Eco Wedding Theme

...becoming more and more popular is the eco friendly wedding theme. There are many ways you can make your wedding eco friendly:

For stationery, Look for products which are made with fairtrade or recycled paper/card products such as these Environmentally-friendly recycled board tag inserts

Confetti could be organic, fairtrade or locally produced flower petals or made with recycled paper or bird friendly seeds.

This fragranced pink heart soap packaged in a simple brown envelope tied with a contrasting ribbon trim and matching 'with love' tag makes the perfect favour or gift!

Use a local florist using locally sourced flowers and don’t forget to use recycled containers whenever possible

20% off Butterfly & Flowers Theme

Confetti are offering 20% off their butterfly and flower products....

If you have chosen to add butterflies into your theme you can use them on your invitation design, table plan, flowers or place setting cards.

Your favors and centerpieces are great places to display your butterfly wedding theme ideas.

Many brides also like the idea of a butterfly release.  It is a dramatic and beautiful display that enhances any couple’s butterfly wedding theme idea. 

Tips & Techniques

Here are a few tips and techniques to help you with your wedding DIY projects...

Tags are great to add to favours, use as placenames or labels for a buffet.

You can create your own template in word or download some templates from here and why not purchase a tag punch to save having to cut them out? Use a hole punch to make the hole for the ribbon - neater than cutting one yourself!

When making your own cards and invitations, take your unfinished invitations to a local printing shop to have them cut to size. This will give your cards a finished, professional-looking edge at a great price; plus it will save you a lot of time and effort over cutting them yourself!

Printable card supplies are often much cheaper than purchasing backing papers and embelishments. Click here for a selection.

Use easy to read fonts for your stationery and inserts.

Use a program such Adobe Illustrator to create your invitations. Although it might take a little while to figure out, it will ultimately allow you to play around more with the general design. You can download free versions on the Adobe website. There are also other free software programmes available to play around with.


Don't be afraid to use unusual colours and textures!

Think about the pieces you need…most people generally want an Invitation, a Response Card and perhaps a Reception Card. Make sure you order enough paper!

Essential tools:
Paper trimmer
Craft knife - A craft knife allows you to cut intricate shapes with precision and ease
Good scissors
Cutting mat
Ruler

Dream Themes...

Carnival

I just love this theme! Fun, unique and lots of colour! You will be working with reds, pinks, whites, yellows and golds to set the theme. You want to recreate a colorful and fun “summery” atmosphere. Decorate with lanterns and fairy lights to add warmth and romance. Handmade wooden signs highlighting certain areas of your theme such as ‘cake boutique’, ‘fun fair rides’,'Candyfloss’ etc would add to the feel of the theme.

With lots of wonderful products on Confetti you can’t go wrong...

More Lovely Vintage....

Sorry for the lack of posts...I have just returned from a wonderful holiday in sunny Cyprus!

As this seems to be a very popular theme and a favourite amongst many of you, here is some more vintage inspriation with hints of navy and dusky pinks....

Unique touches for your day...

Why not add some personal and unique touches, making your day as memorable for your guests as it is for you...

• Personalise your ceremony by writing your own vows or asking a friend to read a meaningful poem or passage at the service.

• For any out of town guests, budget permitting, prepare a gift basket or gift bag with goodies that they can enjoy in their hotel room. You can deliver the gift bags to the front desk at the hotel ahead of their arrival or present it to them the first time you see them

• Have a screen at the front of the reception dance floor (where the dj stand is) and have a slide show of pictures of you as a couple and with friends and family at the evening reception

• Ask your married guests to bring a photo of themselves from their own wedding day, and pin all the photos on a special board at the reception.

