How to…Crochet Your Own Cupcake Garland (DIY Tutorial by Twinkie Chan) + Giveaway!
I have adored Twinkie Chan from afar for a long time. Her "Eat your cake... and wear it too!" motto kind of speaks to my sweet tooth-loving self you see! Her colourful and super kawaii blog has brought daily rays of sunshine into my life for quite a while now ad I'm pretty much jumping over rainbows with the excitement of sharing our little collaboration with you all today! For those of you not familiar with Twinkie Chan, she is a crocheting marvel from San Francisco who has risen to fame with her cute and food inspired creations. She has made everything from scarf's, hair accessories and other wearable goodies from wool and her designs literally fly off the shelves as soon as she posts them to her etsy store. In short, she makes crocheting cool again! She's even released a tutorial book of some of her adorable creations, which got me thinking...
Charly & Kelly's Pink, Red & Valentine's Backyard Wedding
I've got another couple that you might recognise adoring these pages this afternoon. Do you remember this incredibly gorgeous vintage, floral and tattooed bridal shoot? Well the wedding to go along with the stunning shoot is just as visually gorgeous. Charly & Kelly has a beautiful back garden wedding in June at the bride's parent's home. The couple were married at 7pm by Lisa Torti, a mutual friend who had introduced them. They filled the garden with twinkly lights, giant pink bows and candles. The bride started collecting candy, cupcake and valentine themed items early on in the planning to use as decorations. The awesome spider candle holders used as centrepieces were purchased during Halloween, to which she added pink and red bows. The invitations were made by the groom's aunt and included a vintage valentine that was used as the reply card.
Nathaniel & Eve's Quickie Wedding
When photographer Eliza Claire tweeted me to tell me the bride she had just met was wearing a Vivienne Westwood dress for her wedding I immediately got excited. So excited in fact that I 'bagged' featuring the event before I'd even seen one photograph! Eve's dress was not an actual 'wedding dress' at all, but one from Vivienne's Anglomania range that she had fallen in love with. "I'd been non stop dress shopping for two weeks and so far had six wedding dresses hanging in my wardrobe - all cream or ivory, all perfectly lovely, but none quite hitting the spot," Eve told me. "The fact was that I wanted a Vivienne Westwood dress - I just love that VW look, the corset style waist, emphasis on the bust, full skirt... But I'd been to her shop and couldn't find anything, I think at that point I was still set on a white wedding you see. Then, the week before the wedding, in one last ditch attempt to find THE dress, I was racing through Selfridges when I passed the Anglomania concession - and there it was. I fell in love with it straight away. It helps that grey and navy are my favourite colours."
A Quirky, British, Cupcakey Kinda Day
Oh I do love a pretty & retro photo shoot to brighten up a Monday morning and this fabulous one, sent over my Bethan of Haywood Jones Photography, fits the bill perfecto! "The main aim of this shoot was to achieve a real vintage glamour look and feel," began photographer Bethan. "We wanted a big slice of silver screen elegance with a large portion of delicious cupcakes on the side! My Pretty Little Things specialise in making veils and fascinators which hark through the eras of the 20's right through to the 50's and approached me to organise a vintage themed session. When organising the shoot, I contacted Queenies Cupcakes who have a shop in Ironbridge right around the corner to me, to see if we could use them as a location for part of the day. They were absolutely brilliant and we all had a good nibble on the cupcakes while we were there, work is so hard sometimes!"
Abbie & Steven's Snow-Capped, Twitter Inspired Wedding
Abbie & Steven found a lot of their wedding day inspiration online, including Rock n Roll Bride, which makes their wedding a very special one indeed. I've followed the bride on Twitter for the last few months in fact so I do feel a little bit like I've been along for the ride of their wedding planning! "I don't think we ever set out to be different just be ourselves. We never liked the ideas of themes as it can often just become gimmicky and lose sight that it's actually a wedding and not some theme party," Abbie told me. " Ensuring it felt like a wedding was really important to us but we didn't believe that meant keeping it traditional. This is not an easy balance to strike, it's not about rebelling for the sake of it but picking and choosing the things that mean something to you."
