Hello there beautiful! I hope you're having a wonderful week. I'd like to make it just that little bit more lovely by offering you an exclusive saving on my next modern calligraphy workshop, which will be happening in Manchester on Saturday the…
Hey lovelies! How are you on this lovely Wednesday morning? I’ve been beavering away at my calligraphy accounts since yesterday, and all the numbers are breaking me – so I thought it would be lovely to stop for a moment or two and write about Ella and Will’s gorgeous countryside wedding. Oh, and to swoon over their beautiful florals and all the pretty handmade touches they incorporated into the day. They’re the loveliest couple, and their wedding was captured perfectly by lovely Guildford wedding photographer Charlotte Razzell Photography. Enjoy! Claire xxx
Zelie from The Homegrown Flower Company made our beautiful bouquets and large arrangements for outside the chapel and marquee. She knew I wanted something totally wild and colourful to tie in with the flowers we were doing ourselves and that I really didn’t want a bouquet that looked formally arranged. She certainly exceeded expectations plus my bouquet smelt truly amazing! I still have it now dried and in a frame.
Want to recreate those sultry nights listening to stripped-back acoustic songs in the flickering glow of a crackling campfire? Or perhaps capture the infectious energy of festival favourites Mumford and Sons? When you hire a festival wedding band, you can relive those heady days and endless summer nights on your big day.
Festival-themed weddings are a huge trend that shows no sign of slowing, and why would they? The carefree vibe, gorgeous rustic style and feel-good folk-style music all make for the perfect outdoor wedding. Thanks to the popularity of music festivals large and small, there’s been an explosion in festival wedding bands. Inspired by the likes of Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers and (of course) Ed Sheeran, the best young musicians are choosing to pick up the acoustic guitar instead of the electric and going back to traditional musical roots for inspiration.
A guest article by Emily Andrew Weddings
I hate to say it but more often than not bridesmaids can be one of the largest causes of stress my clients face when planning their big day! Number one of the issues is clothing! These are my top pieces of advice I give my clients to help them navigate this minefield.
- Budget:
First up is budget. If you are really tight on budget then it can be an option to ask your best ladies to provide their own outfits. If you select this option then always approach this topic sensitively with your friends as when they were asked to be a bridesmaid they were probably expecting to be provided with a lovely dress.
Be honest with them, and explain that it is so important to you that you can share your special day with them playing a major role but you are worrying about money and affording the whole expense of a wedding. If they are good friends they will be completely supportive and will be more than happy to help you out.
I love the idea of a vineyard wedding, and as a wedding blogger I see so many gorgeous celebrations from Californian vineyards… but did you know we have our very own vineyards here in the UK? Today’s gorgeous shoot comes from Hidden Spring Vineyard in East Sussex. The Tasting Room at Hidden Spring makes for a lovely wedding reception room, and the vineyard location is wonderfully inspiring for your wedding theme… especially when you can book some of the fab suppliers who collaborated on this creative shoot!
Words by Carol at Lily & Lavender Events | Images by Alison Wonderland Photography
As a wedding stylist I encourage my couples not to go with a theme but instead be inspired by their surroundings and not be afraid to mix antiques and modern items. This creates depth and texture in the overall design of a tablescape or room – the results are just magical!
Happy Saturday everyone! I’m off adventuring today in Edinburgh – we have a bit of a crazy weekend ahead, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have an AMAZING wedding to share with you this morning as well. First though, I have to tell you about my next calligraphy workshop. This one will be on a Saturday afternoon in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, perfect for anyone (else!) who’d like to spend a girly day hitting the shops, learning calligraphy, then dancing the night away in my fave city. The date is May 26th, and you can book places in my Etsy shop now. I’d love to see you there!
Back to weddings, and today’s has some of the most breathtaking images I’ve seen all year. Rosie and Steve are the loveliest couple, and their Rhinefield House wedding is captured beautifully by lovely Gemma from Romy Lawrence Photography. Watch out for really unique styling touches and incredible golden hour portraits with more romance than anything you’ve seen on a wedding blog in your life! I’ll let Gemma tell you more about this beautiful day. Enjoy! Claire xxx
I chuckled when I first saw today’s wedding – because all the boys went for a dip in the (freeeeezing) lake in the morning EXACTLY where I’d been stood in my wellies with four alpacas, my man and my mum & dad only a few days before. Fact. This is one of the best spots to get married in the whole of the Lake District, and gorgeous Rachel and Rob were thrilled with their choice of the Lingholm Estate for their summer wedding. I love it – the details are stunning, the atmosphere is as dramatic outside as it is heartwarming inside, and the images by Fairclough Photography are out of this world. Claire xxx
The venue was so amazing and the views so fab that we didn’t need a lot of decoration. We also wanted to keep it simple. We had large candles and lanterns with cream petals and jars with Gypsophila for the ceremony and then slices of tree trunks with jars for the table settings, and cream table cloths.
