Wedding Invitations

Invitations are integral to setting the tone of a wedding. That pretty little slip of card will conjure up all kinds of images in your guests’ minds, and as it’s the first thing your guests will see it’s important you get it right. The right invite should reflect a couple’s style and start guests fantasizing about the fabulous wedding to come. From flamboyant to elegant, finding the right invitation has never been easier, with a wealth of pretty invites on offer.

{Credits: 1. Etsy; 2. Etsy; 3. Etsy; 4. Etsy; 5. Wedding Soon; Wedding Soon;}

Bridal bouquets

Bridal bouquets say a lot about a bride's style; antique caramel and dusty pink hues suggest a soft, girlish style, while bolder colours like vivid indigo suggest a slightly edgier, quirky style. As long as a bouquet is well suited to the bride's style it's impossible to go wrong; bouquets are an extension fot the bride's personal tastes and reflective of individuality. Cascade bouquets add a sense of grandeur, but wildflower bouquets have a whimsical charm that would work well with any rustic wedding. While it would be hard to accuse any bouquet of being unsightly, one of the most sensational bouquets I've seen is this following one, which marries delicate antique pinks and bright, bold colours seamlessly in order to make both colours pop. The peacock feathers add to the striking aesthetic, while the pale pink tones temper the brightness and pull the look together perfectly; quirky yet decadent, this bouquet exudes elegance.

{Image credits: 1. Red Lotus Photography;}

Mason Jar Magic

Mason jars add a wonderful rustic touch to a wedding and are hugely diverse. This practical, everyday item is easily updated and rendered wedding friendly. Its charm lies in its simplicity, which makes it suitable for almost any wedding. It can be used for a multitude of purposes to great effect, and this is one decorative item that won’t break the bank. Mason jars make excellent candleholders, hung from trees or arranged on tables. Keep it simple with a luxe ribbon around the middle or on top tied in a bow, or fill them with water and pebbles and float tea lights on top. Alternatively, stick doilies to the outside of mason jars and they will throw a charming lace-effect pattern.

Mason jars also make excellent vases, but should you use them for this purpose, keep the arrangement simple; wild flowers work best to ensure the rustic appeal is not lost. Anything too complicated or elaborate will just look incongruous and disjointed. Alternatively, keep it simple with a single open bloom floated on water. In addition to making nice table pieces, mason jars filled with flowers also make pretty, whimsical aisle markers.

Additionally, mason jars can be used as wedding favours, filled with a vast array of edible goodies, ranging from sweet treats to fresh fruits. Or for an even more rustic twist, fill them with homemade jam. Guests will certainly appreciate the time invested in making jam and it’s a great way to add a more personal touch to favours. Mason jars filled with cakes and desserts are also proving to be popular, and anything layered, like a milk and white chocolate mousse, will create a beautiful aesthetic. Alternatively, fill mason jars with cookie mix for a fun wedding favour. Bakerella even provide a free printable recipe.

 

Mason jars can also double as photo holders; black and white photos work particularly well in this instance, enhancing the vintage feel. Massive mason jars can also double as drinks dispensers; serve cloudy lemonade, full of circular slices of lemon, from large mason jars and provide smaller mason jars as drinking vessels to create a rustic feel.

{Credits: 1. Snipi 2. Intimate Weddings ; 3. Intimate Weddings; 4. Bakerella;5. Kaboodle; 6. Intimate Weddings;}

Bridal Jewellery

While bridal jewellery is very much a matter of personal taste, no one wants to look like Heidi Montag - hideously blinged up on her big day to the point where her jewellery detracted from the overall pretty, feminine aesthetic. So, if you want to go slightly bigger and bolder than normal, remember to select only a few statement pieces. Chandelier earrings look stunning with a full or partial up-do, however, if you're opting for a thick choker as well, people will be focused on you're competing jewellery pieces rather than you, which is where their attention should be focused. The right combination of bridal jewellery should enhance a bride’s radiance, offsetting her eyes, make-up, and the small, exquisite details of her dress.  The combination should not be so gaudy and fussy that it pulls focus, or guests will remember the wedding for all the wrong reasons. That is not to say that there is a set formula for success; the extent of accessorising should depend on the dress, the hair, the make-up, and the style of wedding. A simple sheath dress will benefit from more embellishment than an elaborate princess-esque dress and tiara combination.