Athena & Branden's Super Stylish, Whimsical & Vintage Wedding Day
Antena & Branden are like old friends of Rock n Roll Bride. I featured their gorgeous whimsical engagement session back in the Summer so I'm really pleased to share their stunning wedding today too. The Bride wore a Nicole Miller dress with a dramatic vintage-inspired necklace that she made herself from lace. She kept her look unique with a beautiful puffball veil from Toni Federici and a bow from Forever 21. Her earrings were also DIY - made by a friend for her.
Amy & Daylen's Las Vegas Elvis Romance
It was Elvis' birthday on Saturday so I thought I'd mark the occasion by sharing Amy & Daylen's awesome Elvis-influenced Las Vegas wedding with you this morning!Amy & Daylen were married at Graceland Chapel, Vegas by Elvis (of course) followed by an informal and rockin' party reception at the MGM Grand in the Skyloft Suite. "We had a reception with about 25 of us at a Skyloft Suite, then all of us took a party bus to Graceland Chapel to get married by Elvis, we chose the Blue Hawaii package and Elvis sang 3 songs," explained the bride. "It was the loudest and liveliest wedding ceremony ever, I'm pretty sure. We all sang and danced and cheered, so much fun and exactly how I want to enter into marriage, with a fun party."
Sharon & Mike's Massachusetts Woodland Wedding
Sharon & Mike woodland wedding was held at Owl Moon Farm in The Berkshires, MA in September. Both the bride and groom wore vintage clothes and even Sharon's engagement ring was made from the cast of a vintage ring. Sharon told me all about their day, starting with why they decided to get married in Massachusetts, "We live in California, and when our state revoked the right for homosexuals to marry, it really angered and upset me. I believe that any two people who are in love should be able to legally (and socially) commit themselves to each other.
Melinda & Stu's Rock n Roll Princess, Castle Wedding
have a certain affinity with this bride...can anyone work out why?! Cryptic huh? In fact you lot know me so well that I was sent links to this wedding by no less than five readers telling me I had to feature it as they all wanted to know more about this gorgeous wedding. Well, you asked...and I delivered. I'm so chuffed! Melinda & Stu were married in September at Thornewood Castle, Tacoma, WA. "My husband had always envisioned getting married in a European Castle," began the bride. "Unfortunately, I knew if we did that we'd have a very lonely wedding with just us and our parents, so we had to set our sights closer to... well, this continent. I didn't think it would be possible to find what Stu was envisioning in the Pacific Northwest, until I stumbled across Thornewood Castle. The Tudor manor house was originally build in England in the 1500's, but in 1910 it was moved brick by brick and reassembled on it's current site on American Lake in Tacoma, WA. We had the ceremony in the sunken rose garden, and the reception in the great hall, dining room, and loggia."
Carl & Emilia's Modern Art, Hipster Wedding
Carl & Emilia's hipster wedding was held at The Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden, which they chose for it's breathtaking view and because it is one of their most favourite places in the city. "We planned to have the ceremony outdoors in an adjacent garden," explained the couple. "Instead of sunshine however (which really is not asking to much even in Sweden that time of year) we got rain. Then we got even more rain and after that thunderstorms. Thus, we had to make some last minute changes i.e. move the ceremony indoors, but it all worked out perfectly thanks to our wonderful family and friends who gladly moved around all furniture. In the end the ceremony turned out even better than originally planned!"
Hannah & Jack's Rockabilly Party Wedding
"When I was little, I dreamed of having my very own big, white wedding," began Hannah. "However, when Jack and I decided to get married and started to make plans, it became apparent that even if we'd been able to afford it, we'd both feel out of place at a huge, formal gathering. What we really wanted was to have a great party with our families and mates, a party that just happened to include a wedding ceremony. So we threw ourselves into the planning and tried to make it ours." And that's exactly what this Rock n Roll couple did! The entire day reflected them and the things they love.
Åsa & Daniel's Vintage-Find, Barcelona Shoot
Åsa & Daniel's Barcelona photo shoot was all about the details, "because to me it's the little details that make the huge difference and I wanted to show them those little details" Spanish photographer Inés explained. The original theme and idea for this shoot came from Inés herself to show couples that capturing the personal details and portraits beautifully is what's super important in wedding photography - even if that means dressing up again for a post-wedding shoot - the perfect excuse if you ask me!
Laurel and Ryan's Handcrafted, Alice-Bright, Alice in Wonderland Wedding Shoot
Laurel and Ryan's DIY wedding took place in Ryan's parent's back garden. I utterly adore the acid neon brights fused with an Alice in Wonderland theme, all of which was created by the bride & groom themselves. They bought the cupcakes from a grocery store and created all of the flower centrepieces themselves, again from store bought flowers.