• Create your own cocktail! Use this as a welcome drink or the toast

• Book a calligrapher to write out some well-known romantic poems and/or love and marriage quotes then frame these and put them in the middle of your tables, surrounded by tea lights

• Venue permitting, ask for a small room to be set aside for you and your partner – perhaps with champagne and chocolates on standby – and arrange a time to meet your other half there alone. This gives you some precious moments to savour your wedding day together without being interrupted

• If time and budget permits, send a photo from the wedding of the guests with their thank you card

• Instead of tossing the bouquet, present it to the mother of the bride or groom or someone special

• If you have a close friend or family member who has passed away, make him or her part of the occasion by inserting a small photo in your bouquet, or lighting a Memorial Candle at the church ceremony

• Do something for the guests. Make a video of you and your fiancé talking about the people who are special to you. Mention friends who have shown real loyalty, love, or family members who made great sacrifices for you. Intersperse your video with their photos. This is your chance to say thank you to all of them.

• Put a basket in the toilets at the wedding venue containing things such as plasters, deodorant, mints/chewing gum, hand cream, rennies, needle and thread –all the little emergency things that guests will really appreciate!

• If you’re having children at the wedding, have a ‘kiddie’s corner’ or ‘kiddie’s table’ and put some Colouring and Activity Fun Bags, bubbles etc for them to play with to save them getting bored. You could create personalised colouring books (lots of templates on the internet available for these) and incorporate the table with your colour scheme/theme

Guest Book Alternatives

There are many ways to keep messages from friends and family other than the traditional guestbook – here are some ideas below:


o Ask guests to write their message, advice or inspiration and post it through a sealed decorated box or wishing well – the box could easily be made by you and personalised to your colour scheme and theme...why not leave this for a year unopened and you can then spend your first anniversary sipping champagne and reading all the special messages!

o Guests can pin notes to a ‘wish tree’ this can also make a great focal point! Again, this can be done using a bit of imagination and DIY! The Wedding Chicks have a fantastic Wish Tree template download here.

o Video booth – guests can leave a video message for you to watch over and over!

o Polaroid camera –guests can take their picture and put it with their message or write a message on the back of the picture. These can be ‘pegged’ along a line which will make a fantastic feature at the wedding, not to mention looking great in the pictures

o Pebbles - pebbles are written on by the guests and then kept for years by the couple. They can be stored in a glass vase, or immersed in water.

o Wooden jigsaw puzzles that your guests can sign. Each guest has one piece of the puzzle to sign each and it’s your job as the couple to then put the whole thing together.

o Why not try and double up your guests place names with your guest book idea, by getting them to write a message on the reverse of their place name? you get to keep each place name in a lovely memory box. A great budget and DIY idea too!

o A suitcase; perfect for vintage weddings, or travel themed wedding. Guests are given a postcard to write on and then left to pop it in the suitcase. Looks great for any wedding and make a real feature out of the guest book.

1950's Retro Inspiration...

Here are some mood boards that I put together for a couple recently and I absolutely loved it! The couple are aiming for a retro/1950’s feel with bright, vibrant colours.

What a fab theme! The couple also wanted a DIY element for their wedding – some ideas below the moodboards...

• Bunting – easy enough to make yourself, just takes time and patience! Find some material of your choice (I found it cheaper to buy a single patchwork quilt cover rather than lots of separate bits of material) think polka dots, stripes etc. Cut out a triangle template from cardboard and use this to cut out the triangles (double sided) using pinking shears. Either sow or glue these to ribbon an inch apart – voila!
• Paper chains – buy lots of bright paper – an easy, budget friendly DIY project. Or you can purchase the ready cut paper 
• For a cheap but effective decoration use lots of tissue paper for a fringe wall (such as the one on the sweetie bar pic on the moodboard) Tissue paper is cheap enough and it doesn’t take that much at all to do a lot. .
• Make party poppers by cutting paper towel rolls into thirds, filling them with confetti + taffy and wrapping them up in paper. Super easy and super cute! Plus they really pop
• Create your own place name holders etc and add a 50’s feel with these Cath Kidston Labels and Stickers (Cath Kidston Stationery)
• The record/vinyl style invitations have a great 50’s/retro feel – these can be quite pricey to buy (about £2 per invite) but are easy enough to create yourself.
      o Cut out a circle from some glossy black card in the required size
      o  Type the required text (example attached on separate page) and print this out onto cardstock – 
          maybe stick to white and decorate the card once its printed or add some graphics on before printing
      o  Use double sided tape or carefully apply craft glue and secure the smaller circle onto the centre of the
         ‘record’
      o  This may take a few trial runs but practice makes perfect!


