Tag Archives: Mis-matched
A Country Vintage, Festival Inspired Wedding: Nichola & Jay
April 2, 2012 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Kat
I'm loving the fact that the gorgeous country vintage/ festival-inspired wedding of Nichola & Jay is brightening up Monday morning on my blog! Talk about heading into a brand new week with some gusto!
The August wedding was held at New House Organic Farm in Derbyshire. The farm is not a wedding venue (the couple were legally married at the resister office after their handfasting ceremony in the field) but they chose it to host their celebration here because it's a place that's very special to them. Their theme was chosen to not only compliment the farm setting, but because they love Glastonbury music festival – they met there and were engaged there (not in the same year!)
"We spend a lot of our time camping during the summer months and the farm is our quick getaway place," Nichola told me. "We've spent many happy weekends there and I always imaged getting married to Jay in the top field looking over the most amazing views of the Derbyshire countryside. We wrote to the farmer (a proper handwritten letter!) asking if we could hire the field for our wedding. Being a farmer and very busy he didn't get right back to us. I looked at many other venues but none matched my idea of our farm. Eventually Jay called him and asked the question… He agreed although I don't think he quite understood why we wanted a bare field when he's surrounded by traditional wedding venues!"
The bride wore a genuine vintage wedding dress which she bought from The Vintage Wedding Fair, a fair that travels all around the UK. "I love vintage clothes, I literally have over a hundred vintage dresses and we regularly go to vintage fairs," the bride continued. "That being said I didn't think I wanted a vintage dress for my wedding but I did the usual bridal places and got more fed up with each dress I tried on. Nobody understood my style or what I wanted. We'd planned to visit The Vintage Wedding Fair for a look round and immediately I realised I had been kidding myself and I wanted a vintage dress. I tried on a couple and then found my dress. It was the dress I had in my mind, I went to the fitting room (a room full of other vintage brides…very different to the bridal shop experience) and the dress fit perfectly. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. A friend's aunty did a couple of little alterations but it was always perfect."
To compliment their countryside festival theme, the couple decorated the field and their marquee with bunting, vintage crockery and even vintage floral napkins and wooden cutlery tied in brown string. They managed to find many items in charity shops, car boot fairs and even in their local pound shop. "Never underestimate the local pound shop," Nichola laughed, "we found little windmills, seeds, rainbow umbrellas (luckily not needed) and hooks for the aisle etc!"
👰
I'm loving the fact that the gorgeous country vintage/ festival-inspired wedding of Nichola & Jay is brightening up Monday morning on my blog! Talk about heading into a brand new week with some gusto! The August wedding was held at New House Organic Farm in Derbyshire. The farm is not a wedding venue (the couple were legally married at the resister office after their handfasting ceremony in the field) but they chose it to host their celebration here because it's a place that's very special to them. Their theme was chosen to not only compliment the farm setting, but because they love Glastonbury music festival - they met there and were engaged there (not in the same year!)
Regula & Bruno's Afternoon Tea Party Reception (Part Two)
August 10, 2011 in Wedding. Written by Kat
Remember Regula & Bruno's spooky Rye wedding? Well they're back, not once but twice today! I'm kicking of this Wednesday morn' with the Belgian leg of their wedding and this afternoon I'll be sharing their creepy wedding portraits taken at an abandoned fairground! Originally from Belgium the couple were keen to have a tea party reception in their home city for all their friends & family that didn't come over to the UK for their ceremony.
Writer Regula told me all about their tea party. "We knew what we wanted to do for our wedding reception immediately. Because we were getting married in England we wanted our friends from Belgium to feel like they were in the UK. We decided we were going to do a wedding afternoon tea."
"The biggest task of all was making our wedding tea invitations, both of us being graphic designers we had an image in our heads of how we wanted it to look. We combined these visions and worked on the designs for over 6 months only to get them ready just in time. Our invitation was actually a folder filled with a number of cards people could discover as they opened it, in each invitation we sowed a customised teabag. We also made a wedding blog with our digital invitation so people could check the blog for details if they didn't have the actual invitation with them. We put some homemade video's on it of us assembling the wedding invitation packs, together with some 1940's video's of how to prepare the perfect tea. We had information on it explaining people what afternoon tea is all about as most Belgians don't know a lot about the custom."
"For our venue we chose a bar/gallery in Antwerp owned by friends, Bruno designed their logo website and front of the building and was given full creative liberty so we knew the place was perfect to be our venue. Bruno's illustrations were still up on the walls from his exhibition so the wall's were all ready decorated with our things. Since it was our friends bar we were allowed to do what we wanted with the place. We unscrewed things and took them out and cleared everything we didn't need. The furniture in the bar was all vintage or DIY, perfect for our vintage theme."