Charleston bracelet £155

Parisienne necklace £119.99

Regalia earrings £120

Glacier Chandelier earrings £39.99

Vintage Birdcages

I have always adored decorative birdcages. They’re so whimsical and romantic, and for this reason they make ideal wedding decorations. They are so effortlessly chic they will add a touch of elegance to any wedding. They are wonderfully multi-purpose and can be used as cardholders, lanterns when hung from trees, or table centrepieces. You can fill them with flowers, fruits, cupcakes, candles, peacock feathers, perfume bottles or beautifully bound antique books – the list is endless. Alternatively, source an artificial nest from a garden centre and fill it with chocolates. To further beautify, tie a plush satin ribbon, co-ordinated with your colour scheme, around the middle or on the top. Alternatively, use pearls or fairy lights. Pearls add to and perfect the vintage feel when loosely draped around or over birdcages, as do trailing fairy lights. Petals also add to the elegant, feminine aesthetic when scattered around the outside. Customise according to your individual style, the trend is easily adapted to accommodate any wedding. Vintage birdcages are readily available, either on the high street or online; it’s also worth looking in the classified ads and on eBay, where there will inevitably be brides selling off their birdcages. You could even hire them

{Credits: 1. You & Your Wedding; 2. Hawaiian Island Wedding Planners; 3. Flower Design Events;}

Bespoke Vintage Map Hearts

These wooden hearts, personalised with a vintage map appropriate to the individual, epitomise vintage chic and would make excellent, if slightly pricey, wedding favours. At £15 (from Wow Thank You) they may be suited to smaller, more intimate weddings, although these are gifts that could potentially be replicated at home by those who are on a budget, using thick card and an atlas. Unique and incredibly thoughtful, you could opt for maps of people’s hometowns, their favourite places (depending on how well you know your guests), or maps of the place where you first met them. As the vintage trend acquires an ever increasing following, decorations such as these offer an invaluable way to personalise vintage touches.

Alternatively, if you love the idea but are lacking either the patience or the funds, head to Nostalgic Heart. Offering a slightly more rustic take, they’ve produced vintage map hearts suspended inside a clematis heart, which make beautiful decorations at vintage or rustic themed weddings.

Flower Ice Cubes

Another great idea for anyone wanting to try a bit of wedding DIY! These flower ice cubes (seen at Jonathan Fong Style and Martha Stewart.Com) are easy to make and look oh so chic. Roses work well, but you can choose from a whole host of edible flowers (including Violets, Starflowers, Chrysanthemums, Gladioli and Snapdragons, to name a few). Just make sure the flowers you use haven't been treated with potentially harmful chemicals; firstleaf offer a wonderful selection of edible flowers, or, if you're green-fingered, you could even grow your own. It is also worth mentioning that any surplus flowers look rather nice in cocktails and champagne flutes!

There are a few different methods for making the ice cubes, depending on the size of the flowers you're using, which are as follows:

Method 1 (the Jonathan Fong way)

Requires:

(per ice tray)
12 spray roses (the small ones)
12 twist ties
2 wooden skewers
1 ice tray
Floral tape

Instructions:

1. To keep the roses submerged in the ice trays, we have to build a framework that will weigh them down. Cut the spray roses, leaving about 2 inches of stem, and use twist ties to attach the stems to the skewers.

2. Place the roses, which are attached to the skewers, upside down in their individual ice compartments of the tray.

3. Tape down the skewers at the ends of the ice tray to keep everything from floating when you add water. Your ice tray should look like the one in the photo.

4. Add water to the ice tray and freeze overnight.

Method 2 (the Martha Stewart way)

Instructions:

1. To suspend flowers in the cubes, work in layers: Fill an ice tray (one that makes large cubes so the ice will last longer) a quarter of the way with water, add flowers facing down, and freeze.

2. Add more water to fill halfway, and freeze.

3. Fill to the top, and freeze again.

Handy tip: For ice that's especially clear, use distilled water that has been boiled and then cooled. This limits impurities and air bubbles, which make ice cloudy.

{Picture credits: 1. Simply Savannah Events; 2. Jonathan Fong Style; 3. Martha Stewart.com}