Favours
• Home baked cookies in retro shapes. Choose an icing colour to match your scheme and wrap in cellophane, then tie with pretty bows.
• Sticks of rock with personalised labels
• Mini gumball machines with DIY handmade labels
• Boxed cupcake with a retro cupcase
• Personalised lemonade mix
• Cupcake lipgloss

Sugar Candy Bouquet

I stumbled accross this wonderful sugar candy bouquet whilst searching on the internet - what a fantastic idea for a centrepiece and favours all rolled into one! And whats better, the website tells you how to do it yourself and you can also purchase the items needed from their ebay shop, fantastic!

Click here to be directed to the blog

English Vintage Inspiration...

Theres something very nostalgic and relaxing about a lovely soft English vintage theme...

Think bunting, lace, union jack flags (which can be incorporated into pretty much any aspect!), tea cups, mis matched glass bottles, strawberries...ah the list is endless!

Cool Britannia...

With a royal wedding on the way, what could be more apt than a 'cool britannia' themed weddding!

Confetti have some fab themed favours, decorations, invitations etc- check it out!

Lovely Lilac Inspiration!

A lovely soft, spring colour that can be incorporated within a rustic (think DIY favours - lavendar wraped in ribbon), vintage or modern theme (polka dot favour boxes).

Here are some flower ideas to match a lilac theme:

• Anemone
• Aster
• Dahlias
• Freesia
• Gladiola
• Hyacinth
• Hydrangea
• Iris
• Lilac
• Lily
• Orchid
• Phlox
• Rose
• Sweet Peas
• Tulips

DIY Inspiration...

Stuck for some wedding DIY ideas?
Check out these bargain reads for some inspiration...



It's all here, from 'save the date' notices to flowers and favours. Fashion beautiful birds nest place cards, embellished with tinsel, candied almonds, and guests photographs.

The great book offers lots of different suggestions for DIY ideas to personalise your wedding, with hints and tips on how you can adapt it to fit your theme/colours. It advises places to look for inspiration and has some fab ideas for ways to personalise your wedding to make your day your own. 

This book will show you that with a little bit of planning and preparation, it is possible to have the day of your dreams without starting married life in debt.  You really can create your own special day by doing it yourself and having fun along the way. This book is packed with top tips and money saving ideas for: Stationery, Venues, Flowers, Transport, Hair and Make-up, Photographs, Food and Drink, the Reception and much more - including tips from live brides and over 100 budget busting ideas.

Wedding Decoration Budget Ideas

Sorry for the infrequent posts lately – I’ve been extremely busy arranging a charity masquerade ball. Hectic but lots of fun!


Anyway, as this has also been quite relevant to what I’ve been doing, here are some budget wedding decoration ideas:

DIY Ideas
Wedding stationery; invitations, save the date cards, place names, order of service booklets etc (let me know if you need any advice on these)

• Bridesmaid wrist corsages – a cheaper alternative to a bouquet and easy to make yourself
• Create a topiary using tissue paper and Styrofoam. You could then hang them from the ceiling or place on a small garden cane and secure in a plant pot. You can pick up a topiary from most craft stores or garden centres
• Bunting to decorate the venue
• Wedding post box and guest book (buy the blank versions and decorate yourself to match your colour/theme)
• Wedding favours
• The list is endless!! I made lots of things for my wedding so give me a shout if this is something you are considering doing

Money-saving...

