DIY Wedding Favours

Today we are very lucky to have a post by the lovely Chloe Adlington from Love Making It (soon to relaunch as Adore by Chloe - what a gorgeous new logo eh!) who provides some fab ideas for DIY Wedding Favours. Enjoy.......

DIY wedding favours

Wedding favours are small gifts from the bride and groom to show their appreciation to their guests. There are so many creative options out there and doing-it-yourself not only makes them more personal but can also be more cost effective, sorry sugared almonds!

My first suggestion would work well for ‘natural’ or ‘rustic’ wedding styles and were really simple to make, here’s what I used:

The mini buckets are from Hobbycraft [www.hobbycraft.co.uk] and the flags and ‘Love Bloom’s stickers were both printed onto self-adhesive address labels beforehand to make the assembly really easy:

Next up is homemade jam… perfect for an ‘autumn wedding’ or ‘country fete’ theme. You can even be creative with the type of jam you make; the BBC Good Food website [www.bbcgoodfood.com] has some great recipes.

Again my label was made using self-adhesive address labels but you can buy ready made jam jar labels and fabric lid covers like this one from Hobbycraft:

I’ve saved my favourite idea until last… a cup of tea makes any situation better in my eyes! These tea bag favours are lovely for a ‘vintage tea party’ theme or an ‘English afternoon tea’ party.

To make you’ll need tea bags with strings, small clear treat bags (available from Hobbycraft), some patterned paper that matches your theme and pre-made labels:

These were the quickest to make as you simply glue a small piece of folded paper over the teabag string label, pop the tea bag in the treat bag and glue a larger piece of folded card to secure the top:

So there you have it, three lovely DIY wedding favours that would be easy to make in large quantities!

….I tried but I can’t end without sharing this idea of Scrabble tile fridge magnets that I found on Project Wedding too, so cute:

Here’s the link for the tutorial: http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/diy-wedding-challenge-2010-scrabble-magnet-favors

Thanks for reading, you can find my blog at www.lovemakingit.co.uk which features more ideas for creative homes and DIY weddings, come along and say hello!

Chloe x

This post has been provided by Chloe Adlington of Love Making It - soon to be Adore by Chloe 

You can follow Chloe on Twitter - www.twitter.com/ChloeAdlington 

DIY Stationery v Professional Stationery

Today we have a great post by the lovely Melanie Helen of Cranberry Blue Weddings & Events who offers some brilliant advice over the DIY Stationery v Professional Stationery debate....

      DIY stationery versus professionally designed?

The cost of a DIY invitation will generally be much cheaper than one printed by a stationery company.  This is therefore a good option if you have a limited budget or are having a small scale wedding.

DIY invitations are easier to customise and can be unique and personal to each guest if required. For example, some may need information about a rehearsal dinner or be printed in a different language, which would be more expensive to do with a professional stationery company.

You may have a particular design in mind but be struggling to find it through a stationery company, and not have the budget for a bespoke design service.  Therefore, by choosing the DIY option you can effectively create what you like within reason.

There is a huge selection of types of paper in various colours and finishings, in addition to a multitude of embellishments that can be added to give a different end result. It is advisable to choose a paper weight of at least 400gsm and then a backing card of up to a 700gsm to make the invite feel luxurious and good quality.

DIY kits can be ordered quickly, without the need to wait for proofs and then the printing process.

If you find you need to order more invitations then by making them yourself and printing at home, it can be done easily and cheaply, whereas re-ordering a short print run from a stationery company can be expensive.

If you do decide to choose the DIY route then make sure you select a kit that has good quality paper in standard sizes, that will fit into the printer comfortably and then can be cut afterwards.  Layered invites are ideal as they will have a sheet that will go through a standard home printer, and then you can apply this to a heavier card as the backing, which will make it feel more substantial.  Embellishments can be added for a personal finishing touch.

Always choose good quality envelopes and you can add a tissue lining in a matching colour for am extra touch.

The company ‘Bride Made’ (www.bridemade.co.uk) are a really good source for DIY invitations and they have a huge selection of different kits that are available in an array of colours and designs with lovely ribbon details. The kits include everything you need to make your invites, with the mount card and paper all pre-cut and creased, therefore making it much easier for you to put together.  They also have matching stationery items that can be bought in the form of other kits

      What are the disadvantages of DIY stationery?

Although DIY invitations are a budget-friendly option, they will be very time-consuming so this isn’t ideal for couples who have limited spare time or for those who are not very arty.

There is such a diverse selection of stationery companies available, all of which offer different designs, styles, types of invites etc.  Unless you have a natural talent for art and design then you won’t be able to achieve such a professional end result.

There are certain designs, looks and finishes that are not possible with DIY kits such as gilt edges, engraving, embossing, foil blocking etc.

