Get your pink-sunglasses out, quick! Because we’re still in the land of marshmallowy, fluffy, girly, princessy wonderful pink. Today’s wedding blog is an inspiration board — I saved some of my favourite bits from yesterday’s pink wedding inspiration shoot for you and made a wedding inspiration board for all the girly girls out there. And just for today, I’m one of ‘em. Join me?

Sweet as Candy — pink wedding inspiration board. Photo credit: Cristina Rossi

Click on the image to see it a little bigger and read all the supplier details without squinting!

Sweet as candy — wedding inspiration & ideas

• Feature pieces like pink chandeliers or candelabras draped in pink beads make all the difference — either go for sophisticated pink, or splash out and play with it to great effect! You don’t need to go to town, just pick out key touches and go for quality over and above quantity
• Ask the little girl inside you what goes with pink and she’ll tell you: sparkle, diamonds, crystals and glitter. So add a little twinkle here and there with clear beads, silver and shine
• Paper windmills are a cheap and cheerful accessory you can add to your table decorations — pink scrapbook papers are readily available (try Hobbycraft) and all you need is a straw and one of those funny pins to stick in the middle — hours of fun for you and your guests!
• (Why not put bubbles out to go with the windmills? Bubbles floating around would go so well with pink, girly, candy sweet styling!)
• If you can bake cupcakes, then make them playful: add eclectic pink decorations with modelling sugar and use white, pink polka dot or fancy filigree cupcake cases — display them on pink, silver or glass plates and tiered cupcake holders for effect
• Pink wedding invitations are easy to find online — every designer will have a pink number in their pocket just waiting for the princess bride in you to discover!
• The pink piped meringues look too good to eat don’t they! Even I can make meringues, and these look like great fun to make and display
• Brighten up your bunting with a few extra colours, or find fabric with a vintage inspired pink print — it all fits so well with the sweet as candy party vibe!

Wedding Supplier Information

• Bridal shoot photography by Cristina Rossi
• Assistant Photographer Kat Hill www.kat-hill.com
• Venue Tea Party owned by Samantha Check www.teaparty.uk.com
• Hair and make up by Julia Plant www.modelmayhem.com/2148850
• Cake and cupcakes by Iwona Zero of MK Cakes www.mkcakes.co.uk
• Pink Meringues from Bakery County Hall bb-bakerycountyhall.com
• Wedding Stationery by Kate Ruth Romey www.kateruthromey.co.uk
• Flowers by Sally Zachariou of Sabella Floral Design www.sabella-floral-design.co.uk
• Model Victoria Peachey www.modelmayhem.com/1770319

Scottish flavour and flair for you today ladies and gents with the final part of Andy and Bec’s wedding feature on English Wedding blog. We’ve had the marriage, the tears, the poppies, the speeches and the best men’s bums (in part two of the wedding blog). Now I’ll show you all those gorgeous details to inspire your own wedding day.

All of the photographs are taken by my lovely friend and English Wedding blog sponsor ARJ Photography.

Scottish wedding inspiration board

Scottish wedding blog inspiration board by ARJ Photography

Andy and Bec’s wedding theme mixes soft pastel pinks and purples with a real flavour of Scotland.

• table napkins are tied in baby pink ribbons
• stationery is elegant with romantic calligraphy scripts
• Bec wears an intricate hair accessory with pearls and crystal
• Andy and his best men are in Scottish formal dress
• Bec wears a beautiful dress with lots of romantic detail and her bridal shoes have more lovely pearls
• the willow heart decoration with flowers which hangs against the door of the reception room sets the tone for the celebration — one of my favourite details
• Andy and Bec’s wedding table plan is elegant and a little bit different with an ornate framed mirror being the perfect background for the table lists
• the top table centrepiece has dozens of gorgeous flowers: pale pink peonies, roses, freesias and lots of trailing ivy
• Classy wedding favours for the ladies from Jo Malone are a lovely idea (and the boxes look so special on the tables)
• A harpist adds a romantic soundtrack to the wedding reception — a nice contrast to the bagpiper outside! (I love bagpipes!)
• the reception feels beautifully romantic and charming, and a perfect reflection of the bride and groom’s personalities — which is how these things should be.