"For the decoration, we collected vintage crockery and bell jars for a year, and by the end of may our house was full of boxes. We made bunting, posters, cards, labels… from making decorations to hanging them up, also the catering we did ourselves. Most of the food we brought home with us from the UK the rest was made by us. Then we had to do all the things that you have to do for getting a bar that has never seen a wedding into wedding-land."
"We decorated the tables with vintage teapots, sugarbowls and milk jugs. We attached a red balloon to every teapot like it showed in the design of our menus. We put bell jars on tables, each containing things from our house including the little doll's dress I've treasured whole my life and inspired my wedding dress. We had little pots of jam with a cotton cover we stamped our wedding logo on. We scattered around pictures of me and Bruno which me made to look vintage and we had rock candy made with our names and logo as wedding favours. On the tables we put paper spoons with table conversations and we customized bubble blowers with our design. It was so much fun seeing people blowing bubbles and enjoying themselves with looking at our photograps. Mind you after the party all the bubbleblowers, decorations and most of our pictures were taken home by our friends."
"We had paper cups with our logo to drink from, for the toast outside, as we only found out last minute that there weren't enough glasses. For the reception we wanted everyone to drink their wine and beer out of the old teacups. Mind you, we were very surprised everyone did so. For our buffet we had all the English classics like scones, sandwiches, cakes, cookies and even real clotted cream which our lovely photographer brought with her from the UK. We had a British cheese selection and cupcakes, sweet and evil but mostly loads of them. Our beautiful wedding cake was made by the lovely Becky from Consumed by Cake. Being a food blogger my cake was a big thing! It featured two swallows flying to a heart. A classic 1950's sailer tattoo image."
"We had a British candy buffet for people to fill bags to take with them and a glass dispenser with the homemade lemonade I made in the morning and one with Pimms. Instead of a DJ we had an Antwerp street musician playing his old piano in the most melancholic way."
"This guy composes his own songs and plays them from the heart. He plays in the streets of Antwerp and pushes his piano around the city by hand. I had him in mind to play at our tea party but sadly didn't see him the months before the wedding. The day before we left for the UK for our ceremony I heard his music and tracked him down through the sound. I was so excited I found him and asked him to come and play."
Don't you just love it?! Be sure to come back later today for part three of the Regula & Bruno saga – their wedding photo shoot in an abandoned fairground!
Remember Regula & Bruno's spooky Rye wedding? Well they're back, not once but twice today! I'm kicking of this Wednesday morn' with the Belgian leg of their wedding and this afternoon I'll be sharing their creepy wedding portraits taken at an abandoned fairground! Originally from Belgium the couple were keen to have a tea party reception in their home city for all their friends & family that didn't come over to the UK for their ceremony. Writer Regula told me all about their tea party. "We knew what we wanted to do for our wedding reception immediately. Because we were getting married in England we wanted our friends from Belgium to feel like they were in the UK. We decided we were going to do a Wedding afternoon tea."
An Informal Picnic Wedding with a Touch of Vintage: Michelle & Jodie
August 9, 2011 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Kat
Being a wedding planner herself, newlywed Michelle knew exactly what she wanted for her British Summertime wedding to Jodie. In the 18 months of their engagement she spent hours crafting and painstakingly putting together their vintage and craft themed day. "I wouldn't change a thing!" she explained. "We had so much fun planning the day, we did everything from choosing the playlists to writing our vows and designing the picnic menus."
"Being a planner I wanted to make sure our wedding was different from all the weddings I've been involved with, ensuring that the day reflected us and our love of all things vintage. The first thing for me was that the day needed to be informal, a family event. I remembered having big family picnic in the park when I was little and how happy everyone was, laughing, drink and playing games in the sunshine, and that was the feeling I wanted our guests to have. Jodie introduced me to Babycham a few years ago and since then it's become one of our favourite tipples, so it was only right that we have a Babycham reception complete with original Babycham saucers and mini bottles with cute stripy straws."
"Our wedding breakfast was a yummy picnic, with sweet course of afternoon tea cakes and goodies," she continued. "I'd collected over 500 pieces of vintage china, which we used at the tea. All the produce was sourced from local farm shops and suppliers, and then put into beautiful vintage hampers that I had collected over the years. Each hamper was finished off with a flower arrangement in a vintage tin and a table name (all were places close to our hearts) in the style of vintage beer mats."