Your invitations will undeniably set the tone for your day, as it is the first thing that people see. I believe that professional invitations always look superior to home-made ones so would advise to choose this option and find a supplier that fits your budget and taste.

In addition to making the invitations you will also have to consider all the other matching items that go with them, such as menus, RSVP cards, order of service etc. which will be incredibly time consuming to make as well.  By choosing a professional they can do all of this for you and also ensure everything is consistent and matches.

By choosing a professional stationer you will alleviate a lot of stress and hassle. You can either choose from an existing design and select the font type and wording, or have an invitation designed on a bespoke basis.  Either option means that you will have the expertise of a talented designer and therefore beautiful stationery with an attention to detail and of a high quality.

The prices are also surprisingly reasonable, depending on what style and design you choose of course and they can actually work out to be the same price or cheaper than DIY ones.

Melanie @ Cranberry Blue Weddings & Events
www.cranberryblueweddings.co.uk
enquiries@cranberryblueweddings.co.uk
Follow Cranberry Blue on Twitter - www.twitter.com/cranberrybwed

Wedding Planner - Wedding Beauty Tips!

Today's guest post is by the fabulous Joyce Connor of Brides and Beauty who provides us with some fab wedding beauty tips....

Wedding Beauty Tips

Many brides would like to be different or more dramatic on their wedding day. Here are my top tips to make sure you look and feel great!

You’re wedding day can be a very emotional one. I recommend using a waterproof mascara to ensure you don’t end up with panda eyes on your big day. I would only use waterproof mascara when necessary because it can be very drying to the lashes and cause them to fall out over a period of time. I use dark brown mascara for brides that prefer a softer more natural look on their eyes you can always top it up with a dramatic black for the evening reception.

Some brides would like to have a fake tan on their wedding day. My advice would be to make sure you have a trial run at least a month before so you know exactly how it will look. If you’re happy with the result and want to go ahead, it’s best to book the appointment for 2 days before the wedding to give the colour a chance to develop and look more natural. Be aware that fake tan does rub off so if your dress is pure white or pale ivory your arms may rub against it. Try it out beforehand by wearing a white t-shirt when you have the trial run.

Looking in magazines might make you want to make drastic changes to your hair. This isn’t a good idea just before your wedding. If you do want to change the colour try it out at least 6 weeks before and then retouch the roots a week before your big day. Remember vibrant colour in your hair can stain so make sure that all excess tint is rinsed away to ensure it doesn’t come off on your dress or skin. To give your hair a really fresh look highlights should be done no more than 3 days before the wedding.

Lipgloss is much more popular than lipstick at the moment, so if you choose a hairstyle with wispy tendrils that come down to your jaw line, it might be best to avoid lipgloss on a windy day. Hair sticks to lipgloss like glue and you don’t want to be pulling strands off your lips just before the big kiss!

And last but not least I always get my brides to wear an open fronted top or shirt while they have their hair and make up done. The last thing you want to do is mess up your perfect look before you put your dress on.

Now you can walk down the aisle with a smile ready to face your new husband.

This post was provided by Joyce Connor of www.bridesandbeauty.co.uk

Follow Joyce on Twitter - www.twitter.com/BridesandBeauty

A bit of Friday Fun

I came across this on www.airforce-wife-life.com blog and thought it looked like a good excuse for a bit of Friday Fun and it also tells you a little bit more about me too! Why don't you try it yourselves - The A,B,C of me!....

  Age:30

·  Bed size: King

·  Chore you hate: Drying up

·  Dogs:  Nope - I'm a little bit scared of dogs!

·  Essential start to your day: Pressing the snooze button at least 3 times!

·  Favorite color: Pink

·  Gold or silver: Silver

·  Height: 5’2 (and 3 quarters!!)

·  Instruments that you can play: Bagpipes

·  Job title: Director of Big Day Discounts (www.bigdaydiscounts.co.uk), and Military Wedding Discounts (www.militaryweddingdiscounts.com) which launches in 3 weeks

·  Kids: Not yet but one day fingers crossed

·  Live: Split between London and Colchester

·  Mom’s name:Elaine

·  Nicknames:Em, Emmie Lou, Emmsy

·  Overnight hospital stays: Only when I had my tonsils out

·  Pet peeve: Rude people, noisy eaters, whistling, people taking the micky out of people (in a nasty way!)

·  Quote from a movie: 'You had me at Hello' - Jerry Maguire - Gets me every time!

·  Righty or lefty: Righty

·  Sibling: One younger sister (27) and one younger brother (18)

·  Time you wake up: Normally between 7.30am-7.45am

·  Underwear: Worn daily! 