Thanks again to Adam Johnson of ARJ Photography in Cheshire for sharing his gorgeous images with us.

See more real weddings by ARJ Photography at www.arj-photo.co.uk/blog

Hands up who loves Parma Violets?! I do. And I do even more now I’ve seen Jayne and Phil’s parma violet inspired wedding reception at the Lowry, Manchester. With all photos by Chris Hanley Photography, take a peek at this fab wedding inspiration board — it’s purple-tastic.

Parma Violet purple wedding inspiration. Photos: Chris Hanley Photography

Jayne and Phil’s wedding was at The Lowry in Manchester, a modern theatre with creative interiors in every colour you can imagine. The wedding reception room however is a blank canvas, so Jayne and Phil chose shades of purple to make it look amazing for their wedding day.

Jayne’s purple wedding bouquet was a cluster of pale violet freesias and darker purple hydrangeas. If you’re having a violet or purple wedding theme check with your florist which flowers will be in season. Purple roses are popular all year round; freesias spring-summer and hydrangeas throughout the summer period.

Chairs were covered in white and tied with a purple sash in organza fabric.

I love Jayne’s wedding table plan! Based on a white curly wire stand in a heart shape, Jayne and Phil used rustic white handmade petal card with a deckle edge and wrote their guest names in curly lettering. White and silver butterflies were attached to the sides of the table plan — a great idea!

Tables were decorated with pink and purple flowers — alliums, hydrangeas, pink peonies and maybe delphiniums (pop quiz: who can name the taller purple and pink flowers on the tables?!)

There was table trivia to keep guests entertained — I love the royal teaspoon with a question on the handle! and purple glittery place cards with the motif “Love” to complete the look.

Now who loves ? Wedding inspiration from that didsy little roll of purple sweets with the purple and pink writing — what a brilliant idea! Thanks to Chris Hanley Photography as ever for the photos for this blog post. Could you create a wedding theme around your favourite sweets? I’d love to hear your ideas

Claire xx

Damn it! Bloggers have rules: every Monday you do this, every Wednesday you do that… and the good bloggers play by the rules and get a buzz going every week. Guess who’s a bad wedding blogger? Haha.

So, after a break of — um — a couple of weeks? I bring you another fabulously papery lettery blog post with wedding stationery, calligraphy, graphic design and type. I hope it inspires you — I hope you enjoy today’s papery goodness.

Photo credit: Our Labor of Love Source: Style Me Pretty

I found this gorgeous wedding on Style Me Pretty — lots of lettery details and this picture of the old velvet-lined suitcase with pegged cards saying C-A-R-D-S for you to pop cards inside… well it makes me giggle, it’s so cute! Photo by www.ourlaboroflovebyheidi.com

Vintage wedding invitations

Are you looking for vintage wedding invitations? Read my list of the best 20 vintage wedding invitations on the web!

Gorgeous paper bags and calligraphy from Before the Big Day wedding blog

With a little imagination, you can make paper bags one of the most exciting details for your wedding tables, favours, place settings… and I LOVE the calligraphy on the one in the top middle. This inspiration and more from Before the Big Day UK wedding blog.

Pick Your Seat — wedding table signs found on Junk Shop Bride blog

Imaginative directions for wedding guests — and pretty hard to miss! Found at Junk Shop Bride this week.

I have a vested interest in wedding readings, and like Aisling and Anna from Any Other Wedding I’ve seen some great ones and some lesser wedding readings, shall we say! It all comes down to the speaker, and Aisling and Anna have written the definitive guide to reading at a wedding for you — full of brilliant advice. (I know I’m supposed to be blogging Wednesday Writes, but reading’s much the same thing…)

Bar sign via Lucky Orchid Wedding blog

This is a bit different, and I love the calligraphy — with bold, swirly handwriting you could create the same effect: wedding signage in a fab calligraphy style! This is from A Lucky Orchid Wedding blog.

Artcadia and Denise Hagon Calligraphy

Oooooh this makes me jealous! But Denise Hagon’s calligraphy is fabulous: curvy, sculpted and exciting. Artcadia letterpress stationers worked with Denise to create this new calligraphy Save the Date design.

