Another Royal Occasion

Over the weekend Zara Phillips, granddaughter of The Queen, wed her Rugby player boyfriend Mike Tindall in Edinburgh, Scotland. Attended by The Queen & The Duke of Edingburgh, Prince Charles & Camilla, William & Kate, Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie and Beatrice, the ceremony was the first Royal wedding to be held in Scotland in almost 20 years. Zara chose a gown by one of The Queen's favourite couturiers, Stewart Parvin, and accessorised it with a full veil, tiara and Jimmy Choo shoes. The ceremony and reception was held in Cannongate Kirk's Holyroodhouse. I love Zara's full veil with the tiara. Very regal indeed!








Photos courtesy of ninemsn.com.au

Posted by Emilie Harrison

Colourful Flower Garlands For Your Flower Girls

Flower girls are a must. They add a delicious dollop of cuteness to your wedding day, and if you send them up the aisle first, everyone will be smiling by the time you take your turn. If you're feeling nervous, they're a great way to take a bit of the focus off the bride, and if you team them with page-boys then you'll be lucky if anyone takes a picture of you and your groom! When it comes to dressing your flower girls, it's all about whimsical romance, and these fabric flower garlands from Pretty Swell totally work that look. They come in every colour you can imagine, and they're full adjustable for big and little people.

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That Friday Feeling Wedding Web Links ♥18

So it's summer, and wedding season is in full swing. We've been to six so far this year already! I wonder how many brides who've been reading this wedding blog are getting married in the next month? If it's you, here's to the best day of your life. If I had one trademarked piece of advice, it would be Eat Breakfast. Believe me, I had two weddings, so I got to practice. The first felt slightly fraught, and involved me shouting at my mother and husband about helium balloons about an hour before we walked down the aisle. Ironically, said balloons spelt LOVE. The other wedding was totally relaxed and blissful. And the difference was breakfast. So eat it.  For all of you not getting married today, Saturday 30th July, here are some gorgeous wedding web links to keep your wedding inspiration running all weekend. P.S. It's going to be sunny - woohoo!

♥ Make your own wedding wine labels - this also works for dinner parties.

♥  My new super-cute Facebook page, complete with clever landing page to welcome you. Please Like Me!

♥ How much would you love a Cupcake Campervan to turn up at your wedding?

♥ Seriously sexy bikinis for your honeymoon - trust me, this one will blow your husband's mind!

♥ Lovely DIY wedding picnic ideas - everyone loves a picnic right?

♥ Buy these nude pumps from Steve Madden - I did, and they go with everything.

♥ Stylish glitter-nails - fun for your bridesmaids fingers.

♥ A Tuscan wedding where you wish you'd been a guest, and worn a red dress.

♥ Inspiration for when you want even the envelope of your wedding invitation to look gorgeous.

♥ Make your own DIY raspberry favours.

♥ I wanted a camel at my wedding, but they don't have them in France.

♥ And the bridesmaids wore brown??? Trust me - with these dresses, they'd love you.

Plus my favourite features from Before the Big Day this week
♥ Why I love Heal's
♥ Wedding ring advice your future husband needs to read
♥ A ribbon-themed wedding idea

Have a great weekend xx

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Real Sunshine Yellow Wedding - Marchelle & Iain

Some brides really know how to rock their wedding look. I'm sure I looked lovely on my wedding day, thanks to a heavenly Delphine Manivet wedding dress and my French hairdresser Joel, but I didn't come anywhere near the fierce, fabulous awesomeness of Marchelle on her big day. Just check our her hot red lips, her skyscraper Christian Louboutin heels, and her beautiful blonde bangs. Other fabulous details include the cluster of sunshine-clad bridesmaids and their luxurious rose bouquets, tied with turquoise ribbon. I'm loving the contrast of the two colours - such an easy wedding idea to replicate. Stunning pictures published with thanks to Our Labour of Love.

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Honeymoon-Perfect Bikinis

Anyone else hate shopping for bikinis in the shops? There's something uniquely horrible about the lighting, and they never have the size you want. That's why I bought my honeymoon bikinis online, so that I could try them on in my own bedroom, without banging my elbows into the mirror. Have I mentioned I'm incredibly clumsy? Well I'm the first to fall over when I'm putting one leg through a pair of bikini bottoms. Try Simply Beach - you can sort in size, colour, brand and price. I've just bought a lovely striped number for my next holiday.

