Would you move your wedding for royalty?

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Imagine the scenario: you’ve booked your wedding date, chatted to the vicar and are looking forward to getting married in a picturesque little church that probably means a lot to you… would you move over if another couple wanted it more?

the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh - from the BBc

Or, would you move over if another couple just wanted it, and were more famous? Or if they had more money?

The road to Scotland’s first royal wedding in 20 years

The story that Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall are getting married this summer in a church that was already booked by another couple is really making me think this morning. Read the full story on the BBC website.

Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall - from the BBc

Apparently what happened is that the vicar called the bride and groom who’d already booked, and asked them politely if they’d consider changing their plans for the royal couple. They said yes as a gesture of goodwill. I think that’s an incredibly generous thing to do… See more...

She Who Dares Changes – GI Jane Bootcamp

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If toning up for your wedding or losing weight is a challenge I might just have the perfect answer for you here. GI Jane got in touch last week with a guest blog post – sounds to me like a great way to kick-start yourself into wedding day fitness! See what you think:

GI Jane Bootcamps for brides

GI Jane Bootcamp – the intense residential fitness programme is a favourite amongst top celebrities including the likes of Kerry Katona and is famous for changing the lives of women, both physically and mentally.

Future bride and businesswoman Tiffany, 38, attended GI Jane bootcamp in the run up to her dream wedding.

GI Jane Bootcamp - on the beach

After her boyfriend of twelve years finally proposed to her, Tiffany knew she only had a year to shape up. In her own words ‘like any bride I wanted to look the best I possibly could on my wedding day – I knew I had to go for something tough like GI Jane.’ See more...

Wednesday writes… weekly wedding paper treats

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Beautiful boxed calligraphy invitations for luxury weddings by Urbis Scriptores

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Bella Figura pink letterpress stationery theme

There are lots of words that start with W. It took a while to come up with the right name for this weekly feature – but I think Wednesday Writes covers it nicely.

Wednesday Writes on English Wedding

Every Wednesday I will be indulging my love of papery things and sharing my favourite new invitations, paper accessories, calligraphy and more with you. I know I’m not the only one here with a passion for paper and letters – so I hope you enjoy Wednesday Writes from today.

So to kick off…

a fab pink stationery colour scheme from Bella Figura (as shown above)
swirling Spencerian script on letterpress invites from Wild Ink Press
destination wedding invitations, Greek styley with blue bits from Oh So Beautiful Paper

Gorgeous aquatic blues from Wanderlust Cards

Beautiful pearl jewelled wedding invitation from Wanderlust Cards See more...

Let Them Eat Cake

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One thing David and I just hadn’t considered was a wedding cake, neither of us were too bothered, the cake shops around us seemed to charge too much for too little, and we thought we’d rather spend a few hundred pounds on extra bottles of wine or asking the band to play a while longer!

But, who hasn’t had MAJOR fantasies about Chocky Wocky Doodah? I’d heard of them before we were even engaged, their cakes are unbelievable, I can’t even work out how they make them?! I adore the ‘All You Need is Love’ design, David and I lived in Liverpool for a few years and had lived in ‘Lennon Studios’ and on Penny Lane, so a nod to the Beatles would have been nice, and if we had a little more money to spend I would have placed my order immediately!Anna, David’s sister, had a delicious chocolate 3-tier Marks & Spencer’s cake complete with fondant roses for her wedding a few years ago, and we were going to follow suit and buy a ready made one. Waitrose also make wedding cakes, and we thought we could just add some fresh flowers and ‘make it our own’ closer to the day. See more...

Plan your own wedding like a professional – with a genie for the weekend!

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When I chat to brides as part of my day job or for all those of you who send me lovely emails about your weddings I’m always impressed and often amazed. Why? Because so many of you are planning your gorgeous wedding receptions with a hundred or so guests… it can be a military operation and it’s almost always a once in a lifetime experience for you – so hats off to you, ladies and gents, for planning your weddings. I don’t think I could do it!

…which is why I’m writing about The Wedding Genie’s bridal workshops today. I know in your shoes I’d feel a little daunted by the prospect of planning a wedding day, and if that’s how you’re feeling then this could be the perfect solution to any wedding planning worries you have. Over to Julie Dawson aka The Wedding Genie to tell you more… See more...

Bridal Workshop 27th March: Plan Like a Professional

Have you just got engaged or know a friend who has?
Don’t know where to start with your wedding planning?

No. 8: Readers – Earrings: I need your opinions!

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Days to go: 59

I have been deliberating over this for WEEKS.

I have a total of seven earring holes (four in one ear in random places, three in the other in a line) and I’m stuck with what to do for the wedding day. I generally don’t wear earrings in the day unless I want to feel particularly glam – and I generally either wear all studs or five studs and a pair of huge/long/feather earrings. (Yes, a girl of extremes indeed.)

Before I found my tiara, I had images of me wearing HUGE chandelier earrings on the day, and filling the rest of the holes up with very small white diamante studs. However, before I found my tiara, I hadn’t found my perfect chandelier earrings – and then last week I stumbled upon them on the same site as I found my tiara. (In fact, I emailed Kate about them when I found them – and she’d only listed them the night before I noticed them!)

Salma's Perfect Chandlier Earrings - found too late See more...

Vintage inspired London wedding – with bundles of details for inspiration

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I LOVE this picture of Denise holding a sunflower

It’s easy to see why vintage inspired weddings are so popular. There’s something about vintage decor and accessories – like delving into an old treasure chest, finding beautiful sparkly things which aren’t just beautiful but have histories and memories of their own. I think that’s why vintage weddings have such an appeal, and Denise and Luca’s wedding really captured the essence of vintage for me.