"The evening was all about having fun, with a vintage ice cream trailer, personalised with Mr & Mrs Miles, retro sweeties in ornate jars, a swing out carousel and vintage board games. The guest book was a type writer, where we asked guests to type us a message and hand it on the wishing tree (a hat stand lovingly decorated by Jodie). We hung pictures of Jodie and I from our engagement shoot in Bath, to bring some of his home town to the wedding."
"The car park had homemade flags of our home towns too. There are so many more details that I loved, the for your tears of joy vintage hankies that I collected and people help themselves to at the ceremony (lucky really as it was such a tear-jerker), the lace jars, face frames, haybale covers with vintage fabric collected from markets, the floral arrangements in birdcages, lanterns and vintage tins, the paper pom poms and lanterns that hung between the barn and stretch tent…. there's just too much to mention."
The majority of Michelle & Jodie's wedding was homemade by the pair – from the decoupage pegs, to the paper pom poms and face frames.
Gorgeous huh?
Being a wedding planner herself, newlywed Michelle knew exactly what she wanted for her British Summertime wedding to Jodie. In the 18 months of their engagement she spent hours crafting and painstakingly putting together their vintage and craft themed day. "I wouldn't change a thing!" she explained. "We had so much fun planning the day, we did everything from choosing the playlists to writing our vows and designing the picnic menus."
Elizabeth & Simon's Homemade Vintage Tea Party Wedding
June 17, 2011 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Kat
Elizabeth & Simon's crafty vintage tea party wedding was a DIY effort and the beautiful touches and attention to detail really shows. The couple put a lot of themselves into their day and the bride especially homemade a lot of their wedding details. "Over several months I purchased vintage china and glass wear from various charity shops and Pannier Markets," she told me. "This was used as the crockery for the tea party and because we've managed to collect some really nice pieces and a substantial amount, we're keen to start a small vintage crockery hire service after our wedding."
Elizabeth continued, "We made our own wedding favours (traditional sweets in jam jars which we collected). Simon and I made our own colourful sugar heart cubes to go with the tea. My mum made some of the bunting. We had a lot of friends and family with different skills who were able to provide various things for the wedding."
To plan their day, the couple scoured various wedding magazines and cut out pictures of things they liked to stick in a wedding scrap book. This is a really great idea for collecting all your ideas and keeping your theme on track. "I'm also a fan of all things vintage and often visit lots of little antique/craft/home shops – particularly in Devon," the bride explained. "From there, the theme of the vintage tea party grew. It's not necessarily Rock n Roll, but it reflects us and is how we wanted our day to be. It was also made personal to us by friends and family being involved in the day and being able to run the day as we wanted and not being restricted to a hotel regime."
To keep their theme unique, the couple bought mismatched items from various different sources such as the signage from Cox & Cox, reception décor from notonthehighstreet.com and silver lanterns from a local boutique store. They even had a bicycle ice cream cart to serve guests ice creams as they arrived at the marquee after the ceremony."
Elizabeth & Simon's crafty vintage tea party wedding was a DIY effort and the beautiful touches and attention to detail really shows. The couple put a lot of themselves into their day and the bride especially homemade a lot of their wedding details. "Over several months I purchased vintage china and glass wear from various charity shops and Pannier Markets," she told me. "This was used as the crockery for the tea party and because we've managed to collect some really nice pieces and a substantial amount, we're keen to start a small vintage crockery hire service after our wedding."
Jenni & Neil's Eclectic DIY Wedding
May 17, 2011 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Kat
"I read something on a wedding blog during my planning, which I clinged onto for my own sanity," bride Jenni wrote, "It said not to worry about decorations etc matching, if you like what you have, in the end it will all go together. This was my mantra for our wedding and it worked. We didn't have a theme and I didn't really have a plan or a colour scheme. I operated like a magpie, picking up inspiration where I found it and with the help of my husband and our friends it worked for us!"
Jenni & Neil's wedding reception was held at Surrey Docks City Farm, London. This venue also really helped to set the style of their day. "The venue had never been used for weddings before and provided an empty shell, so the tables, chairs and all decorations needed to be sourced and made by us," Jenni continued. "I spent months reading wedding blogs and started liking, starring and sharing posts I liked on google reader. I also found inspiration on craft blogs and DIY websites which indulged my love of interior decoration."
The bride made all the bunting, table runners, napkins on a vintage (i.e. non-electric) Singer sewing machine. She also made and decorated the cakes, seating plan, bouquets & pinholes herself. The groom, best man and best woman decorated the farm venue the morning of the wedding. The bride and groom are originally from East Anglia & Birmingham (respectively) so they sourced beers and wines which were local to where they grew up and served them in pink tub-trugs full of ice.
