Chiffon bow high heel sandals AUD$850
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tie Me Up
It's Friday and because I love shoes I thought I would share these beauties with you. Now that ShopBop have their online bridal boutique it's never been easier to get those gorgeous designer pieces you crave for your wedding. With pleated slik straps and a chiffon bow these Giuseppe Zanotti sandals are simply gorgeous. Be sure to visit ShopBop's new wedding boutique at www.shopbop.com. Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Chiffon bow high heel sandals AUD$850
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Chiffon bow high heel sandals AUD$850
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Before the Big Day Wedding Theme: Love Birds?
There can't be that many twitchers in the world, but for the amount of winged heavenliness on the market, you'd think half the population were ornothologists. Even if you're not that keen on birds per se {pigeons - urgh!}, you'll be all of a twitter over these fantastic wedding ideas from online stores like Etsy and Cox & Cox. Grab your binoculars and your wellies, and get stuck in.
Product Credits {top row, left to right} 1.Cox & Cox, 2 & 5: Little Bird Paper, {bottom row, left to right} 3. Seasonal Delights, 4. The Gilded Bee
Photo Credits - Wellies: Nikole Ramsay Product Credit - Bird Stencil: Confetti
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for more wedding theme ideas. Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
Product Credits {top row, left to right} 1.Cox & Cox, 2 & 5: Little Bird Paper, {bottom row, left to right} 3. Seasonal Delights, 4. The Gilded Bee
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
A Fashion Preview
By now you will have noticed the shelves in your favourite stores lined with their autumn/winter collections, meaning it's time to start piecing together your winter wardrobe. If you're after some guidance and inspiration take a peek at these video's, courtesy of Westfield, that will explain to you some of the trends for the season, as well as some tips to help you look even better. If you'd love some one on one help from a fashion stylist be sure to visit www.westfield.com.au to book your appointment. You won't regret it!
A sponsored post by Westfield
Posted by Emilie Harrison
A sponsored post by Westfield
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Cheap & Cheerful Picnic Wedding Idea
How about a picnic wedding? It would be fun and casual, and most of all cheap and cheerful. You wouldn't have to pay to rent tables and chairs, just rugs and cushions, and there's no need for a three course meal, just three types of cake! Your younger guests will love it, and you could follow up with classic park games, like rounders or croquet. Plus you'd have more money to spend on fun stationery, like these fab cutlery bags from Miss Pickles Press.
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for more picnic wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Ruth Tarvydas VIP Shopping Night
With a fan base that includes Dannii Minogue, Elle McPherson and Kim & Kloe Kardashian it's no surprise that Perth's fashion icon Ruth Tarvydas has opened a new store, located on the 3rd floor of Westfield Sydney. To celebrate the opening the store is hosting a VIP shopping night on Thursday 31st March from 5-9pm. While you sip on champagne and enjoy a selection of canapes you will be treated to 25% off all purchases as well as a gift bag and the chance to win an exciting prize to the value of $500. For all brides and bridesmaids-to-be this is a great opportunity to get your hands of some of Ruth's truly gorgeous pieces at a great price. Sold in 15 countries, including renowned UK department store Harrod's, the opening of the Sydney store marks Tarvydas' first store opening outside of Perth. To RSVP to this fabulous event please email helga@ruthtarvydas.com
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Posted by Emilie Harrison
DIY Table Numbers
I was just having a look at Twig & Thistle's blog and noticed these great FREE DIY table napkin numbers. Head over to Twig & Thistle for instructions and the free iron-on template.
Posted by Emma Henderson
Posted by Emma Henderson
Monday, March 28, 2011
A Multicultural Affair
I came across this gorgeous wedding on one of my favourite blogs Style Me Pretty and I just had to share. Photographed by the very talented Trish of Tealily Photography, it was held on the bride's parents property in Berry, New South Wales. With a strong multicultural herritage the couple were keen for this to be a key factor in the planning and styling of their day. The theme - rustic and intimate - saw the use of lots of raw materials, taupes and whites. We love the lounge area, the bride's Oscar de la Renta dress and the simplicity of the table setting. For more on this gorgeous wedding visit www.stylemepretty.com.
Photography - Tealily Photography
Event Stylist - The Style Salon
Print wedding stationery - Angels Dreaming
Linen wedding stationery - Far East Linen Co.