Wedding photographer Heline Bekker submitted these beautiful images, taken at Covent Garden’s Kingsley Hotel (for the bridal preparations), then St Peter’s Italian Church and at the wedding reception at Brown’s Luxury Hotel in London. Bride Denise is gorgeous in her halterneck wedding dress and birdcage veil, and Luca’s chocolate brown suit with a classic pink rose buttonhole fit the vintage styling of their day so perfectly.

Denise's wedding shoes - I love the colour and the flower embellishments

Denise's wedding shoes - I love the golden colour and the flower embellishments

A beautiful vintage inspired wedding bracelet with pearls

Hello new feature: the Monday Makerie! (wedding diy)

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Happy Monday everyone! Hopefully you’ve got a little spring sunshine where you are, but if not perhaps I can add a little cheer to your day. It’s time for something a little new and different (for me!), and in tune with what the focus of the English Wedding blog, this is all about creativity and gorgeous weddings.

Introducing the Monday Makerie on English Wedding

The Monday Makerie is all about making things. It’s for brides and grooms who want to have fun and perhaps save a little money too – but it’s more about fun than finances. The Monday Makerie is a new weekly feature on wedding crafts and ideas, where I’ll show you my favourite things from around the web each week – all to inspire your wedding diy projects.

If you haven’t tried making anything for your wedding yet, don’t be scared to have a go. Crafting is fun – and I’ll try and include links to ideas for all levels of craftiness in this slot. Trust me… as a calligrapher I spend many a happy evening having gold-leafed my glasses and painted my elbows purple by accident. It’s brilliant! See more...

Homemade Invitations and RSVPs

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I wanted to personally hand-make as many details as possible for the wedding, I’ve always been quite crafty and enjoy anything hands-on, and what better way to make your wedding day as personal as possible?

The first thing to create was obviously the invitations and RSVP cards; I looked at a lot of professionals’ work, craft websites, how-to’s and DIY ideas for inspiration (the Martha Stewart Weddings website is amazing and provides free print-outs for tonnes of designs), but wanted to keep it quite simple… and also would have up to 100 of some pieces to make!

First port of call was, of course, Hobbycraft (my Mecca) and picked out a few bits to get me started and to experiment with, I bought some patterned scrapbook paper, glue, ribbons, lace, buttons and some card blanks. One problem, my hand-writing is abysmal, how could I make what I wanted and make it look half decent if it looks like I’d written ‘wedding invitation’ during some sort of turbulence? I stumbled upon the idea of alphabet stamps, I discovered the perfect set at Cox & Cox and bought them immediately, along with the ‘dingbats’ collection of picture stamps; it also meant that I can use them for every piece I make to ‘tie in’ all the designs from RSVPs to ‘orders of service’. See more...

No.7 : The [ALMOST NOT] Hair and Makeup Trial!

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Days to go: 63

I almost had a heart-attack on Wednesday. The first truly awful wedding-related stress hit me when my hair and make-up artist cancelled my trial at less than 24 hours notice. I kid you not. My mum had travelled for four hours to join us already and my bridesmaids and I had booked time off work and we had been looking forward to this day since it had been booked in January. I was told by the hair and makeup artist, let’s just call her Failgirl, that I had to remain flexible because she might get called away for a shoot even though the trial was booked. I didn’t think it would actually happen – and I thought she’d be decent enough to let me have AT LEAST 24 hours notice! And she told me in a text rather than having the courtesy to speak to me on the telephone. THE CHEEK!

So cue me almost having a heart attack. The day I had planned with all the travel and work arrangements and all the excitement was fading into the distance. But I had an idea. See more...

Elvis is alive and well… and in a wedding photobooth in Yorkshire!

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Incredible news, and what a privilege to be able to reveal such an exclusive on the English Wedding Blog: Elvis is alive and well and entertaining at weddings in the Yorkshire area…. we have photographic evidence too!

Susie from Booth Revolution got in touch after signing the Ethical Wedding Supplier Pledge to show me some fun pics from the Wedding & Lifestyle Show in February. Booth Revolution hire out photo booths for weddings and are based in Harrogate.

Elvis in a wedding photo booth

So who guessed? Elvis is actually Steve Caprice, and is available to perform at weddings all around the UK. My friend Vicky had a surprise Elvis at her wedding a year or two ago and he went down an absolute storm – so definitely check out Steve Caprice’s website at www.elvislovingyou.com

Brides to be in a wedding photo booth

Booth Revolution seem to have gone down a storm at the Wedding & Lifestyle Show. I love this picture of two visitors enjoying the booth! There’s more on the Booth Revolution facebook page. See more...

Wedding facts, figures and funny stuff – one for the boys!

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I am reliably informed that 2011 is the year of the groom. Or perhaps more accurately, it’s the year of the couple: while the traditional wedding industry still has its sights firmly set on the bride, enlightened suppliers are noticing the guy stood next to her too! About time, we think!

Did you know…

… 23% of brides said their groom had turned into a Groomzilla in planning the wedding

… in the 1960s 47% of brides’ fathers were asked for their daughters’ hand in marriage. In the 2000s just 15% were asked (hmmm something to do with wallets?!)

… in the 1960s 44% of fathers paid for their daughter’s wedding. In the 2000s just 17% of dads footed the bill (that’ll be a yes, then!)

(all stats sourced from the 2011 Staggered Directory)

In a nutshell, grooms are very much a part of weddings these days. And while the (lucky?!) chaps don’t have an array of glossy wedding magazines clamouring for their attention in every supermarket and newsagents, there’s far more advice and information out there for grooms than there was ten years ago. See more...