Random things I have been admiring of late...

I discovered this image by Dominique Bader over at Love My Dress today and I don't know what it is about in particular that I like so much. The dress is pretty fabulous, the pose works really well, and I really like the way it's cropped just below the shoulders. It makes me want to know more and that's the way a good photo should make you feel I think.




Heart confetti? Lovely.




The polaroid coasters I found over at appletea and you can buy them here...




A perfect Valentine's gift, no?




Some people really are so ridiculously talented.



Happy thank-god-February-is-nearly-here-so-spring-must-be-too Monday lovelies.

The wedding budget

Whilst January is a truly depressing month weather wise, it's a pretty exciting one for recently engaged brides to be. And judging by the amount of enquiries I alone am getting, a hell of a lot of you got engaged during the festive season!

I thought I'd write this post to give a little help to those starting their wedding planning, with or without a wedding planner. Aside from telling people you're engaged and revelling in all the congrats it's pretty much the first thing you should consider. And that is...

... the wedding budget...

I can not tell you the amount of enquiries I get where the bride or groom will explain their ideal wedding and then tell me they haven't considered the budget. Or those that say they're thinking of spending say £20,0000 - £35,000 as if this £15,000 gap isn't rather significant.

I know when you've literally just got engaged and are only just beginning to imagine your big day, you might not have even had a chance to work out what you can afford. Or even discussed with your parents whether they can and want to contribute. And I totally understand that. In fact I salute you for being so organised and contacting me straight away! It's just in my wedding planning experience, the budget is like the elephant in the room with some couples and they would rather plan the whole wedding without really thinking about it.

But, and here's the free advice, before you allow yourself to dream about your ideal wedding, work out what you can afford. Don't decide on the wedding you want and then work out the money later. It will be stressful, upsetting and difficult and if you're not careful will result in you starting married life in debt.

So whilst I don't want to ruin your daydreams of your perfect wedding I do want you all to be realistic, whether you become my clients or not! It will make the whole wedding planning process so much easier if you know what you can afford and will prevent you feeling crushed when you realise that Vera Wang dress you wanted isn't going to be anything other than a pipe dream.

What do you think brides to be? And wedding planners, what are your thoughts on the wedding budget?

*I've written it in purple italics to make it seem less scary :)

Spring, please hurry up, we need you rather badly

I want the trees to look like this...



I don't know about you but I have had my fill of winter.

I want that smell the air has when it starts to get warmer.

I want it to stay light until at least 7pm.

I want to see blue sky, and sun.

I want the temperature to reach double figures.

I want to wear what I want, not what keeps me warm.

I want to sip coffee in London's outdoor cafes.

I know. I want a lot but don't you agree, it's time for spring?

Stress! How do you deal with it?

I'm interrupting my venue research temporarily today to write this little post on stress and my advice on how to tackle it.

Working as a wedding planner stress is something I come across a fair amount. Of course couples getting married tend to be stressed, or at least go through stressful times; wedding suppliers can get stressed and believe it or so can wedding planners ;)

We all get stressed about things that rationally we know aren't really important. And we get stressed about things that definitely are important. I'm not sure it really matters what it is that makes you feel stressed, the feeling itself is what's so damn horrible!

But I thought I'd post about what I tell my couples when they go through difficult times, and indeed what I tell myself. Nothing beats stress better than getting out of the situation (when it's possible obviously). So for brides buckling under the pressure of seating plans and guest accommodation; or for wedding industry peeps struggling with an aspect of their business I urge you to take time out. Whether you can only afford an hour or if you're lucky enough to have time to take a day or so off do it. Do anything and everything that doesn't make you think about your current stress.

So for brides to be, go out for dinner with your fiancee and talk about when you first met, or what you want to do in 5 years time. Talk about anything or do anything that isn't to do with your wedding. And same goes for all you wedding suppliers running your own businesses. Go and do something that has nothing whatsoever to do with your business. Nothing benefits your clients more than you having a life outside of work. It clears your head, keeps you calm and when you feel like that you're in a much better position to tackle your stresses without letting them overwhelm you.

Tonight I urge you all to conduct a little experiment. For couples getting married - don't think or talk about your wedding. Put down those magazine and get off those blogs. And wedding professionals do the same. Because in my experience nothing beats distraction and escapism for a little bit of stress relief.

Obviously I am not a psychologist and know next to nothing about stress. This is just my humble advice! What about you. How you you tackle stress in your life?

New music you may or may not have heard of (or like for that matter)

Well I'm glad to see Friday this week folks. It's been a mental week which is fast becoming the norm here at Savoir HQ ;)

Anyway I missed my weekly mixtape masters last week from just being so damn busy but this week am back with some new sounds for your ears to wrap themselves around.




Music Playlist at MixPod.com

For more Mixtape Master madness, peep the playlists on these blogs:

Hi-Fi Weddings | Tylre. | Ten Thou Bride | Fashion Under 100 | Jo, Rooting | Craft My Life | another damn life | Fancy Notion | Dead Flowers | Casa De Kaloi | Bunnies’n’Beagles | My San Francisco Budget Wedding | Existing Between Reality and Dreams

Lynn Hatzius wedding stationery

I get a fair few wedding people send me emails inviting me to take a look at their work because they believe we share the same vision and ideas and will have similar clients. Unfortunately whilst these people are often lovely, they're not always suitable for Savoir.

But that all changed when I got an email from Lynn Hatzius. Quite frankly her work is a-maaazing. As you can see by the images below (sorry for small pics, my fault).

Lynn is a London based illustrator, collage artist and printmaker who makes handmade, printed, die-cut and paper engineered wedding invitations. Her website oh so special shows these unique wedding invitations and you can see her other art work here.
















I love love love them all really. What your thoughts?

Some pretties to start the week with

Good morning all! Hope you've had a grand weekend. I've got lots of lovely wedding work to get on with today and I'm going to squeeze a trip in to see my friend's new born baby.

Here's this week's monday medley

the bouquet

The first blog beauty to present to you is this creative and quite frankly adorable origami bouquet called I Heart You. Such a cute idea and could be adapted as a bridal bouquet quite easily I reckon.




the dress

I'm seeing more sparkly embellished detail in dresses at the moment and this is definitely something I can get on board with, especially when on vintage inspired and neutral coloured dresses. So glamorous and interesting at the same time. Found via the wonderful {this is glamorous}




the diy bar

A french fry (or chip for those from Blighty) bar to be more precise. What a truly good idea. And you can apply it to any food I guess.




the centrepiece

I discovered these on an Etsy trip. Particularly like how it's called Hussy reclaimed succulent stiletto.

I'm always on the lookout for original wedding decoration and these would certainly be interesting centrepieces.



Have a good day!