Bridal Gown - Oscar de la Renta
Bride's headpiece - Neil Grigg Millinery
Groom's suit - Hugo Boss
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Photography - Tealily Photography
Event Stylist - The Style Salon
Print wedding stationery - Angels Dreaming
Linen wedding stationery - Far East Linen Co.
Bridal Gown - Oscar de la Renta
Bride's headpiece - Neil Grigg Millinery
Groom's suit - Hugo Boss
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Real Chic London Wedding: Rachel & David
This is one of my favourite weddings of all time, and it's not just because I know the happy couple! Rachel and David are both architects, and their innate sense of style permeates every detail of this London wedding, from their monochrome theme, to the ceremony in Westminster Cathedral and Rachel's AMAZING tiered dress and Jimmy Choo's. They kept up the London theme with vintage taxis and a Routemaster bus, and their wedding reception at the dramatic Dartmouth House. Other wedding details to copy include Rachel's cute shrug, the personalised bridesmaids' bags, the clever tie-the-knot theme, and David's fab top hat. Also loving the fact that Rachel spent months collecting vintage china so each place setting would have a different teacup. Don't miss all of Rachel's top tips and wedding ideas in the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire below. Fabulous photographs published with thanks to Helen Jones Photography.
The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Rachel was kind enough to fill in our questionnaire, aimed at helping other brides with their planning process. Feast your eyes on her answers for helpful hints and tips from someone on the other side of her big day!
Where and when did you get married?
On the 23rd October 2010 in London. We were incredibly fortunate to be able to have our ceremony at Westminster Cathedral, where David was at the choir school when he was younger. We then hired red London Routemaster buses to transport all the guests to Dartmouth House in Mayfair where the reception was held.
What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
We choose to have a London wedding and along with the idea of a city wedding we wanted to it to look simple, elegant and classical but with a contemporary edge. As we are both architects we wanted to chose architecturally impressive spaces and therefore we wanted to keep decoration simple - this also helped with the budget as the decoration did not need to be over the top or compete with the surroundings but just enough to personalise the venues.
Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
Our theme was ‘tying the knot’ which we came up with in conjunction with my sister, who is a graphic designer - which came in very handy! We used a very simple colour theme of black and white with a highlight of gold. We followed through the theme from our save the dates, which we knotted a piece of black velvet ribbon through each, to the invitations, right through to the orders of service, the wedding breakfast menus and the favours.
Who made your wedding outfit (dress, veil, shoes and accessories), and how did you come to that decision?
My dress was by Kula Tsurdiu which I fell in love as it epitomised the look I wanted for our wedding: traditional enough to look classical, but different enough to be fun and contemporary. My veil for the ceremony was from The White Closet, a gorgeous boutique in Disbury and my pearl headband for the reception was also by Kula. Because it was an autumn wedding I wanted some kind of wrap so found a marabou feather bolero from Sasso to add a bit of glamour and to keep me warm and I treated myself to a fabulous pair of gold Jimmy Choo shoes to pick up the colour theme.
What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
David wore a morning suit, he invested in a new jacket from Gieves & Hawkes and new shoes from Ede & Ravenscroft. We chose a gold tie from Charles Tyrwhitt, which we gave to the two dads and each of the ushers as well as gifts. On the morning of our wedding David’s parents gave him a surprise gift of his top hat, which finished off his outfit perfectly!
And how about your bridesmaids’ outfits?
The bridesmaids dresses were from Alfred Sung, I wanted them to be fun and something I hope they will wear again. They are all the same fabric so look similar but differ slightly in the design to suit each of them individually. Their shoes were from Marks and Spencer, pearl stud earrings from Percy and Flo and bracelets from Sun Studio at Pret-a-Portobello. Their boleros were tracked down by one of the bridesmaids from Warehouse and matched the skirt of my dress perfectly!
What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
My mum made our wedding cake – I was so thrilled when she offered to do it as I didn’t want her to have unnecessary added pressure on the day. We went for a very simple 3-tiered fruit cake with a black ribbon and topped with a small wooden bride and groom figures which I found on Etsy and got personalised with our hair colours and David’s gold tie. It looked and tasted fantastic!