·  Vegetables you dislike: Pea's

·  What makes you run late: Being too laid back

 ·  X-rays: Finger

·  Yummy food you make: Salmon Tagliatelli (sp?)

·  Zoo favorite animal: Penguins

Wedding Planner - Choosing your wedding dress

Today I feel very lucky to be able to introduce the lovely Charlotte Balbier as our guest post who very kindley provides us with some top tips to consider when lookingfor your dream dress! Enjoy.......

How far in advance should brides start thinking about ordering their dress?

The sooner the better to be honest!! You really need to be leaving a minimum of 6 months before your big day to receive your gown and for any alterations to be made. 

Many brides start their dress search knowing what they want but as soon as they start trying on different styles it can soon snowball!!! So the sooner you start looking, the sooner you can find your ‘One’.

Dress name: Camilla

What styles suit which shape brides?

There are so many different styles in the Charlotte Balbier collection...there’s always one to suit every shape.

For petite brides, empire line or gowns that are cut under the bust work really well and this gives the illusion of height.

An A-line skirt with corseted bodice is a great style for a fuller figure....

Got ankles to show off??!!...what about a short style? The 1950s tea length styles look lovely on all shapes and sizes.

 Dress Name: Sweet Pea

Will I need my shoes and underwear when I come to my fitting?

Boutiques advise that you have your shoes and underwear for your fittings, to ensure that lengths and any other alterations are perfect for the wedding day.

 Dress Name: Gia

Do I need to make an appointment to try on dresses?

Yes. Many boutiques advise that you make appointment to try on dresses. The main reason for this is that if you arrive without an appointment and they are seeing other brides you may not be able to be seen. So, to avoid disappointment, always ring and book in advance.

Should I bring someone with me?

This is entirely up to the bride. Many boutiques are happy for you to bring 1 or 2 people with you. I would suggest that you avoid taking children as they can be very distracting when you are trying to concentrate on your mission at hand...to find the ‘One’!! However, having a friend or family member can be excellent to have that 2^nd opinion. 

 

What are your three top tips for choosing the perfect wedding dress?

Choose one that YOU love...it’s your day after all!

Do some research first...find the designers, styles and shapes that you are drawn to

Be comfortable...you will be wearing it all day and night

This post was very kindly provided by Charlotte Balbier
Follow Charlotte Balbier on Twitter - www.twitter.com/BalbierBrides

Wedding Planner - Choosing your Videographer

Today's post is by the lovely Tracey from Midway Media Wedding and Events Videographers who very kindly talks to us about why you should consider hiring a videographer when planning your wedding. Now, when I was getting married I was very adament from the start that I didn't want the day filmed - I was going to find it hard enough being photographed - BUT I can honestly say that my Wedding DVD (along with my photo's) was the best money spent! I still watch it now and just love that I have this amazing momento of my day as it goes so fast that you really don't have the time to soak it all up! Anyway, I will stop waffling on now and hand you over to the fab Tracey who does a much better job of explaing the benefits of having a videographer than I have.....

Having Your Wedding Day Filmed – The Professional Wedding Film Maker

Only 10% of couples in the UK will opt to have their wedding filmed by a professional videographer with approximately 80% of couples having their wedding photographed by a professional photographer. It is often the case that you will hear or read so many times that a couple who didn’t have their wedding filmed will have wished they had, when watching one of their friends or family weddings somewhere down the line.  On doing some research I found that there were many bad perceptions of a wedding videographer and yes I don’t deny some are very true!  Here are a few choice words I found by a bride to be on a forum giving her view on a wedding videographer.

“When searching for a wedding videographer we looked around and there were so many drab, cheesy, old fashioned wedding videos with dodgy out of time music playing and funny editing and I was on the verge of giving up and just asking a friend to film the ceremony."

Ouch – so how do we change this? Firstly, a wedding film isn’t for everyone but what we and many others strive to do is to make our presence relaxing and unobtrusive, so that couples and guests can relax without the fear of a camera being “shoved” in their face - this in itself is very off putting and most of us have had this experience at some point in our lives.   Your wedding day is a momentous occasion and one that you will want to remember and treasure for a lifetime. Choosing the right videographer to achieve this, and let’s be honest it is a bit of a minefield.   As highlighted, there are those that do continue to film in the way as described above but there are many others that are creative, modern that demonstrate a move with the times in the way they film and edit where the final film has that more cinematic effect.  A wedding film does not have to be love hearts coming out of the screen, page curls, dated music and boring static camera work all the way through. For those that specialise in wedding filming will capture the day in their own unique style, some of course better than others. The Key to finding the right videographer to film your wedding will start with a search on the internet, watching sample clips, seeing if what they produce is what you too are looking for and checking out whether the videographer’s pricing is within your budget as well as ensuring they cover the area.  Next is to make a short list of videographers you like the look and feel of and wish to contact further to establish availability and/or arrange to meet with them, should you wish to.  We haven’t always met our couples but have spent a long time getting to know them either over the telephone or email, with a meeting a couple of weeks before the wedding unless distance does not permit.  Always discuss what coverage of the day is important to you as many professionals offer different packages to cover a typical wedding day and ask any questions you may have.  A good videographer will always want to find out more about the couple and their special day than purely selling their services, after all you need to know your client as this helps when filming on the day and editing afterwards – each client wedding is different and should be treated as so, not just another wedding job.  