Photo credit: David and Kendrick, Our Labor of Love photography

I tried to make paper flowers the other day and if I learned one thing it was to find examples and instructions first! Guessing didn’t work! Discover Paper blog to the rescue… If you peer at these beautiful paper flower creations I think you’ll maybe figure out how to make them — fab paper roses for your wedding.

That’s this week’s Wednesday Writes for you — I hope you like. I already have some more papery, calligraphy treats lined up for you, so maybe next week I’ll be a good blogger and come back with more!

{it’s full of papery goodness, and very small and neat… } if you’re old enough, whistle the rest!

Just a short post and yet again it’s on the subject of vases! I bought a pack of 12 vases which you can buy from Ikea, eBay, Wilkinsons etc, you’ll recognise the shape no doubt, and I mainly bought them for back up in case we needed a few extra for the wedding (little did I know I’d end up with as many as I did!) I refound them a week or so ago, and felt it a waste not to use them, and had been to a haberdashery shop that day buying a ton of lace in cream, coffee, pink and blue.

I thought I’d give customising them a go, not too bothered whether I liked the results (12 vases cost around £7), but I love them! I think they look so elegant, and fit more with the whole vintage look of a few of the other details I have planned.

I used all purpose craft glue (which obviously dries clear), only glued along the top of the lace strips and a little for the overlap, so that some lace hangs from the rim of each vase. Tell me what you think, and whether you’re as much of a lace fiend as me– I’m using it for everything I can’t get enough!

Sally xx

If you were here yesterday you’ll remember Ruth and Dan’s wedding day in the schoolhouse at Smallwood Manor — and you may also remember I hinted at the gloriously colourful details and then didn’t show you any.

Ah… meanie! But here they are. Wedding photographer Katy Lunsford sent me so many beautiful photos I had to write two blog posts for Ruth and Dan’s wedding — so you get a whole dedicated ‘get the look’ feature today, all inspired by (and with photos from) Ruth and Dan’s day.
If you love colour and vibrant wedding photos, if you have a creative side and want some ideas for a bright and exciting wedding theme, then you’re going to adore this feature!

The bouquets were made by Ruth’s sister Laura — using gorgeous freesias, tulips and ranunculus in vibrant red, hot pink, orange and sunny yellow colours.

Keep table decorations simple, colourful and eye-catching. These ribbon flower decorations are beautifully made and guaranteed to be a talking point for wedding guests. Used with table runners and with pink napkins, they’re perfect for splashing a bright colour theme across tables in an elegant way.

The schoolhouse has so much character — the boards with pupils’ achievements are fab (and make a great backdrop to dozens more gorgeous photos over on Katy Lunsford’s blog). The strings of coloured circles across the window set the tone for the reception, and match those ribbon roses on tables really well.

A simple and effective idea for decorating the edges of your wedding reception venue — or even grouped as table decorations: glass jars with ribbons tied around and votives inside. Colour and sparkle in an instant!

Follow a path to your wedding reception with colourful ribbons. It costs pennies to tie ribbons like these, and I think they add a certain enchantment to the venue approach. Does your wedding venue have trees along the drive?

Make your wedding signage bright and bold — send guests along the right path with a smile by using bright colours and keeping an element of fun. Most of all, if you’re using signs at your wedding keep them clear and legible like these. (And if they’re going to go outside, do what you can to make sure they’re waterproof!)

Ruth’s mum made the wedding cake and decorated it with satin ribbons: the different colours around each tier, and the ribbon roses decorating the lower tiers, give it a professional finish. This idea is great for any colour scheme — using a couple of complementary colours rather than just one adds interest.

Buttonholes are simple and provide a lovely blast of colour: freesias in this lovely orange hue with a yellow centre… perfectly fitting for the sunny spring wedding theme.

How cute is this wedding guest book? It’s one of those little treasures that’s clearly been made with love — in this case, by buttongirl designs.

Ruth borrowed her pearl necklace from her Grandma Betty, and bought her pearl earrings from H Samuel.

