Va & Joy's country house vintage prettiness

It's not often that a London planner gets to go to Wales to style a wedding so I jumped at the chance to be involved in Joy & Va's wedding. Over glasses of wine way earlier in the year we worked together to create the feminine vintage look Joy wanted to achieve.

I had lots of fun acting as florist for the day, filling these and all the bottles and vases in the main dining room (which also happened to be my props).

The biggest issue of the day was working out whether to keep the ceremony outside or bring it into the entrance hall of the house. I knew Joy really wanted it outside but the Welsh weather was being true to form and spitting ominously! We literally debated for most of the morning but thankfully luck was on our side and it held off. Hurrah.

O&C Photography captured Joy & Va's day absolutely beautifully. For the full set of images check out their blog here. Unfortunately I'd done the style set up and left before they arrived but I can certainly attest that Charis is one of the warmest, sweetest people I've 'met' in through Twitter and in weddings. So if you're getting married in Pembrokeshire, Wales or anywhere in the UK really you should definitely consider booking O&C Photography.

Alix and Zach gothic glam wedding

Alix hired me to help her pull some styling elements together in the last couple of months and also to set up the decoration on the day. As soon as I heard her plans I knew this was a wedding I wanted to work on, and when I heard Lisa Devlin was shooting it I was even happier! I love Lisa's style (see here for another wedding we worked on together).

Lisa Devlin Photography

Alix was the kind of client wedding planners dream of. Not just because she was so creative but because she was also so organised and just so nice!

Rain rain go away

A taster from a wedding we styled back in June and shot by the very talented and super nice O&C Photography My lasting memory from this wedding will be the 'will we, won't we' game we played with the rain and the outdoor blessing under the loveliest tree.

Gothic glam engagement shoot

One of the best things about being a wedding planner & stylist is the diversity of the couples and therefore weddings I get to work on. At one time for instance this summer,  I was working on a traditional Nigerian wedding, a Jewish summer garden wedding and this delightfully dark gothic do. No way I can complain my clients are all the same.

I've been working with Alix recently on her wedding styling, and I've got to say her wedding is going to be epic. There really is no other word. And it's all going to be captured by Lisa Devlin no less.

I thought Alix & Zach's engagement shoot would be a perfect introduction to their upcoming gothic glam Victorian carnival inspired wedding.

 

Devlin Photos

Seriously can't wait for this wedding. I do love the pretty femininity of lots of the weddings I work with but for sheer dark glamour, this one definitely rules.

Thanks to Lisa for the images (and Lisa Brown who was the second shooter), you can see more of this shoot over at Lisa's blog.

Savoir couple in Wedding Magzine

Super pleased to see the one of my couples, the lovely Nina & Patrick and their wedding in Wedding Magazine out now.



Yay!

Telephone box guest book alternative

One of my couples (who are having an a-MAZ-ing wedding incidentally) had the rather good idea of using a red telephone as a guest book alternative. The idea being that they hire a box with a working phone (and plenty of change) and have a little sign inside telling guests to call a particular number. When they dial it will go to a pre-recorded message from the bride and groom asking them to leave a message.

What do you think?

I think it's a genius idea! It will be entertaining for guests (and pretty amusing when said guests have had a tipple or two); and will be an original keepsake for the couple.

I imagine they'll want to do a more traditional guest book as well just in case guests don't get round to the phone, or feel too shy but all in all I think it's a fabulous idea and one I shall be stealing!

I love alternatives to the norm so do let me know if you know any other good guest book ideas like this puzzle guest book.

♥ 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. ♥