Sammy & Ian's Modern Romantic London Wedding
Sammy & Ian went for a quirky, modern and London theme for their Soho wedding. Being a costume designer, the bride made her own dress based on the late 50's early 60's silhouette of tight and knee length, with a bit of Vivienne Westwood influence. "It was made from red silk Dupion, and the corset was white duchess satin with red silk ribbon stripes sewn on top," she explained. Sammy also designed Ian's unusual and fabulous suit which was made out of venetian wool and was based on a 1960's design.
Lauren & Tim's DIY, Budget-Friendly Seaside Wedding
"We both decided that although we wanted our wedding to be amazing, we weren't going to spend a stupid amount of money on it," explained bride Lauren when I asked her about her big day. "We weren't prepared to pay more just because it was labelled as a "wedding product". Plus, most of the wedding-related stuff that's available isn't really "us". I bypassed the usual wedding dress shops and went straight to the high street, and found everything exactly as I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. Tim wore a suit he already had from Next because none of the hire places had slim fitting suits. We wanted invitations with skulls and studs and splattery writing but didn't want to pay a professional to design and make them for us, so I did it."
A 1970's Woodstock Inspired Shoot
This 1970's Woodstock inspired shoot took place on Hampstead Heath, London. The shoot was set up by wedding planner & stylist, Mary Herrington of Forever & Ever Events. She and photographer Caro Hutchings wanted to create a shoot to show how you can easily create a beautiful look with vintage and reclaimed items that won't break the bank. "Finding inspiration in the '70s doesn't mean that you have to stick with the original dress form the '70s or be literal about it; rather, you can take a vintage dress or theme and modernize it," Mary told me. "For example, the most amazing part of the dress was the tiered back – we took away the billowy elbows and the high neck, which really allowed you to highlight the back of the dress as the focal point."
Emma & Matt's Detail-Perfect BBQ Wedding
It's the little details that excite me, details like all that attention and love put into Emma & Matt's Rock n Roll Wedding. The couple, who found their photographer Caro Hutchings through a feature on Rock n Roll Bride, got married St Mary's Church in Yorkshire. After the ceremony, the whole party boarded a vintage double decker bus which took them to the reception, held at The Blue Lion, East Witton.
Rom & Will's DIY, Humanist, 1970's Vintage Wedding
You might recognise the gorgeous Rom & Will as I featured their engagement session back in August. I knew their wedding would be awesome as soon as I saw those shots so you can imagine my excitement when I got an email from photographer Steve Gerrard asking if I'd like to feature their wedding that took place a few weeks ago in Somerset. The couple had two ceremonies - a legal ceremony at Hestercombe Gardens, followed the next day by a humanist ceremony and reception at Huntstile Organic Farm (a humanist ceremony isn't legal in England at present.) Rom wore a different dress for each part of their day. For the civil service she wore an original 70s Ossie Clark dress which she had hunted high and low for. She finally found in a treasure trove of a shop called Hope & Harlequin in Brighton. "The owner Lou has original vintage dresses and she also makes bespoke vintage replicas," Rom explained. "With this is also wore Gold cork platforms by Miu Miu and a vintage garland headband from The Vintage Wedding Dress Company."
Jim & Katy's DIY-Fabulous Whimsical Beach Themed Wedding
I hosted a very special offer from Willow Tree Photography a while ago for free wedding photography to any lucky 2010 couples who maybe hadn't planned to, or couldn't afford a professional photographer. While I got a bit of stick on certain photography forums (apparently I was encouraging newbie photographers to undercut the market...well, anyone who read the post I published on Saturday will know this is certainly not the case!) I am over the moon that through running this very special offer I, and photographer Kathryn, were able to offer some awesome couples without the budget to spend on photography, the chance to have professional wedding photographs.
How to…Make Your Own Cake Pops (Tutorial by Rhubarb & Rose)
You may well remember April & Alex's laid back garden party wedding that I featured a few weeks ago. Well a lot of you got in touch (and in fact I wondered myself!) asking about how April made her own cake pops. So I thought I'd ask the lady herself and she's kindly written this lovely tutorial for you all. Enjoy - and happy baking!