Did you have any favours? What were they? Was there any particular reason why you picked them?
For our favours we made seed packets of forget-me-nots to follow through with the theme – we didn’t want to spend too much on these but thought it would be nice gesture so thought something handmade would work well. My sister printed the card covers and we bulk ordered small plastic bags and seeds from the internet and spent an evening putting them together.
Who was your florist, what flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
Our florist was Rebel Rebel in east London and we were really impressed with the suggestions that Athena came up with. We wanted primarily white flowers but interspersed with leaves to give the arrangements an autumnal theme (this also again helped to keep the budget down). For my bouquet I chose a mixture of 4 types of my favourite seasonal flowers (Ranuculus, anemones, paper white narcissi and roses) and each of the 4 bridesmaids had a bouquet of a single type of the flowers making up my bouquet. The table centres were also stunning, created using layers of amaryllis, roses and anemones on silver cake stands, to pick up on the vintage theme of the tables and venue for which we collected vintage teacups and saucers for each place setting.
Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
Our photographer was Helen Jones. Working in a creative industry we were very picky about how we wanted our photographs to look and scoured the internet and wedding magazines for potential photographers. One of our deciding factors, other than the images was that we wanted to get a CD of all the images so that we could use them to put together our own album and we were surprised at the number of photographers that would not do this. In the end we found Helen through a recommendation site who sent us a list of available local photographers – and Helen was the only one we liked.
Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
Errr, well in hindsight I loved planning my wedding however at the time I was surprised at how stressful and time consuming it can become. Though in the end I felt it was really worth all the hard work, all the small touches made our day even more personal to us.
Did you have any DIY projects?
Other than our invitations which were partial DIY and the favours, we also drew our own table plan to reflect both our professions, as an architectural CAD plan of the Dining room with all the tables and chairs laid out and labelled, which we had printed and mounted on an A1 board.
What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
I made numerous spreadsheets and ‘to do’ lists so that we knew we had thought about all the events of the day and everything that needed to be done and by who. We also wrote lists of instructions for the bridesmaids and ushers, including the plan for the day and all relevant contact numbers that might be needed so that everyone knew what was planned and it meant we could relax and enjoy the day by handing over to someone else. On the big day you really have to relax and enjoy it as it goes by in a whirlwind – I think it was the best and fastest day of my life!
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for more London wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
Where and when did you get married?
On the 23rd October 2010 in London. We were incredibly fortunate to be able to have our ceremony at Westminster Cathedral, where David was at the choir school when he was younger. We then hired red London Routemaster buses to transport all the guests to Dartmouth House in Mayfair where the reception was held.
What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
We choose to have a London wedding and along with the idea of a city wedding we wanted to it to look simple, elegant and classical but with a contemporary edge. As we are both architects we wanted to chose architecturally impressive spaces and therefore we wanted to keep decoration simple - this also helped with the budget as the decoration did not need to be over the top or compete with the surroundings but just enough to personalise the venues.
Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
Our theme was ‘tying the knot’ which we came up with in conjunction with my sister, who is a graphic designer - which came in very handy! We used a very simple colour theme of black and white with a highlight of gold. We followed through the theme from our save the dates, which we knotted a piece of black velvet ribbon through each, to the invitations, right through to the orders of service, the wedding breakfast menus and the favours.
Who made your wedding outfit (dress, veil, shoes and accessories), and how did you come to that decision?
My dress was by Kula Tsurdiu which I fell in love as it epitomised the look I wanted for our wedding: traditional enough to look classical, but different enough to be fun and contemporary. My veil for the ceremony was from The White Closet, a gorgeous boutique in Disbury and my pearl headband for the reception was also by Kula. Because it was an autumn wedding I wanted some kind of wrap so found a marabou feather bolero from Sasso to add a bit of glamour and to keep me warm and I treated myself to a fabulous pair of gold Jimmy Choo shoes to pick up the colour theme.
What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
David wore a morning suit, he invested in a new jacket from Gieves & Hawkes and new shoes from Ede & Ravenscroft. We chose a gold tie from Charles Tyrwhitt, which we gave to the two dads and each of the ushers as well as gifts. On the morning of our wedding David’s parents gave him a surprise gift of his top hat, which finished off his outfit perfectly!
And how about your bridesmaids’ outfits?
