Burlap and Lace Wedding

Hi folks sorry I have been AWOL these last few months, it's been a busy time for me with some unexpected changes to my life which I will share as soon as I feel I can.
I have really missed blogging and have been umming and ahhing about starting a new blog because of the big gaps and inconsistencies of this one, but I am delaying/stalling because I can't think of a new blog name, plus I am worried about losing all you lovely people who read this one.
So anyway, way back in April I went to a wedding of a wonderful family friend, I had no idea what to expect in terms of a theme, dress, anything!  So it was all a lovely surprise and I was so impressed by the elegance and tastefulness of it all.  Some of these are my photos and some belong to the wedding photographer Zelda Martin (the first two and the forth):

Mirror displaying the table numbers and guest's names

 

Mr and Mrs Banner on the head table

 

 On the dessert table

 

Delicious croc en bouche

 Favors in brown paper bags embelished with a paper doily (love) and wooden peg

Top table floral arrangements, jars trimmed with lace and twine

 

 The floral arrangement on our table with lace and twine

 

beautiful bride, beautiful lace dress

 

Stunning beams on the ceiling of the barn

 Bunting (a family tradition)

This is the third wedding we have been to with Orren and we really enjoyed it.  Orren had a great time dancing to the disco lights and music at the evening function, I wish I had taken more photos but it is so difficult when you are preoccupied with a one year old!  I would loved to have shown you my outfit too as I was pleased with the thriftiness of it.

Anniversary

3 years ago, I married the man of my dreams!  Now we have a little baby!  I can't believe it, I feel so blessed.
We met on 25th August 2000 at Reading Music festival and became boyfriend and girlfriend one month later.  He was in his first year of Uni and I was still in school!

Who knew that at just 17 years old I had met the man who would later father my baby! It was an old fashioned romance and he was my childhood sweetheart, still is!

9 years after we met we finally married in the most perfect wedding ever (I know everyone says that, but it's true!)

We exchanged cards and agreed not to give gifts, although he surprised me with flowers when he came home from work (naughty!) Then we went out for a meal with our little family.  A lovely afternoon. Thanks Hubby!

made a button bouquet!

After being sooo inspired by THIS button bouquet I saw at a wedding and seeing all THESE beautiful bouquets made by the same lovely lady I decided to have a go at making my own button bouquet.  My mum had a stash of buttons that she was keen to be used up and I had a pile of wire left over from the table settings at my wedding, so I though why not give it a go (according to Google analytics they are a rising trend!!).  I looked up a tutorial for how to make a stem then just went from there really, I made 50 in the end and then stopped.  So for about the past two months I have had 50  of these stems lying about the house and finally this week I bundled them all together and finished off the bouquet with some pretty lace and tulle netting.  What do you think, not bad for a first attempt even if I do say so myself.  Which is why I have put it for sale here, and here and here.  Who knows, if it sells I might even make another one!
What do you think?

Funky Country Barn Wedding

On Sunday we attended a beautiful wedding in the fantastic countryside near Cheltenham.  The wedding had a couple of lose themes, one was the 1950's which was reflected in the bride and bridesmaids dresses, another was The Beatles which inspired the music, table names and seating plan, and finally the colours of bright buttons and lolly pops in the centre pieces, boutonnière and bouquets.  That sounds like an odd mix but it all hung together really well and made for a stunning display of colour, it reflected their personalities perfectly.  The weather was perfect and views over the fields surrounding the venue were stunning.  You know how much I love being in nature and the countryside so I enjoyed a wonderfully peaceful moment when I had to leave the ceremony and feed Orren, sitting on a bench looking out over rolling hills and bounding spring lambs.  The peace and quiet was bliss and I didn't mind missing the vows when I knew I was satisfying the needs of my precious baby.
Having a baby with us at an event like this was a new experience for us both and had it's new challenges.  Not only did I miss the vows, but also the speeches!  Generally he was quiet and slept through the meal which was good, but I was so tired by 8.00 that we left at 8.30 to come home.
So anyway here are some photos from the big day:

Love the 1950s style dress,

Fabulous and eco friendly alternative to flowers, a button bouquet,

Fantastic shoes from Irregular Choice,

Managed to snap this sneaky pic of one of the bridesmaids, how fab is her dress? perfect 1950s retro.  Two of the bridesmaids had dresses like this, the other two had the kind that stick out.  In the background is a game we played called "Aunt Sally" which involved lobbing a wooden club at a dolls head...don't ask (it's a Cornish thing apparently)!

The beautiful venue; converted barns complete with old beams and beautiful exposed brickwork,

View while breastfeeding Orren,

Floral bunting which was strung up throughout the venue, after the ceremony the registry became the evening reception room and a appliquéd "just married" banner was added,

Button heart decorations which were dotted around the venue, on door handles and nails in the beams,

Loved this original idea for a seating plan, at the top were The Beatles album covers, each cover represented a table with a corresponding cover, underneath each cover image were photos of the people sat at that table,

Fun centre pieces, a bucket filled with sand the decorated with buttons and lolly pops,

Love the colours,

Orren's favour and place names with buttons,

A really original choice for the dinner, rather than silver service or a help yourself buffet each table had a "chef" who received an apron with their name on it, and carved up the meat for everyone on their table,

Cup cake wedding cake,  very tasty raspberry and lemon cupcakes with jam/curd in the middle, yummy!

A gorgeous leaping lamb, spring is here!

All in all a great but tiring day, I am now enjoying eating my lolly pop favour! Have you been to any weddings recently?  What were they like?

Happy Monday

Inspired by the lovely country barn wedding I attended on Sunday I thought I would share with you all some beautiful photos from weheartit with a magical rural wedding theme to get your week off to a sweet start.

 

Hopefully will have som photos to share from the wedding I attended soon.  Have a wonderful week every one. TTFN.

Welsh Wedding

A couple of weeks ago the hubby and I took ourselves off the the beautiful Welsh Valleys for the wedding of my old Uni house mate Anj.  It was truly a beautiful day and a wonderful wedding, so much love and happiness.  Her new husband is a dairy farmer so there was a lovely little bit of a milkmaid theme going on with mini milk jug favours and large milk jug flower arrangements. There was a delicious buffet dinner with the most amazing tasting potatoes I have even tried, no joke, then later on a hog roast and a delectable ice cream stand selling the most tasty mint choc-chip I think I have ever tried.
Here are some pics:

I really wish them both the most wonderful marriage because they are such a lovely couple.