 

 

By having your wedding day filmed and produced onto a DVD, it allows you to share your special day with family and friends to relive that moment.  Countless brides and grooms have said how quickly the day goes by.  It is also good to show family and friends that could not be present on the day for whatever reason. A DVD capture's the real emotion such as laughter, tears, the grooms nerves as he eagerly awaits for you to arrive by his side, as well as the little moments that you weren't even aware of in a way that a still photograph cannot achieve alone.  

One thing by hiring the services of a professional to film a very memorable day will ensure that each precious moment is captured without any glitches or those all important moments are missed.  Filming a wedding is not the easiest of tasks to undertake as they can be unpredictable and not just a case of turning the camera onto record, there is a lot more to it than that.  A quality picture is nothing without good quality audio so it is essential that the videographer shows the prospective client an example clip of either the ceremony or speeches so that the couple can hear this for themselves. Some videographers have clips of speeches/ceremonies on their website to demonstrate the two together or even on wedding highlights. Once the day is over, the footage will then edited to a professional standard using top editing suites to make bring alive your wedding day in an easy to watch format with interactive menus for you to choose what parts of the day you would like to watch. It takes time and a lot of attention to detail to carefully produce a good quality wedding film. 

Here a few benefits of having your wedding filmed by a professional videographer

• Any filming volunteers that wish to record the day can do so if they wish but get to relax without the added pressure of capturing it all or equipment/operator error

• You get to relax knowing that your special day is being filmed by a professional who you trust (after all, they were selected by you)

• The final film will be edited to a professional standard encapsulating the emotions of the day for you to proudly show to family and friends (as well as your children in years to come )

• Finally, it is simply a memento of one of the most important days of your life!

 Article written by Tracey Hatter-Smith of Midway Media Wedding & Events Videographers www.midway-media.co.uk

This post was very kindly provided by Tracey of Midway Media Wedding & Events Videographers

Follow Midway Media Wedding & Events Videographers on Twitter -www.twitter.com/Midwaymediauk

Wedding Planner - When should I purchase my Wedding Insurance?

Today's post has very kindly been provided by Steven Hooper of CompareWeddingInsurance.org.uk who's colleague, Adam Leyton, takes the time to answer one of the most frequently asked questions on this topic - When should I purchase my Wedding Insurance?....

Wedding Insurance: When Is The Best Time To Purchase Your Policy?

One of the most basic problems some people have when it comes to choosing wedding insurance isn't the details of the policy, what's covered and what isn't, how much liability is included, or how much it all costs. The most pressing problem most people seem to find is simply deciding when to purchase wedding insurance.

It might sound odd, and the most obvious answer might well be 'as soon as possible'. After all, if you're buying a car then you'll obviously want to make sure you're insured to drive it off the forecourt, so you'll have it in place early on. If you have home insurance, you'll want to make sure you get it as soon as possible so you're covered immediately. But for wedding insurance it's all a bit different, because essentially you probably won't need it until the day itself, which could be weeks, months or even years ahead.

So do you organise your wedding insurance before anything else, or should you wait a bit? If you ought to wait, then how long for, and how long is too long? It's all a bit grey. And this is where the problem really lies, because often people let time slip away, until they've either forgotten the whole idea of wedding insurance, assumed it's no longer relevant since everything's paid for, or run out of money entirely and can no longer afford such 'additional luxuries'.

Wedding insurance should certainly never be seen as an additional luxury, but often people wait until they know how much they're likely to spend in total before committing to a policy.

But some people plan so far ahead that the eventual budget is unknown until quite late in the day. Additional services, extras, luxuries or upgrades are purchased as and when finances allow.

It's worth bearing in mind that in most cases there's no problem with upgrading your wedding insurance package as the overall value of your wedding increases, so it may be sensible to start out with a cheap, basic package, with a view to increasing the amount of cover if your plans change.

Article written by Adam Leyton from CompareWeddingInsurance.org.uk, a comparison website that allows you to compare wedding insurance policies at a glance from a number of leading UK insurers.

This post was very kindly provided by Steven Hooper of compareweddinginsurance.org.uk
Follow CompareWeddingInsurance.org.uk on Twitter - www.twitter.com/wed_insurance