but I honestly don't know where she finds the time. I helped her style her wedding party ( yep this lovely lady had two weddings) back in the summer and we are meeting for a long overdue coffee today where I am going to have to find out more about this tree house.

Just look at that view...



☂ I heart these shoes.



The wedding shoes of Wellies and Vogue and the best quote from the bride herself:

'I think the photos say it all.. so much fun.. love my friends and family and weirdly never felt nervous.. just floating.'

☂And The Luxury Wedding Show is here. According to their creative director:

“Luxury doesn’t have to mean expensive; what we have sought to do is to identify those organisations that provide the very best in luxury goods and services and have made them accessible and obtainable for those seeking either a traditional, modern or vintage wedding ceremony.”

Sounds good right? I'm not convinced about wedding fairs in general but am always willing to have my mind changed. Head over to I am Staggered for more info on how to get discounted tickets. For some reason I find that quite amusing. That you can get discounted tickets to a luxury wedding show!

I am a little more excited about The Vintage Wedding Fair for three main reasons. I do massively enjoy planning and styling vintage weddings so I'm excited for that obvious reason. It's a great opportunity to meet up with like minded suppliers; and on their website the organisers state they have been 'researching and planning this new concept in wedding fairs'.

Fabulous. Count me in. Anyone else planning on going? Do let me know and we can have tea and cake together!

Why I don't like wedding shows/fairs/fayres

...Mainly because they're depressing.

I went to the National Wedding Show for the first time this weekend and have to say I did not enjoy it that much.

It's not that I'm saying that I wasn't impressed with the suppliers exhibiting there (although there did seem to be a lot of identikit, 'genericness' present); it was more the whole atmosphere.

In a nutshell I think it destroys originality and challenges the whole concept of enjoying the planning process, from discovering a supplier you like to how to implement exciting ideas.

Okay so if you're overwhelmed by wedding planning or looking for one stop shop I can see how a wedding fair is useful. But if you want a personal, original wedding I think you'll only be disappointed. I certainly would be if I'd gone as a bride.

So let's be objective. They allow lots of brides to be access to suppliers they can meet in person. This I'm obviously not against. It all just felt a bit sad in a way. As I was walking around the N.W.S I could feel the neediness in the air, from brides to be looking for something that catches their eye to suppliers wanting to connect.

Maybe I'm naive or romanticising things too much but I don't think this is what planning a wedding should be about. Yes it can be hard, stressful and daunting. But it should be exciting and personal and certainly not feel like a cattle market.

I'm not ruling out the concept of a wedding fayre in principle. The idea is good. Introducing suppliers to potential clients and couples to potential suppliers. But my experiences of them so far is negative!

I'm willing to have my mind changed however and I'm sure this won't be the last wedding show I go to. But for now I remain unconvinced.

I'm hoping in time as weddings are becoming increasingly creative and unique that wedding fairs will follow suit. In fact in the UK we do have The London Vintage Wedding Fair coming up so I will be checking that out and by the title assuming I will like it a little more.

Gosh what a super whiny post this morning! Big apologies! I want to know what you think?
What are your experiences of wedding fairs? Have you been to any good ones. What made them good?

Maybe in time I should get all the fabulous suppliers I know of together and organise a big fat awesome wedding fair to show them how it's done!