Wedding Trend – Brittania!!

I love this theme, especially for those of us who have a strong connection to the UK, wanting to incorporate that into a wedding back home.  Here you’ll find ideas to include a little slice of Britannia to your day.

Placecards – Write guest names on blue card using white ink and slip under the wheels of a mini London bus or black cab.

Table Name Cards – Display cards featuring the names of famous Lond landmaks on stands in teapots filled with hydrangeas.

Tablecentre – Top a red rose ball with a crown decorated with spray paint or gold leaf.

Cake Table – Make a statement with your cake table by overlaying a plain tablecloth with a Union Jack flag.

Bouquet – Add a decorative touch to your bouquet with ribbons and a vintage button.

Napkin Rings – Tie your napkins with royal blue ribbon and finish with bows, held in place with decorative coronet brooches.

Unique Touch – Gather photographs and stories about you and your groom and send them to RSVP London, which will compile the information into cute miniature newspapers. Have a copy printed for each guest and place a bundle of mini newspapers tied up with string on each table.

Cute Canapes – Choose mini versions of traditional British dishes, such as beef and Yorkshire pudding with horseraddish sauce. For decoration add cocktail sticks tied with ribbon.

Decor – Use Union Jack string bunting to decorate indoors and out.

Cake – Serve mini Britannia themed cakes topped with mini Big Bens and London Eyes or mini Union Jack flags.

Wedding Resolutions

It’s a new year, so why not get your wedding planning off to a good start?

Come January we often make New Year’s resolutions and plans for how we’re going to improve ourselves over the next 12 months. So why not apply this same theory to your wedding planning? It’s the perfect time to freshen up your planning schedule.

If you’re newly engaged and just starting out, a checklist of all the things you need to think about is a great place to start. If you’re mid-way through your planning, it’s a good time to revise your checklist and reward yourself for the tasks you’ve accomplished.

It’s wise to divide your checklist into sections, such as things that need to be done 6-12 months before the wedding, 3-6 months before the wedding and a month before the wedding.

Focus on the big items such as the date, venue, ceremony location, photographer and dress first, then move on to everything else. It’s also a good idea to delegate tasks to your fiancé, family members and bridesmaids to help reduce your workload.

And most importantly, ensure that the day before the big day you relax!

Sealed with A Kiss

Gift wrapping is an srtform and I love this handmade vintage-inspired kissing couple gift box from Merriment Design. 

Considering Your Vows

When you’re planning your wedding, it’s easy to get caught up in the big things like the dress, the cake, the venue, but there comes a point where you you have to sit down and consider why you’re actually getting married. This point for me came when H2B and I began writing our vows.

Wedding vows are the promise the bride and groom make to love and support each other for the rest of their lives and while traditional wording is still popular, an increasing number of couples are choosing to write their own vows to personalise their ceremony.

Whether you choose a civil or religious ceremony, there is usually room for you to inject some romance into your ceremony. Your celebrant will advise you of the legal requirements of the marriage ceremony and should be able to provide suggestions and examples for you to work from.

If you’re stuck for inspiration, find it in your favourite songs, poetry and literature and don’t think of your vows in isolation from the rest of the ceremony, but consider how you can personalise the whole ceremony. Remember, however, that although your vows are personal, they won’t be delivered in private. Take your audience into consideration, and don’t make them too long or too intimate. Be sincere. Make sure you are writing and speaking from the heart.

If you’re nervous, talk to your celebrant. They can help you feel at ease, and even insert a bailout clause to cut the ceremony short if you’re not feeling up to it. Practice. If you can’t memorise the speech or think you’ll be nervous on the day, consider having your celebrant say the vows for you to repeat or writing notes on a card. Even if you do memorise them, keep a card on hand just in case and speak slowly and clearly. Your guests need to hear what you’re saying.