The bridesmaids dresses were from Alfred Sung, I wanted them to be fun and something I hope they will wear again. They are all the same fabric so look similar but differ slightly in the design to suit each of them individually. Their shoes were from Marks and Spencer, pearl stud earrings from Percy and Flo and bracelets from Sun Studio at Pret-a-Portobello. Their boleros were tracked down by one of the bridesmaids from Warehouse and matched the skirt of my dress perfectly!
What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
My mum made our wedding cake – I was so thrilled when she offered to do it as I didn’t want her to have unnecessary added pressure on the day. We went for a very simple 3-tiered fruit cake with a black ribbon and topped with a small wooden bride and groom figures which I found on Etsy and got personalised with our hair colours and David’s gold tie. It looked and tasted fantastic!
Did you have any favours? What were they? Was there any particular reason why you picked them?
For our favours we made seed packets of forget-me-nots to follow through with the theme – we didn’t want to spend too much on these but thought it would be nice gesture so thought something handmade would work well. My sister printed the card covers and we bulk ordered small plastic bags and seeds from the internet and spent an evening putting them together.
Who was your florist, what flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
Our florist was Rebel Rebel in east London and we were really impressed with the suggestions that Athena came up with. We wanted primarily white flowers but interspersed with leaves to give the arrangements an autumnal theme (this also again helped to keep the budget down). For my bouquet I chose a mixture of 4 types of my favourite seasonal flowers (Ranuculus, anemones, paper white narcissi and roses) and each of the 4 bridesmaids had a bouquet of a single type of the flowers making up my bouquet. The table centres were also stunning, created using layers of amaryllis, roses and anemones on silver cake stands, to pick up on the vintage theme of the tables and venue for which we collected vintage teacups and saucers for each place setting.
Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
Our photographer was Helen Jones. Working in a creative industry we were very picky about how we wanted our photographs to look and scoured the internet and wedding magazines for potential photographers. One of our deciding factors, other than the images was that we wanted to get a CD of all the images so that we could use them to put together our own album and we were surprised at the number of photographers that would not do this. In the end we found Helen through a recommendation site who sent us a list of available local photographers – and Helen was the only one we liked.
Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
Errr, well in hindsight I loved planning my wedding however at the time I was surprised at how stressful and time consuming it can become. Though in the end I felt it was really worth all the hard work, all the small touches made our day even more personal to us.
Did you have any DIY projects?
Other than our invitations which were partial DIY and the favours, we also drew our own table plan to reflect both our professions, as an architectural CAD plan of the Dining room with all the tables and chairs laid out and labelled, which we had printed and mounted on an A1 board.
What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
I made numerous spreadsheets and ‘to do’ lists so that we knew we had thought about all the events of the day and everything that needed to be done and by who. We also wrote lists of instructions for the bridesmaids and ushers, including the plan for the day and all relevant contact numbers that might be needed so that everyone knew what was planned and it meant we could relax and enjoy the day by handing over to someone else. On the big day you really have to relax and enjoy it as it goes by in a whirlwind – I think it was the best and fastest day of my life!
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for more London wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
White Wonder
Embellished with a floral corsage and Swarovski crystals these white Brian Atwood peeptoe satin sandals are sparkly, shimmering heaven. If you're looking for a Cinderealla-style shoe this could be as close as you're going to get. What makes them even more special is the fact that each pair is personally signed by Brian Atwood himself. Ohhh La La! Available online at www.net-a-porter.com for a pretty penny - £2,042 of them to be exact!
Aurora embellished satin sandals £2,042
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Aurora embellished satin sandals £2,042
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Before the Big Day Wedding Theme: Blossom
All these lovely spring days have got me thinking of a blossom themed wedding. There's something uniquely romantic about blossom raining down like confetti, and it's a lovely feminine motif for a spring wedding. Choose some of these gorgeous Etsy products to add a tinge of pink to your big day.