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A Symbol of Love

Sydney based designer Marta Niegowska had a budding urge to create, so she took on the age old form of moulding wax into shapes to form her unique unisex jewellery collections that make the label Bilingual. After exploring a range of concepts and ideas, it was the series of interlocking silver rings made by Marta for her partner to wear while he was away, that got people talking and the designer soon found herself taking orders for colleagues and friends. She soon launched Bilingual at the Powerhouse Museum Youngblood Design Markets during Sydney Design Week in 2005. Marta explores various ideas through her pieces that induce humour or provoke thought. More than just a beautiful adornment, wearers of Marta’s designs are drawn to her concepts as much as her craftsmanship and she designs to open people’s minds to imagine what jewellery can be. Each collection of locally handmade rings, earrings, bangles, neckpieces and wedding bands engage the wearer with the symbolic nature of her work. More than ever before gents wedding rings, like the ladies, symbolise love, committment and personal taste, they must be something loved and cherished. Afterall, it will be worn for a lifetime to come. All Bilingual silver jewellery is made from 100% recycled Australian silver. To view the Bilingual collection of men's and women's pieces visit www.bilingual.com.au.


Facet


Momento


Destiny

Posted by Emilie Harrison

Feather Weather

It's a fair call saying it's freezing here in Australia. Winter has well and truly settled in and if you're having a winter wedding and still have your heart set on a strapless or more revealing gown consider this gorgeous Miu Miu feather collar. There's nothing worse than being cold so it's important to still keep yourself a little rugged up. Why not do it in absolute style?! Available to purchase at www.net-a-porter.com.


Feather collar £412.50

Posted by Emilie Harrison

Real Bali Destination Wedding - Sherry & Ben

Okay, I need to come clean straight away. Despite my heading, this isn't actually a real wedding. It's a rehearsal dinner held by the bride and groom to welcome their guests to Bali, but it's so gorgeous, I couldn't resist publishing. Sherry and Ben hosted their dinner on a private beach a mile from their wedding resort, and if you've ever thought of having a destination wedding, this one is enough to make you book your ticket pronto. Event designer, Lisa Vorce, created this effect with local products sourced from local markets, which is why I love shopping in Bali - it's so colourful and so cheap! When Sherry and Ben arrived they were greeted by traditional Balinese flower girls, and they even hired a traditional rain stopper {the serious-looking chap in the last picture} to scare away the showers. More favourite stealworthy ideas? The tropical fruit, woven palms, comfortable cushions for lounging, colourful petals and bamboo flags. But the best feature is the turquoise sea and white sand - beach weddings are the best. Heavenly pictures published with thanks to Aaron Delesie Photography.

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Design Star

Ever since the first Sarah Janks gown came through our doors I've been in love. The craftsmanship and detailing is simply exquisite. Sarah is excited to announce the opening of her flagship studio in Sydney's North Shore, introducing her debut Tempus collection. Reinterpretating classic shapes with a modern slant, Sarah employs traditional techniques with impeccable fit and attention to detail. The dichotomy of fitted versus fluid is underlined by second skin bodices accompanied by ball gown or curvaceous hourglass skirts. Slinky bias cut dresses in chiffons, liquid satins and morocains balance the tailored pieces in the collection. The intricate embellishments and fabric manipulations are inspired by pressed flowers, old hand written love notes hidden in the folds of the skirt, small tokens of affection and a nostalgia of an era where romance blossomed into love.

Sarah has come a long way from leaving South Africa where she was born and raised to landing in London with just 300 pounds. Sarah found her first job at Kashkets, who were responsible for the outfits worn by Prince William, Prince Harry and the page boys at the recent Royal wedding of Will & Kate. Twelve years on and after almost a decade working for incredible designers such as Roland Mouret, Jonathan Saunders and Jenny Packam, Sarah moved to Australia and this week opened the doors to her Neutral Bay Studio.

Be sure to visit Sarah's studio at Shop 9, 7 Waters Road, Neutral Bay, Sydney 2089. Bridal and gown consultations are by appointment. Contact details can be found at www.sarahjanks.com.



Petticoat


Valon


Maria


Brielle


The gorgeous Adina gown we featured in issue 18

Posted by Emilie Harrison

Your Wedding Flowers for Less

Wedding flowers can blow your budget. They certainly blew mine, and that's despite me knowing all the secret tips. Unfortunately most of my wedding tips didn't translate into French for my wedding, but if you're getting married in the UK, then this advice on wedding flowers is going to save you a fortune. If you're looking for super-high end designer flowers, then this is not the feature for you - but right now, most of us are trying to save a few pennies on our wedding budget, and I'm all about cheap and chic. To get you in the mood, here are a few pictures of my own wedding flowers, taken by the lovely Chloé from Caught the Light. We couldn't DIY all our wedding flowers, because we needed to hire the vases from the florist, and it worked out as more economical to keep him on-side. But we saved a fortune by buying clouds and clouds of baby's breath from a local market. Our wedding planner Kerry Bracken collected it on the night before the wedding and it stayed lovely and fresh. Our Provencal florist, Stéphane, was wonderful - I'd recommend him to any bride planning to get married in France.