So how’s your sunshine today, lovelies? I’m loving this week – it feels like SUMMER!! I can play in my garden and walk on the beach… it’s heaven. Right now I’m working on the next edition of the English Wedding Bible, which we’re publishing in May. If you’d like to be a part of it, get in touch with your ideas for shoots, articles or real weddings we can feature. Today though, we’re all about al fresco wedding dining, herbs and botanicals with a gorgeous editorial from Gaynes Park which was sent in by English Wedding Directory member, lovely Gwenda at The Gilded Fern. She’s here to tell you more!
Claire xxx
I may be a floral designer, but I’ve got a major soft spot for plants and foliage! I often include some herbs in buttonholes and cake decorations, so the concept of this shoot stemmed from there. Herbs are often short-stemmed, so I took a little bit of artistic licence in my choices, for the bouquet, which included olive leaf, thlaspi (aka penny-cress), lavender, calendula, chamomile daisies, dill, and mentha. Many of these were also made into leaf and petal confetti.
If somebody could just randomly invite me to a wedding at The Matara Centre I would be so very happy! This place though… the water, the flowers, the atmosphere always looks sensational. Gorgeous bride Catherine looks amazing in her Victoria Jane gown (bought from Krystle Brides), which she wears with a satin edged veil and pearl accessories and Jonni is a very handsome groom in his 3 piece Ted Baker suit. Images are by fabulous Cotswolds wedding photographer Martin Dabek.
Our venue was unique and amazing so didn’t need much styling. We kept it simple and tried to personalise it with our theme of music and lots of candles. Another amazing friend, Alex, from Burnt Orange Events made and provided some giant light up LOVE letters which were an great focal piece in the courtyard.
Wedding photographer’s website:
Martin had done some photos at a friend’s wedding and came highly recommended. When we went to see him he made us feel at complete ease and seemed genuinely excited to be able to photograph our wedding.
Dinachi and Onu’s wedding took place at Northbrook Park in Surrey, with the ceremony at All Saints church nearby. The wedding looks so wonderfully joyful, especially the images of stunning bride Dinachi and gorgeous groom Onu being introduced and dancing into the wedding breakfast! I can only describe today’s wedding as take-your-breath-away-beautiful. The styling and colour palette are uniquely elegant; florals and decor just divine. All this, and yet Dinachi tells me their focus was on having a relaxed and fun wedding rather than a ‘perfect’ one. It totally looks like both!
Wedding photographer’s website:
We both wanted pictures that would tell the story of our wedding and so when we saw David’s portfolio, it was an easy choice.
David captured the real and intimate moments as well as the liveliness and vivacity typical of a Nigerian wedding in England.
He also went out of his way to allay our concerns and make us comfortable; from getting a second shooter to deal with the myriad group portraits that Nigerians love to accommodating the extended hours of our after party.
Guest article by our lovely friend and sponsor Amanda Karen Photography
In the year that we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of women getting the vote, it’s no surprise that female issues are big news. And the same is true in the wedding world too because over the last few years, there’s been a silent revolution going on and it really has shaken things up. I’m talking about the rise of the female wedding photographer.
If you were to rewind ten years and browse wedding magazines and the first blogs, you’d see credits that looked a whole lot different. Male photographers were the norm and female photographers made up just a tiny proportion of those working in the industry. In fact, Claire estimates that when she started this blog back in 2009, around 90% of the photographers out there were men.
Whiz forwards to 2018 and the picture is very different indeed. This split between numbers of men and women hasn’t just changed a little, it’s shifted dramatically and now, 70% of the submissions that Claire receives for these pages are from women with almost 60% of photographers listed in the English Wedding Directory being female.
Happy Sunday lovelies! I hope you have a relaxing day ahead 🙂 We’ve been stargazing at Kielder Observatory so today will be spent roadtripping back home and thinking about how big the sky is! I totally recommend it by the way – visit Kielder if you ever get the chance! But anyway… today’s wedding is creative and pretty with little touches of vintage decor. Gorgeous Hannah and Paul chose our lovely friend and sponsor Ayshea Goldberg to capture their day at Suffolk’s charming Kersey Mill.
We didn’t have a theme as such but incorporated aspects of 1950’s into the day. Our colour scheme was pale pink and yellow, our favours were pretty bottles of sodas, our cake topper was a vintage bunting which said “Just Married” and we asked everyone to keep their phones and cameras away until after the wedding speeches. The Groom and Groomsmen wore bowties and braces all the way from the USA and we gave our Mum’s and Paul’s Grandma a wrist corsage. We had The House Hop DJ play 1940’s and 1950’s music on two wind up gramophones before the main evening disco.