Product Credits - {top row, left to right} Birdcage Card: A Punkin Card Company, Blossom Card: Sweet Bell Cards, Blossom Notebook: Moonlight Bindary, Blossom Stationary: Sandy Photo Art, Photo Album: Minelolly, {bottom row, left to right} Icy Blossom Photo: Littleput, Wall Sticker: Savvy Gal Designs, Hair Clips: Amy Hatch, Blue & Blossom Stationary: Tickled Pink Paper Ink
Product Credits - {top row, left to right} Birdcage Card: A Punkin Card Company, Blossom Card: Sweet Bell Cards, Blossom Notebook: Moonlight Bindary, Blossom Stationary: Sandy Photo Art, Photo Album: Minelolly, {bottom row, left to right} Icy Blossom Photo: Littleput, Wall Sticker: Savvy Gal Designs, Hair Clips: Amy Hatch, Blue & Blossom Stationary: Tickled Pink Paper Ink
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Bridal Hair Styles - Romantic Chignon
With only one month and 29 days before our wedding in France {not that I'm counting!}, it's time I chose my wedding hairstyle. We're heading over to Provence this weekend to taste-test our wedding caterers and choose the wine, and I'll also be meeting my hairdress Joel for the first time. He comes highly recommended by a lady from our string quartet, so hopefully we'll click straight away, despite the language barrier! He asked me to bring some pictures of the types of hairstyle I'd like on my wedding day, so I spent a good few hours scanning the internet for 'loose buns' and 'romantic chignon'. Here's a collage of some of my favourites - do you like?
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for more wedding hair ideas. Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Style Leaders
I know many of us ponder, when viewing designers new collections, where they draw their inspiration from. What drives, inspires, motivates them to do and create the amazing pieces we find hanging on the racks of clothing stores? Westfields Style Leaders sets out to recognise and showcase fashion-forward consumers and designers, celebrating their style and influence on fashion. Style Leaders features contributions from every aspect of the fashion industry. They haven’t just been talking to the designers, the photographers and the stylists; they’ve been talking to the fashion buyer. They've been asking what inspires them, what motivates them to choose one look over another. What’s their personal view? This unique, documentary style video highlights how we’re all, interestingly enough, a part of the fashion industry. We all inspire each other, and our individual choices don’t just inspire us, they inspire the designers themselves. The concept of ‘You Inspiring Us, Us Inspiring You’ is at the very heart of Westfield’s Autumn Winter 2011 campaign. Visit www.westfield.com.au for further info.
A sponsored post by Westfield
Posted by Emilie Harrison
A sponsored post by Westfield
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Ceremony Sweetness
If you're a bride who lives in or is planning a destination wedding in either Brisbane or the Gold Coast it will please you no end to learn Imbue Weddings are in for a change and as of March 2011 they will be soley focusing on wedding styling and flowers. To celebrate they have launched a new collection of ready-made ceremony packages with each package using their gorgeous white washed tiffany chairs, available in Queensland exclusively through Imbue Weddings. Tiffany chairs are uber popoular amongst stylish brides and would be oh so perfect for a Hampton's style beach wedding, a vintage garden affair or a glamorous private property soiree. To complement the chairs Imbue Weddings have a beautiful and carefully selected range of hire pieces with their gorgeous florals the perfect finising. To find out more about these fabulous packages visit www.imbueweddings.com.au.
Ceremony package $500
Photography by Deep Grey
Beach ceremony package $600
Photography by ngg studios
Luxury ceremony package $1,200
Photography by Deep Grey
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Ceremony package $500
Photography by Deep Grey
Beach ceremony package $600
Photography by ngg studios
Luxury ceremony package $1,200
Photography by Deep Grey
Posted by Emilie Harrison
Cute Shabby-Chic Burlap Banners
Loving these cute banners! They'd be perfect for a shabby-chic, rustic real wedding. FunkyShique add red glittered hearts to black glittered "LOVE", in any font you choose. It'll make a great photo prop for your wedding, and after the ceremony, you can hang it above your bed as a momento of the day. There's plenty more designs - definitely worth checking out their website.
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for our free newsletter and click for more shabby chic wedding ideas. Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Take a Look
Hooray, today we can finally share with you our clever little Look Book - a tempting taste of just some the quirky and ingenious ideas from our biggest, best-ever autumn issue that hits the shelves in Australia today. Please take a look and let us know what you think.
And if you want even more great, inspiring ideas, head to the newsagents or pick up a copy of our autumn issue here.
And if you want even more great, inspiring ideas, head to the newsagents or pick up a copy of our autumn issue here.