"I read something on a wedding blog during my planning, which I clinged onto for my own sanity," bride Jenni wrote, "It said not to worry about decorations etc matching, if you like what you have, in the end it will all go together. This was my mantra for our wedding and it worked. We didn't have a theme and I didn't really have a plan or a colour scheme. I operated like a magpie, picking up inspiration where I found it and with the help of my husband and our friends it worked for us!"
Rob & Justine's Beeeautiful Art Retreat South African Wedding
January 31, 2011 in Wedding. Written by Kat
You'll know when I'm really excited about blogging a wedding because I'll sneak peek a photo on facebook and twitter as soon as it hits my inbox. It's almost unfair for me to keep it to myself! That's exactly what I did when Rob & Justine send me over their beeeautiful wedding…and actually, beeeautiful is literally the only way I can describe what I saw accurately. Love love love…
The couple were married at Hillhouse – a quirky converted Barn that is used as an art retreat, which has the look and feel of a dolls house – in South Africa. "Rob and I met a photography gallery and almost instantly clicked," Justine told me when I asked about the proposal. "I liked that he loved animals and the environment and he loved that I was edgy and confident (his words). We were engaged six months later. Rob proposed in a beautiful vintage Victorian Era locket, I opened it and he had written 'Will you marry me?' in it."
"In South Africa and especially Durban, there isn't a market for quirky, different weddings," the bride continued. "People seem to stick to the basics. We were adamant that we wouldn't do that. It was hard to convince certain family members of our vision especially the 'vegetarian' bit. We knew that the only way we were going to get the wedding we wanted, was to physically source and make everything ourselves. Every Saturday morning we went to the local charity shop and cleared them out of teacups, plates and vases. Rob and I even co-designed our gorgeous wedding invites even though neither of us are graphic designers. Rob was as much a part of the design of the wedding as I was, so it wasn't a completely feminine wedding like some tend to be. Our venue wasn't a wedding venue but an art retreat, our caterers wernt wedding caterers but an Eco friendly restaurant and our photographer wasn't a wedding photographer. I think these elements brought such diversity and made our wedding, the absolute perfect day that it was. "
"Our wedding was our art piece. Rob, being a designer and myself, loving design, we managed to create such a wonderful wedding day, something we are so proud of. Rob and I collected everything used at our wedding from charity stores. We chose every teacup, every plate, every vase, every book, every piece of cutlery. We chose each piece of material for our napkins, Robs mom sewed each one. Rob designed all the signage and I sewed and designed all the decor and we completely poured over every detail. Both being vegetarian, we decided to go that way and after the wedding, so many people commented saying it was 'the best food, (not just wedding food) they have ever had.' Rob hand made the portico that we got married under and the badminton net that provided hours of fun for our guests."
"We wanted our wedding to be eco-friendly, to go with the theme of recycling, helping others, being kind to animals and the environment. When designing the wedding, we were going for the look of almost 'a vintage attic with a modern edge.' Our entire wedding was DIY as its always the little touches that make a wedding great. Rob made 12 signs for the road on the way up to wedding. It gets peoples attention straight away. I sewed about 50 felt hearts, stuffed them and put them on sticks. This brought little dashes of colour on the grass and people loved using them for photos. The hearts also matched my Vivienne Westwood shoes. Rob made the badminton net structure and then I hung ribbons with little hearts on for the net. We put old vintage racquets in a trunk which added another great element. We hung the left over ribbons with hearts in the surrounding trees."
Don't you just adore it? Justine concluded with a great piece of advice for you guys too. Read and absorb it people! "A personal wedding is a good wedding, despite your budget, you can make your wedding beautiful as long as it true to yourselves." Couldn't have said it better myself!
(Be sure to check out their gorgeous video…and prepare to cry – it's beautiful… after the 'jump') You can also see their engagement video here)
You'll know when I'm really excited about posting a wedding because I'll sneak peek a photo on facebook and twitter as soon as it hits my inbox. It's almost unfair for me to keep it to myself! That's exactly what I did when Rob & Justine send me over their beeeautiful wedding...and actually, beeeautiful is literally the only way I can describe what I saw accurately. Love love love... The couple were married at Hillhouse – a quirky converted Barn that is used as an art retreat, which has the look and feel of a dolls house - in South Africa. "Rob and I met a photography gallery and almost instantly clicked," Justine told me when I asked about the proposal. "I liked that he loved animals and the environment and he loved that I was edgy and confident (his words). We were engaged six months later. Rob proposed in a beautiful vintage Victorian Era locket, I opened it and he had written 'Will you marry me?' in it."