Rather than the traditional, written guest book, why not set up a booth where guest can record a personalised audio message to you both. That way you also get to hear each message straight from the horses mouth as it were! Much easier to convey humour, nuance, sarcasm etc through the spoken word than on paper!
Picture by Clean Plate Pictures via Style Me Pretty
It’s Shrove Tuesday and that means pancakes! UP and down the country families will be cracking out the lemon and sugar, but I have a few pictures to show to prove pancakes can be a bit more glamorous than that!
Pancake Wedding Cake from Zest Weddings This one even comes with a recipe!
Petitie Reve Chocolates via The Cotswold Wedding Planner
Amelia Johnson Photography via Style Me Pretty
And to prove pancakes can be made to fit with any colour scheme (warning you may need sunglasses for this next picture!)…
I am Baker via Live, Laugh, Celebrate
Now and again I see something I love and feel the need to share it with you. No lengthy article. No mood board for inspiration. Just one beautiful thing that I think you should all know about.
In this wet and windy weather, it’s hard to know what a bride should wear on her feet. However, I have found the perfect solution to keep your feet warm and dry without ruining the classic, elegant look- High heeled wedding wellies!
Catherine Boots from Weddington Boots
I recently had the great honour of working on the wedding in Somerset of some very dear friends. It took place in Somerset with a lovely, traditional service at St Andrew’s Church, Storgusey and was followed by a fabulous reception at Maunsel House, North Petherton. I have already published a post about the teacup planters I made for them (click here for that post) and there will be another DIY tutorial featuring the fabulous vintage escort cards I made coming up soon, but for now, I thought I’d share with you a stunning collection of images from the day by the official photographer, Simon Kemp of Hyde End Studios. Beautiful pictures from a beautiful day.
Whilst most of my work involves weddings, occasionally I get to work on other types of events which I love doing as I get to try out some new ideas and different things. Below are some pictures from a recent christening for which I designed the cake table and room decorations. Many thanks to Jo from R & H Cakes (07403337417/randhcakes@gmail.com) for re-icing and decorating the main cake (which was originally the top tier of the parent’s wedding cake!) to match the rest of the theme (I made the mini bunting and pinwheels on top!). On this occasion, I even made most of the cakes for the table myself too!
The fingerprint balloon template was drawn by a dear friend of mine, Katie Steed from Slurpy Studios
And finally, me with the young man himself!
Yesterday was the 65th wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip. They were married in Westminster Abbey at 11.30am on 20th November 1947. There were over 2000 guests. Her dress was made by Sir Norman Hartnell and decorated with silver thread, embroidery and 10,000 white pearls! Her bouquet was supplied by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners and made by MH Longman. It included myrtle which was taken from the myrtle bush grown from a sprig from Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet. The cake was made using ingredients sent from overseas (from the Australian Girl Guides!) as gifts to the couple as rationing was still in force in Britain. It was made by McVities and Price and was nine feet high! Now that would have been a wedding to plan!!
Images: PA Photos via Brides magazine
For a wedding I worked on in September this year, I was asked to create some table decorations which could be used during the reception on the tables where guests were enjoying afternoon tea. These decorations needed to be made in advance as we didn’t have much time to set things up on the morning of the wedding itself. They also had to be transported from Cambridgeshire to Somerset(!) so needed to be fairly robust! The couple were keen for them to involve flowers or plants, but also tie in with the tea party theme. What I came up with was a selection a vintage crockery planted up with succulents! Perfect for the English tea party with a twist!
For anyone wishing to create something similar for the own event, I have, below, posted a step-by-step picture tutorial of how they were made.
Step 1: Collect together a selection of vintage crockery (tea cups and saucers, teapots, jugs etc), some potting compost, a selection of succulents and alpine plants (perfect as they don’t need watering often and don’t wilt on long car journeys!), some gravel (for drainage) and some moss (to hide the compost round the plant).
Step 2: Match up your plants to suitable containers
Step 3: Take teacup and put a handful of stones in the bottom to stop the roots of the plants becoming waterlogged.
Step 4: Take your chosen plant, remove from pot, loosen the earth around the roots a little and then replant into the teacup, filling in the gaps with potting compost.
Step 5: Cover up any bare earth with fabulous lime green moss to add a bit of zing! (or anything else that takes your fancy-brown moss, dark green moss, white pebbles, gravel etc)
Et voila!
Repeat with other containers and plants!
And in situ at the wedding at the beautiful Maunsel House in Somerset. Many thanks to Simon Kemp of Hyde End Studios for the images. Look out for more about him and his fabulous pictures in future posts in the coming weeks!
We leave the last word to the bride, Nicola, who had this to say…
“Sian was absolutely brilliant in helping with the decorations for the day. From the moment I had spoken to her I was reassured that everything was in hand. She was extremely efficient and came up with lots of ideas along with images and from our selections shaped them to make them bespoke for us. On the day itself we didn’t have to worry about anything as I knew it would all be sorted. I couldn’t recommend her enough.”
I love this time of year. The countryside is full of such fabulous colours which could be incorporated into wedding themes to create beautiful schemes. Perfect for those times of year when flowers are in short supply so creating a seasonal bouquet proves challenging. Here are a few examples to inspire you though. Embrace autumn in all its glory I say!
Deidre Lynn via Green Wedding Shoes via The Natural Wedding Company
Jessica Peterson , arrangement by Honey of a Thousand Flowers via Ruffled via The Natural Wedding Company
Bride Weddings and Cherubino Crafts via Etsy
These stunning roses are made from rolled up fallen leaves. Just beautiful!!
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Get your guests to each sign a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Then you can spend cosy winter evenings trying to piece the puzzle together whilst reminiscing and reading all the wonderful messages from your friends and family.
Jesi Haack via Every Last Detail. Photo by Gabriel Ryan Photography
I love this stunning red and white themed table with the bird motif from To Embellish (via Marabous). It got me thinking about perhaps having an animal theme at my son’s do…
Welcome to Elysian Weddings & Events' blog. We offer a professional, creative and friendly planning service in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, and all of East Anglia. Whatever your style - vintage elegance, retro fun, classic beauty, modern chic - we can make your vision a reality. Our blog showcases real-life, inspirational weddings, provides helpful tips and advice, and offers creative design ideas for your big day.
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