The bridesmaids’ dresses are from French Connection, and they added their own personal touch with ribbons around the waist and those fabulous pashminas — don’t they look amazing!

A final tip: use colour creatively and plan how your day will look when all the elements come together. While everything around her is in glorious technicolour, I love how Ruth wears her white wedding dress (from Pronuptia in Altrincham) and white shoes and jewellery — she positively glows amongst all the colour.

Thank you once again to wedding photographer Katy Lunsford, and of course to Ruth and Dan for sharing their day with us.

If you’re planning a colourful wedding day or if you have ideas and tips you could add, please share them in the comments below.

Thanks for reading! Do you feel summery now? I do!

Claire xxx

Just a short post about something I forgot to blog about earlier: my blackboard signs. These are so easy and cheap to make, but are such a nice touch and keepsake, or even to give away as a thank-you gift after the day.

Blackboard painting! (Probably not the best idea on the dining room table..)

The idea originated from my Dad (who owns a printing business), when he said “Oh I’ll do a sign for the bottom of the drive to show guests where the house is” as, basically, we live in the middle of nowhere. I thought it would be a nice touch to have a big gilt framed blackboard saying something along the lines of “Dav & Sal’s Wedding” or “Wedding This Way!”, and handily I had a spare gilt mirror lying around the house since we moved.

Like most of the wedding paraphernalia (vases I’m thinking of you), I got a little carried away. I ended up making smaller blackboards for the cake table (to say ‘Let them eat cake’), the guestbook, parking, the toilets, etc. They’re so cute though, and we’ll be using them for our couples shoot idea which I’ll be blogging about soon.

So there you are, just a short one, but such a simple and effective idea. Give it a go!

Sally xx

Hello lovely readers, and welcome to what promises to be a really good day on the English Wedding blog. Why? Because first I’m introducing you to some beautifully crafted wedding accessories from designer maker A Alicia — my all-time favourite things, handcrafted, high quality, eco-chic wedding accessories.

And then later — you get to WIN something from the collection. Before I tell you about the competition let me show you why I’m so completely in love with A Alicia and all the gorgeous handmade wedding accessories which designer Anna makes and sells to discerning eco-chic UK brides.

Handmade eco-chic wedding accessories

Handmade wedding camellia corsage by A Alicia in London

Anna says, “With my wedding accessories collection I’m always striving to strike a balance between classic vintage style and fresh contemporary chic. I want brides (and grooms) to feel they can use my accessories to help make their wedding personal and unique, to express their own style, which is also why I also love bespoke requests!

Quality handmade bow wedding garter in navy blue by A Alicia in London

“Ethical and sustainable fashion is definitely growing, and I think a wedding is a great time to engage with all the unique, handcrafted products that form part of this movement, and aren’t on the high-street! I definitely think my customers (mostly brides!) love the idea of wearing something lovingly handmade that reflects their passion for unique, vintage inspired design.”

Before I tell you how you can WIN something from the A Alicia Wedding collection…

I adore the whole ethos behind A Alicia Wedding and I implore you, lovely English Wedding reader, just take a peek at the collections on A Alicia’s website. Anna uses fairtrade, organic and vintage elements wherever possible in her designs. If you have spare spendybuttons in your pockets then do also visit her online jewellery store — personally I think I need a Japanese inspired pebble necklace

10% Discount for English Wedding readers!!!

A Alicia is also happy to offer all English Wedding blog readers 10% off their first order at www.aaliciawedding.bigcartel.com with discount code EW10 — just quote the code at the checkout when you place your order. How fab is that?! Thank you Anna

Craft Central Gets Hitched

A Alicia Wedding will be part of Craft Central Gets Hitched, a unique and wonderfully intriguing wedding event in London towards the end of June.

Craft Central Gets Hitched is the ultimate shopping treat to tackle those wedding ‘to do’ lists. This intimate and exclusive 3 day event will showcase a wide variety of distinctive craft and design products by 30+ UK designer makers.

Hen Party Workshops by A Alicia

Anna from A Alicia also runs hen-do workshops where hen-groups can make their own accessories or decorations/favours for the wedding. There’s more information here: Hen party workshops by A Alicia

Pop back for the competition later today everyone!