•  Shop around for decorations. eBay and wedding forums are great for picking up bargains that have only been used once (that’s where most of mine came from!) such as mirror plates, table runners, chair backs, candles, tea lights etc. 9 times out of 10 they are in perfect condition as they have only been used at one wedding.
• Consider making as much as you can yourself such as invitations, place names, favours etc – it can save you a bomb!
• Ask about to see if any friends/family know of a photographer, cake maker, florist etc – you never know you might be able to get a discount!
• Make a wedding budget spreadsheet and stick to it - keep it up to date with what you have spent and what is left to pay out. It’s very easy to go over budget with all the little bits that add up

 Ceremony Decor

• It may be worth asking the venue if their florist does wedding flowers – it may work out cheaper to use their preferred florist
• It's also worth asking whether any other couples are getting married in the venue on the same day as you. They may be prepared to split the cost of the floral arrangements
• Secure and tie two long stem pink roses organza ribbon as a pew decoration
• The front of the venue will be the main focal point so keep the main decorations here and just dot simple ones on the pew ends to keep costs down
• Don't put flowers in any area of the venue that people won't be able to see when they're sat down 

Reception Decor 

• Candles/tea lights are a cheap and easy way to create a soft, romantic ambience. Just check with your venue that they allow candles. If not, there are battery operated tea lights available which actually look quite effective!
•  Shop around for prices on centrepieces etc – a florist may charge more for the hire of vases etc than what you can pick them up for second hand
• Use the flowers from the church to double up as decorations for the venue
• Ask the venue if they have vases that you can borrow
• Purchase fairy lights in the January sales – look out for the soft white Christmas lights
• Make the guest book part of the decorations by having it on a separate table that's decorated with framed pictures of you both. Coordinate the guest book with the theme or colours of the wedding and have it available at the ceremony and reception. This way more guests will see it and have the opportunity to sign it.

Romantic Yellow Spring, Inspiration!

Finally the sun is shining and it feels like spring is in the air....so here’s for a little spring inspiration! Soft yellows and creams give a lovely relaxed romantic feel – here are some ideas to incorporate that theme further:

Have framed romantic/love poems or quotes written in calligraphy dotted around the venue or used as centrepieces with flowers and candles

Scatter flower petals down the isle

Lots of tea lights, candles, lanterns

Romantic background music

Subtle butterfly and heart decorations will add to a romantic feel

Follow the theme through from the wedding stationery, to the flowers, favours, cake and decorations

DIY Favour Boxes

As well as having lots of great wedding favour boxes, table decorations etc – DIY Favour Boxes have some great design tips for when you’re making your own favours.

Click here to read the article

They also offer a favour design service for when you're feeling a little uninspired!

Tiffany Blue Inspiration

Tiffany Blue is a wonderful, elegant theme for a wedding any time of the year. Being a pastel shade, it’s really fitting for a spring wedding but is also a fantastic option for a winter wedding alongside white or ivory. The shade goes beautifully alongside black, ivory, even coral for a bright summer/tropical feel! Bring in the colour with invitations, favours, napkin rings....

Vintage/Shabby Chic Inspiration

Now for some more of my absolute favorite - shabby chic and vintage inspiration. Just because I love it and know that lots of you out there do too! There are some beautiful vintage inspired favours and decorations out there to perfect this theme.

Red & Purple Inspiration

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and apologies for the lack of posts over the Christmas/New Year period.

So, moving on from the Christmas/winter wonderland mood boards, here is some red/purple inspiration that is still ideal for a winter wedding mixing rich opulent shades for a romantic/glam feel.

Purple and red together make a strong statement and can work well for bridesmaid dresses as long as you take care that the outfit does not overwhelm your attendants (often depends on skin tone/hair colour) Choose one colour as the focal point, and let the accessories pull in the accent colour.

Cocktails in purple and red would look fabulous lined up on the bar for guests!

More Winter Wedding Inspiration

I couldn’t resist searching for some more Christmas/winter wonderland inspiration!

There are so many magical ways to create a winter wonderland wedding and an opportunity for something a little more unique to every wedding day favours. There is also the benefit of being able to pick up some bargains in the Christmas sales for your wedding, such as fairy lights, everything sparkly, decorations etc.

Confetti have some beautiful Christmas wedding favours and decorations and they are currently offering free delivery until 22nd December.

These baubles from Celebrations Plus would make a wonderful favour/thank you gift for children!