Before the Big Day Tips - Your Wedding Flowers for Less

1. Keep it seasonal. For a list of what flowers are in season for your wedding, click here.

2. Consider using plants rather than cut flowers for your table displays. Some garden centres will rent you plants, but even if you need to buy them, you can give them away as lovely presents after your wedding. You could even grow your own plants, whereas growing enough flowers is a mammoth task.

3. Keep it simple. Single blooms in lots of vases take a lot less time to arrange, and that means the florist will charge you less for their time. This isn't going to give you a luxury look, but elegant simplicity is very in right now!

4. Choose a cheap variety of flower, and buy tonnes of it for a dramatic effect. For example, I used baby's breath - a flower I hate when mixed with roses, but adore on its own. Carnations have the same effect. They're dreadful dotted in bouquets, but when you mass loads of them together, the effect completely changes, from awful to awesome.

5. Buy direct from a flower market and ask a friendly florist to moonlight on your behalf. This probably only works if you have a friend or a friend-of-a-friend who's a florist, but it's worth asking around. They could do your wedding flowers instead of giving you a wedding present.

6. DIY. Now I say this with huge caution. If you're doing simple single blooms as suggested in Hint 3, then you're not going to find this too traumatic. If, however, you're thinking luxurious mixed and hand-tied bunches, then you're not going to be able to produce the effect you want. Plus it takes hours, and it has to be done really near the wedding. You do not want to be arranging flowers the morning of you wedding. Really, trust me, you don't.

7. Don't DIY your buttonholes. They're harder to produce than you think, and they're going to be in every photography. Ditto for your wedding bouquet. Even if your budget is tiny, splash out.

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Real Wedding - Karen & Paul

One or our favourite weddings from our autumn issue was Karen and Pauls at Gunners' Barracks. It was a fun and relaxed wedding that really celebrated their love. Karen incorporated a lot of thoughtful touches that helped make their day unique to them.







We didn't have space in the magazine to show the stationery that Karen designed for her wedding. Below is the screen printed invite as well as the balloon hens party invitation - such great ideas!



Karen and Paul's wedding was shot by Bradley Patrick from SugarLove Weddings. Bradley has also just launched his new commercial site: www.bradleypatrick.com which showcases a lot of the celebrity work he has done.

Posted by Emma Henderson

DIY Signature Wedding Cocktail

One of the easiest way to add your own personal twist to your wedding day is to come up with a signature cocktail, complete with a snappy name. We chose the Georgia Peach Bellini, because my name is Georgia, and I love bellinis. Simple, sweet and yummy. Plus it saved us money, because you don't need to use posh champagne when you're mixing it with peach purée - Prosecco or crémant will do just the job for less than half the price. Why not create an old-fashioned lemonade bar, with a choice of pink lemonade or traditional, plus a bootleg lemonade for the grown-ups? I'm loving this DIY wedding stationery, with print-your-own details from Etsy seller La Belle Parties {top} and Blush Printables {bottom}. Which signature wedding cocktail will you choose?

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Sweet Treat

If you're after a super creative way to display your cake pops, macaroon pops or gourmet lollipops then you might just fall in love with this Sweetie Pop Tree. The tree is completely customisable with accessories such as wooden leaves, paper flowers, birds, squirrels or acorns (sold seperately). The trees are crafted from maple wood and are made in Canada. If you'd like to find out more visit www.weddingthings.com. The Sweetie Pop Trees retail for US$50.



Posted by Emilie Harrison

Real Eco Wedding: Stephanie & Brian

When wedding flowers get this jaw-dropping, it's hard to imagine how us normal folk could creative such an incredible vision. The good news is that Stephanie is a professional florist, and she certainly played to her strengths. With hundreds of succulents, stacks of moss and gorgeous giant poppy heads, the flowers look like something out of a fairytale. Even Stephanie's giant bouquet was a work of art. Other wedding details to steal include the wooden invitations, little button favours, green lanterns and vintage wooden typewriter for personal notes. Plus, I'm seriously loving Stephanie's green shoes, and is that Vera Wang dress I spy? Heaven! Stunning pictures published with thanks to the lovely Kristin from Kristin Spencer Photography.

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